I got an email from a BirdForum reader about the Florida gent who claims to have an ivory-bill photo:

Sharon, the latest pic (and the first) from the Florida fellow have been discussed on a BirdForum thread and pretty well concluded to be fake (unless he can provide further details/explanation to the contrary); just a few of the points made:
1. white wing patch is too large and wrong shape for a real bird
2. pose or posture is very odd and sitting in a citrus tree, also odd
3. tail is not braced against branch as normal for a woodpecker
4. bill possibly too thin
5. possibly a building visible on left side of photo (with magnifying glass) beyond foliage
6. the guy's whole website and writing style is quite peculiar, and filled with advertising; even the url containing the phrase "Bill is mad" is a bit odd.
So far he hasn't responded to any of the points on BirdForum, where some sleuthing about his possible background was also put forth.

always possible the guy is on to something and just has a very odd way of communicating... but, so far doesn't seem likely.


In other news, ABC got this scoop:

Bird Waching is Popular (Birdchick says: DUH!)

By DAVE CARPENTER

CHICAGO, Jan. 31, 2006 — Entrepreneur Vernon LaVia spends $15,000 a year on birding trips and can reel off all the diseases and misadventures he's had pursuing his favorite pastime in 33 countries.

Group benefits salesman Todd Birutis' idea of a good time: Hanging out on a frozen beach in Lithuania all day for the chance of a new ornithological sight.

Financial reporter Christine Williamson has a not-so-hidden agenda when she travels to meet with money managers: grilling them for information on local bird sightings so she can add to her "life list."

What the three baby boomers have in common is an expensive passion for birds shared by countless others with the wherewithal to pursue it from Antarctica to Zimbabwe. While the cost of chasing birds to the far corners of the earth is high, virtually everyone afflicted with this obsession says the rewards — beauty, mystery, awe and longer lists — are well worth it.

"They [birds] are so totally cool," said the 46-year-old Williamson, who, like the other two, lives in Chicago when she's not off on international birding expeditions.

You can read the rest of the story here.

Ivory-bill Photo Claim

I posted a while ago about a gent in Florida who had claimed to see an ivory-bill. He had a teeny tiny photo posted which wasn't convincing at all and got weird and defensive when asked to enlarge the photo. Well, he has a new photo that has birders all over buzzing about "is this the real deal" or a decoy. Check the site out and and see for yourself. He's kind of a fish expert, now ivory-bill searcher.

When he had the first photo up that was too tiny to determine if it was an ivory-bill or pileated, I requested to see a larger version. Something that was at least bigger than a postage stamp. I got a long response, here is an excerpt:

"I posted the picture on my site as an experiment
really, and my conclusion is what I predicted. Most
people are more interested in dissecting information
to see if it is real or not,,rather than utilizing the
information that is available to go out and find the
bird for themselves.

I have put in many laborous weeks and months searching
for these birds.

It has been my contention that they are not extinct,
and that if laypeople would simply not be ignored then
you can go out and find them.

They are just birds,,the woods are big, you must spend
ALOT of time in the woods to find them, and the people
who sit at home on the computer will never find them.

I have recieved hundreds of e-mails and many are just
simply ignorant, many just want me to give locations
away, they do not want to work to find them.

The birds have been doing fine without interference
from people, and having university scientists putting
search teams in their habitat during nesting cannot be
good for the birds."

That part sounded all well and good. Then I got little suspicious about the overall intention of the website with the end of the email:

"I will be releasing a book soon that will be alot more
detailed, but I suspect it will be met with as much
skepticism and arrogance as every report has been met
with since the 1940's.

Be patient and I expect by this time next year there
will be no more reason to "dissect" pictures and most
of the "mysticism" surrounding this bird will be gone."

So, personally I am torn. Is this someone with a legitimate photo? Is this someone just seeking attention and doing some early book promotion? When the website first went up, I was sent an anonymous announcement asking me to check it out. Within 24 hours of the email I received, I noticed that a couple of other bird blogs were mentioning the site, which tells me that someone was sending out emails to get PR for this site. It's entirely possible that there could be ivory-bills in Florida, but can this photo be trusted? I don't know.

I also take issue with the assertion that "lay people" not being taken seriously. Lay people are taken seriously all the time in the birding world! It's one of the sciences where contributions from the general public are welcomed and taken seriously. I think it's one of the reasons why so many people get involved. I'm a prime example--I'm not an ornithologist, I do not have a doctorate in ornithology (my doctor today called me and ornithophile--I think that fits). I do have a degree--in theatre (explains a lot doesn't it). But I have a bird book library that would rival several nature centers and some small colleges and I spend a lot time out in the field with various researchers and engage an as many banding projects as I can. Arthur Cleveland Bent, is another great example, he compiled one of the earliest and most thorough collection of life histories of North American birds, that is stiff referenced today. It's not a matter of being a lay person, it's being able to talk the talk as well as walk the walk, if you can justify an observation based on personal experience in the field or by citing reliable sources (I mean books, not just blogs) then you will be taken seriously in the birding community.

Something in my gut is telling me that this photo is not legit--oh how I wish it was, but I think are chances are better in Arkansas.

Maybe Jeff Bouton of Leica who lives down in Florida will do some searching for us. What do you say, Pretty Boy?

Who wants to collect blackbird poop for sperm?

"You want to collect my WHAT for who?!!!?"

Once again an interesting request, this time from Stefan Luepold has shown up on Cornell's Bird Job Email:

REQUEST FOR SPERM SAMPLES FROM ICTERIDS--I plan to collect a large number of sperm samples from birds to study whether differences in mating systems and other ecological factors can explain the diversity in sperm size and shape we find across different species. The icterids (meadowlarks, grackles, orioles, cowbirds, blackbirds, bobolinks, etc.) form an ideal group of birds for this study because mating systems vary considerably even between closely related species, indicating different selection pressures on different species. I am now looking for bird banders or researchers who are handling birds during this breeding season and are willing to collect samples from different icterid species. During the breeding season male birds produce sperm almost continuously and some of these sperm pass into the birds’ cloaca and are excreted with the feces. Collecting these feces is an easy and harmless technique for obtaining sperm from wild birds. If you are interested, please contact Stefan Luepold (s.luepold@sheffield.ac.uk) for more details on the project and instructions for the collection of fecal samples. I will be happy to provide the material needed to collect and preserve the samples.

I Got Bent!

Here's one of the female education peregrines at TRC. When I finished the program and took her out back, I accidentally passed by our male education peregrine's mew. As soon as he saw the female, he bent low and started his squeaky "per-chup call" as a way of flirting. The female on my fist bent low and spead her wings to join in on the mating ritual too. We're not set up for breeding at TRC so the birds never "get together", plus the situation is so unpredictable. Our male peregrine looks to me to be half the size of our females and I wonder if he were put in with one of them, if they just would try to eat him instead.

