Flying fish? Tiger sharks are a ‘soar’ subject

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Tiger sharks have figured out where the birds are, and are going after them. | SUn-TIMES MEDIA FILE PHOTO,

Updated: March 5, 2012 8:02AM

From the reading room, casting a wide net ...

Sharks are for the birds

Look at your bird feeders for a second and imagine a huge shark leaping from the water (turf) and grabbing a couple of songbirds for lunch.

Yes, it’s a very odd scenario, but so is the fact that researchers are finding song birds inside of Tiger sharks in the Gulf of Mexico off the Alabama coast.

Talk about a quirky nature story.

As National Geographic tells it, back in 2009, Marcus Drymon of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab was catching and tagging sharks and releasing them when one of them coughed up some feathers.

It’s not unthinkable that a shark could catch some waterfowl on the surface. But when he studied the feathers, beaks and feet, he found inside a dissected shark, he found they were land birds like woodpeckers, tanagers, sparrows and meadowlarks.

The sharks were feasting on migrating birds that were exhausted or had crashed into oil rigs because of the lights.

The American Bird Conservancy says more birds are killed that way than were killed by the 2010 Gulf oil spill. The sharks may be learning to hang around rigs because of the easy prey.

WildlifeExtra.com also covered the story, citing the bird conservancy study that showed hundreds of thousands of birds die from oil and gas platform lighting effects in the Gulf of Mexico every year, but research suggests that using green lighting at platforms — as opposed to red or white lights — would nearly eliminate the circling behavior.

Making the lights blink can also help, but they haven’t figured out the best cycle yet.

The Netherlands has already implemented bird-friendly lighting off their coast.

The United States is going to do a study in 2013, according to the bird conservancy.

And here I thought just wind turbines were lethal to migrating birds. So the birds we feed at our feeders can end up a shark lunch, which I just find amazing. Nature is so efficient, nothing goes to waste.

Rolling the dice for ice

Packer backers and Cubbie fan alert:

The 51st Northern Illinois Conservation Club Chain O’ Lakes Ice Fishing Derby and Winter Festival this coming weekend would appreciate some cold days to solidify the ice they already have on Channel Lake and Lake Marie.

It runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and includes the ice-fishing shanty contest (Best Presentation and Most Creative, which I will be judging, for $100 prize).

There will be hourly fishing prizes for big and small fish, and an egg toss and a tug-of-war held sporadically both days.

Sunday is the auction (about 2:30 p.m.) where you can bid on a football autographed by the Green Bay Packers, and there is also a signed photograph of Cub Fergie Jenkins.

Top prize for the raffle after auction is $1,500. The festival goes on no matter the ice conditions.

Few pheasant feasts left

The annual Pheasants Forever Banquet is Feb. 25 at the Antioch Moose Lodge, 26020 W. Route 173, with doors opening at 4 p.m. and dinner featuring wild rice, pheasant and more.

Auction items include wildlife art by Redlin, Bateman and Storm and guns include Remington, Beretta, and Mossberg. There is also a purebred black Labrador.

Cost for yearly membership/magazine and dinner is $60, or $25 dinner only tickets. Under-16 tickets are $20.

Proceeds stay in Lake County promoting outdoor and youth events that include conservation education.

Contact Jim Fields at Baronjack@aol.com or call (847) 274-3958.

Candid camera for critters

The Lake County Audubon will have Dr. Seth Magle at its Monday meeting where he will discuss what a four-county, 30-mile radius network of cameras shows what wildlife is enjoying your backyard while you are asleep.

Magle, an urban wildlife ecologist for the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, starts a power-point presentation at 7:30 p.m. at the Libertyville Hall, 118 W. Cook St., and the 90-minute program is free.

In addition to the program, birdhouses and feeders will be available for purchase.

Bird man

How did James Audubon like his short stay in southern Illinois?

Find out Tuesday at the Grayslake campus of the College of Lake County (Washington St., just west of Route 45) where a program celebrates the 200th anniversary of Audubon in Room C005 in Building C.

The free event starts at 7 p.m. and features Brian “Fox” Ellis as naturalist and wildlife artist John James Audubon recounting the time he spent here in the spring of 1811.

Go Native

Learn how to plan and design a native landscape with the Wild Ones at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday with Kelsay Shaw of Possibility Place Nursery at The Byron Colby Barn at Prairie Crossing, 1561 Jones Point Road, Grayslake.

Join the Lake-to-Prairie Chapter of Wild Ones as they use pictures and a case study of a home in Kankakee, to take you through the steps of planning and designing the transition to a native landscape.

For more information about Wild Ones or to join, contact Rick Sanders at (847) 940-9482.