Nest Box Intrigue

Warning! There is a slightly gross photo at the end of this post.

I opened up another egg that I found left inside a birdhouse again. Although, I don't think this one is nearly as gross as the merganser egg.

In the photo on the left are nests found in one Gilbertson Bluebird Box. From left to right we have a black-capped chickadee nest, a house wren nest and an eastern bluebird nest.

It's the time of year to start cleaning birdhouses. One of the people I birdscape for had a Gilbertson Bluebird Box that had been used at least twice this summer. When I put it up last spring a black-capped chickadee moved in right away. Before I had a chance to clean it out after the chicks fledged, a bluebird pair moved in and built a new nest on top of the old chickadee nest--this is not supposed to happen, bluebirds are supposed to want a cleaned out box, but again birds don't read the same books I do. When I went to clean out the nest box the other day I discovered a HUGE pile of sticks on the inside--house wrens. The last time I checked the nest box, there were bluebird chicks inside so I knew that meant the wrens hadn't damaged the bluebird eggs. Since house wrens have a tendency to make several nests using all but one as decoys, I figured this was a decoy nest. I know that you're supposed to check nest boxes once a week, but I don't regularly visit this client's house and I really wasn't expecting a third brood in the nest box so I hadn't bothered checking it after the bluebirds left the box.

I took the box down and looked inside and found feathers lining a small pocket inside the box, could the wrens have actually raised a brood in the box? I looked at the layers of feathers and sticks inside the box, as I was looking it over I noticed an aroma--a familiar aroma. I knew I had smelled it before, but couldn't quite remember. Then it hit me--pelicans! Now, none of the birds that nested in the box don't eat fish, so that wasn't the smell, I was smelling death. I started picking through the feathers among the sticks and found cardinal feathers, bluebird feathers, ruffed grouse feathers, a downy woodpecker feather and then a small wad of teeny tiny bones held together with some dark matter and realized what I'd been smelling, very old death. Looks like one of the wren chicks didn't make it. Who knows the reason, it could have been deformed at hatching, it could have gotten an illness, it's tough to say. It could also have been that there weren't that many eggs and none of the wren brood survived.

I dug out the rest of the wren box and got down to the bluebird nest that was a nice and neat little cup of grass and pine needles. There were no shells or dead chicks so all the young bluebirds made it out of the nest which was a relief to discover. I made it down to the bottom of the box to where the original chickadee nest had been. The chickadee nest looked more comfortable than the bluebird nest, a cozy cup full of moss and fur. Apparently one of the eggs didn't hatch. When I checked the box while the chickadees were nesting, the chicks were so crammed in there that I never saw the egg.

After the fun I had opening the merganser egg, I decided to check out what was inside the left over chickadee egg. I carefully pried open the shell and found a gross brownish yellow liquid, with what looked like a partially formed chick on the inside. Perhaps this was the last egg laid and didn't get brooded as long as the other eggs so it never fully formed or maybe something went wrong internally as the egg was developing, again you really can't say why it didn't hatch. It just one of those things that happens and one of the reasons why birds try to have some many chicks in the season since so many never make it.

So if you haven't cleaned out your birdhouses yet, now is the time to do so. First check and be sure no one is till using the box there is a chance some bird is finishing up a final brood. Even if you haven't seen any activity around the nest box, it's still a good idea to open it up and clean it out. You can check and see what is going on, maybe you have had something else move in the box for the summer like a flying squirrel, a wasp nest or on rare occasions a bat! After you take out the contents of the box it's good idea to clean it out with a mild bleach solution and then let the house dry out in the sun. Many people take their houses in for the winter to keep mice from moving in or some people leave them up for birds to roost in at night during those cold winter months. If you go for that option, you will have to clean out the nest box again in March on the off chance that house sparrows have started nesting early. Once house sparrows get hold of a bluebird house, they won't let anyone else use the box ever.

And so on a final note, it occurs to me that I should leave a photo of the house that the birds used. This is a Gilbertson Bluebird Box and it's one of my favorites to use, since it's easy to clean and open up. House sparrows and starlings seem to not care for the design of the house but tree swallows, bluebirds, chickadees and wrens really like it.

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

These are some of the stairs that help you go down some of the river bluff in Frontenac State Park. At the time, it seemed like a fun idea to go down the steps and watch the migrants in the tops of the trees. However, when you finish chasing those fall warblers and decide to ascend the stairs you realize what a foolish undertaking this was.

I was hoping for some shorebirds on the sod farms around Dakota County and maybe some migrants over the bluffs but the birding today was not the best. I think I just got way too spoiled last winter with the great gray and northern hawk owls. I did see a large flock of common nighthawks flying south along the bluffs which is so odd to see at 10am. Turkey vultures were everywhere and those are always fun but really there wasn't much else. Where are all the birds?

There was a general lack of shore birds along the sod farms so I took the opportunity to check out a structure that I've noticed growing all summer in a field south of the Empire Substation. It turns out to be the Minnesota Cambodian Society Buddhist Temple. It's such a strange thing to see all these quaint Minnesota farms and then in the middle of it a gorgeous Asian structure. The drive around the temple was pleasant and relaxing and did reveal a few dicksissels.

I think Minnesota birders are busy with the State Fair (yes, it is that big of a deal in Minnesota) and many of us are curious to see if anything from the hurricane down south brings any odd birds to our state.

Maybe they should try falconry?

Now it's always been my understanding that a good healthy racing pigeon can be too fast and out maneuver a peregrine, but apparently that's not the case with Scottish pigeons.

Below is an excerpt from an odd little article in The Scotsman about the great sport of pigeon racing being in danger as membership levels are dropping to an all time low. Perhaps membership is low because people are finding falconry way more exciting than pigeons?

PIGEON racing will die out in Scotland within 20 years if the number of birds of prey continues to soar at recent record levels, experts warned yesterday.

The number of sparrowhawks and peregrine falcons, which feed on pigeons, have hit unprecedented levels, and an estimated 120,000 racing birds are being killed in Scotland every year.

"It is also devastating for our children and grandchildren when they see sparrowhawks attacking and eating our pigeons in the garden. It is a family sport and they become attached to the pigeons as pets, so to see them being eaten alive is just horrendous.

