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to MDC Home Page1. U.S. may be in for phenomenal finch visitation
2. Missouri youths prepare for outdoor challenge
3. 1997 yields a stringer full of fishing records
4. Outdoor Calendar
Don't hunt in a hurry. You will overlook birds and break down yourself and your dogs to no purpose. If you have anything important to do, stay at home and do it. If you are in birdy country, forget all about accounts collectable, bills unpayable, your wife's parting remarks, the fugaciousness of time, and the seductiveness of the next field. The finest bird hunter I ever knew seemed to fiddle aimlessly around as if he had nothing else in the world to do.-Havilah Babcock, My Health is Better in November
Backyard birdwatchers pooling their knowledge on the Internet have shed light on a remarkable migration of birds rarely seen in Missouri.
JEFFERSON CITY--If you look out your window and see an unfamiliar bird at the feeder, take a close look. Then fire up your computer or pick up the phone. You can be part of a continent-wide network of citizen scientists who are shedding light on a poorly understood phenomenon that creates a birdwatching bonanza every few years.
Officials at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology in Ithaca, N.Y., say that a historic migration is under way, bringing thousands of finches far south of their normal wintering areas in Canada. In addition to familiar winter feeder birds like goldfinches and purple finches, Missourians are seeing increased numbers of such rare visitors as pine siskins, evening and pine grosbeaks, white-winged and red crossbills and hoary and common redpolls.
These species are prone to irregular southward migrations called "irruptions." One theory holds that these mass movements occur in years when the birds experience unusual success in raising young. Whatever the cause, irruptions of winter finches create spectacular birdwatching opportunities as big, vividly colored species like the black-and-yellow evening grosbeak and crossbills, with their elongated, curved beaks, mob backyard bird feeders.
Jim D. Wilson, state ornithologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation, says reports of winter finches in Missouri so far this fall have included redpolls and crossbills in the Columbia area and crossbills in the Kansas City area. He says he expects similar reports to continue throughout the winter.
Ornithologists were able to anticipate the current irruption and study it, thanks to a program the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology cosponsors with the National Audubon Society. "BirdSource" links thousands of serious and casual birdwatchers across North America via the Internet. Birdwatchers report sightings in their areas through the BirdSource World Wide Web site, <http://birdsource.cornell.edu>. The database is remarkably accurate, because the reporting process is interactive. Contributors who report birds that are unlikely for their areas or who give a wrong date are queried about the entry and encouraged to recheck their information.
Cornell scientists also have developed the North American Winter Finch Survey to track irruptions. Observers are asked to note the species and number of winter finches seen, along with the date, state and zip code where they are sighted and report these data through the BirdSource Web site. These data are used to create animated maps showing the progress of irregular finch migrations across the continent. These maps are accessible on the BirdSource Web site.
Organizers say that even though the amount of data received through BirdSource is large, it is only a fraction of what could be gathered if everyone who feeds or watches birds contributed to the database. All bird enthusiasts are encouraged to join the effort.
The same Web site provides access to information about Project FeederWatch, a related national program for gathering information about birds. Participants in Project FeederWatch receive a research kit with easy-to-follow instructions, tips on how to attract birds and a colorful poster showing common feeder birds. They also get a quarterly newsletter, "Birdscope," highlighting recent findings such as the winter finch invasion. Membership costs $15 per year. For more information, call 800/843-2473 or write to Project FeederWatch/GSO, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Woods Rd., Ithaca, NY 14850.
Birdwatchers interested in bird sightings in Missouri can call the Missouri Bird Alert Service at 573/445-9115. This number also permits callers to report sightings of unusual birds.
-jim low-
It takes deep knowledge of wildlife and considerable hunting skill to win the Youth Hunter Education Challenge. But every contestant earns the privilege of competing at the national level.
JEFFERSON CITY--Teens looking to test their outdoor skills can apply for the Missouri Youth Hunter Education Challenge. Applications are now being accepted for the competition June 20 and 21 at the United Sportsmen's Club in Jefferson City.
In the Youth Hunter Education Challenge, youth ages 11- 19 compete in eight events for prizes and cash. The events include: muzzle-loading rifle marksmanship, small-bore rifle marksmanship, shotgunning, archery, orienteering with map and compass, animal identification, hunter safety and hunter responsibility. Individual and team awards are given.
This year's Missouri Youth Hunter Education Challenge will include two new events, air rifle marksmanship and turkey calling.