While I was talking about birds of prey, Non Birding Bill found a couple of volumes of Bent that I am missing for my collection, so I give you this entry from Life Histories of North American Jays, Crows and Titmice Part Two with an observation of an enemy of the chestnut-backed chickadee (as if a chickadee could have an enemy!):

"...according to Mr. Bowles (1909), another unusual enemy, which "is no other than the common black-and-yellow bumble bee. This insect has a veritable mania for living in holes in trees, and a chickadee nest appears to be the acme of its desires."

Why don't we see that in Valentine's cards: "Oh, baby, you are the acme of my desires."

Speaking of enemies, Cinnamon has taken to a violent disapproval of my motion sensitive blue jay. I got it for our cockatiel Kabuki, as blue jays seem to set her off to singing, but it freaked her out (I think it was the unnatural mechanical movement). The blue jay migrated to various places around the apartment to where it was currently sitting on our window near Cinnamon's new cardboard cottage. She has taken to using the box as a mean of access to the window frame and swiped the blue jay and took it down to her little fortress of solitude and started chewing and flipping it around. Not sure what that was about, but took it away before she hurt herself tearing apart the mechanics.

I had an odd moment yesterday. I planned on some light birding before the rain hit and Non Birding Bill asked if he could come with me. I paused and looked at him. "Why?" I asked. He simply said that he just wanted to spend time with me. I studied him for another minute and asked, "Wait, are you just using me as an excuse to go birding and you don't want people to know?" He denied this and came along. We didn't see the target birds I was going for but did see an eagle, several red-tailed hawks pairing up and one of his favorites: mallards. Regardless of the birds, it was fun to spend time driving around Dakota County with him.

A Sign I Talk Too Much About Birds?

I gave a program at The Raptor Center today and realized that I forgot to bring out one of the birds when I finished the program. I said, "Oh no, I forgot to bring out and talk about the barred owl!" An older gentleman came up with a serious look and said, "Don't worry, it was enough."

A Morning at Hyland Park

Something I never noticed before until today: there is a difference between the red on the back of a male hairy woodpecker vs the back of a male downy woodpecker. Can you tell from looking at the red on the two photos below, which one is a downy and which on is a hairy?

















The answer will be at the end of this blog entry.

When I used to have a job with regular business hours, I always thought of all the things I would do if I ever had the opportunity to have a job where I could set my own hours. For some reason, I always thought that I would have unlimited time to go birding. It's not that easy.

Since I work from home now, I feel I have to really put my nose to the grindstone and hole myself up in the apartment. My first two weeks were a rough transition. I thought that I would have no problem working in my new dress code of pajamas--that was a failure and led to me paying more attention to reruns of ER and other tv shows I'm afraid to admit to (okay, I'll admit to one: I'm a sucker for Little House on the Prairie--what can I say, I love Dean Butler, sue me). After that I decided that if I was going to actually work from home, I would need to get dressed for work and put on clothes. The real topper that makes sure that I feel like I'm working is to always wear shoes around the home--that really feels like you mean business.

I remember once being at Hyland Park with a friend thinking how cool it would be to have a laptop and set up in one of their rooms for watching their bird feeders and write all day long
I remember thinking, "Wouldn't that just be the best job ever?" Alas, I have not done that, since I started my new job. So, today I thought I would give it a try. I really didn't get much writing accomplished because of the lack of internet (boy if nature centers ever offer wireless internet, I will be the happiest girl in the world). But I think I might actually hole myself up at Hyland Park on days when I need to get some serious writing accomplished without the distraction of the internet--Don't get me wrong, I love the internet and find it a valuable tool for work, but it can easily be a distraction--like an interactive television.

When I arrived at Hyland, there was a group of volunteers conducting a Project Feeder Watch count for the nature center. I tried my hand at some digiscoping. I had forgotten how much I enjoy the steady feeder activity at a nature center's feeding station: the steady stream of chickadees, the surprise and awe of a pileated woodpecker, the unexpected surprises like a hermit thrush or a white-throated sparrow skulking about the winter feeders. I really, really love the rush hour at a feeding station. As I was photographing the birds with my camera and scope I noticed that hairy woodpeckers have a different pattern of red than the downy woodpeckers. This may have been an obvious field mark to many birders, but since I could always tell downy and hairy apart by bill size and overall woodpecker body size, I had never really paid attention to tall the field marks. It was certainly a lesson and a reminder that sometimes the little things really do make a difference.

Photo on the top: Downy Woodpecker
Photo on the bottom: Hairy Woodpecker

Minor Apartment Gardening

Today was an odd day--in the 40 degree range in January in Minnesota. These are typically days that you get in March that make you want to run out and buy every plant imaginable for your garden. I however, kept things sensible and purchased a "watch 'em grow" daffodil-crocus-tulip-hyacinth basket and a few other odds and ends plants--one being a pitcher plant (pictured left). Periodically, we get little gnats or fruit flies in the aparatment and this pitcher plant is supposed to be a natural and safe solution. We'll see, I hope I don't kill it before it can work it's magic. Well, it was only $10 and it was worth the price to see Non Birding Bill's face when he saw it. I was warned by the nursery staff that I need to make sure to put a little water inside the pitchers to make sure they do not dry up. I'll let you know my progress. For those interested in where I got this odd little beauty, it was at Bachman's in Minneapolis.

I also started a little something that I picked up at Bird Watch America. There was a woman selling these little bags full of what looked like clay balls (that's one of the balls pictured to the right). They are actually full of seeds held together with guano. You place the balls in your containers and they grow into bunches of wild flowers. The company makes different varieties, but I picked up the package labeled for hummingbirds and butterflies. I only started one ball today, but when spring gets underway, I'm going to start my window baskets with some of the balls to see if I can attract any butterflies. These balls are pretty nifty and I'm sure they will be showing up in bird stores or as impulse items at nurseries fairly soon.

Pelletpalooza

Yesterday I got an email from the glycol manager at the Minneapolis/St Paul Airport asking if I knew anyone that might be interested in snowy owl pellets. ME! I went over as soon as I could and collected the four fat beauties. These guys have some heft to them and they're about as long as my iPod. I used them as bribery to arrange lunch with a friend I haven't seen for awhile. I wrote, "I have snowy owl pellets, how can you say no to lunch with me now?"

After we dissect them and id what is inside, they will either go to The Raptor Center or the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union collection. They're like little unopened presents in my fridge right now, I can barely stay away form them.

Tuckered Out Bunny

So much disapproval, so little time.

