I suppose some of you have already seen this news but it always good to hear
some good news, second bird to reappear this year! Apparently the article
should refer to the bird as a subspecies, rather than a separate species.
Nevertheless....
Dev Joslin Monteverde, Costa Rica [Forwarded from Marti Salk, Oak Ridge, TN}
Contact: Al Donner 916-414-6566
Jim Nickles 916-414-6572
Songbird Missing from Central Valley for 60 Years Reappears at San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge
CALFED Funds Began Successful Restoration
A husky-voiced little songbird once common in Californiaâ??s Central Valley but not heard there for the last 60 years has reappeared on the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) west of Modesto.
The sighting of a nesting pair of least Bellâ??s vireo occurred on the refuge, a unit of the San Luis NWR Complex that was restored under the CALFED program. The restoration began just three years ago and was completed this spring. In that time, the former farm field has quickly grown into a tangle of willows, blackberry, wild rose and other native riverside plants, some already 30 feet high. It is reminiscent of the original valley riverside habitat, and least Bellâ??s vireos soon found the area, even though they havenâ??t nested in the Central Valley for 85 years.
â??Hearing the least Bellâ??s vireo again demonstrates that a good recovery plan, committed partners and resources to carry it out, can bring many species back to life in areas where they seemed lost forever,â?? said Steve Thompson, manager of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Serviceâ??s California-Nevada Operations Office.
The wildlife refuges increasingly play a major role in the survival and recovery of species. The Aleutian Canada goose, for example, recovered from the brink of extinction after it began wintering at the same San Joaquin River refuge.
When the least Bellâ??s vireo was federally listed as endangered in 1986 only 300 pairs were left, all along small streams in Southern California.
This weekâ??s success is the outcome of a broad partnership involving at least nine different organizations. CALFED spawned the effort in 1998 when it provided key funds to purchase an 800-acre farm owned by the late Ed Hagemann. Many other agencies also contributed, among them the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the California Resources Agency, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Audubon Society.
The hands-on restoration work was an adaptive effort by three conservation partners -- PRBO Conservation Science, River Partners and the Endangered Species Restoration Program at CSU-Stanislaus. Each year they made refinements to improve the quality of habitat being developed for native bird and animal species. The process is closely monitored by PRBO and ESRP, two wildlife organizations that work closely with state and federal agencies to monitor special species.
=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================
Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
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Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp
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