Watching Birds

By Martha Gillham and Joe Gray

This book is a compilation of bird stories written by our mother, Martha Ramseur Gillham. They were first published in the Arkansas Wildlife Federation newspaper Arkansas Out-of-Doors from 1972 until 1985. She was a longtime member of the federation which was instrumental in passing Amendment 35 to the Arkansas constitution which established the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission as an independent body.
All the illustrations were drawn by another member and close friend, Joe Gray, a commercial and wildlife artist, and political cartoonist in Dardanelle Arkansas.
The book has been assembled and published at the insistence and funding of our father Ralph Gillham. All proceeds from sales will go to the Yell County Wildlife Federation.

Lucien and Richard Gillham, Joanna Gray Lange and Bob Gray

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Aug 12, 2013
• ISBN: 9781477219850

Martha Gillham

Martha Ramseur Gillham was born in Hot Springs Arkansas in 1920. She lived most of her life in Dardanelle and Mt Nebo. She was married to Ralph Gillham from 1940 until she passed away in 2005. She was an avid bird watcher and was active in politics, the DAR, the Audubon Society and many charitable activities. Joe Gray was born in Booneville Arkansas in 1917. He grew up hunting and fishing and expressing his love of outdoors on paper and canvas. He served as a top turret gunner on a B-17 was wounded over Kiel Germany in 1943. He attended the Kansas City Art Institute where he studied under Thomas Hart Benton. He was a commercial artist and served as Art Director for Wildlife Publications which is affiliated with the National, Southeast and Arkansas Wildlife Federations. He also worked for the Editorial Services Division of the University of Arkansas and later started Joe Gray Graphic Design.

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Watching

Birds

MARTHA GILLHAM

AuthorHouse™ LLC

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

Phone: [phone]

© 2013 by Martha Gillham. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 08/07/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4772-1985-0 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-1671-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-1672-9 (hc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012910337

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Foreword

January 1972

February 1972

March, 1972

April, 1972

May, 1972

June 1972

July 1972

August 1972

September 1972

October 1972

November 1972

December 1972

January 1973

February 1973

March 1972

May 1973

June 1973

July 1973

August 1973

September 1973

October 1973

November 1973

December 1973

January 1974

February 1974

April 1974

May 1974

June 1974

July 1974

August 1974

September 1974

October, 1974

November 1974

December 1974

January 1975

February 1975

March 1975

April 1975

May 1975

June 1975

July 1975

August 1975

September 1975

October 1975

November 1975

December 1975

January 1976

February 1976

March 1976

April 1976

May June 1976

August 1976

September 1976

October 1976

December 1976

January 1977

February 1977

March 1977

April 1977

June 1977

September 1977

October 1977

December 1977

January 1978

February 1978

March 1978

September 1978

August 1979

November 1979

February 1980

April 1980

June 1980

May 1981

June 1981

November 1981

December 1981

January 1982

March 1983

May 1983

September 1983

March 1985

August 1995

March 1997

Foreword

To Bird Stories

This book is a compilation of bird stories written by our mother, Martha Ramseur Gillham. They were first published in the Arkansas Wildlife Federation newspaper Arkansas Out-of-Doors from 1972 until 1985. She was a longtime member of the federation which was instrumental in passing Amendment 35 to the Arkansas constitution which established the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission as an independent body.

All the illustrations were drawn by another member and close friend, J. R. Gray, a commercial and wildlife artist, and political cartoonist in Dardanelle Arkansas.

The book has been assembled and published at the insistence and funding of our father Ralph Gillham. All proceeds from sales will go to the Yell County Wildlife Federation.