California Condor Update

Remember the California Condor that was convalescing at The Raptor Center? Well, after spending a few weeks in an outdoor flight pen, rebuilding its strength, it has been released out into the wild. Let's hop it has better luck this time.

In other news, there's a preview out for the-novel-turned-into-a-movie, Hoot. It looks like it's about some young kids light heartedly sabotaging a construction site to protect some burrowing owls. I'm not sure how accurate the movie is going to be since the preview shows a burrowing owl in a tree. Also, the hooting of a the burrowing owl in the preview sounds a lot like a great horned owl. Harrumph, now I'm disapproving.

A Marcia Brady Kind Of Day

Even Cinnamon is shocked at the amount of disapproval needed for this entry. Will she be able to deliver? I started by asking if Cinnamon would play Jan to my Marcia, and true to form she is not being very sympathetic to my day. All she has to say is, "It's always Birdchick, Birdchick, Birdchick!"

It started with my nose (not quite as painful as a football, but nearly as embarrassing). This week at The Raptor Center they are having a bird care and management workshop for people who have zoos and nature centers and are interested in having live birds for display and education. This morning, as part of my shift at The Raptor Center, I had to work the greeting station in case anyone came in late or if someone walked in for a tour. I saw several people I hadn't seen for awhile like Gail Buhl who runs Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center and Deanne Endrizzi from US Fish and Wildlife. They didn't even know about my job change so it was good to touch base with them. I also had the opportunity to meet people from other facilities around the country. At one point, someone had mentioned I had a smudge on my nose and I thought I wiped it off. Then at the end of my shift, I went to the restroom and noticed that a rather large brown smudge surrounded the tip of my nose from my coffee travel mug. I looked like a total brown noser. So much for dignity.

Continuing on with my Marcia Brady day, I discovered that I am double booked in February. And like Marcia, I am so mortified, I could just die (I'm throwing my head into a pillow right now)! So, I'm in the process of getting it worked out. I think I can negotiate my way through this one with the help of Non Birding Bill, but I may have to watch KISS Meets The Phantom of the Park with him (what I do for love). It will get worked out, but I can't believe I did this, I am such a dork sometimes.

When I get stressed like this, I realize I need to spend some quality time with birds, pronto--preferably wild, but will settle for captives. The nearest birds at the moment were in TRC's education courtyard. I don't talk to them or anything weird like that, I just like being around birds and watching their behaviors. A couple of the great horned owls were dozing out there, but as soon as there is movement, they make look asleep, but they are watching you. If you look at the photo of this owl sleeping next to the screening of its mew, at first glance it looks like both eyes are closed. Take a close look at the left eye, it's open just a tiny bit. This is how wild owls keep an eye on what is going on during the day. Keeping their eyes closed helps cloak them while they are hiding. Sometimes, when people get close to owls that look like they are sleeping, they assume that the bird is not stressed. The bird is very aware of what is going on and can internalize stress without showing it. This particular great horned owl is imprinted on humans and is fairly tolerant. We have one great horned in the courtyard that was found injured as an adult along the side of a road in Indiana and is not imprinted on humans at all. Her mew is covered with mosquito netting and you can't see her through it from the outside, but she can see you from the inside. It's hilarious to walk by her mew because, all of a sudden you hear, "hiss...hiss,hiss...clack, clack, clack...hiss...clack, clack" as she hisses and clacks her bill at you in warning.

The imprint great horned owls were very hooty again today. I tried last time to get a photo of some of them hooting but the owls weren't very cooperative. Today, I did have some success of getting a great horned in midhoot. Check out the posture they assume to get that sound out: it fluffs out it's gular (patch of white feathers that are puffed out right above the chest), lean forward, raise up the tail like a wren and doing it all on one foot. How cool is that? And some people think birds are boring? Just look at what this owl is going through to get its song out. I'd like to see Tom Jones put forth this much effort.

Old Man Eagle

Okay, in order for the caption below the photo to work, you need to imagine the voice of an old man--preferably a crazy-neighbor-type old man.

"Hey, somebody get those darn smoochers off a ma property!"

Eagle Optics Sponsors Bobby Harrison

I got to make the coolest phone call on Christmas Eve to Bobby Harrison. I got to tell him that Eagle Optics will sponsor his quest to get a photo of an ivory-billed woodpecker this winter! Basically, Eagle Optics will cover his cost for some motion sensitive cameras and the cost of someone to take over teaching his classes at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. We also gave him a pair of the Vortex DLS 8x42 binoculars (the same pair I have) to aid in his searches in the swamp.

The really exciting part is that Bobby is going to check in with me once a week to let me know what he sees and hears in the swamp and those updates will be available at www.eagleoptics.com. I will announce in my blog when the updates are available. Another reason to get your binoculars through Eagle Optics, you're not just purchasing binoculars or spotting scopes, you are aiding in conservation and research with your purchase. To learn more about some of the MANY projects we help out with check out this link.

Birdchick and Cinnamon Rant

Here is Cinnamon atop her new Cottontail Cottage. At first she disapproved, but now I think she understands that with this new bunny hideout she can bring her disapproval to a whole new level.

Meanwhile, she has other problems on her plate. Mike Hendrickson sent a link warning us that we are not the only female birder and bunny act in the blogosphere. Somewhere In NJ Blog has started up and she's letting her bunny photos loose with a vengeance. You can already see in this link the bunnies are going for broke with hiney photos. I asked Cinnamon if she would like me to do the same for her, but she gave me here usual disapproving look and apparently butt shots are a little too exploitive for her taste--hopefully she hasn't noticed the photo in the previous post. I'm sure she would disapprove and accuse me of making her butt look big.

Something interesting, I've started to explore the world of bunny related blogs and I am surprised and a bit taken aback by the number of rabbit run blogs (here is an example) where the bunnies type in a sort of baby talk that almost resembles Buckwheat talk similar to the Eddie Murphy- Saturday Night Live routine. Cinnamon is not happy with this and would like everyone to know that rabbits are capable of proper grammar and speech and this move of rabbits blogging in baby talk must be a predator run conspiracy. Personally, I find this disturbing, and yet, I can't stop reading it.

Today I stopped into a bird store I don't typically patronize for some article research. I found a pet odor elimination product and as I was waiting in line to purchase it, a customer in front of me enquired on how to get rid of crows. I waited for the store employees to answer and they hesitated so I volunteered some information. Usually, I try to stay quiet in bird stores because I don't want to upstage the employees, but they weren't quick to answer and I've had lots of experience with crows and bird feeders. I started to point to some weight sensitive feeders and mentioned my luck in using those to keep crows out. However, this woman didn't want to just keep crows out of her feeder, she wanted to keep them out of her yard. For the record, there is no humanly way to keep crows out of her yard. She mentioned that she had a neighbor who throws bread out specifically for squirrels and all involved were upset the crows were coming for the bread and scaring the squirrels. Before I could stop myself I started chuckling, and noticed one of the guys behind the counter did too. It's not every day you hear someone upset about a bird taking food from squirrels!

