ir eee ete Or Ne eb Waly ern 13 
Report of the 1965 National Audubon Convention 
By Wallace W. Kirkland, Jr., M.D. — Delegate 
The National Audubon Convention was held in October, 1965 in Boston. Audu- 
bon activities here clearly demonstrate the strength and leadership of the 
Massachusetts Audubon Society. Imagine dialing the Voice of Audubon the 
year around and getting up-to-date bird news! 
Sandy Sprunt, Jry., reported his comparative five-year aerial survey of 
Louisiana and Texas coast line birds. He counted more than 1,600 Roseate 
Spoonbills and a large number of Cattle Egrets, but fewer Brown Pelicans and 
Reddish Egrets. In the Bahamas it was a poor year for Flamingoes, with the 
nests flooded out by heavy rains. He reported fewer Bald Eagles in the Ever- 
glades; in Maine, 33 eagle nests produced only four young. 
Dr. William Drury, research director of The Massachusetts Audubon So- 
ciety, who has been dyeing gulls a shocking pink, estimated that only a million 
Herring Gulls on the East Coast are making an “honest” living. “If an airport 
has a gull problem, if a city is over-run by gulls, it is a result of the city’s 
filthy disposal of waste.”’ 
On The New Conservation panel, a colorful Scotsman and landscape 
architect from the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Ian McHarg, suggested 
that: ‘“Man is but a planetary disease.”’ He listed a fine value system for re- 
sources: 1) Surface water is for marinas; 2) Flood plains are for water; 
3) Marshes are for breeding and spawning; 4) Underground water is for 
aquifers; 5) Prime agricultural land is for farming; 6) Steep slopes are for 
trees. He proceeded to show how man has destroyed many of these resources 
forever. Mrs. Whitmore of the National League of Women Voters told how 
to mobilize local support for natural beauty. 
Dr. Carl Buchheister’s annual president’s report noted a “good year for 
conservation,’’ with passage of The Wilderness Act, The Land and Water 
Conservation Act, and The Water Quality Act. Hon. James M. Quigley, As- 
sistant Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, reported the signing of 
a conservation bill earlier the same morning, and quoted President Johnson 
as promising ‘‘to reopen the Potomac for swimming.’”’ Pending are The Wild 
Rivers Bill, Endangered Species Bill, and The Ecological Research Bill. He 
reported a new Wildlife Services reorganization. On the negative side were 
the threatened Colorado Bridge Canyon and Marble Canyon Dams and diver- 
sion of water from the Everglades. Buchheister concluded by remarking that: 
“Mounted insects, caged birds, and fish in aquaria are no substitute for ob- 
| servation in the wild.”’ 
On Sunday we participated in a wonderful field trip to the south shore 
with Sandy Sprunt, Jr. We saw an Ipswich Sparrow and such sea birds as 
gannets, eiders and scoters. Box lunches on the lawn in front of the “May- 
flower” at Plymouth provided a fine historical interlude. Kathleen Anderson 
was our charming hostess, an active ornithologist who was currently netting 
and banding to obtain samples of the blood of small birds in the area — 
seeking a possible reservoir of Eastern Equine Encephalitis for the state 
health department. 
A panel discussion Monday on The Conservation Crisis — Salt Marshes, 
included an informative talk by Dr. John Gottshalk, director of The U.S. 
