From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Thu Dec 5 21:12:07 2002 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.2/8.12.2) with ESMTP id gB65AF6B013507 for <[[email protected]]>; Thu, 5 Dec 2002 21:10:16 -0800 (PST) Received: from rwcrmhc51.attbi.com (rwcrmhc51.attbi.com [204.127.198.38]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.2/8.12.2) with ESMTP id gB659meo013470 for <[[email protected]]>; Thu, 5 Dec 2002 21:09:48 -0800 (PST) Received: from computer.attbi.com (12-240-80-104.client.attbi.com[12.240.80.104]) by rwcrmhc51.attbi.com (rwcrmhc51) with SMTP id <2002120605094505100o27cpe>; Fri, 6 Dec 2002 05:09:46 +0000 Message-Id: <[[email protected]].> X-Sender: [[email protected]]. X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1 Date: Thu, 05 Dec 2002 21:11:32 -0800 To: [[email protected]], [[email protected]] From: Alvaro Jaramillo <[[email protected]]> In-Reply-To: <[[email protected]]> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Subject: [SBB] waterbird pond too high. X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1b4+ Precedence: list List-Unsubscribe: , List-Id: South Bay Birding List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Sender: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Errors-To: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] At 05:48 PM 12/5/2002 -0500, [[email protected]] wrote: >. The water level in the Waterbird Pond continues to >be TOO HIGH (I hope someone "hears" the shouting). The only shorebirds there >were Dowitchers and GREATER YELLOWLEGS (nothing special amongst the gulls and >ducks). The water level in Salt Pond A-18 was also TOO HIGH (still >shouting). Bob, I guess I head you shouting, but you leave me confused. First of all I can understand your frustration in going out to look for shorebirds and finding that shorebird habitat wasn't available. But, you have to understand that the waterbird pond's purpose is not just to provide habitat for shorebirds, but also for ducks and gulls. Second, It is also very difficult to control water levels there since there are no pumps that pull the water in, so often you need to fill it up high (only possible on higher tides) if one knows there won't be high tides for a while. There is also the issue of maintaining as high a salinity level as possible in the pond, which is done by refilling and evaporating, again only possible on higher tides. Furthermore with winter rain, saturated soils, and runoff fill the pond up higher still, and that is entirely beyond anyone's control. Optimally, at least in my opinion, the pond should be high in winter when there is a lot of duck activity locally. The importance of the pond to shorebirds is greatest during migration, not right now. So you have to realize that its a multipurpose type of habitat, and there is nothing WRONG with it being high right now. Also, while I am sure you did not mean to actively imply anything like this, you also have to understand that a public message like this has an undertone of criticizing someone's work, basically that they have done a bad job. This is just not the case. good birding, Alvaro Alvaro Jaramillo Biologist San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory P.O. Box 247 Alviso, CA 95002 (408)-946-6548 http://www.sfbbo.org/ [[email protected]] _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. south-bay-birds mailing list ([[email protected]]) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://www.plaidworks.com/mailman/options/south-bay-birds/south-bay-birds-archive%40plaidworks.com This email sent to [[email protected]]