The customer said that she wouldn't mind ten or twelve crows but she had over three hundred in her woods and she needed expert advice on what to do with them. I suggested that she learn to love crows, but that wasn't what she wanted to hear. Here were her other suggestions (in bold) and the answers to those suggestions (in regular type):

Fake owl or hawk: Those never work, first they just bring in crows who want to mob them and second, any self respecting bird figures out they are fake in about five hours or less. Fake owls and hawks are a waste of money as far as repellents go.

Feral cats running through the woods: I told her those are way more likely to keep the songbirds away than crows. This was unacceptable because she wanted to keep the other birds around and anyway, the neighbor that feeds the squirrels was working on taming the cats so they won't chase the birds.

Noise Makers: They might keep all the birds away for a little while, but eventually birds can get used to the sound.

Her Neighbor Chasing Them With A Broom: Will work at the time, but unless the neighbor will be out there all day long, is a temporary solution at best. However, this might provide endless amusement for others who live on the block.

Her Dog Out In The Woods: See Neighbor With Broom answer.

The Raptor Center Coming Over With Birds Of Prey To Chase The Crows Away: The Raptor Center will not come out for a crow problem. Although, you might find someone from the Minnesota Falconry Association to help with that, but alas they do not have a website or phone number and cannot be contacted easily.

A Non-lethal Gun: This was Non Birding Bill's favorite suggestion. What was she talking about, a nerf gun or super soaker? I'm not sure what this non-lethal gun is that she was speaking of.

At this point the conversation started going weird and in circles. The customer mentioned that something needed to be done about the crows scaring the cats and squirrels (that perplexed me and clued me in to "let her go" because earlier she had asked if cats would keep crows away). After the non-lethal gun suggestion I figured it best to wish her "good luck" and move along with my own purchase.

Cinnamon's Disapproving Rampage

To the left is one of the many Katies of Eagle Optics helping a customer over the phone. Little does she know that as she is innocently giving oh so informative answers that Cinnamon is sneaking up behind her to give a stealthy disapproval. Katie was wise not to take this particular incident too personally since Cinnamon knows little to nothing about binoculars.

Katie was a huge help to me in my training. She sat across from me as I would answer the phones and as I would repeat what customers were telling me, she would help me find the right answers. She was fascinated by Cinnamon. At one point while I was on the phone I noticed that she stood up with a Kleenex and bent down towards Cinnamon. I guessed that Cinnamon had left a little poo pellet outside her litter box and Kate was going to try and clean it up. Then I heard Katie say, "Oh...oh, okay...ew." I instantly knew what happened, Cinnamon had eaten her poo pellets (or cecotropes), which is typical rabbit behavior. Here's an explanation from the House Rabbit Society:

Cecotropes are clustered, soft gel-like "bunches" of fecal matter, which are covered with a light mucous film and resemble a mulberry in shape and size. They are manufactured in the adult cecum through "hindgut fermentation," and contain high concentrations of proteins, B and K vitamins, fiber, ash (nitrogen-free extract) and unidentified "energy" elements, as well as the hindgut microbes. Cecotropes are an important part of a healthy rabbit diet and are usually eaten directly from the anus as they are produced.

Mike McDowell (pictured, right) tried everything in his power to be friendly and knowledgeable but Cinnamon was unimpressed, perhaps it was because he's been talking about snowy owls too much or that he never mentions rabbits. Whatever the reason, no one was safe from her today . Katie refused to acknowledge that she was getting disapproved of, but she was just in denial. There was no approval to be had this day. Katie felt that if she petted Cinnamon in her every free moment she could get some kind of approval, but it wasn't working. But take a close look at the photo below. I took this photo as Katie was petting her, I ask you, does that look like approval?

I think Cinnamon was pretty bitter about having to wear a harness and leash. She is pretty much of the attitude that she cannot be tamed...even though she is s domestic rabbit. Of course, having a golden eagle in the office (see previous post) didn't help matters either.

All in all it was a very educational visit for me, and some fun was involved, some of the Eagle Optics crew took me out for some karaoke and I must say we really rocked the bar. After I sang Xanadu--which is becoming my signature song-- a woman came up and said I did an awesome job and she was so glad I sang it. I don't know what disturbs Non Birding Bill more, the fact that I have a signature karaoke song or that the signature song is Xanadu.

Super Cool Part of My Job

Today was fun. You never know what will happen or show up at the Eagle Optic offices, today it was a golden eagle from Hoo's Woods Raptor Center in Milton, WI. Owner of Hoo's Woods, Diane Moller found out about a bald eagle that was discovered in Alaska scavenging in trash. The eagle had lost its left eye and was covered in oil. With an eye injury like that the eagle would never be a candidate for release so it needed to find a home as an education bird at a licensed raptor center be destroyed. Fortunately, Moller is not only a licensed falconer and raptor educator, she is a member of the International Eagle Austringers Association. She needed help with funding the eagle including airfare to get the eagle from Alaska to Wisconsin, annual state and federal permits to have the bird, feeding, vet care and various other sundry expenses that come with housing and eagle.

Moller brought her education golden eagle by to say thank you for our support. She still has to train in the new bald eagle who has been named Angelo. When the eagle arrived, I was with one of the many Katies that work at Eagle Optics helping some in store customers. It was fun to be able to take them back and show them the eagle. How often can you say you tested the close focus on your binoculars on a golden eagle?

That's a really cool thing about Eagle Optics. You're not just buying binoculars, you're helping other organizations and contributing to conservation projects.

For the record, Cinnamon greatly disapproved of the golden eagle visit.

Bunny Buttheadery

This morning as I was checking out of my hotel, Cinnamon decided that she was NOT going to deal with the leash today and preferred to wedge herself in the space between the wall and the bed. When I poked my head behind the bed, she grunted. Many people don't realize all the sounds a rabbit can make. When rabbits are fairly irritated and feeling territorial the will grunt like little piggies and it is the highest level of disapproval. Had I not been so irritated, I would have gotten a photo of it, but I needed to get moving.

I did eventually get Cinnamon out, but not without a few well chosen four letter words.

On our way down while playing the red-tail game we passed over a river and saw two pairs red-tails thermalizing on either side of the highway. I've never seen four red-tails hanging out like that except during migration. I have a feeling this was more along the lines of two pairs of birds arguing over territory. I wish I could have stayed and watch how it played out.

