Odds and Ends

Just soak in this photo for a moment. I sure need to. Of all the weekends to miss Frank's banding station! They got in a goshawk and a male pileated! I asked Frank if he got any injuries. You don't worry so much about the beaks of raptors, but you sure do when it comes to woodpeckers--especially crow sized woodpeckers. Frank said:

"Actually I only got one puncture that resulted in bloodshed of any kind. I managed to judiciously use the glove as a barrier for most of the handling. (We don't wear gloves while handling the birds so we don't break feathers or squeeze too hard. I always cringe when I see people using big welders gloves to handle birds. You can't feel if you are hurting them through that great thickness of leather. I'd rather get a peck or two, than damage a bird.)

When it hit the net, Chuck (one of Frank's subbanders) was on it right away with no gloves! I guess after grabbing a wild pine marten a few years ago, he doesn't feel very threatened by a mere bird. And with him being a Doctor, I guess he could just fix it anyway. He was holding its head most of the time so it couldn't really get a good shot in at me."

I love this bird, this the bird that got me interested in birds when I was seven. One of the summers I volunteered in the avian nursery, I young pileated woodpecker clung to my torso like I was a tree. I was a profound moment for me and definitely in my top ten birding moments.

So yesterday I got to experience life as a tv show host. Wow, is it fast paced and you have several things going on at once. Above is my script, which was also on a teleprompter too that I could read as I looked at the camera. Using a teleprompter is a lot like the screen when singing karaoke (glad all of the singing at bird festivals has come in handy for my career!). But you also have an ear piece where the producer is telling you how much time you have, if you need to give a phone number, suggested questions for the guests, where to look--all this while you are interviewing the guest. I was really lucky, all three of the guests were good talkers which makes it easy for me. The first guest was Louise the organization expert and she on Showcase Minnesota as often as I am. I told her she was my first and my biggest concern was making sure I wrapped up (finished the segment) when the producer told me to). She told me to just tap her on the leg and she would wind up her sentence. Also, when I got to her for the segment, she made a little sheet with all her main points hidden behind her props--typical, great Louise--helpful and organized to the Nth degree. Birderblog did a great job and when I get a DVD from KARE 11 of the show, NBB and I will put that part of the show up on the site.

Meanwhile, NBB has taken up origami.

Cinnamon has taken up disapproving of the origami. Actually, she's having a great time tossing his designs around. I think someone mentioned in an earlier comment that a bored bunny is a mischievous bunny. Hopefully the origami will occupy her for a few days.