"What has been happening is sparrowhawks are attacking our pigeons in the garden and the peregrines are terrorising them while they are flying during races, which is forcing them to go to the ground where they are being eaten by other predators, such as foxes.

"We are not saying we want rid of every single raptor, but Scotland now has more than 50 per cent of Britain's peregrine population and we want the law to be changed so that we can trap and kill the ones which attack our pigeons."

Gill Reilly, a pigeon fancier from Edinburgh, says the sport is facing a bleak future. "I used to have 40 pigeons but now I have only 15 left," he said. "There are hundreds of pigeons getting lost at every race now. Last week, 60 fanciers liberated 180 birds, but only 11 returned, which used to be just unheard of. I have lost some real beauties and now I just feel like leaving the sport."

Loons and West Nile Virus

This just in from Carrol Henderson from the MN DNR:



West Nile Virus has been discovered as the reason that an entire family of four common loons died on Sandy Lake near Zimmerman, Minnesota in early August.

Local homeowners on the lake had spent a great summer enjoying their first ever family of loons nesting on Sandy Lake. They used an artificial nesting platform that had been placed by Dalton Hoehn and friends. The loons raised two chicks, and by early August the chicks were nearly full-grown. Then on August 6 Dalton noticed that the loons were acting and swimming in a listless, disoriented manner. When he took a boat out to check on the loons they were swimming in small circles, and one could not right itself. Three of the four loons died within a five hour period. Then on August 10, Dalton noticed that the fourth loon, one of the chicks, was acting listless, and it was dead by the next day. Mr. Hoehn notified Jan Welsh who is the Project WILD wildlife education coordinator at the Department of Natural Resources and she picked up the dead loons which had been frozen by Mr. Hoehn. The four loons were referred to Nongame Wildlife Program Supervisor Carrol Henderson who arranged for laboratory analysis. DNR Wildlife pathologist Joe Marcino got results back today that two of the loons he analyzed had died of West Nile Virus. He said that this disease is virulent enough to kill all of the birds in a short period of time.

This is the first time that loons have been documented to die from West Nile Virus in Minnesota. Residents of the Zimmerman area should take precautions to use repellent to reduce the possibility of mosquito bites at this time of year. Residents of other lakes should keep track of their loons to see if this is a problem in other parts of the state and notifiy the DNR if more dead loons are found, according to Carrol Henderson, DNR Nongame Wildlife Program supevisor.

Stupid or Smart?

So, we have this very pretty art deco feeder at the bird store that I have wanted to hang outside my window but couldn't because of the massive amounts of pigeons that I get coming to my feeder. The photo at left is one that flew in while I was leaning out the window. They really do know that I'm a softy even if they do irritate me and will fly right over anytime I move near the bedroom window hoping against hope that I'm putting seed on the ledge. I like pigeons in small doses, but one quickly turns into thirty and they can put more seed away than a squirrel and are much noisier. I usually have to go with weight sensitive feeder to keep them off...which usually work, although I did have one pigeon figure out a Yankee Whipper by putting one foot on a food port, the other on a perch and then flapping like mad while it ate.

Anyhoo, I'm trying out a Twirl-a-Squirrel a motorized baffle that will calibrate your bird feeder's weight and then spin the feeder whenever anything squirrel size lands on it. A customer told me that she has one and her pileated woodpecker is heavy enough to set the TaS a spinning so I thought I would try with my pigeons.

This morning I woke to the sound of the motor spinning the feeder and I smiled knowing it was doing its job. Two minutes later the motor went off again. Another two minutes later the motor went off again...and again...and again. One pigeon just kept after it and after it. I sleepily wondered if it was that stupid that it couldn't figure out that it wasn't worth going to the feeder when Non Birding Bill pointed out that the bird was probably trying to wear out the battery. Surely they couldn't be that smart? That's an awfully small head governing an awfully big body. It shall be interesting to see where this goes.

Birdchick's Guide to MN State Fair

I've already been to the state State Fair twice this year. Last night I did something I never thought I would ever do in a million years. One of our friends is a caterer for touring rock bands and she's currently doing the Motley Crue tour so a group of us got free tickets and backstage passes at the State Fair Grandstand. I'm really grateful the concert was this time of year and not during spring migration when I'm trying to pick out warbler songs because I seriously doubt I will be able to hear a parula for at least a week. During the concert the band kept telling us to make some noise and I thought of all the times I have heard owls at the state fair grand stand when it's abandon in the winter so in their honor I hooted barred and great horned owl calls every time we were prompted to "make some noise". This is something I will never need to do again, but I have to say that there was something exciting in watching the boys put forth all their efforts into entertaining the crowd and literally feeling their music penetrate your body and rumble your lungs.

But their are lots of things to do at the State Fair that are not so hardcore and even bird related so here are some of my picks.

DNR Building

Last Chance Forever has shows going on with live birds of prey. I fondly remember walking to a restroom in the area and having a Harris Hawk fly over my head as I worked my way through the crowd. Some of the show's content gets a little too touchy feely for my taste, but it's easily overlooked when you see these cool birds flying around.

The Raptor Center has a booth in the building with their education birds and are happy to answer questions about Minnesota birds of prey. The birds are not flying but you can get fairly close to get some good photos. TRC is also open on the St. Paul Campus for those walking by. The upside is that the restrooms are open and it's air conditioned so if you need a break it's a great place to hang out.

The Minnesota Ornithologists' Union has a booth with a huge sign begging the crowd to "Ask Us About Birds". A great place to visit and ask everything you ever wanted to know about birds but were afraid to ask. I'll be working there Tuesday, August 30 from 9am - 1pm so if you're in the area, stop by and say hello.

Poultry Barn

The first weekend at the state fair is a rabbit exhibit in the Poultry Barn. If you have the time, head to the 4-H Barn to see the bunny agility tests. The bunny show is only during the first weekend at the state fair in the Poultry Building. If you are unable to make it, you can view a video of the bunny agility tests, when you click on the above link there's a column of related content and a video you watch of the rabbits going through their courses. And for those interested, Cinnamon greatly disapproves of bunny agility tests.

During the second weekend of the State Fair you can see every type of barn yard fowl available from the expected chickens and ducks to the unexpected turkens. If you've never seen a Cayuga Indian Runner, this is one of your few chances.