Another highlight was a big beautiful rough-legged hawk on the side of the highway. I haven't seen one since last fall--I haven't been spending much time up north either so that's the reason.

I'll be curious to see if I find any more on my way back. By the way, if you don't read Bill of the Birds Blog, check this link here about CGI Carolina Parakeets in the movie New World. Finally someone is using special effects for accuate birds. I'm so happy.

Hope

So, I'm currently at Eagle Optics learning how to answer phones and brushing up on info so I can be better prepared for boothes. I'll be trying to answer phones and help customers tomorrow and Friday too. If anyone wants to test me out or has questions about binoculars and spotting scopes, call in at 1-800-289-1132.

Cinnamon is here too so you could probably even get disapproved of over the phone. At the moment she is stalking behind a cubicle trying to send a disapproval to Mike.

Techno Birding

Blogger is acting weird tonight so if there are more typos than usual, I apologize. Spell Check got very wonky.

There is a new product showcase at Bird Watch America where attendees can show off a new item and participants can vote for what they think is the best new product. The last two years have really perplexed me in the choices that won the award. Perhaps the reason was that not all new products entered the contest or that attendees who are buying for their stores look at it from the perspective that they think a certain item will be easiest to carry as well as be a hot seller. I’m looking at it from more of a consumer angle. As a consumer, I find that someone going in a completely different direction much more exciting.

The big buzz at the show was technology. We’ve seen it in the past in the form of the Yankee Flipper, the weight sensitive and motorized feeder that literally flips squirrels off or in the form of heated bird baths. But now technology is really coming to the forefront in birding and birdwatching circles. A couple of these I have mentioned before, but they are still cool and worth mentioning again.

The PullUin Software booth was busy every time I passed (pictured, right, President of PullUin, Mary Derby demonstrating the new PDA field guide to buyers). PullUin is the company developing National Geographic’s Handheld Birds, a PDA with National Geographic’s North American field guide complete with maps and audio recordings of almost all the birds loaded onto a PDA.

I’ve actually had a test version since December that I took down with me to Arkansas. There were a few bugs that were still being ironed out, so I was hesitant to mention it until it was ready to go. (My favorite bug being that when you clicked on the range map for the ivory-billed woodpecker, the program would crash and reboot--this made me chuckle for days). I’m happy to report that this flaw is fixed and the program is oh so cool. I tend not to take a field guide out with me, one because I usually don’t need it and two I don’t want the added weight. The PDA field guide is perfect because it is small and light weight and as an added bonus you can use it to make field notes. In Arkansas I had to spend ten to twelve hour days out in the field loaded with recording equipment and food so the PDA was easy to sneak in without added weight. If you have never used a PDA before, getting the hang of it can seem intimidating, but after playing with it for a day you can really start to have a good time. Mary took quite a few orders this weekend. I think this is only the beginning, and more field guides will follow suit.

I had always wondered why National Geographic had never updated their bird identification cds, but after using the handheld, I understand--there are way more bird calls on this than any other North American bird cd I have ever purchased--including calls of the ivory-billed woodpecker. The birds are organized alphabetically or taxonomically and program also includes range maps, field marks, conservation status and the ability to create lists.

Another product getting some buzz was the birdPod, which I have reviewed before and really enjoy. The company did not have a booth, but they were present at the show and were met with interest and excitement. For birdPod to work, you need three things: an iPod, the Stokes CDs (either eastern or western) and the birdPod program. BirdPod will organize all the calls either alphabetically, by family group and habitat and eliminate the narration. As an added bonus, the program will take a track that has two different bird species on the same track and divide it into two separate tracks! I already had an iPod and a Stokes Eastern CD of bird calls so I just ordered the program itself. I had always wanted to download the Stokes CDs onto my iPod, organize them and have some of the tracks without Lang Elliot’s narration. I had started and even tried to rope Non Birding Bill into doing some of it for me, but it was just too time consuming. I found the idea that I could just download a program that will organize the bird calls into several different play lists and take out the narration very appealing and more than worth the price. If you just have the Stokes CDs you can order an iPod and the program or if you don't have those you can order an iPod already programmed with the cds and the software.


One intriguing item I found was a heated mealworm feeder by NovaBird (left). I had heard of someone in southern Minnesota who used one of these and it had cost them somewhere in the neighborhood of $150. This person had bluebird coming to feed all winter and wanted to put mealworms out. When it gets cold enough, mealworms go dormant and birds are less likely to eat them. I think the wiggly movement of mealworms stimulates them to eat so when they just lay there the birds aren't as motivated. The feeder is thermostat controlled and is only warm enought to keep the mealworms alive, so birds can't just sit in it to warm their toes.

A final booth was a product that I almost missed called Hear More Birds. I don't know if their site is up just yet but should be in the next few weeks. They offer an inconspicuous earpiece (pictured, right, nestled discreetly in my ear) that enhances sound behind you or in front of you. It’s similar to the earpiece I wear on my KARE 11 segments when I have to answer phone questions, but it fits a lot better. As I was trying it out, I could hear conversations three booths away or hear someone’s cell phone vibrating in their pocket. I’m very impressed and interested, it’s a product that could help birders with deteriorating hearing be able to listen to those northern parulas or help birders with great ears listen for birds just a little farther away out of their normal range of hearing…come to think of it, I really REALLY wish I had that in Arkansas.

I believe this product originated in the hunting industry as a means for hunters to be more aware of their surroundings and perhaps be able to hear approaching prey. I’d really like to try it in the field during warbler season to see how well it works, or for doing owl surveys in the evening.

What an exciting time to be a birder.

Cinnamon in a Caption Contest

Fabulous Lorraine of Lorraine a' Malena have a photo of Cinnamon in their blog with caption contest going on. I took it last week when we were doing laps with Cinnamon in the hallway and one of our neighbor's cats snuck out into the hallway to join in the fun. I think the obvious choice is that "Cinnamon disapproves of possessed cats", but see what you can come up with.

On a side note, I highly recommend their cd Mirror Mirror. I especially like the tracks Personal Thing and Bedlam Boys. It's a little bit of folk, a little bit of Irish music, a little bit dark and sexy.

Because I haven't blogged enough today

Must be blogging withdrawal.

So, Non Birding Bill and I decided to head over to the Urban Bean to catch up and maybe just feel a little arty sitting there with our tea or coffee while he works on one of his plays and I look like I'm writing something deep and meaningful and am actually surfing the net for things like old tv shows I've forgotten about like 227 or Amen.