Lucien and Richard Gillham, Joanna Gray Lange and Bob Gray

January 1972

Beginning to Write

Some time ago Bob Apple asked me to write an article for Arkansas Out-of-Doors. I told him I was no Ruth Thomas and doubted that I could. Then, last week he informed me that Joe Gray had designed a masthead for a bird column. I was trapped (and banded too, I guess.) So, here goes. I’m no expert, just a long-time backyard bird watcher. I say long-time, but I’m still discovering something new every day. Some people prefer to be called birders. Either label suits me. I simply enjoy the birds. First, I should say that I live in Dardanelle, and I can see the Arkansas River from my front windows. The house is on a busy corner just one block from the high school, so there’s a lot of traffic. I never cease to be amazed that I have so many birds. It just proves that birds are everywhere there is proper habitat. Have you ever noticed that mockingbird that stays in the hollies planted at Park Plaza in front of the Golden Host in Little Rock? My feeder is close to

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the kitchen window facing the side street. I really don’t have as much cover as I would like. About fifteen feet from the feeder is a young sugar maple and the bird bath. Fortunately there are almost no cats, so I keep feed on the ground under the tree. (I buy scratch grain and sunflower seeds.) However, the tree is close to the street. Just across the street is a large sweetgum and a very large sycamore. The back yard is enclosed by an overgrown, unclipped privet hedge laden with blue berries. I have tried to plant shrubs that attract the birds. I have hollies, nandinas, pyracanthas, cherry laurels, and french mulberries. The resident mocker considers the holly trees and the french mulberry his private property to be jealously guarded against all comers, especially the cedar waxwings and robins. This past fall and early winter have been fairly dull, at least at the feeder. I think it was because the weather was mild and there was a good crop of berries and seeds. I believe I have had fewer cardinals at the feeder and in the yard than ever before. Usually late in the afternoon around 5 o’clock just before dark, there would be a flock of 25 to 30 cardinals in the yard. But this year I have counted not more than 10 at a time, and that was on the colder days. However, the past week things have picked up and I have had some exciting events. There was a goldfinch or a pine siskin hanging on nearly every sweetgum ball, and they were all over the ground. The goldfinches have on their winter coats now. But I saw several males that were quite yellow. The 60 and 70 degree does seem like spring. A large flock of cedar waxwings joined groups of goldfinches to drink the water in puddles on the concrete driveway. The brown thrasher that is spending the winter with us was trying to bathe in the bird bath ringed by l2 wax-wings. They look like mechanical birds the way they take turn dipping their bills in the water. One bird gave the signal, at least that’s the way it seems, and off they went in tight formation.

Yesterday there was a most unusual occurrence in the yard under the maple. I was attracted to the kitchen window by the mockingbird’s frantic chirping. He was in the tree and the cardinals were on the ground standing at attention. I knew it couldn’t be a cat, or they would have flown. It couldn’t be a hawk, because they would be frozen in more or less a crouched position. There, right in the midst of the cardinals was a Shrike with a small victim. When he saw the movement at the window, he flew toward the riverbank and the and willows with the mocker in pursuit. I went outside and found a pine siskin which he had dropped. I’m sure it must have been sick or crippled. About 50 goldfinches and 25 pine siskins are in the flock staying in the neighborhood.

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Those little beggars, the purple finches, keep eating the sunflower seeds as fast as I put out a supply. No more than 12 can get on the feeder at a time. Fifteen or twenty stay on the ground. Out of 30 birds, I have counted only 6 pinkish-red mature males at one time. The rest are all the females and. young with the white line over the eye and their heavy brown streaking. Although they eat a lot and fuss a great deal, I still enjoy their soft twittering and, their coloring makes me think of raspberry sherbet, one of my favorite desserts.

I’ve kept the best, to me anyway, for last. For the first time ever, one white-breasted nuthatch is coming to the feeder. He eats 3 or 4 bites of Magic Mix, takes one sunflower seed and flies off. I hear his. nasal yank as he creeps headfirst, down the tree trunk.

Like the man said, Keep watching.