Education Building

Audubon Minnesota has a booth in the Education and is has tips on all sorts of things you can do for birds. All Seasons Wild Bird Store set up a display on the booth of items you can place in your yard that are very bird friendly and squirrel and raccoon unfriendly.

Crop Art
I love the seed art that is found at the Ag-Hort-Bee Building. There are professionals who make stunning portraits from bird seed (right) to the beginners who make portraits from seed of their favorite stars. My personal favorite is the Jackie Chan (photo at the top of the blog entry) crop art that showed up two years ago. If you can't make it, here's a taste of what you're missing.

New Fair Food I'm Planning to Try:
Spaghetti and Meatballs on a Stick
Chocolate-dipped Potato Chips
Chocolate-covered Sunflower Seeds

Foods That Always Never Disappoint Me:
Porkchop on a Stick
Cheese Curds
Fair Fries with Malt Vinegar
Elephant Ear
Roasted Corn Cob

Foods That Seem Like a Good Idea at the Time but Haunt You Later:
Scotch Egg on a Stick (I love it, but it doesn't love me)
Cream Puffs (excess dairy on a hot day is not a good idea)

Foods That Disappoint
Deep Fried Twinkie on a Stick (overly sweet and greasy)
Deep Fried Snickers on a Stick (hot, greasy, mushy chocolate--not as exciting as it sounds)
Teriyaki Ostrich on a Stick (I'm not opposed to eating birds, but this reminds me of mystery meat that they served in middle schools)

Busy Birdchick

Today I caught up on loads of work and then joined Carrol Henderson for a birding seminar for a Multiple Sclerosis Camp at Courage Center. Today was one of those days that a bird guide dreads. Due to seasonal movement and time of day, there were no birds. And I don't mean just house sparrows or starlings, I mean the woods were silent. I led a small group on a walk and focused on evidence of birds like a wren house and some woodpecker holes since there were no birds to observe. One of the campers was concerned that the wheelchairs were keeping the birds away, but that wasn't the case it was just a lull in birding activity. Carrol did bring some stuffed birds from the DNR offices for people to practice focusing with optics and luckily he brought a barred owl (pictured above with campers and Carrol Henderson on the right) which greatly irritated a nuthatch, chickadee, chipping sparrow and cardinal. The campers did get to see a little mobbing action going on. They said they would invite us back next year and I recommended that we do the walk at 9am instead of 3:30pm. I also came up with an idea of maybe offering a class on bird feeding tips for people with mobility issues.

One of the campers was a volunteer at the Minnesota Zoo which has one heck of an outdoor butterfly exhibit. She was telling me that this year they were having to order more butterflies than usual through the summer to replenish the exhibit. Keepers were curious until one day they discovered a house wren inside the exhibit happily chowing on some of the butterflies. The wren had made its way through a tiny hole in the butterfly cage netting. They sowed it up but sure enough a bird that only needs a one inch hole to fit through found another way in.

The Great Minnesota Get Together has begun and I did my first radio interview tonight on KFAN with Rob Drieslein and Mike Kurre (below). The State Fair is HUGE here. All the stations are out and it's a great way to get some publicity. I was on for the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union. It turned out that Rob writes for Outdoor News. As we were talking during the radio interview I suddenly realized which one he was. If you're familiar with the publication there's one writer who really dislikes cats and that is Rob. It was fun to put a live person to the byline. We had a fun talk and they are friends with Stan Tekiela. We got side tracked from the MOU several times, but fortunately Non Birding Bill was in the audience giving us hand signals and getting us back to topic. I love the State Fair, nest Tuesday morning I'll be working the MOU booth and Labor Day I will be out with KARE 11. I can't wait to see what fun new fried foods on a stick we try this year.

How To Bribe a Birdchick

Not that I'm easily bribed, but if anyone ever wanted to bribe me, green tomatoes are the way to go. It must be my Hoosier upbringing but I'm a sucker for fried green tomatoes. That's one of the reasons I spent the night at the birdscaping client's home--their gigantic garden of green tomatoes. I was offered the run of the garden and when I woke this morning to the dawn chorus I scampered outside to get my treasured booty. As soon as I grabbed my first one I was smartly squirted in the face by a hidden water scarecrow--which I think I took rather well considering my lack of coffee when the incident took place.

I finished most of my birdscaping project and sat down and had a lovely dinner. Afterwards in the garden I hooted a duet with a distant barred owl while I could hear David Bowie playing lightly from the stereo in the kitchen. Bowie and a barred owl, does life get any better than that?

Best Alarm Clock

Today I'm doing a birdscaping project. When you're someone like me and you've done just about everything you can in your own space to attract birds, working in someone else's yard is like a blank page. I've worked this yard before but some red squirrels have moved in and have gotten a little too cocksure about their ability to get to the feeders. I heard one of the best phrases a person in my line of work can hear: "You are my birdchick. You have free reign to do what is neccessary to take care of my birds." This just brings out the artist in me. They don't know how close they were to getting an osprey platform!

I've decided to make a day of it, so Non Birding Bill and I spent the night out here and I had the best alarm clock this morning filled with a pileated woodpecker, tufted titmouse, eastern bluebird, white-breasted nuthatches, eastern peewees topped off with some young black and white warblers working on their song.

Ivory-billed Woodpecker Job

First, on a side note, my trusty Saturn wouldn't start on Saturday. Due to warranty issues and whatnot we couldn't get the car fixed until Monday. And what was the problem? A crank sensor. What the heck is that? No one believes me when I tell them that was the problem, but it was.

Anyway, here is probably the equivalent of a Willy Wonka Golden Ticket for Birders. A job opening for 12 people to work for Cornell to look for the ivory-billed woodpecker. As much as I would love to go for this job, I just do not have a body built for humidity.

