Skulls and Stuff

Today I headed over to Big Willow park for some light birding. This is a good spot for owls in the Twin Cities in the winter. It's a fairly reliable spot for great-horned owls, long-eared owls and saw-whet owls, especially in winter. I was kind of bummed to see that some of the trails are now on private property and therefore off limits. One trail in particular is great for saw-whets and for signs of saw-whets and Amber and I would use it for our owl trips with The Raptor Center. We may need to come up with a plan B.

I didn't see any owls whatsoever today, but I did find some small mammal skulls under a tree that saw-whets like to roost in. I think these skulls are from last winter, there were no pellets under the tree at them moment or any signs of owl poop. As I was photographing the skulls I noticed a leaf moving out of synch with the wind. Was this a little mammal popping up? No, it was a wood frog looking for a place to hibernate.

I went down towards the creek and found a huge flock of robins, grackles and red-winged blackbirds foraging. While there I small flock of yellow-rumped warblers moved in and then one of my favorite things happened. While focusing on a butter butt a fox sparrow moved in behind it. There ended up being a total of four fox sparrows kicking up the leaves around the banks of the creeks. I love watching one bird and then another cool bird gets mixed in.

It was strange, sitting there on the bank of the creek it almost reminded me of early spring. Most of the leaves were of the trees, the grass was green, the air was chilly and you could hear robins and grackles calling and singing.

Closeting

Cinnamon would say "Happy Halloween" if she didn't disapprove of it.

Did you ever start a project you thought would take an hour maybe two and then took over the ENTIRE weekend? Thanks to the new job at Eagle Optics I have some fun stuff to travel around with--I thought I was popular before, but have a case of optics for people to test out and your cool points skyrocket. Rather than leaving the case out for Cinnamon to sit on I decided that if I just rearranged a few things in a particular closet then the case would fit beautifully in it...well at least the closet is organized now and my home office is coming along quite nicely.

Didn't get much birding in this weekend as a result of the closet ordeal but I did notice that a blue jay in our neighborhood is mimicking the crows very well, only its caws are much softer and a bit rapid--impressive nonetheless. I know blue jays can be trained to talk and mimic just about any bird, but I had only heard them mimic red-shouldered hawks and broad-winged hawks in the wild before.

In other news, I have a chickadee acting a little strange at the bird feeder. Apparently, it hasn't read the books that describe chickadee feeding behavior as grabbing one seed flying to a nearby branch, peck it open and eat it. This chickadee just sat at the feeder eating sunflower and peanuts. I thought this was smart since that would save energy, but I'm sure there is some predator defense that works since most chickadees grab a seed and eat it elsewhere.

Brown creepers have just taken over the neighborhood, you hear them everywhere you go. OH! And I almost forgot! The other morning the crows went ballistic. I thought for sure from the commotion that they had found an owl. I quickly shoved on some shoes, grabbed my binos and digital camera and dashed out the door. I went down the ally toward the commotion and couldn't find any raptors in the trees and looked down. Thirty feet away on the ground was a young Cooper's hawk sitting on a freshly killed pigeon. I started to digiscope with the camera and binoculars. It didn't turn out well because the flash went off. I would have stayed had I not started to attract the attention of neighbors. Surely a short red head in her pajamas and boots sporting binoculars and a camera taking photos in people's backyards wouldn't look that suspicious? Well, the one photo I did get, the bird has glowing eyes (above), which seems appropraite for the holiday. As if accipiters didn't look creepy enough as it is.

Fun with birdPod

So in the process of transitioning jobs I haven't had a chance to play with a new software called birdPod. If you have an iPod and the Stokes CD set you can download this software to organize the CD set in iTunes and your iPod.

When I first started loading all of my bird CDs onto my iPod, I had this noble idea of organizing them, but this software does it for you (only with the Stokes CDs) and puts them into alphabetical order, phylo order, or eleven other tracks according to habitat or my personal favorite Crazy Birds. A really cool feature is that the software takes all of the tracks that have two different species like the White Pelican/Double-crested Cormorant Track and divides it into two separate tracks.

Another cool feature is that it takes Lang Elliot's narration off (no offence, Lang) which is handy if you want to use the tracks for calling in birds or just want to test yourself on how well you know your calls. I also like this feature because when your not sure of a bird and you just want to play the calls, taking out the narration cuts back on the possibility of you trying to turn the bird into the rarity you hope it was.

I had some trouble installing it and the staff at birdPod was prompt and patient with me while we tried to figure out the problem. My problem: I had previously installed the Stokes CDs into iTunes and had several tracks in several different playlists. Once I took the Stokes out of the library and reinstalled that solved the problem.

If you don't already have an iPod or the Stokes set, you can order everything through birdPod online store and I believe they have the software available for both the eastern and the western regions.

I and the Boid

It's time of the best bird blogging carnival ever I and the Bird is up and running at Living the Scientific Life. My personal favorite submission this time round is Speaking of Birds Blogs' universal laws of birding.

Peregrine Falcon Harassing Osprey Photos

Mark Alt, president of the MOU sent a link to some very cool photos of a peregrine falcon trying to steal a fish from an osprey. Interesting, you can see that the falcon is banded in some of the photos.

