Blackbird Report

I took this at the store yesterday. Say what you will about starlings, they do look pretty cool in their spotty plumage this time of year.

For all those saying, "Hey, I thought you said blackbirds would be gone by now!" They will be gone soon. As soon as we get some snow they will be gone. In the meantime, it's fun to appreciate the male red-wing blackbird's red patches with the fall colors. The starlings will be here all winter. If you want to cut back on the number of starlings coming only feed seeds in a hard shell. They can't crack them open.

I also hear from Denny Martin that they turkeys in his backyard bully away the blackbirds for access to his millet, so try to attract some turkeys.

Another Rainy Day

Well, here I am living the dream. I have a relatively clean home (thank you Ritzy Clean-if you work full time and would rather spend your few days off a week not worrying about mopping the floors, dusting or scrubbing counters get a house cleaner they're not as expensive as you think).

Anyway, I'm living the dream: rainy day, nice autumn scented candle, big cup of coffee and writing away. I turn in the calendar tomorrow so today I'm home getting the last few details together.

Boy, northern owl species reports are pouring in. There's even been a snowy owl reported already. I'm supposed to go hand out with a friend this weekend but I'm thinking of calling a "birding emergency" and heading north. If anyone has been thinking I might come to Minnesota for owls this winter, I would turn that into a definite plan. Here's an expert from one of the weekly Duluth Rare Bird Alert yesterday:

We may be at the beginning of a large irruption of northern owls. Steve
and Diane Millard found 7 NORTHERN HAWK OWLS in the Sax-Zim area on
Monday and Tuesday, including several birds along Cty Rd 7 north of 133
and another bird a mile east of Cty Rd 7 on Stone Lake Rd. Another bird
was reported on the Beyer Rd near Jean Duluth Rd and the Strand Rd on
the 24th.

The Millards also found a GREAT GRAY OWL on Cty Rd 83, 2.5 miles south
of 27. Jim Lind found another today on the Stanley Rd (Cty Rd 9) about
4 miles west of Hwy 61 and the Two Harbors Ford dealership. Doug
Johnson found another along Hwy 61 one mile west of Flood Bay. Yet
another Great Gray was seen along Cty Rd 16 between Makinen and
Brimson. The bird was in the vicinity of the extensive spruce bog one
mile west of the entrance to the Whiteface National Forest Service
Campground. Uwe Kausch had a GREAT GRAY OWL at his house northeast of
Duluth.

The first SNOWY OWL of the season was found October 23rd at Paradise
Beach in Cook County, about 14 miles northeast of Grand Marais.

Anyone Missing a Baglafecht Weaver?

A weird bird turned up at someone's feeder in Stearn's county. The MOU has a photo of the Baglafecht Weaver on their recently seen page. I know there has been some question if this bird is a released pet or flew here from Africa of it's own volition. The bird appears to be wearing a pink leg band which says to me that it was a captive bred bird.

I also want to point out to people that the bird is eating what many people would refer to as crap seed. Look at all the milo and millet! Now, I don't want people to get any ideas, just putting crap seed in your feeder is not going to guarantee a good stake out bird. Although it makes sense that a species from another continent would eat seed that species on our continent won't touch. I wonder...maybe I could made up a new mix at the store: Rare Bird Chow, full of cheap filler seeds but tasty to those unusual birds that bring the listers to your backyard. If no birds are eating it in your yard that just means there are no rare birds in your area yet.

The bird does look very strange. Kind of reminds me of a coked out lesser goldfinch on steroids.

A goldfinch finally!!

For the record I live in the Uptown area of Minneapolis on a second floor apartment on a busy street. The trendy place to eat, get tattooed and pierced, have hair color not found in nature. My only feeders are off my bedroom window (the only place I'm allowed to have them anymore). I get surprisingly interesting birds at my feeder especially during migration. Two unexpected birds were a female Baltimore oriole and male rose-breasted grosbeak. The bane of my feeder list has been an American goldfinch. I have on occasion seen them merely a block from my house feeding on petunias that have gone to seed. I know they nest in the cemetary four blocks away, but never have I had even one at my feeder...until now. It's an ornery little bird too. A house sparrow just landed and he fluffed up and screeched and the house sparrow flew away. I've seen house finches bully the house sparrows, but never a goldfinch. Doh, he just flew away. Well, at least I know the goldfinches are aware of my existence at the feeder. It only took six years. It's odd, I got flying squirrels coming to my feeder before I got a goldfinch. Who knew?