FIELD RESEARCHER–The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is seeking 12 motivated
Field Researchers to search for Ivory-billed Woodpeckers in Cache River
and White River, National Wildlife Refuge (NWRs), Arkansas from 31 Oct
2005 through 30 Apr 2006. Incumbents will be required to work
independently, under general supervision, using a variety of systematic
and adaptive sampling protocols to search for ivory-bills in the
bottomland hardwood forests of east-central Arkansas. Required to follow
and adhere to all safety and field protocols and procedures. Position
will require living in eastern Arkansas with housing and some meals
provided by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. This rare opportunity is for
a top-quality person to apply their field and birding skills toward the
conservation of North Americas most critically endangered bird.
Incumbent is responsible for providing their own travel to and from
Arkansas. This appointment is for approximately 6 months.
Qualifications: High School Diploma and training in field research
techniques required. Bachelors degree in biology/natural resources or
related field and 1 year of experience, or equivalent, preferred.
Minimum of two years experience in field research required. Must have
excellent auditory and visual bird identification skills; excellent
navigation skills; boat/canoe experience. Moderate physical work is
required, as well as the ability to lift 50+ pounds. Must be willing to
work under varying climatic conditions (heat, cold, dust, etc.) and
capable of enduring difficult field conditions. Work hours will vary and
may be lengthy during this field season. Knowledge of bottomland
hardwood forest ecosystems and/or woodpecker ecology helpful. Experience
using GPS, GIS databases, and basic data entry is a plus. A valid
drivers license is preferred. All application materials must be received
by Tuesday, 30 Aug 2005. Visa sponsorship is not available for this
position. Located in Ithaca, N.Y., Cornell University is a bold,
innovative, inclusive and dynamic teaching and research university where
staff, faculty, and students alike are challenged to make an enduring
contribution to the betterment of humanity. Apply on-line at
http://www.ohr.cornell.edu/jobs. Cornell University is an equal
opportunity, affirmative action educator and employer.

House Sparrows Eating Suet

It's hard enough trying to keep squirrels, grackles, starlings, raccoons and crows out of suet feeders. Now we have to contend with suet eating sparrows too? Last weekend at the Arboretum, I observed several house sparrows (pictured left) and one lone chipping sparrow clinging to the suet log and eating the peanut butter suet. I thought maybe this was a fluke, that this particular flock of birds had picked up a suet habit, but today a customer was telling Melissa and I about the tough time she's having with sparrows on her suet log too. What can't those little dudes do? Here is another case of birds doing something that is not in the bird books. I must get them to read my library of avian information to make sure they start doing what they are supposed to be doing.

Monarch Update

I am happy to report that today was Cinnamon's first day back at the bird store! Melissa hit the nail on the head when she exclaimed that Cinnamon was feeling her Wheaties. She was into all kinds of bunny mischief including sneaking into the back room, trying to eat some milkweed and shamelessly following customers around the store begging for food. At one point she ran intense laps around the bird bath display and eventually kicked out in total relaxation near the card rack (left). There was some minor disapproval over the removal of a favorite deer chow block, but it was the vet's strict order that treats be cut back.

Our monarch ranch at the bird store is just bustling with activity. There are at least seven chrysalises, dozens of caterpillars in all sizes and one egg. We have been able to watch a caterpillar shed its skin (below). You can see the old head coming off at the bottom of the new head and the old skin is the dark stuff being pushed of the back end of the caterpillar.

On Saturday we got to watch a caterpillar go from the "J" position to shedding its skin and becoming a chrysalis. Many people think that monarchs spin their cocoon but they in fact just shed their skin to form they chrysalis. The whole process once started tales less than five minutes. Below is a photo.

On the left is a furry caterpillar that is a milkweed tussock moth, then there is the caterpillar doing the final shed, (down near the head you can see the green chrysalis poking out) and on the right are two fully form chrysalis.
The staff and a couple of customers were watching this little miracle of nature. A little old man walked in and we showed him the excitement. He looked at us, smiled wryly and said, "Doesn't take much to turn you on, does it?" Alas, there is some truth to that since birding-wise there isn't too much going on. Hawk trapping can't start soon enough.

I and the Bird This Week

It's time for I and the Bird again. My hat's off to milkriverblog for giving it such a fun design.

Nose to the Grindstone

Where were these cool toys when I was a kid?!?!?

Have you seen the motion sensitive birds that chirp and wiggle with their actual bird call. These are the coolest things ever to me. Initially I was impressed by the quality (for plastic) and accuracy these guys have. The company that makes them did all the crowd pleasing birds like cardinals, bluebirds and goldfinches but they even have yellow warblers and scarlet tanagers (pictured left) and today I just got a shipment of common yellowthroats (didn't have time to get a photo). A common yellow throat, can you imagine?! I love walking by it and pishing and listening to it go "whichity whichity whichity" back at me. There are eight different birds and since they are all motion sensitive my inner child often gets the best of me. One day I had a bunch of them on the counter facing each other in a circle. I set one off and then the movement of each started them all chirping continuously. Melissa, my assistant manager walked in on this scene, looked at me, shook her head and slowly backed away. If it's a really slow day I'll walk around with the goldfinch on my hand and its almost as if it's gossiping with me. If you haven't seen these things yet, stop in my store and have some fun. I think I'm going to hide the warblers in my apartment this winter and when it's too bad to go birding outside (what am I saying, it's never too bad to go birding) and use them as reminders of spring warbler watching. I wonder if they will ever come out with hawks...that's just too much for me to think about right now.

I need to bring Cinnamon back to the store soon so I'm not talking to mechanical birds between customers. Speaking of which, I think she will be able to come to the store on Saturday. She will be so happy. She keeps following me all over the apartment where ever I go with this sad little look and I keep tripping over the little bunny butthead. Her cut doesn't look so scary so small children shouldn't be too freaked out by her still healing wound.

I had so much fun on Open Source last night and discovered that there are quite a few truck drivers who are birders. It seems a natural transition, you're out on the road so you can't help but notice the hawks, the flycatchers, the little songbirds are rest stops. Very cool.

Birdchick on the Radio

Wednesday will be a busy day. I'll be on A Balanced Breakfast with Ian and Margery at 5:50am and on a show called Passion Thursday on Open Source at 6pm (Minnesota Time). Open Source is aired on a few stations around the country and I believe you can listen to it through the website or in podcast form. It's not just me, the interview will also feature E. Vernon Laux, the guy who found the red-footed falcon at Martha's Vineyard. It's very exciting and sounds like fun. Tune in if you can and if they allow questions call in.