On our way out the back door of our apartment building I notice something on the floor at the other end of the hallway. At first glance it looks like a sleeping crow. I think, I'm way too tired if I'm seeing birds in the apartment building, but I linger and try to determine if it is some odd piece of laundry that got left on the floor or if it really is a bird. What the heck would a bird be doing in our apartment building anyway just sitting in the middle of the hallway. NBB stood at the door watching me expectantly, ready to leave. I said, "There's something on the floor and I'm going to go see what it is. It looks like a bird."

I walked down the hallway, towards the object and sure enough it was a bird--a pigeon! It was sitting right in the middle of the hallway, head tucked behind it sleeping. I walked all the way up and crouched on the floor and said, "Hey, dude, whatcha doin'?" The pigeon didn't stir. I blew on it, and it opened it's eyes and seemed a tad surprised. The pigeon had a droopy wing and instead of flying away towards the stairs away from me, it started running away (kinda like Whimpy from the Popeye cartoons).

I told NBB that it was injured and we had to go to the WRC. He went up, double checked their hours that they would be open and off we went. When I picked the bird up, it didn't put up much of a struggle, however the keel and breast area felt like there was some good meat on it so it wasn't starving.

We dropped it off and made a donation to the WRC (because birds have lousy health insurance), hopefully it will be okay. But I'm consumed with how the heck it got in the building and how did it get injured? Did someone in our building let it in? Did someone see it injured outside, picked it up, brought it in from the cold? Did someone leave a security door open while unloading groceries and the bird made it's way inside? I don't know, but I'll be ruminating all evening about it while working on more reviews.

And I Ran, I Ran So Far Away, I Just Ra-a-an...

...not from a flock of seagulls but from a murmuration of starlings!



This is one of a few photos Non Birding Bill found of a large flock of starlings looking for a an evening roost in Algeria. There are more photos here, but I chose the above because it looks like a rabbit.

Workin' the Show

We had two booths at Bird Watch America, a Vortex booth with Donald and Lillian Stokes
featuring their line of binoculars and scopes and a Sheltered Wings booth show casing Vortex Optics and Audubon Binoculars. That's fellow employee Adam pictured left with the Don Stokes. As you can see they had their work cut out for them at the Vortex booth since many people came by to meet the Stokes, see their binoculars and get an autographed book.

The Sheltered Wings booth was a happening place too, we were giving away free Vortex travel mugs and had a coffee maker on hand to fill them up. Bobby Harrison of ivory-bill discovery fame stopped by, so who wouldn't want to talk to him while waiting for their coffee. That's Bobby and Dan down below talking to buyers about our new binoculars.

I kind of bounced around all over the place. For me it was fun to stop by and hang out at the WildBird Magazine booth or the Bird Watcher's Digest booth to catch up with Amy and BT3. I also wanted to check out the new products soon to be available and catch up with people I hadn't met before or seen in awhile. I saw my old boss Dave Netten from All Seasons Wild Bird Store. In a way it was kind of like meeting up with an old school teacher. Even though you're and adult, you still think of and old teacher as a teacher and behave yourself in a certain way. So when I was around Dave I found myself going into employee mode--trying to behave myself (not that I was very good at that anyway). I also met the ladies of Cardinal Corner. I told Non Birding Bill that these would be people we would be friends with in our regular circle. I could hear his eyes roll over the cell phone and I said, "Seriously, I think we could have drinks with them in a a non birding capacity." He still seemed skeptical.

I got paid the best compliment while at the show. A man from Maine came up to me and said that he and his wife had heard me talking about how much I enjoy working in a bird store and he and his wife decided to open their own bird store last June. I would love to link or list their store but I can't find their card, when I do I'll list the store, I just haven't finished unpacking yet. I think I'll be a the ABA convention in June, which is in Maine so if I end up going I want to check out their store.

Couple of items to look for in the future (more reviews coming):

Here we have John Wadie of NovaBird who is proudly displaying their Bluebird Jail mealworm feeder. This feeder is designed to allow bluebirds or any other bird smaller than that like a chickadee to feast on mealworms without worrying about grackles and other blackbirds taking over. It's design comes from Dave Ahlgren a well known bluebird expert and bluebird house maker.

Like many bluebird feeders, you'll need to kind of "train" your birds into using this style of feeder, but once bluebirds and chickadees figure it out, it should be used on a regular basis. I wonder if an orange or red ribbon was attached to it in spring, if orioles would use it too?




The Bird Bag, Disposable Bird Feeders

This was new. These are plastic bags use for either sunflower seed, Nyjer seed or hummingbird nectar. Each bag has only one feeding port and when the seed is gone can be thrown away. I think this is an innovative idea and there is definitely a market for it. Part of me says that throwing away a plastic bag every time you need to fill a feeder seems wasteful, however quite a bit of seed comes in plastic bags and where is that going. Also, I have seen more than my share of nasty, cruddy feeders that need to be cleaned and if someone would rather buy a new feeder than cleaning out a traditional feeder I'm all for that. The fewer dirty feeders the better. I am concerned that the finch feeder only has one perch, because when people tend to get finches they tend to get thirty at a time and not one. The designer of the feeder told me that he only gets one or two at a time, but that could be a regional difference.

Big Fly/Raptor a Day Update

So, on the way down the Big Fly (how many birds seen on your flight) was a big bust for me (and not just because my seat number was 36D (ba da ching). I left while it was still dark, had an aisle seat and the person who had the window seat plastered their body in front of the window so I couldn't see out of it anyway. Ah well.

We'll see what happens on the flight back.

I missed raptors on Friday however I did see an accipiter yesterday--finally a Cooper's hawk. So instead of trying to see a raptor every day this year, I'm just going to see how long a stretch I can see a raptor a day.

Ah, my flight's boarding, gotta go.

Reviews are Coming

I finally have a quiet moment at the Atlanta Airport for some catching up on Bird Watch America. I'll be going over the things that really excited or puzzled me in the next day or so.

I have to say I always have a good time at the Atlanta airport, people are so friendly in the south. Of course you kind of are forced into it at the restaurants because you tables are so crammed together.

I do get a kick out of some of the manufacturers who show up who have read about bird/backyard bird watcher demographic and may have read a pamphlet on birds to the extent of how it relates to their product and then try to talk to you about it and they just have no clue.

There was one booth that had an item that is hard to find but I was glad to know a place that carries it so I can refer people there. For the moment, the identity will remain anonymous so I can relate the following conversation about pest repellents:

Birdchick: So, does this keep woodpeckers away?

Vendor: No, you wouldn't want to use that, you would want to use this item over here, that product you're holding isn't for birds.

Birdchick: But why does it show a starling as one of the pests it keeps away?

Vendor: Wow, you really know your birds, very good!

Birdchick (silently in her head): ??????

Vendor: A starling shouldn't be pictured on there, that's not right. It only works for mammals and insects.