Twilight Zone Moment

Okay, I've geeked out about Wheeler all week, this will be my last post and it should be out of my system.

Saturday night after a long day of pushin' seed at the Bird Store I collapsed on the couch to read my Raptor of the American West by Brian Wheeler. After watching his photography technique I had an even larger respect for the number of photos and variety of angles of the birds in the book. I started reading the acknowledgment section to see if I recognized anyone. That's one of my favorite things to do with bird books is to go over the acknowledgement section. I get so excited if there's a Minnesota name in there, I feel like a cheerleader screaming "Go Team!" Anyway, I was reading through the gigantic list and of course found a few recognizable Minnesota names like: Dudley Edmondson, Dave Gilbertson, Mark Martell, Frank and Kate Nicoletti, Matt Solensky, Sharon Stiteler... I must have reread that last name about ten times before I started hyperventilating. I asked Bill to read through the list to make sure I wasn't seeing things. Yes, my name spelled correctly is in the acknowledgments. To the best of my knowledge I'm the only Sharon Stiteler in the birding community. There is another Sharon Stiteler, but she's a diving champ and aerobic instructor and I'm sure when she googles her name wonders who the birding weirdo is that's out there.

Bottom line is, if that is my name in there, I don't know what it is that I did. To the best of my knowledge I've never met or encountered Brian Wheeler until the last month or so. I think my biggest fear is that somewhere there's information about raptors out there with my name on it and it's not really my information, that my name is in there by mistake. I'm terribly excited to have my name in print on one of the best raptor books out there, I just want to know what I did to deserve it and make sure there's not another Sharon Stiteler taking over in the birding community. I wondered momentarily if it's my evil twin, but Bill pointed out that I am my own evil twin so that blows my theory.

Call of the Wild

Matchmaker, Matchmaker, make me a match...

So, if anyone out there is interested in picking up men, especially rugged outdoors type guys, I can't recommend wearing camo enough. In order to go photographing with Wheeler and Tekiela we were ordered to be in full camo, plus they covered us in tarps so the birds would see nothing at all. When we arrived in Duluth, we stopped at a gas station for some coffee and breakfast sandwiches in our camo pants and jackets. As we entered, every male eye in the place was on us. I opened the refrigerator case for nice wholesome bottle of milk when I heard a roguish voice ask, "So, you ladies up here deer hunting?" He cocked his eye brow, coyly and gave a knowing smile.

I wanted to tell the truth, that we were going to sit on the ground covered in a tarp, watch hawks soar overhead and listen to two of the greatest bird photographers of our time go "clickity, click, click, click, click" with their cameras. Alas, I decided to flirt back and sound macho so I gave a little white lie and said, "We're hawk trapping!!" (we do go up for hawk trapping, however we were not this particular day).

He looked bewildered and a little disappointed that I wasn't going to go out and take out a buck with a nice rack (while sporting a nice rack of my own--ba da ching). Anyway, I tried to make it sound cool and exciting, but really in thirty seconds of flirting it's incredibly difficult to get the finer point of hawk trapping across. Knowing my luck, he probably thought I was going to kill hawks and is turning me in as I type.

The moral of the story was that if you want to meet men, go to a gas station wearing camo...it's a turn on.

This is a bird chick blog so, I should mention birds seen up in Duluth LOT AND LOTS of bald eagles! We had a kettle of about 7 eagles at one point and one of them turned out to be a golden eagle. We also saw many rough legged hawks. I saw more dark morph rough legs yesterday than I have in my entire life. Other points of interest included black-backed woodpeckers, snow buntings, lapland longspurs, gray jays, harriers, and my favorite raptor the goshawk!

