WILLIAM RUSLING'S 1936 KIPTOPEKE AUTUMN BIRD FLIGHT
There is recent renewed interest in Rusling so I am reissuing, with
enhancements, a note I wrote a few years ago for the Coastal Virginia
Wildlife Observatory newsletter.
the entry from my personal library catalog: Rusling, William J.
Flight-Cape Charles-1936: the study of the Habits of Diurnal Migrants, as
Related to Weather and Land Masses during the Fall Migration on the
Atlantic Coast, with Particular Reference to the Hawk Flights of the Cape
Charles (Virginia) Region. Report covering period September 22-November
11, 1936. 53p. loose pages. photocopy. A gift of Fred R. Scott.
VIRGINIA.
In the 1930s Richard H. Pough, later to become famous for his three Audubon
guides published in 1946 and 1951 which showcased the great art of Don
Eckelberry for the first time, commissioned Roger Tory Peterson and Robert
P. Allen to observe the fall flight at Cape May. Allen went on to do
celebrated work with Whooping Cranes and Roseate Spoonbills for the
National Audubon Society. The first edition of RTP's revolutionary field
guide had just been published.
It is less well known that Pough then also posted William J. Rusling to
Kiptopeke. Rusling's report is not listed in Joseph James Murray's "A
Check-list of the Birds of Virginia" (1955). A few years ago I wrote to
Pough. I got a nice letter back from the then 96-year-old. Unfortunately
he could not remember anything about Rusling, who remains a mystery to me.
Pough died last June at 99. There was a lengthy obituary in the
'Philadelphia Inquirer', Mon., June 30, 2003, p. B6, including a
photograph. He was instrumental in establishing Hawk Mountain, was the
first President of The Nature Conservancy. His hireling, Rusling, counted
birds intensively at Kiptopeke from September 22 through November 11, 1936.
Rusling's resulting 53 page report gives tantalizing glimpses of birdlife
67 years ago, a time that seems almost antediluvian by most present frames
of reference. As you read it marvel at Rusling's achievement. Consider
how primitive his binoculars must have been. He had no state park, refuge,
or companions who dropped in from Williamsburg or Norfolk or Washington to
support him. No Cape Center. No air conditioning. Probably no scope.
There were no hawk trappers and mist-netters a short distance away for the
pleasures and benefits of camaraderie and collegiality. Ever heard of the
Great Depression? It had been going six years by 1936. I am sure it
didn't help anyone putting in a season at Kiptopeke. The C.B.B.T. was 28
years into the future, unimaginable in 1936.
Rusling's season total was 16,252 raptors. Hawk Mountain's was 8,545 in
the same period. And Cape May? 3,785. His one Black Vulture was the only
one seen at any of the three sites - one indication of how a species' range
can change, compared to the hundreds that now pass our platform annually.
His 106 Bald Eagles are impressive but pale compared with Cape May's
astounding 402 in that year. Even back then it was obvious Kiptopeke was a
superior falcon flyway with 416 Merlins and 242 Peregrine Falcons, but,
oddly, only 913 American Kestrels.
We find a puzzle with the accipiter counts: Rusling's 6,932 sharpies and
2,608 Coops. That's a ratio of about one Cooper's for every 2.7
Sharp-shinned Hawks. Too many Coops? How was Rusling at sorting out these
two species? We may never know. I suspect he confused them, badly, as I
and many others still do. However, his season one-day highs of 1,177
sharpies and 286 Coops, both on Oct. 2, indicate a more realistic ratio.
His idiosyncratic spelling for raptors was "raptores".
Keep in mind that even legendary Maurice Broun initially confused
Broad-wingeds and Red-shouldereds in the early years at Hawk Mountain.
Neither had the benefit of the tremendous advances in field identification
and optics we now enjoy. Much more recently, when Pete Dunne had his first
encounters with soaring peregrines as he started counting at Cape May, none
of the guides then described how such birds looked. Now many of us can ID
with ease such peregrines, often at distances of well over a mile.
Where did Rusling live? He lived in the farm house of Mr. Hilary G.