Birdchick Cave Update

I think the squirrel issue is finally taken care of. We relocated five squirrels, replaced the chewed up window screen and Non Birding Bill trimmed some of the branches on the catalpa tree outside the window. The branches are still less than ten feet from the window ledge so I'm sure the squirrels can still jump over, but as long as they don't chew any more holes in the window screen, I'm okay with squirrels on the window ledge. I'm happy to report that we have been squirrel free for the last twenty-four hours in our humble abode. Normal birding activity has resumed and I even had a visit from Zippy the Pinhead (a completely bald cardinal pictured above with a male house finch).

Incidentally, the jury is apparently still out on the cause of complete baldness in cardinals this time of year. It was thought to be molting if a bald cardinal is seen in August or September but some researchers feel that a bird should never be completely bald and that species specific head mites are also to blame. You can read more at Hilton Pond. Be sure to read the post scripts at the bottom of the article.

We have power restored to most of the apartment now. A ceiling fan was to blame for the power outage...how strange.

Cinnamon is more disapproving than ever. She had a vet check up today that was filled with untold bunny humiliation as well as good and bad news. The good news is that she is that her cut is healing nicely. The bad news is that there is still an infection risk and she is to be on antibiotics for another ten days and can't come back to the bird store for another few days. Poor bunny, she is not happy taking medication and so much of it gets on her dew flap that I think most of it spills there and she spends ten minutes afterwards cleaning it off her fur (pictured, above). At least she's getting the meds. To top it off, the vet pealed away the scab to make sure everything was okay and shaved away more fur. So now the cut is all gooey again. The vet had a good reason for doing it, but my sweet little bunny looks like an alien baby should be squirming out of it any second. I'm kind of happy that she can't go back to work right. Even after she gets the all clear from the vet to return to work, she is going to look weird back there with a big scabby line on her haunch. Maybe we can try to comb it over.

This morning I was taking an exercise walk around Lake of the Isles. I really want to get a work out so take my iPod so I won't get distracted by bird calls. Alas, I got distracted today anyway. I was passing one of the islands on the lake when I noticed what looked like an accipiter flying just above the water in pursuit of a bird and then double back to the island. I turned off David Bowie and walked to the water's edge. A small bird took off from a perch--a kingfisher, in hot pursuit was an immature Cooper's hawk. The kingfisher quickly out flew the hawk and dove for a fish. The hawk circled back to the island and the kingfisher returned to its perch empty billed. Again, the kingfisher flew from its perch and again the Coops flew after it. The kingfisher flew too fast for the Coops and went right for a fish. The Coops headed back to the island and soon the kingfisher followed, this time with a small fish. After another minute the hawk flew from its perch straight for the kingfisher who darted out of the way in plenty of time for the Coops to pass. I don't know how many times the hawk had been after the kingfisher but I forgot how much I enjoy watching young Cooper's hawks figure out what is worthwhile hunting. And on that note, I leave you with a link to a wonderful headshot of an adult Coops from Mike's Digiscoping Blog.

Fringe Festival Red-tailed Hawk

Saturday between Fringe Festival shows, Non Birding Bill called me on my cell very excited about a red-tailed hawk that was eating a squirrel ten feet from him in Loring Park in downtown Minneapolis. Official Fringe Festival Photographer Scott Pakudaitis was on hand got a couple of photos of this first year red-tailed hawk with its kill and was kind enough to let me use them in this blog entry.

NBB said that the hawk tolerated people walking around it, but at one point a guy was walking right at it oblivious to the bird and its kill. The hawk flew up into a tree to finally finish its meal when a gray squirrel started racing up the tree. NBB tried in vain to warn the live squirrel not to go in the tree. The squirrel went straight for the branch where the red-tail sat. The live squirrel charged the red-tail forcing it from its perch. As the hawk flew away, the live squirrel raced down the side of the tree and pursued the flying hawk from the ground. Once the hawk was out of site, the squirrel turned to Non Birding Bill. NBB threw his hands in the air and said, "Hey, it wasn't me. I'm just an innocent bystander." The squirrel then returned to its normal park activities. A bad ass squirrel, who knew?

And in keeping with the spirit of my new book purchase a few words from the master avian wordsmiths Forbush and May on the red-tailed hawk:

"When mice are scarce and hens are easily and safely obtained, now and then an individual Red-tail will get the chicken-killing habit and become destructive...It destroys so many noxious rodents and other destructive mammals that it should be allowed to live."

Arboretum Party

I spent the day at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum's Sunflower Picnic answering bird feeding questions and signing calendars with Stan Tekiela. It was like a big birder party. I ran into Roger Everhart and Mark Newstrom the songbird banders at Lowry Nature Center, Val Cunningham and Holly Pierson who were local birding experts and some of the regular customers from the bird store.

The banders got some great birds including white-breasted nuthatches (pictured left), black-capped chickadees (pictured with Mark below), goldfinches, a family of house wrens and a great-crested flycatcher. It was fun day and perfect weather.

Things at the birdchick cave are a little challenging right now, I have removed five squirrels and still had one sneak in the bedroom this morning, we lost half the power in our apartment Saturday morning (the important half is still working like the refridgerator, air conditioner, internet access, phone and tv but it's tough showering in the dark) and the emergency maintenance guy doesn't know how to fix it. With our schedules the apartment looks like a tornado hit it--kinda glad lights our out in half of it, so I can't see how messy it is. But all this was made better as Bill and I went to one of my favorite used book stores and found a Forbush May book. I love the old books that categorize birds as good and evil, it's incredible to see how far we have come in roughly a century in how we regard certain bird species. I leave you with one of the best passages of a description of a flock of blue jays mobbing a screech owl:

In their excessive agitation the jays seem to lose their habitual caution, and it appears as if the mob would annihilate the despised and hated imp of darkness.

Just Got Squirrel Number Three

When will it end, how many have been getting into my apartment????

Got another one

I got a second squirrel this morning and this one is a tad more aggressive than the one I got last night. It's making all kinds of odd clicks, hisses and squeals. Some of the sounds remind me of Predator.

I think my squirrel problem might be a little bigger than I anticipated. I placed the caged squirrel in the bathtub while I continued to get ready for work and I heard a loud commotion in the bedroom where two more squirrels are fighting inside the window.

Despite All My Rage...

...I'm Still Just a Squirrel in a Cage.