Crouching Tekiela Hidden Wheeler

Stan Tekiela Tries to hide his gigantic scope (paging Dr. Freud) under a camo tarp. Combine that with Amber and I sitting nearby in camo burkas we were a scary looking party on the Duluth hillside.


Brian Wheeler attacks Amber. Why can't more authors be fun like this?

I totally geeked out yesterday. Amber and I got to hang out with Stan Tekiela and Brian Wheeler yesterday. It was just as exciting as I thought it would be. We sat under camo tarps, watched hawks come in and listened as Tekiela and Wheeler click clicked their cameras.

I'm so tired right now, I don't know how I'm going to make it to work today. I'm just grateful that I have Denny and Ron in today to put away the seed order. I got home past midnight last night after sitting on the ground most of the day, but again it was sooo worth it.

The best was watching Wheeler getting into his photographing outfit. He looked like Swamp Thing. The other thing that cracked me up was the amount of cell phone usage. I warned Bill and the people at work that I would probably be in places that it would be hard to reach me. I mostly didn't want to be the odd person out with her phone going off every few minutes. No one called me at all and these guys were talking every few minutes. It was great.

Wheeler had a sense of humor although Stan had warned us he was kind of a stick in the mud (which in hindsight I think was a joke Stan was playing on Amber and me...I got even, I told Wheeler what he said).

Amber and I are the coolest people I know.

Disapproving Rabbit Alert

This is a note from Cinnamon the Rabbit. I disapprove of millet.

Bird Gossip

A certain European S was found faternizing with a certain Columba Livia...

We have two list serves in Minnesota. One (Mnbird) is a general list that people can post pretty much anything relating to birds (as long as it's not politically partisan) and the other (mou-net) is for posting rare birds, odd bird behavior or movement. Some people don't like that there are two lists. Some people in the birding community don't get along. If you're on a list serve, you know what I'm talking about, it's the same in any geeky community.

Someone recently brought up that it's a shame that Minnesota birders are so nasty that we have to have to listserves. It cracks me up, I've been on nasty listserves and I would not call mnbird or mou-net nasty or cantankerous. Here's the birder idea of cantankerous: "You didn't mention seeing a weak olive vest on the bird you saw, are you sure it was in fact a dusky flycatcher?" The birder equivalent of a fight is questioning sightings or someone's bird knowledge. For the people involved it's very serious, but for outsiders looking in, it just confirms how nerdy and geeky we are. Some of the posts that show up from time to time can be misread in tone and interpreted as flaming, but it's more the result of people lacking social skills and being a little too direct in their emails.

I've been so tempted to respond to some of the posts that are showing up, but I don't think I would contribute anything new to the subject only get off a couple of zingers that would make me feel. Plus, I would probably end up engaging in a war of emails with someone I don't care for and really I'm too busy writing the calendar to spend sending emails slams back and fourth.

Orange Breasted Thugs

We've had flocks of robins moving through the last few weeks. I enjoy seeking them out on my walks, watching as they move secretly through the trees with a soft high pitched whistle. The bad boys that moved in today are a bit more aggressive.


Robins surrounding a roof top puddle. The bird on the far right is a cedar waxwing.

On one of the buildings behind mine, the roof is very slanted and water is always collecting. In the winter I watch the owner break up the ice dams, but in warmer weather this area serves as a make shift bird bath. This time of year I usually see a flock of cedar waxwings descend on the puddle. Today they showed up en masse, but their drinking plans were thwarted when the hordes of robins arrived. Any time a waxwing would try to go the puddle, at least two robins would fly in and pounce on it. Even the starlings were afraid of these guys. The robins sat in the trees and flicked their tails in defiance while giving sharp "chirip chup chup" calls. No one was going to mess with this flock. The dominated the puddle for the afternoon. After they had their fill and moved on, one lone brave blue jay flew in for a quick sip and then scooted away. I never saw the waxwings return, but there's enough shoddy roof work in Uptown, I'm sure they will get a drink somewhere.

I went for a walk around the neighborhood and to a park near Lakewood cemetery. The park of course was full of robins. I walked down the path and swarms of robins flew off ahead of me. With my headphones on, I almost fancied myself an Agent Smith from the second Matrix movie when he walks in with a flock of raven to confront Neo with...and then I realize how geeky that sounds.