Fitchett. The crude map in Rusling's report indicates 16 farm houses a
short distance north of Wise Point. Fitchett's looks as if it was in the
area of the refuge, near the present-day nature trail there. Rusling did
his counts in that area and even got out to Fisherman's Island once.
Fitchetts are buried in the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife
Refuge graveyard. There must be records in Eastville of exactly where
these houses were.
Rusling made meticulous notes on weather and the hawks' flightlines. Sure
enough he confirmed what we have come to know: that the best flights are
usually from northeast winds. After his sojourn he consulted weather maps
to help analyze his data. He recorded the proportion of adults to
immatures. Once again the accipiters are puzzling.
We know the adults, with their blue-gray backs ("blue-darters"), come later
than the immies but his statement "All the accipiters seen previous to
October 21st were immature" is hard to believe. 20% of his Bald Eagles
were adults. O.K. Only 2% of his Northern Harriers were adult males.
That seems low. I don't know about you but I'd cut Rusling some slack.
Considering all he did and when he did it, his was a remarkable
achievement. We are still working out the vagaries of differential
migration by age groups and the impact of weather.
Rusling's best day was October 2, 1936, when he counted 1,783 raptors.
October 4 was good, too: 1,167. I wish he had started at the end of August
the way Brian and Marshall and others have done but by way of compensation
he made detailed notes on other birds. If he had started in early
September his counts of Bobolinks, Baltimore Orioles, Eastern Kingbirds,
and redstarts would have been interesting. Some of his totals are still
among Virginia's best. He saw 272 Common Loons on Nov. 7, 388
Black-crowned Night Herons on Oct. 13, and 249 Killdeer on Oct. 27.
Flickers, now in a disturbing decline, peaked on Sep. 25 with an astounding
3,155. On Oct. 12 he tallied 111 catbirds, on Nov. 6, 10,325 robins, and
825 bluebirds on Nov. 4 plus 975 Chipping Sparrows the same day among the
159 species he identified that fall. Late dates include Black-throated
Green Warbler on Nov. 5 and Cape May Warbler on Nov. 7. Curious by their
absence are Great Black-backed Gull (would have been very scarce then at
best), Great Horned Owl, and Boat-tailed Grackle. Herons were scarce for
Rusling. They still had not recovered from the depredations of the
millinery trade.
Another interesting wrinkle to this report is a brief analysis of food
taken by hawks and Barn Owls. Rusling found remains of hawk food by
exploring thickets. He even separated out Bicknell's from Gray-cheeked
Thrush remains. Yellow-billed Cuckoos were far and away the most commonly
found prey item, just as they still seem to be in Florida's Dry Tortugas in
April. As for the Barn Owls in three roosting areas near Wise Point
"meadow mice" (presumably 'Microtus' voles) and White-footed Mice were the
commonest prey but 14 Tree Swallow corpses were also found.
Finally, Rusling notes that there was not much shooting. Previously there
had been some because of a $0.50 bounty per hawk. He talked to one farmer
who raised enough money to pay his taxes this way. By 1936 the bounty
system was discontinued. Who could afford to waste shotshells on hawks
during the Depression? He gives the impression that hawks were never
slaughtered wholesale in the manner of Cape May and Hawk Mountain in the
old days.
I have a few copies. Be glad to send one with my compliments, especially
if you make a contribution to Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory, P. O.
Box 912, Eastville, VA 23347. It'll be a copy of a copy so don't expect it
to look perfect. If you don't hear back from me then I ran out of copies.
There never was a page 14. It's fascinating reading. As much as anything
it makes me wish I could find a time machine. I'd go back, and try to help
Rusling sort through the accipiters, be his recorder, bring him some 2003
take-out from Sting-Ray's. He'd hear of the accomplishments of Walter &
Doris, Fred, Charlie, Dorothy & Mike, Jethro, and Bill, and about how good
Marshall and Earl and Jamie and Calvin and all the Bri(y)ans and Bobs are,
and the good times they've had, and how they and others marveled at his
autumn of 1936.
Best to all.-Harry Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA
19119-1225. 215-248-4120. harryarmistead at hotmail dot com.
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