It reminded me of a story Bud Tordoff told me about a male peregrine falcon who was good at skimming right on top of the water and would bring back sora and pied-billed grebes. One day it brought up a fish. The young peregrines in the nest looked at it and played with it, but none of the young ate at it seriously.

Disaffected Coots

Tonight I headed over to Lake Calhoun to watch the ring-billed and herring gulls come in to roost for the evening. There were few rafts of coots lurking near the shore (pictured left). I had my spotting scope and a video camera to film the birds and after about 20 minutes a woman came up and asked if I was looking for the bald eagle. She then told me about the rare eagle that had been hanging around. She asked what I was looking at and I pointed out to the hundreds of gulls massing out in front of us and she looked me like I was nuts--why would I want to look at that instead of the rare eagle? I tried to tell her that eagles were pretty common during migration around the Twin Cities, but I don't think she bought it since I was crazy enough to be more interested in scrubby gulls. I want to use the gull footage for KARE 11 on Monday, by the way we are dressing in costume for the show--should be a good time.

Meanwhile, my rabbit is stoned. I got Cinnamon a mineral block and she has been licking it all night and has been sitting on it looking blitzed out of her mind for the last half hour.

For the record, that is one of Non Birding Bill's movies next to her called Dracula's Dog--"Man's Best Friend May Be Man's Worst Fiend". We watched it for a bad movie night party and it wasn't bad, it was boring. Not recommended for any viewing...at all...not even for bad movie parties.

Birdchick Needs High Bird Counts

Do you keep track of the number of a particular bird species in your home state? Along the lines of "On October 26, 2006 I saw 1,840 ring-billed gulls on Lake Calhoun in Hennepin County." I'm in need of high counts of birds for the following states for any time of year or any year:

Ohio
Indiana
Illinois
Missouri
Florida
North Carolina
South Carolina
Pennsylvania

If this applies to you, can you drop me an email? sharon@birdchick.com

Also, if anyone has any birding spots that they think is a must for a birder visiting that state or cool websites for those states I'd love to know that info too.

Thanks!

And yet more bird photos!

Just got this from Casey Tucker, Education Specialist, Audubon At Home.

Gratuitous Bird Photos

So, I'm doing some research on a writing project today and came across some photos of songbird banding at Black Swamp Bird Observatory in Ohio. I'm quite envious of the person holding the male scarlet tanager--how red does a bird need to be? The bird is so red that it looks like the hand holding it should be burning.

Minnesota Fall Great Gray Owl and Northern Hawk Owl Report

This just in from Kim Eckert:

I recently received a couple of reports of northern owls from 2 northern Minnesota locations:

- Dee Kuder of Crane Lake observed a Great Gray Owl back on 12 October in N St Louis Co, along Minn Hwy 73 near the jct of Co Rd 22 and the town of Sturgeon.

- More recent and interesting were the 2 N Hawk Owls seen by visiting CA birders Frank & Susan Gilliland on 24 October in N Beltrami Co, at mile 42 on Minn Hwy 72, which is about 5 mi N of Waskish.

The question naturally comes to mind as to whether these will prove to be just isolated sightings or as harbingers of another irruption of northern owls this fall and winter. Such repeat irruptions are rare but possible: they occurred in 1990-91 & 1991-92 (primarily Great Grays) and in 1995-96 & 1996-97 (all 4 northern species).

Tuesday Birds

Cinnamon is sooo tired. We had an outing today and she ate lots of junk food so I think I finally wore her out. She hasn't been into as much mischief tonight like her usual trying to get into the bathroom trash or sneaking into the kitchen.

I headed out to the bird store to pick up some bird food--my flying squirrels on my window have been deprived of their mixed nuts. I need to keep them happy so I can test out a night vision monocular. I also took a look at the birds out back at the feeders to practice some digiscoping. I'm getting better using the Denali with the digiscope adapter.

Of course, I missed the best birds of the day! As I pulled into the parking lot off of 394 and Carlson Parkway I saw two large birds. The largest was an adult bald eagle that was being harassed by a peregrine falcon. The falcon was swooping back and forth over the back of the eagle, and the eagle was pumping its wings as hard as it could trying to gain speed. They were out of sight before I parked the car.

I'm no nature photographer but I have heard Stan go on about what he knows about bird behavior based on his observations watching birds and animals while out photographing them. I did that with a white-throated sparrow today (pictured right). I've always known a white-throated sparrow when I see one because of the black and white striping on the head (some with a yellow spot) and the white patch under the bill, but I've never really noticed the shape before. While photographing I really noticed that the tail on these guys are about as long as their bodies. Who knew? Better birders than I, I suppose. There does seem to be a big trend in bird workshops focusing on bird shape as opposed to bird colors.

Speaking of which, I've heard Pete Dunne is coming out with his own field guide and I've heard that he's going out and watching birds and then going to describe the birds individually based on his personal experiences with the birds and their "jizz" (Note to all of us under 40--jizz in birding terms doesn't mean what we thought it meant in high school. In birding terms it means the over all feel of the bird, so quit your snickering when you hear a 73 year old birder say, "Well, the jizz of that bird makes me say loggerhead shrike.") Anyway, kind of goes back to that theory of looking at birds by shape and behavior as opposed to just color.