I found more juncos and even a brown creeper.

I watched my KARE 11 segment on cable access today. I need to do something about my eyebrows, they're non-existent with those studio lights.

Fair Weather Birder

Okay, so I didn't go see the Clark's Nutcracker. I just have too much work to do. I'll be in Duluth on Thursday geeking out with Brian Wheeler so maybe I'll head to Silver Bay to check it out.

I had every good intention going on Friday before work, but the bed was so warm...

Saturday was Stan Tekiela's Crex Wine and Crane Tour. It was fun. Amber and I were waiting for Stan to show up, I was having second thoughts with the wind blowing all over the place, wishing I had gone out with Bill to Lorraine's. We drove around Crex and I got a life bird. I had never seen a sharp-tailed grouse before and we saw one right on the side of the road. We also saw snow buntings and a dark morph rough-legged hawk--look at the top of Bill Schmoker's Page to see a dark morph rough-legged.


We watched a few thousand cranes come in as well. The birding was mostly by car, so Stan and his assistant pulled the vans over in an "L" shape to try and block the wind. He set up his little card table, broke out the crackers, meat, cheese and wine. We chatted for about 15 - 20 minutes and turned around. We found most of the food and wine gone and everyone else pretty much loaded back in the van. Stan pointed out that there were still more cranes coming but everyone had had enough and was ready to drive around Crex some more to look at other birds and mammals.

Sunday Morning

This morning I will be on My Sister's Garden on fm107. One of the sisters is under the weather so I'm going to go on in her place and talk birds. The gals are a great time so I can't wait to be on with them.

I currently have a young female cardinal eating at the feeder. I hadn't seen one for a couple weeks, so I'm glad to have one back. She's pretty relaxed for an Uptown cardinal. She doesn't mind me sitting here typing (the feeder is right out the window where my iMac is. She also isn't mind all the pigeon activity which usually puts off older cardinals.

Stake Out Bird

The posse has been formed and birders across the state are heading to Silver Bay to see a Clark's Nutcracker hanging out at someone's bird feeder. The homeowner is being very generous and letting people view the bird in their yard as long as you stay on the sidewalk and don't trample the grass. I really want to go see it, but yesterday and today would have been the fun days to do it and I'm too busy. Stake out birds are a good time. It's like the birder equivalant of an impromptu cocktail party...only without the cocktails. People share stories of how they found the bird being staked out, or how they heard about it, how many miles traveled, appointments canceled, how many spouses ticked off about being ditched for it. It really is a good time. If it's still around Monday, I might head up to go see it after KARE 11.

Click Here for Link

It's rare for a bird to attack a person, but this is one of those rare exceptions when it happens.

Junco Splosion and Raptor ID

Juncos were the topic this morning, they were everywhere. Someone posted on MnBird that she had several move in overnight and I looked behind my store and they were everywhere--even lurking under my car.

Teake Bratcher had a photo of a raptor she saw in her yard in Hutchinson, Minnesota. She asked if anyone would be willing to look at the photo and wager a guess. Here's the photo, what do you think it is?



For some, this bird is tricky to identify because of the whitish belly, leading many to think it's a hawk. The bird in question also appears to have a bib. I love the crow comparison in this photo-it's dwarfed by the bird in question. They look like a couple of thugs planning mischief in the neighborhood. Have a guess on the bird yet? If not, I'll give one last hint--look how big that beak is in relation to the head. That's an immature bald eagle.

Blackbird

I love cold autumn days. I love the way the trees look against the gray clouds, the smell of wet leaves and watching to see what birds are blown in. Today it's blackbirds.

Behind the store this morning is a whole slew has just came in. It's mostly red-winged blackbirds out there but there are a good number of starlings mixed in as well. They're raiding the feeders and I don't mind so much because they'll move further south very quickly. They sound like they all just came home from an all night bender. Their song is not the cheery forceful "where are my keeeeeys" that we normally hear in the summer, but a very groggy and short "krees". I suppose migrating does that to a bird.