I got my fugitive squirrel that has been breaking into my bedroom. I found him in the live trap as soon as I got home from work. The ample supply of bait had been licked clean and since I wasn't certain how long it had been in there, I fed it some peanut butter and gave it some water. I had a momentary lapse of judgment as it was eating the peanut butter and bread I held up to the cage, thinking "It's so cute, maybe it could be a pet", then I came to my senses--see, even birdchicks have moments of insanity. Then it was off to an undisclosed location with an ample supply of mixed nuts.

I did a phone interview and was asked one of the best questions: If I were in the woods looking at a good bird and Bill Clinton walked by, which would I be more interested in, Bill Clinton or the bird? My response? Depends on the bird. Actually, truth be told I would probably try and engage Former President Clinton and show him how cool the bird was.

Cinnamon is still improving her birding skills. Maybe she can lead bird trips with me one day. By the way, if you don't own a copy of Photographic Guide to North American Raptors, you need to get that into your birding library ASAP. Cinnamon is reading (and chinning, a thing rabbits do when they are announcing their ownership of an object) my fifth copy. I always end up giving mine away to a needy birder.

Critter Update

Cinnamon is recovering nicely. She has decided to take this time off to catch up on some reading and study up on these things called raptors. Fore warned is fore armed. Can't blame her for her choice of authors, Brian K. Wheeler is one of the best.

I have brought home a live trap from the store and will try to get one of the squirrels making its way into the bedroom. I have decided on the option of relocating the squirrel to a mammal friendly area and will supply it with an ample scoop of Squirrel Munchies when I make the deposit.

The landscape guys mowed the marsh behind the mall where the bird store is located. At first I was a little ticked but when I saw the finished result I wondered if this new maintenance plan could increase my chances of getting eastern bluebirds to nest next year. He was kind enough to mow carefully around all of our bird houses that we had set up behind the store, which I though was really nice of him. I was also grateful that the mowing took place late enough in the season to avoid destroying any of our blue-winged teal nests. I took a walk around the perimeter and noticed there was a rough patch that looked half mowed. A trail jutted off to the right and I followed it. At the very end was some type of hornet/wasp nest on the ground. It was one of those large papery looking gray things that are about the size of a bowling ball. Hornets/wasps were still all about it and I realized that was probably the reason for the uneven mowing. Poor guy, hope he didn't get hurt.

On a more upbeat note, I did have a slight increase in bird activity at the store feeders. Some juvenile red-winged blackbirds were about as well as a song sparrow (pictured, right). I was crouched in some vegetation today and tried practicing my injured rabbit call again--this time as soon as I did it, I heard a cloud of bird burst in the air, seconds later the immature Cooper's hawk flew right over my head and into the brush, causing another cloud of birds to burst up. It was so cool! I can't wait for hawk trapping this fall.

Short Report

Last night before Non Birding Bill's show THAC0 opened he called to tell me that he had a standing room only audience--I'm so proud him!


I was checking the website of a training studio down the street and came across a Those Darn Squirrels. I'm not sure what surprised me more, someone trying to make a little extra income of off squirrel photos or that I found this as a link on a personal trainer's website. Although, now that I think about it, that would be a great training studio to have: the squirrel workout. You could have giant trees that you swing from, lifting acorn weights, climbing an insane obstacle course with a giant bird feeder at top. It would be really cool if there was a people sized Yankee Flipper that would fling you around when you got on it. Sweet.

A Dilly of a Pickle

Today was a full day of errands. I had KARE 11 this morning, a few things to straighten out at the bird store, worked with Stan Tekiela (pictured right) on our 2007 bird calendars (can I say how weird it is to be working calendars for 2007 when it's only 2005? IT'S WEIRD! Thanks) and got groceries. After Stan and I got as much work done as we could on the 2007 calendars we sat down and autographed some of the 2006 calendars. Incidentally, if anyone would like to purchase an autographed Minnesota, Wisconsin or Michigan bird calendar, give us a call at the bird store (952-473-4283) and we will ship them out. Stan's photos are worth the price of the calendars alone, my part in the project are all the bird attracting tips, trivia, birding festivals and an average expected bird list for each month (the list was Non Birding Bill's idea).

I came home hoping to relax but find myself in a dilly of a pickle. A squirrel had landed on my window ledge and unable to gain access to the bounty of sunflower chips in my feeder, decided to invade my bedroom where I store my seed in a plastic container. Said squirrel chewed its way in (see damage above) and peed all over the window. There are now large holes in the screen and I really don't know what to do. Part of the problem is that the catalpa tree outside the bedroom window is in dire need of a trim but who knows if the apartment building will be doing that this year. I have holes in my screens which need to be repaired and I will have to do so on the sly. If I ask building maintenance to take care of it they will probably just tell me to quit feeding birds, which would mean we would have to move and I hate moving. Besides, we just painted last summer and we have a divinely deep old bathtub that I cherish after long bird trips in the winter.

On a side note, as I'm typing this there is the baldest cardinal I have ever seen feeding on the feeder right now. I would take a picture, but at 8:50pm it's just too dark. Oh man, he really looks like Zippy the Pinhead...oops, I digress.

So, I'm not sure how to deal with the squirrel. It just got plain cocky today. As I was picking up after its mess it was spying on me (pictured above). Isn't that a frightening photo? I feel very Single White Female all of a sudden. Will Non Birding Bill come home one day to find me tied to a chair with this little critter at my feet dressed like me wielding a kitchen knife? We have some live traps at the store for when squirrels find their way in and hope to live off the back room. I have mixed feelings about the live trapping thing, I don't like killing an animal that is just trying to make it's way in the world, but by the same token if a squirrel were trying to move into any other animal's home that was bigger than it, that animal would kill it and eat it. I know there's the option of relocating a squirrel (which isn't a permanent solution to keeping squirrels out of your yard, as soon as one is taken out another moves in, I'm hoping in my case the new guy won't know how to get in my apartment) but putting a squirrel in unfamiliar territory can be a death sentence as there may not be enough food and shelter for extra squirrels so the relocated squirrels has to fight for territory and avoid predators in an unfamiliar territory, that seems unfair. However, I do know of a couple of places that willingly feed squirrels...would city squirrels survive in the country?