Carrol Henderson Award

My good friend Carrol Henderson got an award from the folks at Watchable Wildlife! Here's a press release:

Carrol Henderson of the DNR Nongame Wildlife Program was one of two recipients of the Vision Award from Watchable Wildlife Inc. at the national Watchable Wildlife Conference in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The award was presented for the program's long-term accomplishments in the conservation of nongame wildlife, restoration of species like the trumpeter swan, and production of educational materials like Woodworking for Wildlife, Landscaping for Wildlife, and Lakescaping for Wildlife, which are intended for private citizens.

Some Minnesota Birding Trips

Are you looking for some birding opportunities around Minnesota? I just noted that bird guide Mike Hendrickson has a calendar up and some trips available. Whether you live in Minnesota or you are from another state, you should get some great birds on this trip. When you get to Mike's site click on the 2006 Birding Calendar.

Yesterday was also Mike's birthday so be sure to wish him a belated birthday.

A day in Duluth

The lake was angry today my friends. It was chilly and breezy along Lake Superior today in Duluth, but it's late October and in the 30 degree range, what do I expect? There were surfers taking advantage of the waves--and Non Birding Bill thinks I'm nuts for sitting in a box a dark box watching hawks fly by.

Hawks were moving fast and high today. We only got two in the nets, but what we lacked in quantity, we made for in quality--a passage goshawk and a haggard red-tailed hawk. We got the red-tailed hawk in first, early in the morning. We were watching three high in a thermal and at one point each of us was watching a different bird. As one person was saying, "Okay, this one is turning, it's going to come in" another got caught in the net. It was a gorgeous adult with a beautiful rusty red tail, and according to foot size he was a male (pictured right). Interesting was that he had an odd growth on his gape on the lower mandible. The growth looked like a skin tab and grew straight up, like some weird yellow tooth. Who knows what caused it, but the bird has obviously been surviving quite well for years so we let it go after banding it.

The goshawk was a lot of work to get in the net. What is the world coming to when a northern goshawk doesn't come straight for the net with a slight yank of a pigeon. At this particular banding station, we face an open field and can see birds coming for miles. Typically, when a goshawk comes on the field, they make a bee line for the nets but this bird kept doodling along starting to thermalize then getting out of it. Finally it went off to the right up against the tree line. We started to watch for other hawks, but kept half an eye out to the right on the off chance the goshawk came down the tree line towards the net. I looked out the right and there it was like a bird dark rain drop. "It's coming!" I whispered excitedly and it zoomed over the top of the blind, just above the nets and down on the pigeon--we could hear the air passing through the wings. Rick masterfully yanked the pigeon at the last second so it avoided the goshawk's talons. The goshawk landed with a thunk and then leapt up to take off, only to bounce straight into the front net. The pigeon somehow landed in the back net. That's the young goshawk above, the little male kind of reminds me of Sam the Eagle from the Muppets.

Red-breasted nuthatches were crawling all over the trees and the woods sounded like they were chock full of little squeak toys. I meandered into the woods a little bit to see if any small owls were lurking in the trees. Sometimes when my mind is wandering as I walk through the woods, I go on autopilot and absentmindedly pish. As I did this today I felt an odd sensation--I was completely surrounded by red-breasted nuthatches, black-capped chickadees, brown creepers and white-breasted nuthatches. The red-breasteds were within two feet, was I being stalked...or mobbed.

Another sign of winter was all the snow buntings on the sides of the roads (pictured right). I do love those guys. I tried to digiscope them, but I didn't spend as much time on them as I liked, there were some strange people on the side of the road and my scope and camera set up seemed to irk them so I took my birding elsewhere.

Cornell Ivory-bill Search

Tonight I'm going up to Duluth for some birding and maybe some hawk banding on Sunday. In the meantime, I give you some fun reading regarding the Cornell Ivory-billed Woodpecker Search.

So, I've been going over the information from Cornell about going on the ivory-bill search. This is by no means a cushy vacation or a cheap way to go look for the bird. I'm lucky that Eagle Optics is going to support me going along. How many bosses would do that--especially for someone they just hired? "Sure, go ahead and take two weeks to look for a giant woodpecker in Arkansas."

I've been reading over the agreements that I will have to sign and I'm going to have talk with Cornell about what I'm able to blog about, if I'm allowed to blog about it at all. Any information I collect or help create will belong to Cornell and I won't be able to use it without their written permission, which doesn't bother me too much, because I will get credit in their archives and this is part of an important research project.

There are two different search crews and these are the highlights of the contract and volunteer information for the crew I will be working on:

TRAVEL
You are responsible for your own travel to and from Arkansas, including transportation from the airport if you are flying. We recommend flying into Memphis, TN or Little Rock, AR. These locations are both approximately 1.5-2.5 hours from our field stations. Travel to and from search areas and field sites will be provided by Cornell.