I'm even enjoying watching the crows. We had some cobs of corn show up in a bag that had been liberally chewed by mice. Rather than try to sell them, I tossed them behind the store. With the orange leaves, gray sky, yellow corn and black crows it's a wonderful Halloween scene. Although I know some of you don't like crows and think that all that's missing is a pumpkin being chucked at them.

We just had a whole new line of bird food blocks come in. This stuff is really good stuff, it's sunflower and pecans. The pecan smell is so strong I can smell. It smells really good. I wish I had more for breakfast now. Although, I'm off eating bird food...and this time I mean it. Really, I'm not going to sample the bird food any more. Certainly not less, just not any more.

I love egg

Not one hundred percent bird related, but kind of. For a very weird song and strange animation visit:

www.iloveegg.com

Then click on egg song.

I now have someone aiding and abetting my affair with Fred the cat. Bill Anding gave me a copy of Birds of Hawaii to brush up on before Fred and I head out to start our little bird store. I'm most curious on how to attract a red crested bulbul.

Me and My Fred

Here is my Fred whom I plan on running away with to Hawaii. Lorraine tells me that if cats speak to you, that they lie, but look at his face! Nothing but sweet sincerity. Bill tells me that there is no way Fred will ever change, but I pointed out that Fred grew up with a tough hand and that all he needs is love and understanding and then he'll change. It will be a whole week until we see each other again, I will try to manage...somehow.

Autumn Leaves

Today was absolutely beautiful. I went walking in a friend's woods today. Earlier this spring it had been loaded with indigo buntings, common yellow throats, rose-breasted grosbeaks and even a blue winged warblers. Today the woods were practically silent. I was kind of sad to think of these birds long gone until next May and then I heard the wind rustle the leaves and the resident chickadees began chattering. I wondered too if resident birds are glad when the warblers, buntings and grosbeaks leave since all they do is come up, sing their songs very loudly, mate like crazy and then raise kids and leave. I wonder if this is the bird version of Florida spring break?

I came a across a large flock of bluebirds warbling to each other and was surrounded by their worrisome churry call.

I was getting lots of writing done at my friend's cabin today. I was distracted momentarily by a young male cardinal. His bill was still slightly black, but the rest of him was mostly red--well on his way to manhood. He was skulking about in the brush, searching for food and practicing his song to himself. Even though he was within six feet of me, I could barely hear his song. The song sort of sounded like a cardinal, but not quite, he was most definitely practicing. I gave my own version of the cardinal "wha cheer" call and he immediately stopped what he was doing, erected his crest and chipped his disapproval (or embarrassment at being caught). Here's the young cardinal checking for the source of the song superior to his own--oh the humilliation if he learned the truth: he was being out whistled by a human.



I also heard a song sparrow and white-throated sparrow practicing calls.

Sunday

Yesterday I got a good chunk of my calendar finished. Afterwards I had dinner with friends and we made bonfire to roast marshmallows. While admiring the night sky we could hear a barred owl whooing away in the distance. Eventually just my husband and I were left around the fire. The owl was further away but it could still be heard. Then we heard an odd hollow sound, like something hissing in a tube. Bill and I tried to put on a brave face asking each other what we thought it was. I tried to say owl or raccoon but I must not have sounded very convincing. Bill suggested we put out the fire and go inside immeadiately which we did.

I have also come the conclusion that I'm going to run off with Neil Gaiman's cat Fred. He's little, he's black, he was almost eaten by an owl, and he's such a bad boy. I'm sure he kills many birds and yet I can't turn from him. It's all decided, we're going to run away together to Hawaii and start a bird store together. I know I can change him and his evil killing ways, all he needs is the love of a good woman. Every clogged sinus from my cat allergy will be worth just ten seconds with Fred. Fred promised that after we get settled and get on our feet, he'll take me to Paris--what a cat. Bill is taking this revelation surprisingly well.

Back Again

The blog was out of commission for a few days. Something to do with the hosting site putting up new fire walls that didn't allow blogs coming, it was a whole thing with the deal.