The squirrel is getting entirely too freaky, something will have to be done. When you look at the photo below, imagine Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lector saying, "You feed black oil sunflower mixed lightly with safflower and the occasional cashew...but not today."

Desperate Birding

Last night Non Birding Bill and I headed to Fringeville for some relaxation and socialization after his show. We parked in the ramp next to Calhoun Square and as we were walking into the mall I realized I was hearing bird chirps and it was about 9:30pm. I soon discovered a barn swallow nest and marveled at the birds' ability to nest there. How do they sleep, the lights are on all night long and cars drive right underneath the nest at a constant pace. The anthropomorphic side of me wanted to say, "Dudes, you're going to be migrating within about thirty days, get some sleep!"

There is still a tremendous lull in the bird activity behind the bird store. This is not to say that we don't have any birds at all, we do have a handful of goldfinches (that's one feeding on our upside down finch feeder at right), one lone song sparrow and three families of Canada geese, but I'm beginning to miss those rowdy red-winged black birds. I know there are scores of customers who would love to loan me some of theirs but I know soon more birds will move into our area just not soon enough. This seasonal movement stuff is for the birds. We've done everything we can to keep the birds around such as keeping the feeders clean and providing the best bird food (what better food could you get than straight from a bird store) but I really do think the heavy duty landscaping caused the birds to move on. Am I sounding like a desperate woman yet?

Bunny Buttheadery

Cinnamon is not liking her medicine and his putting Non Birding Bill through the ringer. Today at work I was incredibly lonely forgetting how much I talk to her when it's just us in the store. When you talk to your pet you're not so crazy, but if the pet isn't there you are just plain talking to yourself.

Meanwhile, Cinnamon has taken to sitting under my computer desk at home, periodically nudging my foot. She knows this is not an appropriate bunny hiding spot, but I'm a little lenient right now feeling bad over her injury. So far she has left the wires alone but found my pile of birding periodicals that I'm currently using and storing under the desk for easy access quite fascinating and fun to chew on. If she's not careful I may reconsider my stand on wearing fur as a fashion accessory.

Non Birding Bill is getting no end of amusement saying, "Oh my, look at that dust bunny under your desk!" Har har, sad rabbit owner humor. I decided to move away some of the more important periodicals (what would be said if it were known a rabbit was chewing on a Wilson Bulletin?). However, bunny mischief still ensued as she found my ABA Membership Booklet and started thrashing it around and chewing it. Apparently, she disapproves of the ABA now. I think Cinnamon's plan is to be as much of a butthead at home in the hopes that we will take her back to the bird store. I argue that if she is well enough to hop around near the desk and chew my favorite reading materials than she is well enough to work, however NBB feels very strongly that we should follow the vet's instructions to the letter. Her cut is looking better, but she still looks weird missing a huge chunk of fur on her hind end.

A Proud Wife

Last night I saw the debut of Non Birding Bill's play THAC0 which he wrote, directed and had a bit part in. My dear husband loves to play role playing games and much the way many of our fathers had poker nights he and his buddies have role playing afternoons. He wrote a show with several inside jokes regarding Dungeons and Dragons that I didn't quite get...kind of like the time I told him my phalarope funny (If Wilson's phalarope is the species where the female is prettier than the male and the male does all the rearing of the chicks does that mean red-necked phalaropes are found near trailer parks and the males back hand the females demanding more beer?) and for some reason he didn't get it.

Anyway, the audience was almost sold out and was wise to the ins and outs of Dungeons and Dragons and laughed uproariously. Even though I didn't not get all the jokes, I was just beaming with pride at watching my husband in action, he's got great timing and if you think I'm biased I have proof. Local comedic legend Ari Hoptman leaned over and said, "You are married to a very funny man." Well duh!

Anyway, Bill got a five out of five star audience review and I'm so proud of my non birding husband.

Maximum Rabbit Disapproval

A bath and a trip to the vet.

Cinnamon of Wild Bird Store and Disapproving Rabbit fame will be on sick leave for the next week due to a long cut that looks WAY grosser than it is. She was acting strange Wednesday night, I had a dickens of a time getting her to go into her carrier when it was time to leave the bird store. At one point she hid in a new spot that I couldn't find her for half an hour and panicked a bit. When I got her home she was incredibly agitated, but since she was eating and pooping and hopping normally Non Birding Bill and I attributed the bahavior to a strong storm coming in. Friday night NBB was giving her a bath when he found the cut along the lower end of her right hind quarters. We took her to the emergency vet (because rabbit medical issues never happen during normal vet business hours) and discovered that Bill knew one of the vets who greeted us.

Laurie was very nice about not making us feel guilty for not noticing cut sooner. Rabbits are masters of hiding injury since that serves as a sign to predators that they are ripe for the picking. Plus, Cinnamon was eating, pooping and hopping normally since having the injury and those are the signs you watch for. The main vet that took care of us was a rabbit expert and didn't hesitate to remind us that Cinnamon is a little overweight and how we should manage that better. We were all surprised at the length of the cut but relieved that it wasn't deeper. It had already started to heal so stitches were not necessary however Cinnamon is not allowed to go to the store for a week, must be out on limited supervised excercises, get medicine force fed twice a day and a bath once a day--all her least favorite things in life and probably the reason why she was hiding her injury. I really wish she had just come up to me at some point and said, "I say, mumsy, I have a minor flesh wound here, would you care to escort me to the veternarian in the swiftest manner possible?" Alas.

My guess is that she got the cut while I was trying to corral her into her carrier Wednesday night. The mat in her carrier didn't have much blood inside when I checked it after visisting the vet and there wouldn't have been since it wasn't very deep. Sometimes the little bunny butthead likes to run through and climb over wooden bird feeders and bird houses and I wonder if in her running and climbing she scraped her hind end on one of the corners of the cedar houses or feeders. The vet shaved the area around the cut so now it looks really nasty. Hopefully, when she is allowed back to work in a week she won't look like her back end is zombified. I can't have the kids who come into the bird store see her and run up to her calling, "Look at the cute bunny!" and then cowering in disgust when the see her back end.

In the mean time when not being medicated or bathed, she will get a good week of spoiling and watching Matlock, CSI shows and Buffy the Vampire Slayer while eating carrot tops, fresh parsley, dried banana, cashews and fresh basil on the love sac. I love my little bunny butthead who thinks she can leap over a Peterson bluebird box in a single bound.