HOUSING
Group housing will be provided and is available from the Sunday night before your scheduled start date through the Saturday night before your scheduled departure on a Sunday. Please plan to arrive at your designated field station on Sunday, as your training will begin at 8:00am on Monday.

(Your) crew will stay at a USFWS-owned research station on the levee road, south of St. Charles. This is a rustic, remote location with a bunkhouse and small house trailer, both with a kitchen and bath. There are 5 bedrooms between the two. It’s definitely not the Hilton, but we hope you’ll be comfortable there. The phone line is poor and Internet access will likely not be available at this site. Cell phones should work on the levee wall, which is a short walk from the bunkhouse. People on this crew should plan to stay at the research station, as there are no hotels within commuting distance of the study site. Helena is the closest town with amenities, approximately an hour away.

FOOD
You are responsible for your own food during your stay in Arkansas. (Your) crew will need to purchase food for at least a week on their drive from the airport. If driving from Memphis, I’d recommend shopping at the Super Walmart in Forrest City. Helena is the closest town with some amenities. Stuttgart and De Witt both have grocery stores as well on the west side of the river.

We recommend bringing:
1) binoculars – hopefully waterproof
2) chest waders-Women: Hodgman women's wadelight breathable stockingfoot chest waders
Cabela's women's G-II boot-foot chest wader
3) field clothing – lots of warm layers
4) warm socks – again use layers
5) warm gloves/mittens
6) warm hat – preferably a dark color or camo
7) foot and hand chemical heat packs – slip in your boots and gloves
8) watch
9) compass
10) camouflage outer layer (required) – a camo mesh bug suit works well. You can wear it over shorts and t-shirt or over a bunch of warm layers. It’s also reasonable for keeping bugs at bay, so it’s pretty multi-purpose
11) thermos
12) water bottles
13) knee high rubber boots – are pretty handy and available at local Walmarts
14) head lamp or flashlight
15) bedding – most beds are twins
16) sleeping bag – instead of bedding is fine
17) pillow
18) towel
19) personal audio, video, and camera equipment
20) cell phone

What we’ll provide:
1) canoes
2) paddles
3) pfds
4) GPS unit
5) video camera
6) training manual
7) field notebooks and dataforms

Again, not a relaxing vacation. Did I include in the above that the field work consists of 10 to 12 hour days, mostly in blinds? However, this will be the chance of a lifetime.

For People Who Work With Birds

In light of this news story from the Times anyone who works with live birds might want to sign up for this workshop. Please note that this workshop is currently only available to people who work with birds. I'm sure more workshops will be coming.

What: Lecture: Asian Bird Flu/ Avian Influenza: Facts You Need to Know
When: Tuesday November 8th, 2005 7:00 PM- 8:00 PM
Where: The Raptor Center, 1920 Fitch Avenue, University of Minnesota St. Paul Campus
Contact: Lisa Koch, 612-624-3261 or kochx039@umn.edu
To register: Call 612-624-9753 or email raptor@umn.edu

Do you work with birds? Do you educate the public about birds? Do you have questions about Avian Influenza or the Asian Bird Flu?

Avian Influenza/ Asian bird flu has been in the news, in the papers, on the radio and on TV, be prepared to answer the public’s questions on the topic and get the facts for yourself and your volunteers.

Dr. Patrick Redig of The University of Minnesota Raptor Center will provide a lecture and Q&A session on the topic. This lecture is not open to the general public, it is specifically designed to meet the needs of professionals who work with birds or educate the public about birds. This lecture is open to staff and volunteers who work for nature centers, rehabilitators, zoos, wildlife centers, education organizations and animal shelter. Registration is required

A $5 donation per person is suggested
To register: Call 612-624-9753 or email raptor@umn.edu

Lisa Koch, Director of Education
The Raptor Center, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota
612-624-3261
1920 Fitch Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55108-6108
kochx039@umn.edu
http://www.theraptorcenter.org

Set up for digiscoping

Well, Mike McDowell got me all tricked out with some digiscoping gear. I'm using a Denali Scope with an adaptor for my Nikon 7900 Koolpix digital cameral. So I headed out to one of my favorite feeding stations (Mr. Neil's) to try out the system. I am no Mike by any means, but I think I'm off to a pretty good start. Digiscoping is really quite challenging. It does take awhile to figure out the rhythm of your camera and to also keep in mind that focusing is a little tougher. If you're focused on a feeder that's fifteen feet in front of you and you suddenly notice a junco that is ten feet from you, you have to focus and adjust, not just point and shoot. It's still a good time though. I started off easy at bird feeders where you can kind of predict where the birds are going to land, but I can't imagine how some of the other digiscopers out there are able to get those great warbler and sparrow shots. I'll have to look for the Yoda of digiscoping and get more training.

I took photos of this bird waterer that kind of looks like an office water cooler. It's a fun little bird bath that stores up water and provides little dishes for birds to drink out of and bathe in. Goldfinches totally love it, and both goldfinches and chickadees were on Mr. Neil's today.

So, as I was standing out in the brisk autumn air I noticed one particular annoyingly loud goldfinch. I zoomed in on it and noticed that it was a juvenile goldfinch begging from an adult. I know goldfinches are late nesters, but I've never noticed a young goldfinch this late before. The adult was trying to teach the young bird to go to the feeders but would still give in to the begging calls.