Scissor-tailed flycatchers are being reported as are solitaires. Birders across the state (as well as birders across the country) are frantically chasing them in hopes of increasing their year list. There's nothing quite like fall migration, young birds from out west or down south that don't take their parents advice ending up hundreds of miles out of their way. The lesson to be learned: If you don't listen to your parents or instincts what does it get you? Alone in middle of no where being stalked by a bunch of weirdos in khaki.

Flamingo

See what happens when boys are left alone.

Dream Job...with vomit

Okay, one quick post and then I have to write a suet article.

So for the last two years I get an email once a month from Cornell that lists various "bird jobs". I'm more curious than anything else. In the birding industry there are very few well paying jobs. Some may say that I have "sold out" by working at a bird specialty store, but where else is conservation to begin? Bird store employees are working with people on a daily basis helping customers to identify birds, answer wildlife questions and maybe encourage people that there are other means of controlling pest species than with a gun.

Anyway, most of the jobs that show up on this list are "internships" and the applicant is lucky if it pays $500 a month. Today a fantasy job showed up. You'd be working with condors so there is a vomit factor but you get to hike, boat, fly, play with big birds that are practically extinct and make the occassional presentation to the public. Not only that, you get paid an actual salary! According to the San Diego Zoo condors can weigh 18 - 31 pounds, considering they are vultures and hurl when scared, that's a big bird to have puke on you.

In case anyone is interested in the job, here is the info:
CALIFORNIA CONDOR PROJECT COORDINATOR for the Arizona Game and Fish
Department. Wildlife Specialist I. Field Operations Division/Region
II/Flagstaff based/Limited Position. Salary Grade 17($27,626 - $44,577).
Announcement # 56-04EDA / Closing Date 26 Oct 2004. Duties:
Radio-tracks, traps, marks, monitors activities, and assesses health of
California Condors. Backpacks in remote areas over rough terrain.
Coordinates activities and meets with Condor project cooperators as well
as local landowners and other project stakeholders as needed to identify
and address issues and concerns. Tracks project progress and recommends
improvements and changes. Communicates California Condor project
information to internal customers, cooperators and the public. Prepares
written updates, articles and reports. Reviews, evaluates, and edits
work products. Makes presentations at scientific conferences, workshops
and training sessions for Department personnel, cooperators, and the
general public. Operates and maintains a variety of specialized office
and field equipment common to terrestrial, aquatic, and habitat-oriented
wildlife work. Operates and maintains 4WD vehicles and watercraft and
conducts low-level aerial surveys from fixed-wing aircraft and
helicopters. Attends staff and project-planning meetings. Performs other
duties as assigned. Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities: The ideal candidate
will have experience working with the California Condor. The preferred
candidate will have experience with radio-tracking; off-road and
back-country travel; raptor handling; GPS; GIS, spreadsheet, database,
and word-processing software. The preferred candidate will also have
skills in public speaking, popular and technical writing, photography,
and basic desktop publishing. The candidate must have a Bachelor's
degree in a wildlife science or a closely related field from an
accredited college or university. A medical/physical evaluation is
required prior to appointment. HOW TO APPLY: A Wildlife Series
application Form #007 may be obtained by calling (602) 789-3321, or
through our web site http://www.azgfd.com. A completed application, a
current resume and college transcripts (unofficial or photocopies are
accepted) must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. on the closing date
by the Arizona Game and Fish Department, 2221 W. Greenway Road, Phoenix,
Arizona 85023, Attention: Human Resources, indicating the correct
Announcement Number. Permanent or limited permanent Game & Fish
employees applying must submit a current resume, accompanied by a
Wildlife Resume Supplement Form 9021, no later than 5:00 p.m. on closing
date. If you have questions about the job, please contact SUSAN MACVEAN
(PH: 928 214-1250, EM: smacvean@gf.state.az.us). An equal opportunity,
reasonable accommodations employer, the Arizona Game and Fish Department
complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. If you need
accommodation in the employment process or this document in an
alternative format, please contact our office at (602) 789-3326 or TTY
1-800-367-8939, prior to the closing date of the job in which you are
interested.

The Good With The Bad

Aaron asks:


"What I want to know is, what does it take to be the offical Bird Lady for the President of the United States? And would I, as a taxpayer, have to take care of your stipend..."