Yes! I Nailed A Cardinal

Finally! Got a photo of a cardinal feeding off my feeder. If there weren't so many leaves on the trees you'd be able to see the over-rated gourmet pizza place across the street from my building (Non Birding Bill would disagree with that statement, but what can I say, I'm a Galactic Pizza gal myself--it's pizza with a conscience). See, you can be anywhere and get cool birds to come to your feeder. Alas, this cardinal is mid molt at the moment so not the prettiest on the block, but in a month he will be as robustly red as the best of them. You know, this photo is incredibly funny if you imagine the voice of Cartman saying "Get away from me, you stupid little hippy."

Work for the Birdchick

I just realized I should take advantage of the free press from the Star Tribune article. I'm hiring, I have a part-time home delivery/sales associate position available at my store in Wayzata. If you like birds, like being outdoors, can drive, use a computer, lift 50 pounds and enjoy working with cool bird people (that's right, I said cool bird people, we do exist) call us at the All Seasons Wild Bird Store in Wayzata 952-473-4283.

Get Your Geek On

Non Birding Bill had his final dress rehearsal last night for his MN Fringe Festival Show called THACO. Bill wrote and directed the show and if I'm geeking about birds, Bill is equally so when it comes to theatre and role playing games. It's interesting the number of people that are coming up to him or emailing him privately saying they will come see the show, they just aren't prepared to publicly admit that there are role playing games in their background. Anyway, I love the slogan he came up for it: "Get Your Geek On" which I will be doing Saturday.

I am experiencing the periodic lull the happens at bird feeders behind the bird store. Everybody is gone, even the goofy one-legged grackle. Since all the vegetation has been removed by the creek the Canada geese have full on access to the back parking lot and are trying to come into the back door of the bird store when we're unloading deliveries. Lori put some food out and we heard this strange flapping noise, there were two geese violently fighting by the back door. Lori thought she should try and break it up, but for one thing I thought the geese needed to work out their pecking order and the second thing was I didn't want her getting injured. That would be a fun workmans comp sheet to fill out--employee injury due to Canada goose.

The birds at my home are very active and I have house finches galore on my feeder. I even have a cardinal coming for mealworms right at 7:15am. He refuses to visit the feeder if the NovaBird Camera is out on the ledge so I have given up trying to film him for the moment.

If anyone is interested in something really gross and incredibly fascinating at the same time, check out the story about a hummingbird vs praying mantis at Bird Watchers Digest.

Sad News

I was fortunate enough to get acquainted with a kindred spirit by the name of Jason Starfire at the ABA convention in Tucson. He was my kind of birder: enthusiastic, young, humorous, incredibly talented and not afraid of a bawdy conversation. I had just met him but knew that great times were ahead knowing him at future birding conventions. I'm sorry to learn that Jason died all too soon this past weekend. Mike McDowell links to a great article about this extraordinary guy whose loss is mourned in the birding community.

The crazy "cat" lady down the street

I've have spiraled out of control into the world of hoarding. I have cats, oh my do I have cats, just not the furry kind. There has been a vertible monarch 'splosion behind the bird store and I have been collecting caterpillars (cats) and eggs. As of Saturday, I had about 26 eggs and cats that I had brought in from a milkweed patch at the edge of the employee parking lot and yesterday our mall landscapers wiped it out. I found another patch near our bird feeders and I have never seen so many eggs on milkweed ever! One plant had 14 eggs and three newly hatched caterpillars. Many leaves had 2 eggs and one leaf had two eggs and one wee caterpillar. I can't stop picking them up but my monarch ranch is now almost filled to capacity. My employees are contributing to my monarch madness, Denny sent me a link to an article about how monarchs navigate during migration--cool stuff.

I think part of my problem is that it's a slow birding time. Birds are moving out of nesting territories, some are flockingup for migration and in our case at the store, all the brush trimming has more than likely sent birds in search of quieter yards. I'm sure we'll have better feeder activity next week. Of course, it may be so darned hot that the birds are just laying low. On the NovaBird Camera today, all we got were crows and the poor dudes are panting in almost every shot.

March o' the Penguins and a surprise

So, I finally made it to see March of the Penguins. I enjoyed it, in spite of the fact that I had an incredibly chatty old couple behind me. "Is that the male, no the one on the left." "Look at that, it looks cold." "What's that comin' to kill 'em, a skua?"

The movie was a tad anthropomorphic for my taste but it was incredibly beautiful. I did have to stifle a laugh as Morgan Freeman is talking about "penguin love" and the movie showed a male and female penguin moving languidly and slowly rubbing their bills over each other's bodies as new agey music swells in the background. The camera moves in close for the tender caresses and then the male gets behind the female and I was expecting the usual cloacal kiss, but it went on for at least a minute--those male penguins have stamina. It was all so artfully shot I found myself shifting in my seat from the eroticism and then I realized--I'm watching penguin sex, chill out (ha, I just inadvertently made myself laugh). The tension was broken for the rest of the audience when a small boy in back asked his mother "What are they doing?"

The movie also got a tad mellowdramatic about the unbearable, gut wrenching anguish of a female losing her chick. Ladies with children around me started to sniffle and I wanted to lean over and say, they really don't take it that hard, but I think regular people would rather think penguins suffer huge emotional strife.

The coolest part of the evening for me were the previews. My ears perked up when I heard a voice over say, "From the studio that brought you Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal" (I love Labyrinth, it's a sickness I know). Then I realized it was a preview of Mr. Neil's movie with Dave McKean called Mirrormask. They even mentioned their names (and pronounced them correctly) in the preview and called them such things as award winning and master storytellers. I felt so proud, my friend had made it to the big screen. Non Birding Bill and I saw a rough cut of it last year and I was afraid it was going to be one of those arty movies that I just wouldn't understand. I realize now that I didn't see the final editing and the wonder of Mr. McKean's artistic vision and Mr. Neil's storytelling. I'm very excited and I think I will be able to genuinely want to go see it and not do it out of politeness. It looks really cool, so check out the preview.

Now, I'm going to enjoy some more fried green tomatoes, one of my all time favorite foods. I had a very successful raid of a friend's garden last night.