For those interested Maddy G-Dawg is the best person in the world and likes whirled peas. Also, would people stop stealing her clams from whyville.

How Quickly Life Changes

This time last year, almost all of us had no clue there were ivory-billed woodpeckers out there. Although, I always kept a pet conspiracy theory that the Ziess search down in Louisiana had been successful but all the participants involved kept quiet that they found the bird feeling that was the dignified thing to do and best thing for it.

It was announced last spring that the ivory-billed was found and of course all sorts of debates have started up and my personal favorite right now is the poll going on Mike Hendrickson's blog. A man who dares to blog (and quite frankly say to your face-you gotta admire that) things the rest of us would never dream of making public but may question in the back of our minds.

We all have a our personal theories of whether or not this duck sized woodpecker is out there. I think it is, but that could be my optimistic nature more than trusting scientific fact. Well, a couple of months ago when Cornell announced they were looking for volunteers, I tossed my hat in the ring thinking that of all the people who would apply for the volunteer gig would be WAY better at field work than myself. I even talked myself out of it after I hit send in my email account, I mean come on--humidity, poisonous snakes, mosquitoes, physically demanding work--I'm not that kind of birder! Well, last night I got an email saying that my application is selected and I'm slated to go look on a Cornell team for the ivory-billed woodpecker in early December. I'm still in shock, I hardly slept at all last night. It's one thing to toss your theories around with birding buddies at a bar but now to be invited to go is, well, just WOW. I have to talk with Eagle Optics to make sure this is okay but despite all the discomfort it truly sounds like one hell of an adventure to go into a giant swamp. Even if I don't see the famed woodpecker in question the area sounds amazing. There are literally hundreds of woodpeckers in the area of all different species. Wouldn't it be worth it just to go to see tons and tons of pileated woodpeckers, sapsuckers, red-headed woodpeckers...I'm still in shock. At the very least this should make for interesting blogging material. But rest assured this will not become a debate about who is right and who is wrong in this whole woodpecker broo ha ha, but I will be writing my experiences.

Here is a link to the entry about what I'm allowed to bring on the Ivory-billed Search.

Life is so weird. For sure, it is light years away from where I was this time last year. I feel like Peewee Herman--the luckiest boy in the world.

I am in Wisconsin

Okay, first things first. I should not do blog entries as soon as I get home from a weekend of fun with birding friends and a five hour drive. Good grief, typos riddled that last post and links were spotty, sorry about that. If you are looking for more Midwest Birding Sypmosium hijinks, be sure to check out Bill of the Birds blog and WildBird on the Fly blog.

Today I spent the day with Non Birding Bill in Middleton, WI visiting Eagle Optics. I was so touched, they had a sign on the door welcoming Bill and I as soon as we pulled up. I was like a kid in a candy store: binoculars and scopes everywhere. I’m so excited to be working with such a great group of people. I had always considered myself quite lucky to have landed a full time job at a wild bird store and now I am truly in birder heaven working for a company whose optics I have used in the past.

I got to see where Mike McDowell lurks when not he’s not blogging, see the storage area for binoculars and scopes and meet the guy who fixes optics. He was kind of doing an autopsy on a pair as soon as Dan showed me around.

We brought Cinnamon with us and she is having a blast on the carpeted floor of the hotel room. She's been doing laps nonstop around from the door to the desk. She can reach higher velocities on carpeting than she can on our hard wood floors at home.

What Really Happens at Birding Symposiums

Who says birders don't know how to get down and party? For those curious, that is Alicia Craig shaking her money maker in the front row.

Well, the Midwest Birding Symposium was a blast. For me that birding wasn't that exciting, most of the birds in and around the Quad Cities I can see easily here, but the workshops were interesting and the opportunity to ham it up with fellow birding nuts from around the country was just loads of fun. A really cool moment for me was getting a hug from Lillian Stokes congratulating me on getting a job with Eagle Optics. I also got to meet Mike and Katie who I will be working with at EO. Mike (of Mike's digiscoping blog) was kind enough to let me sit in on one of his optics talks. We did manage to drag them out for karaoke, but could not get them to sing...I'll have to work on that. Another highlight was getting to meet Julie Zickefoose. I have always been a huge fan of her writing and discovered that she's a mischievous woman who could probably out sing a wood thrush if she tried. When we went out for karaoke, she brought down the house.

Other Symposium Highlights:

Don Kroodsma author of The Singing Life of Birds proves that he's not just a fantastic author, but also isn't a stick in the mud. He was kind enough to let me sit on his lap and give him a kiss. This is a fascinating book on the how and why of bird song and includes a cd that accompanies the text in the appendix.





Bobby Harrison was certainly a popular attraction at the convention, women were lining up for miles. He was like Sting for birders. It was very cute, one woman walked up and said, "I just want to touch you, you've seen an ivory-billed woodpecker."




It was a nature writer's dream, editors of the major birding magazines on a river boat loaded with alcohol--what better time to pitch a story? From left Eldon Greij founding editor of Birder's World, Amy Hooper editor of WildBird Magazine, Bill Thompson III editor of Bird Watcher's Digest, and Chuck Hagner editor of Birder's World.