The competition is sponsored by the Missouri Hunter Education Instructor's Association to encourage safety and ethics afield. Association spokesman Jan Morris says the competition emphasizes the importance of learning to safely and properly handle firearms and other hunting gear. "We also want the kids to learn ethics and how to be good sports," he says. "Our highest award, the sportsmanship award, goes to the competitor who displays the best attitude during the competition. The winner of the sportsmanship award receives an all expense-paid hunting trip to Texas."
Last year 71 teens participated in the competition. Morris hopes the event draws about 100 this year. The competition is open to teens who are hunter education certified. Entry forms are available from Jan Morris, Missouri YHEC, PO Box 38, Imperial, MO 63052. Phone 341/464-6214.
-arleasha mays-
Anglers using rod and reel, trotlines and bow and arrow set eight fishing records.
JEFFERSON CITY--St. Charles angler Darrell Hudspeth was just about to quit fishing when he got a heavy jolt on his line. Hudspeth was fishing in the Missouri River with a light spinning rod and reel, casting a small spinning lure called a beetle spin. He had on 6-pound-test line and was hoping to catch crappie and white bass.
The fish running away from him in the heavy current of the Big Muddy was no crappie. "I thought maybe I had hooked a large drum," Hudspeth says. He began to realize he had something bigger than a drum, and he knew he did not have a net.
Hudspeth hooked the fish about 7 p.m. on a May evening. One hour and 15 minutes later he slowly drew a huge flathead catfish onto the bank. The fish weighed 77 pounds, 8 ounces. It broke the Missouri record for a flathead catfish on a rod-and-reel; it also set a new National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame world angling record. The fact that he caught it on a small artificial lure is amazing; most large flatheads are caught on live bait on trot lines.
Hudspeth placed the big catfish in a livestock watering tank that night, hoping to keep it alive until someone from the Missouri Department of Conservation could weigh it. He wanted to release the fish back into the Missouri River, but the leviathan died overnight. A Conservation Department official weighed the fish in the morning and took its measurements. Hudspeth served the big flathead at his son's high school graduation party. All who ate the fish declared it excellent.
Other Missouri anglers caught state-record fish in 1997 on trotlines. These catches, along with those made using other types of set lines and with bow and arrow, qualify as records in the Conservation Department's "other methods" category.
Eugene Stilts of Zalma was running a trotline early on a July morning in the Castor River when he pulled up a rock bass that was 10 inches in length and weighed 0.7 pounds. Alex Carter of Oregon, Mo. checked his farm-pond trotline early on a March day, and a big largemouth bass on the line surprised him. The fish was 22.5 inches long, 17.25 inches in girth and weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces.
Missouri's pole, line and lure record for hybrid sunfish was broken twice in 1997. A hybrid sunfish is a cross between a bluegill and a fish such as a green sunfish. Michelle Morton of Jefferson City caught a 2-pound hybrid in May from a farm pond. She was using a worm as bait. In June, James E. Closson of Marshall caught a hybrid sunfish that weighed 2 pounds, 3.2 ounces, breaking Morton's record. Closson caught the fish on a trout fly. He was fishing in a farm pond near his home. The fish he caught was 13 inches long and had a girth of 14.25 inches.
Rob Caudel of Springfield broke the state's brown trout record in November with a lunker caught in 2 a.m. darkness below Powersite Dam below Lake Taneycomo in an area called the Pothole. Caudel was actually fishing for walleyes and was using a lure called a Git-zit when he hooked what proved to be a brown trout of 26 pounds, 13 ounces. He caught the largest brown trout ever taken in Missouri on 6-pound-test line with a spinning rod.
Caudel did not have a net, but he was fishing with a partner. Both men ended up in the chilly water, subduing the fish after Caudel brought it close to the bank. The fish was 37 inches long, with a girth of 24.25 inches. It beat the previous state-record brown trout, which weighed 24 pounds, 15 ounces. Caudel kept the fish alive overnight in a bathtub; a conservation official weighed it in the morning.
Earlier in the year, an angler found a 37-pound brown trout dead in Lake Taneycomo, so the lake has the capacity to produce fish even larger than Caudel's new record. The world record, a 40-pound brown trout, came from Arkansas waters.
Other Missouri state fish records broken in 1997 include a 12-pound, 4-ounce gar taken by Gregory Rippee of Willard by bow fishing. He shot the fish in Pomme de Terre Lake. Randy Christian of Savannah caught a record blue sucker on a pole, line and lure in April; the fish weighed 9 pounds, 14 ounces. It came from the Missouri River.
-jim auckley-
News Services Coordinator
(314) 751-4115, ext. 243
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