February 1972

I’m sure that some of you have already heard about the Audubon Society posters. And some have seen them in your local stores and schools, because the first printing is sold out. The new supply will be ready soon. Jane Stern of Pine Bluff is poster chairman, and she has done a tremendous job. Don’t think for a minute that the Audubon Society is anti-hunting; it’s not. It’s simply a matter of education, and Audubon is trying to teach. So many people just don’t know about the laws protecting our birds.

Those Shrikes again! They must be moving to town. Ordinarily the Loggerhead Shrike is perched on the utility wire that runs along the roads over the fields. You might mistake the shrike, or butcher bird, as some people call them, for a plump mockingbird. However, you will notice that the shrike wears a black mask a real bandit. Shrikes impale their victims on thorns or a barbed wire fence. Jean Stubbs, who lives only a block from the business district here, reported that a shrike spent one morning annoying the birds at her feeder. That same week Jerry Clare of Russellville really had trouble. Jerry lives on a busy corner not too far from the Arkansas Tech campus. She has a permit to band birds and has her traps set in the side yard. Hearing a commotion among the birds at the feeders and around the traps, she found that shrike had entered trap. Although he couldn’t reach the finch in the other side of the trap, he was terrifying the small bird. Jerry released the shrike and sent him on his way. But he wouldn’t shoo He returned to the trap, so she decided to band him. Then she put him in a covered cage and drove about six miles to a rural area where she released him. That was Saturday afternoon. Bright and early Monday morning, there was Mr. Shrike back at her feeder. Finally he left the yard and she hasn’t seen any more of him. Perhaps that taste of city life and the indignity of being banded and transplanted was too much.

Speaking of city life, the Evening Grosbeaks are back in town, and I do mean town. These spectacular yellow birds seem to prefer the feeders in the center of town to the outskirts.

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Evening Grosbeak

Birders in Arkansas became interested in this primarily northern and eastern bird when they invaded the state in the winter of 1968-69. The male is a gaudy bright yellow with black and white wings and forked tail. The females are olive-yellow and slightly gray. But both have huge pale-yellow, almost white beaks which they use to shell sunflower seeds at a surprising speed. But who minds the seeds for such beautiful birds. I’m so envious of my friends six blocks away in the middle of town who have flocks of 15 and 20 grosbeaks and I don’t have even one this year.

In March 1969, a female grosbeak flew into my window and was killed. She had been banded. I reported the number to the Bird-Banding Office, Laurel; Maryland, 20810, and received a reply that she had been banded in Littleton, New Hampshire in April 1964 when she was at least one year old. That would makes her six years old—a pretty ripe old age for one so far from home. Did you have handsome black and orange Baltimore Oriole nesting in a tall tree near you last summer? And did you look and look for that amazing socklike woven nest? Now is a good time to find the nest while the trees are so bare of leaves. Sometimes the oriole will repair the old nest and use it again. Usually, though, the winter winds take their toll.

I have noticed so many Belted kingfishers lately. Maybe it’s because there are more ponds stocked with fish for the kingfisher to claim as his own territory. To me, they look somewhat like a big-headed Blue Jay with a short tail. Unlike a jay, they usually sit on utility wires over some shallow water. And what excellent divers they are.

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By the way, did you realize that you should have had the bluebird boxes out by February 15. Well, maybe if we hurry… .

March, 1972

South of the Border

Buenos Dios from Mexico City! However, by the time you read this, I will be back in Dardanelle via, that large bird with the tremendous wingspread, species, Boeing 707 of the Pan Am family. It is really a thrill to be able to attend the annual meeting of the National Wildlife Federation. Mexico City, and especially the traffic here, is something else. I think that quite a few of the A.W.F. women read this column, and I. hope, some men do too. I am going to tell you something of the activities from the feminine point of view. Thursday evening there was a get acquainted social with refreshments and favors (a colorful hand-woven bag). About 125 women attended. Two bus loads of us left Friday morning at 9 a.m. for a guided tour of the market at Toluca. Mexican craftsmen from miles around bring their wares to the market which has hundreds of stalls. You can bargain with the people for all kinds of silver trinkets, baskets, jewelry, and numerous other items. It was jammed with people, and it was difficult to make your way through the maze. We ate lunch at a restaurant located, high in the mountains about half way between Toluca and Mexico City. It was a beautiful setting with several dams, lakes and waterfalls. The delicious luncheon was served in the garden at tables sheltered by large umbrellas in bright hues. The Mexicans seem to love orange, purple, and blue. Of course, the flowers were in full bloom; The pine trees were the tallest I had ever Seen. I could hear birds singing, and I, could catch a glimpse of color; but I was never able to identify them.