I discovered a kindred spirit in Eldon Greij. He knows his birds and is quick witted and likes an occasional naught joke. Plus, he likes reading Bent books and I love any guy who loves Bent.














Yes, that's Bill Thompson dressed like Bubbles of the Powerpuff Girls (or is it Penny from in Inspector Gadget?) And of course, that's his lovely wife Julie Zickefoose next to him. Looks like she's the one who wears the hats in the family.









Bill Thompson rocks the crowd at the Commodore Tap's karaoke night. He sang a really rockin' version of I'll Stop the World and Melt with you. This bar was up and ready for karaoke. They had a table of wigs, hats, scarves and percussive instruments for everyone to use. The bar regulars thought our group was a traveling choir. When we revealed we were birders ie people who travel around and watch birds, an older gent next to me nudged my arm and asked, "No sh!t?" When we closed the bar, we were applauded and hugged and told that we rocked the place.








Jeff Bouton of Leica Optics wowed the crowd with My Maria. He also does one heck of a Wicked Game by Chris Isaak. I discovered that not only do Jeff and I share a similar sense of humor, we also shared a job--we used to dress up as Chuck E. Cheese. We both have much better jobs now.












Here's a prey's eye view of the coolest bird to be seen at the symposium! Neil Rettig's education harpy eagle.
















Amy Hooper looks to be involved in suspicious activity at an eagle nest. Is she raiding the nest?








More photos will probably come soon. I took 230 this weekend and haven't sifted through them all, but all this weekend has worn me out and I need to sleep. All in all it was a great time.

I don't know where I am

My wireless signal in my hotel room is weak, so blog entries will be few during the weekend, but I will make up for it Sunday night...however that will depend on how many people will pay me not to post the incriminating photos I have from the symposium's river boat event and the karaoke party afterwards. Yes, Bill Thompson III of Bird Watcher's Digest, I'm talkin' to you.

Iowa birding is good; there are quite a few pelicans here and some good ducks. On yesterday's trip to Sloane Slough we found green-winged teal, pintails, blue-winged teal, a redhead, gadwall and wigeon. We found some interesting sparrows including vesper and a first year chipping sparrow going into winter plumage. I heard through the grapevine that some of the field trip descriptions for the symposium were a little vague. So vague in fact that one of the field trips was actually a boat excursion that wasn't included in the original description. When tour participants arrived, a trip leader stepped out and asked, "Are you ready for a boat trip?" The group was not, but it sounds like they saw good birds and it did warm up later in the morning so things turned out okay.

I'm off to see a harpy eagle and meet more people so I can name drop in future entries.

Arrived In Iowa

Well, I have arrived in one piece in Quad Cities. I saw the longest line of starlings on a telephone wire, the whole line went on for over a mile!

I met the infamous Bobby Harrison. I can't figure out how to upload photos from my new camera onto this loaner laptop I'm using, so I can't show the photo of a long line of mature ladies giddy to meet him. Some women were coming up to him just to say they have touched someone who has seen an ivory-billed woodpeckers.

I met some of my co-workers at Eagle Optics including Mike. I'm trying to talk him and Bobby Harrison into going out to sing karaoke with us tonight. I told them both that they didn't have to sing. Of course, that's just what you say to people when their sober. Once you get them drunk you can get them onstage no problem.

I and the Bird 8

I and the Bird 8 is up and running at TroutGrrrl's Science and Sarcasm Blog. For those who have never checked it out, it's a great read and a wonderful way to learn of new and other bird blogs that you may not have heard of before.

On another note, while preparing for the traveling I'll be doing over the next couple of weeks, I thought it was time to clean out my purse and discovered and owl pellet that I forgot about that had kind of dissected itself from weeks of hiding in one of my purse pockets. The contents were too crumbled to photograph, but there did appear to be tiny bits of insect exoskeletons which makes me wonder if it's not a great horned but a long-eared or even saw-whet. Too bad the pellet crumbled, that was going to be a cool blog entry. I found the pellet at a certain spot on the yellow dot trail at Hawk Ridge and on subsequent visits I have found more pellets. I will probably be in the area in a week or two and check for more pellets.

Well, I am off to Midwest Birding Symposium this morning. Hopefully I will find easy wireless access and have some fun gossip to report.

Non Birding Bill Bird Report

Cell phone message from Non Birding Bill on the way to catching his bus to work this morning:

The neighborhood Cooper's hawk nailed a pigeon this morning. The flocks on the old folk's home took flight and circled the street. The flock instantly scattered when the Cooper's flew in towards the center and focused on one bird. Both took off back toward's the old folks home, over the roof, the pigeon flew down, the Coop's followed, and then there was a poof of feathers.

I'm sorry I missed that.

Wigeons Moving Through

Cinnamon is driving me crazy. She apparently is a little bored at home and has taken to a new hobby of climbing every piece of furniture in the house. The other night she climbed to the very top of our lazy boy, teetering precariously on the ledge. So I decided to pop on her leash and take her out for some light birding with me. She's actually not a bad birding partner (except when dogs come by). Standing on a path near some underbrush, I noticed that she suddenly became very focused in one particular direction, I bent down to her level and found a mixed flock of white-throated sparrows, white-crowned sparrows, juncoes and a lone fox sparrow! And here I only thought she was good for attracting buteos.

