PET PEEVE: “Once again with all the recent snow, drivers who do
not brush their cars off – only enough to see straight ahead. The
police fine you for having the tint on your windows in the summer.
Why is something not done about these drivers? I followed a car
down Jackson Ave that the back window was completly covered, only
to notice a car pulling out of a side street with just a ‘peep
hole’ in the front cleaned off – nothing on the sides or back.”

Our note today from an irate reader. To which we add: What in
the world are these people thinking?

BIRD NOTES: A new atlas on the birds of New York reveals that
during the past two decades over half of New York State’s bird
populations have seen dramatic changes in their distribution, with
70 species experiencing significant increases, 58 species
experiencing serious declines, and 125 species maintaining relative
stability.

Among the birds showing the largest increases in New York State
are Canada goose, wild turkey, red-bellied woodpecker, Carolina
wren, Peregrine falcon, osprey, Cooper’s hawk, bald eagle, common
raven, turkey vulture, and merlin.

Those showing the largest decreases are Henslow’s sparrow,
red-headed woodpecker, brown thrasher, common nighthawk, purple
martin, and Canada warbler.

Resident woodland birds showed the greatest increases as a
group, and grassland birds showed the greatest declines.

These new findings, published this month by Cornell University
Press in the Second Atlas of Breeding Birds in New York State, are
the result of over 140,000 hours in the field by nearly 1,200
volunteers across New York State.

(We know some of our readers in Pennsylvania area also volunteer
in this effort.)

The atlas, edited by two prominent figures in the field,
ornithologist Kevin J. McGowan of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology,
and wildlife biologist Kimberley Corwin of the New York State
Department of Environmental Conservation was initiated by the New
York State Ornithological Association and implemented by the
NYSDEC, which provided the funding, management personnel,
oversight, direction, and data capture and management. The majority
of the funding came from the state tax check-off program, “Return a
Gift to Wildlife.”

Corwin noted that participants have considerably helped bird
populations by planting trees and shrubs that provide food and
cover, supporting conservation organizations, and participating in
cutting-edge programs such as the Landowner Incentive Program.