Quick Update

I have four words:

Pastel Recycled Bird Feeder

It's one of the new items on display here at Bird Watch America and I'm just not sure how I feel about it. They look like sturdy well made feeders, but pastel? Will that weather well? I'm just not a pastel kind of gal, so some may read this and think, "Birdchick, you're crazy, pastel bird feeders are a great idea, I've wanted on for the last five years." My personal jury is still out.

Today was spent catching up with old friends, making new ones and learning about trends in the birding industry. Talking about marketing, merchandising, ivory-billed woodpeckers, avian influenza, a sharp increase in the number of birders between the ages of 16 - 24 and a whole host of other topics. Tomorrow starts the big trade show where we go around booth to booth to see what will be for sale in the next year. I have to admit, I felt a pang. I love looking for new merchandise to carry in the store and alas, I will not be able to buy anything this year...I still can't get over pastel bird feeders. Ah, maybe I'm just old school, perhaps it could be exciting to see a blue jay take a peanut in the shell from a lavender tray feeder.

I do love eating in Atlanta. Where else can you get grits and fried green tomatoes for dinner?

Meanwhile, Brian the fabulous bartender at the Madison Concourse (one of the main reasons to stay at the Governor's Club) sent me this link. If there is such a thing as a past life, I sure hope this is the way that I went:

Early Man Was Eaten By Birds.

For the record, I did get a red-tailed hawk yesterday on the way from the airport to the hotel. Alas, today (and I did try) lack of personal transportation prevented me from getting my daily dose of raptor. Will I give up my quest. I don't think so, I think I shall try to do stretches and see how far I can go. If this was going to be easy cheesy, I wouldn't have started it in the first place.

Bird Store Job Available

All Seasons Wild Bird Store in Wayzata is looking for part-time help. That is the store I used to manage and now my good friend Melissa has taken over the helm. She wouldn't be a bad boss--I trained her in, so I should know.

Working at a bird store is tons of fun, what other job would allow you to sneak peaks at the cool wetland behind the store where there have been eastern bluebirds (sitting on the Peterson box I put out behind the store, pictured at the top of this entry), hooded mergansers that nested in the wood duck box, red-tailed hawks, Harris sparrows, oodles of Baltimore orioles, soras, Virginia rails, great-horned owls and tons of other great birds? You get to talk about birds all through your shift (how cool is that), there is an ample supply of chocolate and there is one spanky discount--if you go through bird seed like I go through bird seed, it is worth it for the employee discount alone.

You MUST be able to lift 50 pounds to work there, because you will have to carry bags of bird seed out to customer's cars. You must also be friendly, have an interest in bird feeding, able to use a computer and type at least 20 words per minute.

If you are interested call Melissa at 952-473-4283. If you would like any gossip about Melissa to help secure your chances at getting the job, let me know. I have to admit, I do have a vested interest in this. The sooner she gets some part-time help, the sooner I can go out birding with her again.

Off To Atlanta

Tomorrow morning I am off to the big birding trade show Bird Watch America in Atlanta. I can't believe that it was only a year ago when I met my peeps, Amy of WildBird Magazine, BT3 of Bird Watcher's Digest and Jeff Bouton of Leica at BWA. I feel as though I have known them all my life. That was when I also met Jason of Vortex Optics (pictured in last year's booth at BWA, left) and first saw the Vortex DLS and binos and planned on getting a pair for myself. I remember looking at Jason and Jeff and thinking, "Boy, I wish I had that hip life style of an optics rep." And now I do--how weird and unexpected...and cool!

For those that don't check Bill of the Birds blog, he and Jeff got a big sit going on an airplane after the Rio Grande Fest. So of course Jeff has thrown down the gauntlet for another big sit for all of our flights to Atlanta:

I'll challenge y'all to a plane big sit, but alas I only have one leg and will leave before first light on Fri, meaning I only have Atlanta Hartsfield for my total, so will concede top honors this time round. I have to assume Amy will have more legs on her journey and best opportunities..... or are you planning to drive with the top down? The rules are the best total species count viewed from the plane window, from door to door, on any single leg of your journey. Door to door refers to from "cell phones off... door is closed" to seat belt light goes off at arrival gate. This has traditionally been a naked eye only competition so sorry no bins allowed.

Me craning around the airplane window won't make me seem like a weirdo to my fellow passengers. I just hope I will be able to get my daily raptor. I should since there are four snowy owls, a pair of bald eagles, a male kestrel and a peregrine all hanging out at the airport right now. The hard part of meeting my daily goal will be during the convention itself. I shall have to make lunch plans outside of the convention if I have any hope of riding around and finding raptors for my daily goal.

I'm off to pack, hopefully I will have some fun reporting on the latest and greatest to be seen and experienced in the world of birding...or at least some interesting gossip.

Wednesday's Raptor: red-tailed hawk on 394 and 169. It has suddenly occurred to me that I have not seen a Cooper's hawk all year! I'm fairly certain I have seen a red-tail every day so far, but I am disappointed in the general lack of accipiters. I just love accipiters, they are hands down my favorite type of hawk--why have they forsaken me????

Interesting Post and Theories

Some days there is just too much to blog about! There is a very intersting post turned up today on Mike's Soapbox. Scroll to the January 10th post.

Oodles of Raptors

Quick Quiz--Guess My Feet:


Tuesday's Wild Raptor: red-tailed hawk on hwy 36, being mobbed by crows.

Non Wild Raptors that sat on my arm: 2 male kestrels, 1 female kestrel, 1 barred owl, 1 great horned owl, 2 peregrine falcons...not all at the same time, but whew is my arm tired.

Today I got to hand feed one of the education peregrine falcons at The Raptor Center. I don't actually tear off bits of rat and quail and hold my fingers up to the peregrine, I take forceps and place the food across her feet and she feeds while sitting on my gloved hand. I have never gotten tired of this. It's time consuming, sometimes the birds are more interested in the goings on than in the food on their feet--but it is so cool to watch a peregrine feed up close! Also, it's incredibly messy to feed a peregrine. Red-tails and great horned owls tend to swallow food whole, peregrines rip it apart usually starting with plucking the feathers first. If their are any boney bits left at the end, they fling those to the side. So, when you are finished you area usually covered in quail feathers and bloody bone bits (see the photo of my leg above). Still it's a privilege to have this bird feed while on your fist and it's fascinating to watch the process. From the snap, crackle, crunch sound she makes to the meticulous choosing of the reddest, bloodiest bits to eat first.