I wanted to take the time to test a new digital camera that I'll be using. This one is a Nikon Coolpix 7900. It's got so many bells and whistles, it's taking time for me to get used to using it. Without practice I wasn't quick enough to photograph the sparrows Cinnamon was watching, so I decided to focus on some wigeon and mallards instead. I need practice.

I have so much to do, I'm heading to the Midwest Birding Symposium Thursday. I just got word from some reliable sources that karoake parties are schedule for Thursday night and quite possibly Wednesday night. I'll miss Wednesday, hopefully that will just be a warm up session.

Kind of Like Winning the Lottery

I'm starting a new job and a new chapter in my life. I'm going to work for Eagle Optics, a binocular and spotting scope company (I have to include that because I told a couple of non-birder friends and they looked at me quizzically and asked "But I thought you loved birds, why are you going to work for an opthamologist?").

Part of me is a little sad about about leaving the All Seasons Wild Bird Store, I've been there 8 years, I've made some great friends and Al and Dave have been great guys to work for. Since I won't be working there though, I do plan on being a regular customer. The job at Eagle was simply an offer I couldn't refuse. Part of the job will include traveling to bird festivals and talking about birds with people from all over--I can't believe I'm going to get paid to do that--I feel like I've won the birder lottery. I'll also have the opportunity to work with Mike McDowell whose blog I have always been a fan of and I'll get see the friends I've made from around the country a little more frequently.

Jeff Corwin

Jeff Corwin gave a talk at the O'Shaughnessy Education Center at St. Thomas University. Of all the Animal Planet hosts he is my favorite because one he made a reference to an old TV show Maude (anyone who can make a Bea Arthur reference in an animal show is okay in my book), two I really like his animal ethics and three he has found a way to earn a living doing what he truly loves: working and learning about animals and educating the public at the same time.

His talk was pretty good, it was more of him just recounting fun stories behind the scenes of his shows and it was very relaxed like you were talking to him at a party. He left the last half open for questions and it was so fun to listen to the range of questions. Those under 10 asked things like "What's the scariest animal you've ever encountered?" (his wife in hour 19 of her 26 hour labor for the birth of their daughter) or "Has anyone gotten killed working on your show?" (one tracker did get eaten by lions). Those between 19 and 25 asked things like "What do you think of PETA?" (doesn't know enough about them to say one way or the other) "Are you a vegetarian?" (used to be but can't really do it with all the travel, hard to find vegetarian in all countries). He just seemed like a genuine guy who is happy with his life, has a great time doing it and loves to share how cool animals are with the world. If his talk is coming to a town near you , I highly recommend checking it out.

I wanted to buy his book Living on the Edge but they sold out very quickly so he was kind enough to pose or a photo. I do have to admit, of all the animal planet hosts he certainly is the easiest on the eyes.

Northern Flights

I just got a call from Kelly Larson, she used to work at All Seasons Wild Bird Store and now has her own bird store called Northern Flights up in Bemidji, MN. She's having an open house this weekend and all sorts of fun events, so if you're up in the area and enjoying the fall color stop in and say "hi". Kelly is kind of kooky like myself (maybe even a tad kookier) so if you enjoy this blog, you will certainly enjoy her.

When Kelly worked at All Seasons, she worked at the Bloomington Store while I worked at the Minnetonka location. I always enjoyed getting interoffice mail from her because I just never knew what to expect. She's an expert at finding edible mushrooms and once sent over a bag of freshly collected oyster mushrooms. Mmmmmmmmm. I also remember a time when I went out birding with Kelly and Val Cunningham and we found a den of snakes just emerging from hibernation. Val and I watched with cautious interest, Kelly went right in and picked up one of the snakes. Birding with Kelly is never dull.

I asked what kind of birds she was seeing in the area, there's the Big Bog that is just great for birds and when the boardwalk opens up there I think it will become a huge birding hot spot. She said not too many birds besides the usual suspects just yet, but she has been seeing wolves--which is pretty darn cool in my book.

Got Millet?

White-throated Sparrows are just everywhere! I'm practically tripping over them in the woods. I got the photo at right at Hawk Ridge when I set up the camera near their cracked corn pile, although I did tempt them with a little extra white millet and sunflower chips. White-throats and white-crowned sparrows are popping up at Twin Cities feeders too, although I imagine that my mother will be seeing them soon in Indianapolis.

Magic Mushroom?

A "shroom" who knew? I got this informative email from a fellow blogger:

I think I have seen the mushroom in your latest blog post (red one with white spots) in Bavarian Alps: the biologist who was with me told me that it was used in Hindu rituals. I see that this page corroborates what he told me.
Probably, you already knew that this mushroom could cause hallucinations. I guess your friend Neil did give you a smart suggestion:-)
Guru

Thanks, Guru for filling me in. I was incredibly curious as to the type of fungus we had come across and had no idea where to begin in identifying it. Good thing we didn't eat it...or maybe I did and that explains the previous post (da da DAAAA!)