If I'm not mistaken Laura Bush would be the official Bird Lady for the President of the United States--she's quite the birder. I feel the urge to make a blue footed booby joke or dicksissel/Dick Cheney joke, but I just don't have it in me right now.

It's been one of those weird days where some things go completely wrong and others go completely right. On the upside, Mike the vending machine guy at KARE11 brought me green tomatos and home made peach wine. Mike's a creative fellow who keeps photos of his spectacular gardens in the vending machine, makes such fun things as tomato wine and gives me free french vanilla coffee before my segments. I don't know what I did to be in his favor, but anyone who gives you free coffee and free alcohol is okay with me.

I'm thinking of starting a bird author checklist. I've met quite a few and this month I will get to meet Brian Wheeler who is one of the authors of a Photographic Guide to North American Raptors and the two volume set of Raptors of the American East and West. Amber and I have fanagled an invitation to sit with him while he photographs raptors at a private location in hawk ridge. Apparently the requirement is that we wear lots of camo and hide under a camo tarp. What better way to spend a day off then out in the cold in Duluth under a tarp watching hawks fly over. I'm so excited I don't know if I'll be able to sleep for the next two weeks.

Indianapolis Star

I think the Indianapolis Star is cutting back on their outdoor articles. Since I grew up in Indianapolis I daily check www.indystar.com to see what's going on in my home town. There have always been great articles on different outdoor features and now they aren't there so much. I think this goes back to the usual, birders aren't speaking up and so the articles are going to the wayside. I think I'll give them a call and anyone else who can should do the same. I imagine you would speak to the managing editor and say, "Hey, I really enjoy reading those out door articles. "

I hope the falcon web cam sticks around, that's my favorite spring and summer soap opera.

Indianapolis Star Toll-free (outside local calling area) (800) 669-7827.

Tired Sharon

Getting up at 4am the last few days is catching up to me. This morning I was on Ian Punnett's Balanced Breakfast at 5:45am on fm107. His producer Darcy is always so nice when she calls me on the phone and says, "Hello, dear." it's very sweet. It's fun and challenging doing this segment. Whenever I'm on his show I do harbor a tiny bit of guilt (curse my two years of Catholic School).

As many of you know I'm a stickler for bird accuracy. Watching a movie is no fun for me if the cowboy posse is resting at night in the Arizona desert and all of a sudden an eerie cry of a loon can be heard in the distance--LOONS AREN'T GOING TO BE FOUND ALIVE IN THE ARIZONA DESERT.

Ian's family crest is a pelican piercing it's breast so it's blood spills into the mouths of it's young and reads "We die for our own". It's based on the story that in times of famine, pelicans will cut themselves so that they bleed to death and the blood serves as nourishment for the young and they can survive. This isn't true. I even double checked with a couple of ornithologists. Ian one day asked me on the air if this was true and I fudged a little and said that North American pelicans don't do that, but the truth is, no pelican on the earth does that. Bill said that I just should have bit the bullet and told him that, but I felt that I couldn't tell a nice guy that his family crest is based on a myth. Bill said I was being ridiculous since many family crests feature unicorns and dragons.

I've never knowingly given out false birding information...well, except for the time my mom and one of my sisters started asking questions about when Bill and I are going to have any kids and I pointed out the window, "Look, it's a blue gray gnatcatcher." Sure, one could have been out there based on location and time of year, but I just used it shift their short attention spans elsewhere.

That Good Bird Smell

Me smelling a red-tailed hawk. Photo by Amber Burnette

I love the good, warm, feathery smell of a bird. Not all birds have this, eagles for example smell like an empty 35mm film cansiter. (I know, you thought I was going to go for the obvious vultures smell like vomit joke but I'm very serious about the good bird smell). Great-horned owls frequently smell of skunk or at the very least three day old road kill. If you are a bird handler and you have a great-horned owl on your fist you know that when they get stressed they pant and then they have rat breath. Bottom line is that owls, though very cool to look at, stink. Ring-billed gulls and osprey aren't much better as they always smell like fish.

