Hi,

Did a beauty fall hike to Carver Pond (restricted access) at the Holden
Arboretum in Kirtland this morning and along the way we saw Eastern
Bluebirds, then along the East Branch of the Chagrin River and at Carver
pond found Bald Eagles.  Then driving home a Peregrine Falcon flew across
the road near the Kirtland south Cemetery.

This caused me to reflect back on growing up in Kirtland in the 1960's and
70's and how all 3 of those species were extremely rare.  While we are
constantly bombarded by a narrative of birds under threat, and there
certainly are real threats like habitat loss from coal mining reducing
numbers of Cerulean Warblers, and huge declines in seabirds with the likely
culprit being Mercury pollution from burning coal, the Eastern Bluebird,
Bald Eagle and Peregrine Falcon are certainly success stories which show
what can be accomplished with properly focused efforts on the real threats
to these birds.

I still remember my lifer Bald Eagles and Peregrine Falcon.  The former
when I was in grade 7 and outside for recess when a mature adult flew
over.  The latter at Magee Marsh when I was about 14.  I honestly thought
that might be the only Peregrine Falcon I might see in my lifetime as their
population had been so decimated by the pesticide DDT.

But we banned the use of DDT in 1972 and all three of these species have
rebounded to common or abundant status.  So abundant that I even have
Peregrine Falcon as a flyover yard bird in my wooded yard on Gildersleeve
Mountain.  We find Eastern Bluebirds nesting in natural cavities deep in
the woods because there are apparently not enough nest boxes. Bald Eagle
nests are commonplace.  Remarkable change I have seen in my lifetime.

These successes just make me realize that it is not all gloom and doom.
That with properly focused action that targets true threats to species, we
can make changes which have astonishing results. But we cannot be
distracted by false equivalences like standards which treat harm to a few
individual birds in the same way we view things that threaten entire
populations.  Focus on the entire population is key or else the prefect
becomes the enemy of the good.

Haans

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