Birding with Neil

Periodically I am asked if I am really friends with Neil Gaiman. Yes, I am really am. And to prove it, I took Neil up for a day of hawk watching around Duluth, MN to experience the thrill of thousands of migrating birds of prey. First we stopped at my friend Frank Taylor’s hawk blind to band migrating hawks and then we headed to Hawk Ridge. Many don't know this, but Neil is quite the birder and has a way with passerines (note Neil with the song sparrow on the left).









Neil sits in the hawk blind to help watch for hawks flying over the field. There were a couple of times when he confused blue jays with sharp-shinned hawks but he got the hang of it before the end of the day.









We banded a passage female merlin. She graciously posed for a photo with Neil before continuing on with her migration.











Neil meets some pigeons at the banding station—all of whom never get harmed by hawks during banding due to protective leather jackets and expert handling by hawk banders. He tried to chat with them about their adventures, but being pigeons they were hesitant to speak of their exploits.







After a morning full of banding we stopped at Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve. Neil took a look at the daily totals. He was most excited about seeing a Northern Goshawk and agreed with me that, goshawks are hands down the coolest North American raptor.








The banders at Hawk Ridge got in a Red-eyed Vireo—which are surprisingly aggressive and try to bite anybody. It’s okay because they are insectivores and have soft bills and don’t hurt so much when the bite. This one took a break from nipping for a photo with Neil.










A rare appearance by a Golden-crowned Kinglet at the Hawk Ridge banding station made for a special day. Neil graciously accepted a kiss from this secretive bird.















A fellow birder, Reier decides to make Neil feel like a true bird watcher by making fun of him. This is a good sign that Neil is being embraced by the birding community.















Before the day was done we found a huge mushroom. It reminded me of a smurf house. I wanted to see what it tasted like, but Neil smartly recommended we shouldn’t eat mushrooms we aren’t sure of.


Well hopefully this answers the question of just how well I know Neil Gaiman.

Hawk Trapping

I finally got to spend a day at the hawk blind! This fall has just been CRAZY and I've barely had time to enjoy my favorite part of birding (hawk migration) but I finally had a chance to participate in some hawk banding today. I headed up to Duluth Saturday after a signing with Stan at the Wildlife Science Center (a very cool place by the way--you can have a birthday party with wolves). Well, I was so unfocused I forgot to book a hotel room and decided that rather than stopping from motel to hotel to look for vacancies I would just bunk it with the boys out in the field. Rick was kind enough to offer the back of his truck and Frank was kind enough to offer a sleeping bag. I had plenty of clothes, spare blankets and a pillow in my car and thought this would be what Opie Taylor would call "adventure sleepin'" (you can see my cozy little bed pictured above). It was only supposed to be in the low fifties maybe upper forties so I figured I would be warm enough. Not only that, I had a flask of 15 year old scotch with me just in case I got cold...or couldn't sleep.

The hard part getting to sleep was being distracted by all the outside sounds. I could hear night migrants overhead and that always sends chills down my spine. Then at some point someone in a truck drove by the field with a large flood light, I assume they were shining deer. Other than that it was a pleasant night outdoors snuggled up in a warm sleeping bag listening to the sounds of Duluth.

The trapping was slim pickins'. The winds were pushing the hawks up so high they weren't interested in coming down to the nets and at this point adults start passing through and they are more difficult to get into the nets than the first year birds. We got two hawks in the nets today, one was a passage female merlin. We placed a band her and released her (pictured right). After I snapped the photo, she dropped down and bounced off my arm and headed for the woods, but not without giving us a little merlin shriek before she was out of sight. I wonder if it's good luck to have a merlin ricochette off of you?

Our second bird in the net was a passage female sharp-shin--Oh! She had a really cool flight. Frank and I were watching it high in the sky and it started a straight dive down at a small bird then stopped half way and continued in our direction, but still quite high. As it was right over the blind, Rick pulled the pigeon and it did a straight stoop down! You could see the landing gear (legs) position right in front of the face, locking the talons on the target. Then just mere feet overhead, it dodged and darted from side to side to slow down and not smashing into the ground and in an instant it was in the nets! A really great flight into the net really makes up for a slow bird day.

Since the birds were slow, we closed down the banding station early and Amber, Reier and I headed to Hawk Ridge. It was surprisingly busy, which is good because Hawk Ridge needs all the support it can get. I was so excited, they had shirts--shirts that fit women and don't make us look like shapeless bags of potatoes! So ladies if you are looking for a bird shirt that won't add ten pounds to your figure, get a Hawk Ridge V-Neck. They appear to be available in gray, white or pink.

They wern't getting too many hawks in at their banding station, but they did get some cool passerines into the nets including a golden-crowned kinglet and a red-eyed vireo (left).
Well, this has to be the end of the entry--there's just tons of freaks on TLC tonight. First it's "Face Eating Tumor" followed by "I Am My Own Twin" and to top it off " 101 Things Removed From The Human Body". Now that's what I call quality tv, and it has be educational if it's on The Learning Channel.