Nothing however beats the smell of a bird that has been in the sun. Red-tailed hawks have a wild alive smell, but it's not pungent. It's definitely an animal smell and lacks the pungent urine aroma that accompanies many wild mammals. Mmmmm.

Today I heard a rumor that just makes me hang my head. I know quite a few people that go grouse hunting in the fall. The word on the street (or should I say path) is that grouse are in low numbers. This year is part of the grouse ten year cycle. Grouse populations peak and are in good numbers and the numbers drop since their isn't enough habitat to support them all. Gradually over 8 years, the population builds itself back up and then by the tenth year the numbers are high and the cycle starts all over again. Since northern goshawks hunt grouse, people unfamiliar with the concept of the food chain often think they are the reason for the decline, however the goshawk population is on a similar cycle. When the grouse population drops, the goshawk population drops and when the grouse population rises the goshawk population rises. This year, someone said they heard from a DNR worker that the reason is that the bald eagle population in Minnesota is so high they are eating the grouse. Though it is possible for an eagle to go after grouse--it's highly unlikely, they just don't have the hunting tools a goshawk has. Grrrrrr.

Forgot one photo

Okay, so several photos will be showing up on here from hawk trapping in the next few days after Amber and I start swapping, but I forgot to post the peregrine falcon with a a weird bill photo:



Who knows what happened to this bird. The injury to the lower mandible looks like it broke long ago and healed at an odd angle. Because of this the top mandible didn't get worn down as it should have and became overgrown. My personal theory is that the bird probably flew into something like a building when learning to fly or chasing after prey. Looking closey at the falcon you could make out a line on the lower mandible where it had been bent back. The bird still managed to feed as the injury healed which is a testament to how well birds get on, even at times without human intervention.

This peregrine was banded and released as is.

Home Again

I'm home from another weekend of hawk trapping. For the first time I got caught in nasty traffic on 35 south from Duluth. At one point it took Amber and I an hour to go ten miles. They had part of the highway down to one lane to work on a bridge.

There are always heroic tales at a hawk banding station. Some hawks sneak up into your nets out of nowhere, some hawks start as pepper specks in the distance and gradually appear before your eyes and into the nets, and some birds seem like they are sure things as they fly straight to the net and veer off away at the last second. Hands down, my favorite birds was an adult male goshawk that came into the nets out of nowhere. Amber and I were behind the blind taking photos of a recently banded red-tailed hawk when Rick told us to be quiet as he drew in a hawk in the distance. He yanked the bait pigeon, and before any of us could breathe the goshawk was in the net. Rick had been targeting a different hawk all together when this guy dove in. We've never gotten one of these in the net when I have been there and I have always wanted to see one up close, they are one of the most beautiful hawks on the planet:



Look at those blood red eyes, they just say "must kill".

We also got in three juvenile goshawks. Goshawks don't get their gray adult plumage until they are two years old. The young are brown and white with yellow eyes instead of red:



Note how the mouth is wide open? These birds are screamers. Literature on the goshawk will say that they are usually silent, this is true unless you are holding one in your hand. In that case they will give a piercing scream that makes banding tricky and the desire to take numerous photos wane.

One very photogenic and compliant species is the red-tailed hawk. This bird will always keep it's mouth open during the banding process but makes no noise.

I tried to do an arty shot with this red-tailed hawk to give the impression of what prey must feel like before it's captured and eaten.

Hawking!!!

Today I was up at the blind and oh joy of joys we got in an adult goshawk. If no one knows what an adult northern goshawk looks like, get a field guide now and look it up. It's my favorite of the hawks and I think the most gorgeous. We don't often get adults in the net (usually too smart) however we often get juvenile goshawk (young and stupid).

We also got a peregrine falcon who looked like Fish from the old cop show Barney Miller. Looked like something had happened to its lower mandible--perhaps flew into a building, and broke it. The bird managed to survive and still feed but the bill grew in funny and caused the upper mandible to grow in extra large. It was hard to take the bird seriously as being fierce, but we did have to admire that even with such a potentially fatal injury it had survived at least two years.

I will be posting lots of photos when I get home Sunday night.