I’m sorry to say that the only birds I saw were the English sparrows in the gardens at our hotel in Mexico City. But then, I was never out in the residential section or a rural area. I know that there are many, many birds in Mexico, because I had the privilege of seeing some of the original paintings of the pages of Dr. Roger Tory Peterson’s new book, A Field Guide to the Birds of Mexico, to be published in 1973. Dr. Peterson is an artist, noted naturalist, and N.W.F. Art Director. But I suppose he is best known for his book A Field Guide to the Birds which is considered the bible on bird identification. It has been said that more women go out with Peterson on Sunday afternoon than any other man in the world. But really, Dr. Peterson has a droll wit, and it was a pleasure to talk to him. A number of years ago, Dr. Peterson was in Little Rock to narrate one of his films in the Audubon Film series. At that time, they were shown at the Heights Theatre. He told me that he would always remember Little Rock and Arkansas; because that was the only time he had ever had his name in lights on a theatre marquee. This, from a man who has travelled all over the world and received all kinds of awards and honors.

If you are in the market for a bird book, there are several good ones, both hard cover and paper back, available. But Peterson’s Field Guide, (Eastern Land and Water Birds for our area) is standard. You may be able to buy a copy from your local book store, or you can order one for $5.95 from N.W.F. Washington D.C. 20036. Or write N.W.F. to send you a pamphlet listing the goodies they sell—bird feeders, stationery, books, and gkts. Try it, you’ll like it.

On Friday night there was a showing of N.W.F.’s new film on the Bald Eagle. Pesticides, pollution, and destruction of habitat are pushing the eagle closer and closer to disaster. Time is getting short to save these majestic birds, our national symbol. The National Wildlife Week poster features an eagle, her nest, and young. It is a federal crime with. a stiff penalty, $500 and/or 6months in jail, for shooting an eagle, and yet it still happens. Many young eagles are killed because they are mistaken for hawks. But then, it is illegal to kill any hawk, also Bald eagles don’t get their white (bald) heads and tails until they are about four years old. The eagle has a wingspan of 6-1/2 to 7-1/2 feet. They prefer to eat fish, and so they gather along lakes, rivers, and inlets. Since the completion of the Dardanelle Dam on the Arkansas River, the eagles frequent the river just below the dam and. a half-mile or so downstream. Not too long ago, I heard the crows and jays screaming. I looked out my front window across to the riverbank, and there was a mature Bald Eagle sailing above the willows. To be able to. see an eagle is a wonderful experience, and even more so when it is practically in my front yard. We must protect these birds.

For the last few years now the eagles have stayed on the Holla Bend Refuge. One Sunday afternoon we counted 7 in a large tree. The ducks use the Refuge too, and some hunters were concerned about the eagles eating the ducks. A healthy duck can fly much too fast to be caught, but the eagles do catch the crippled, sick, and lead-poisoned ducks. It has been estimated that one third of all ducks shot are never retrieved, and no one knows how many are dying from other causes. This really gives the eagles a useful; humane job to do.

Lets keep those Eagles flying!

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April, 1972

Spring Birds

Bye, bye, Blackbird. I’ve wished them gone for a month now, but they won’t go away. The Grackles and Cowbirds have just taken over my yard. What few Cardinals, Robins, and Evening Grosbeaks that come to the feeder are chased away by these bullies. The Common Grackle is an aggressive, thoroughly disliked species, although they are intelligent birds.