The imprinted great horned owls were even more hooty this week than last week! Holy cow, one was hooting non-stop when you passed his mew. At one point he sat on his perch, flapped his wings and just kept hooting over and over. I would hoot at him and he would hoot right back. When great horned owls are really excited and hootin' away, the area right under their bill puffs up like a frog, and they lean forward and raise their tail straight up in the air--they kind of look like a large, deranged wren. You can see one of the imprinted owls in the photo at the right in mid hoot. Note the inflated white pouch. I asked Kate the bird curator if it would be okay for me to walk inside the mew with my camera to take a picture. She said that with this particular bird, as long as I kept a safe distance and didn't appear threatening (per my training) I should be fine. However, true to form, as soon as I stepped in the mew with my little point and shoot, the hooting ceased. Probably because the owl thought, "Dude, I have been hooting to announce my territory to you and now you are closer. What's that all about?" I tried hooting to see if he would hoot back, but was met with the look as seen in the photo below.

Looks as though he is thinking, "Do I look like I am in the mood to hoot?!"

Again, birds aren't known for being cooperative photo subjects. I decided to leave. The owl got a sense of "Ha, it's still my territory, you weakling" and hooted some more as I left the courtyard.

Remember last week when I talked about Samantha the white phase great horned owl that is an education bird at The Raptor Center? I got a photo of her this week (below) so you can see how she compares to a more common brown or gray great horned owl. She has a wing injury and is not able to fly well enough to hunt on her own so she is a permanent resident. I'm always amazed by the color variations of the great horned owl. Every one that we have for education has different plumage, some extreme, some kind of subtle. Samantha is one of our largest great horned owls at TRC, even if she were brown I think we would still be able to tell her from the others because of her size.

If you haven't guessed, the photo of the feet above are of a great horned owl. They have feathers that go all the way down to their talons to keep warm when diving into snow after prey. I also think it helps protect their feet when hunting and encountering problems with prey that tries to fight back. Great horned owls will tackle just about anything, which is one of the reasons they are known as the "tiger of the woods".

I was told a story once about an emu farmer in southeastern Minnesota who was having a problem with one of his emus periodically turning up dead and missing a head. The farmer felt certain their was a satanist in the neighborhood using the heads for some kind of odd ritual so he scheduled a stake out with the local sheriff and a his vet. That night as they were watching, they watched a great horned owl land on a fence post in the emu pen. The owl then flew over to one of the emus and landed on the back of the head and clamped its talons where the head connected to the spine. The emu thrashed about but was essentially helpless and eventually fell to the ground, presumably by having been chokes by the massive strength of the great horned owl's feet and talons. The great horned then proceeded to rip off the emu's head and fly away with it. Birds of prey love to eat brain, it's very nutritional and with emus being so large, that owl must have found quite a treat. I got that story from a very reliable source, but I have not had the opportunity to find out who the farmer was, let alone what county. This is one of my favorite great horned owl stories and it certainly isn't out of the realm of possibility, but I wonder if this is more an urban legend than actual fact.

Bunny Mischief

Cinnamon is really feeling her Wheaties these days, fame has gone to her head. Connie Andrews of Bunny Blog has made Disapproving Rabbits her Website of the Week. It had never occurred to me to seek out rabbit themed blogs, I think I'm getting hooked on this one. Thanks Connie!

And now I leave you with Cinnamon's latest triumph:



"Hmmm, Mommy seems to be busy doing whatever it is she does. Perhaps now is my chance to finally get that baggy full of pecans in her backpack she thinks I'm not aware of. I approve of this plan."


"Aha! I almost have it, just a little more...almost...have...the...corner...of baggie..."

"Success!"

Monday Raptors

Two red-tails on 35W and one of the four snowy owls at the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport.

When Bird Feeding Goes...Odd

I'm not sure exactly what happened or who is to blame, fingers are being pointed everywhere, but sometimes bird feeding can go a little wonky.

Yesterday Non Birding Bill was on the phone and I overheard him say, "Oh dear, oh, I'm so sorry. Well, in fairness it was in the same drawer as the suet...Okay, I'll tell her and I'm sure she will make fun of me."

When he finished the conversation I asked what had happened. When I was in Arkansas, he went over to Mr. Neil's to watch some Dr. Who. When I go out there with NBB, I normally make sure all of Mr. Neil's bird feeders are in working order, so NBB did the same in my absence. He went to fill the suet log and found a drawer full of suet plugs. Some was the usual No Melt Woodpecker Attractor that I bring but there was also a baggy full of something that looked like crap suet that was probably picked up at a discount store. Since the baggy was open he decided to use that.

A week later, Mr. Neil was maintaining his feeders and noticed that a couple of the holes on the suet log had been ignored by the woodpeckers. Upon closer inspection he discovered that someone had filled the suet feeder full of gourmet chocolate that he picked up in the Cayman Islands specifically for making mole. Apparently, NBB had mistaken gourmet chocolate for crap suet. When I asked how this had happened NBB insisted that it looked nothing like chocolate and it was even shaped in plug form like the suet I get for them and was sitting right next to all the suet plugs. He said the worst part was that since he thought it was crap suet, he thought the best thing would be to get rid of it so he just jammed packed the feeder as full as he could to get rid of it.

Fortunately, the birds had the good sense to ignore the gourmet chocolate since that can be lethal for them.

So, the lesson learned? Never store your gourmet chocolate where you store your suet plugs.

A question I am left with: Even if it is fancy gourmet chocolate, can it really be all that good if it looks remotely like suet?

Sunday's Raptor: Kestrel--saw it most unexpectedly, one of my favorite ways. I was walking past our windows and caught a glimpse of a bird I knew right away was a small falcon. It flew behind some trees and landed on top of a chimney. I could only see the tail, but I saw it bob up and down and that confirmed kestrel to me. I also saw a few red-tailed hawks and a bald eagle. One of the red-tails was on a dead gray squirrel in the middle of a road. NBB and I weren't sure if it had just killed the squirrel or was taking advantage of fast food in the form of roadkill.

Saturday's Raptor

Saturday: Found a red-tailed hawk on 35W at the exit for 36th Street and then joined some friends for martinis at Palomino's. I would blog more, but I have a strict policy about not blogging when drinking adult beverages.

Hmmmmmm

So I suppose this sign at a rest stop (with one of the best views in the state of Minnesota) means that it is perfectly safe and acceptable to feed ring-billed gulls, herring gulls, Franklin's gulls or any other type of gull that shows up, so long as it is not a seagull. It's odd that seagulls would be such a problem just off of a lake.

I took this photo on one of my many trips up to Duluth to go hawk trapping. I was reminded of it by the sign in featured in a post at Ohio Birding Blog. Now, I wonder if this sign is referring to the small furry variety or to birders?

Ultra Rare Photo

Bunny Approval! Never before doc