Ivory-bill Celebration Observations

Here is a photo of ivory-bill rediscovers Bobby Harrison and Tim Gallagher visiting the Eagle Optics booth. It was fun to finally see both guys at the same time. I told Bobby that I was beginning to think they were the same person since you never see both of them at the same festival.

I need to give a big Thank You to the Brinkley Chamber of Commerce and to Bobby Harrison for directing people to my website and to Eagle Optics website. While working the Eagle Optics booth I would get one of three comments:

1. "Are you that birder chick? The Chamber told me to check out your website, it's nice to meet you."
2. "I need to get some new binoculars and that Bobby Harrison fellow said that I needed to get them through you."
3. "Oh, Eagle Optics, I've purchased my binoculars through you, I love them."

For a first time festival, Brinkley did a pretty good job. Sure there were a few rough edges, but that was mostly minor details that you learn as you do a festival. I was so amazed by the number of people who just dropped in from neighboring towns because they heard about it on the news or because they saw the sign off of the highway.

I was asked to give a talk on Birding 101 at the festival. I kept it informal and light humored and the response was favorable afterwards, I had never done one trying to describe what birding is all about.

I started my talk with a monologue from Play on Birds about one person's journey to birding. In the talk I make a reference to pishing. At the end of my talk, I opened it up for questions and a lady asked me, "Can you tell me what 'pissing' is?"

I haven't had a line served to me on a silver platter like that since my last visit to my mother.

I answered, "I can tell you what that means, but I think what you really want to know is what 'pishing' is, spelled P-I-S-H. If it's not, I'm certainly happy to oblige on the other word."

She quickly covered her mouth when she realized what she asked and all of us, including the lady who asked the question, got a good giggle out of it.

Pete Dunne had given a talk the day before on the art of pishing. For the non birders that check this blog, pishing is a noise birders make to get birds attention. Say the word 'pish' in a whisper while keep your teeth clenched together, that's a basic pish. You will find each birders has their own technique and for the most part is can be a useful tool to get a birds attention and getting it closer to you. Usually, in a performance I will include a demo of pishing (especially when doing it in a regular theater setting, however since this was a bird festival and Pete had just talked about pishing and the audience laughed loudly at the reference, I continued on. Mental note, from now on, always define pishing, even at bird festivals.

Friday and Saturday were an action packed days, helping people with binoculars. I was so excited, June Osborne purchased a pair of Zeiss binoculars at the booth, it was an honor to help her. She told me the story of how she and her husband of 53 years met--in jail! They were both part of a church youth group in high school that would go sing to guys in the drunk tank. Her husband Harold said he was smitten right away. I hope I'm lucky enough to reach half that number with Non Birding Bill. That's June wearing her signature purple between Amy Hooper and me.

Speaking of Amy, she got a little weird on this trip. Bless her heart, she's from California and just not used to chilly temperatures. Granted, the air did get a bit crisp and I even broke out some earmuffs at one point, but she was really affected. Saturday afternoon I had to pack up the booth, which is the hardest part of the job for me. If I sell anything, it's not going to fit in the boxes the same way as it arrived, so I have to carefully repack to make sure everything is cushioned and secure for the trip back to the Eagle Optics headquarters. It's kind of like a game of Tetris. Well, I was tired and a bit of mess when I finished and the banquet was going to start soon. I decided to head back to the hotel room and try and clean up for the dinner. Amy came along and on the way we stopped for some super sugary gas station cappucino to reawaken me. When we got to the room, I checked messages on my cell phone. I heard Amy mumbling in the back ground, but didn't pay too close attention. Something about "feet and hot water". I got off the phone and went to the sink to wash my hands and found her standing in the tub, fully clothed with her feet sitting in hot water while drinking her gas station cappuccino. I looked at her quizzically and she replied, "I told you, happiness is cold feet in hot water." I'm always happy to be of service to my warm weather friends in cold temperatures.

We freshened up and headed to the banquet. As we eat we listened to all those involved with the first search from Tim and Bobby, to David Luneau who shot the famous video, to Gene Sparling the kayaker who got ivory-bills searchers attention when he spotted an odd woodpecker while on the Cache River. All of the guys involved in that early initial top secret search are deeply affected by what happened to them, but I had never really heard Gene talk about it in person before. All the speeches were great and all but Gene's involved Powerpoint, but Gene got up, and spoke from his heart. He still hasn't quite deciphered what all this means in his personal grand scheme of things. And as much as I enjoy listening to Tim and Bobby recount that fateful day and as interesting as David Lunneau is, I was touched deeply by the refreshing, soulful honesty of this naturalist who truly loves the Cache, ivory-bill or not.

The city of Brinkley itself is overwhelmed by this situation but they opened up their arms to welcome birders and charmed us with their hospitality. I love all the places I've been so far with my job, but Brinkley is becoming a favorite with the friendliness of the people who are not only curious about why someone would travel hundreds of miles to their town for the slimmest of chances to see a bird, but are also grateful for the business.

The number of participants certainly exceeded my expectations and those of the organizers. I heard on Friday that there had been 157 people at the Fish Fry and that didn't include people who just popped in for the activities during the day or who were to show up just for Saturday's activities. Our hotel was certainly packed Saturday night. I had a tough time finding parking when I came back after the banquet. I hope the festival continues to grow in the future.

Ivory-bill Haircut

I originally posted this entry Saturday morning. As soon as I hit "publish post" there was a commotion in the vendor area and low and behold an Ivory-bill Haircut Demonstration was in progress. I recovered the post so I could add in this rarely captured event! Pictured left is hard working volunteer Bart sitting in for Penny to work her hair magic. Bart was the best, not only did he help keep the festival moving, but he was kind enough to find a box for me to stand on during my presentation so I could see over the podium. Standing next to Penny in the orange ivory-bill shirt is Lisa Boyd who runs the Ivory-bill Nest-- your one stop shop for everything ivory-bill.

My friends ask if I will ever get an Ivory-bill Haircut on one of my trips to Brinkley. Cute as it is, I just don't think it's a good day to day style for me. But we had seen some men that have chosen this bold fashion statement at the celebration. They style appears to require lots of gel and colors (even more color than I put in my hair).

People surrounded Bart and snapped photos in awe of his bravery (pictured, right). Bart mentioned that he got a discount on the cut, because he already had white hair, so Penny could skip adding that color in. As soon as Bart's cut was finished, Lisa loudly asked, "Okay, who wants the next one?" I've never seen a crowd disperse so quickly in whole life! I did find more men with the avian hair style. So, what does an Ivory-bill Haircut look like? Well, here is Bart receiving his finishing touches:



And here's another satisfied customer:

And it wasn't just for the mature birder. The young guys were sportin' this do as well:


And it's not just for people with hair! Even if you are "closely cropped" so to speak, you can still get this high fashion style. Here is tv reporter Todd Wilson of KTHV sporting an Ivory-bill Haircut:

It is interesting to note that NO WOMEN, not a single one was spotted at the celebration with the cut. I was told is was a unisex style, but the ladies weren't diggin' it.

Ivory-bill Fest Report

When I pulled into the parking lot this morning, that good bird smell was heavy in the air. You could totally smell the blackbirds that had roosted around there the night before, it reminded me of the bird housing at the Raptor Center.

I got the booth put together without too much trauma and sold a pair of Rangers right away, thanks to the help of Ron Austing who brought a friend over to look at our products. I was very excited to meet Ron, he is another guy who has photos just about everywhere. When I was going through his prints available for sale, I recognized so many from various bird books. Then, I found one of my all time favorite photos of a red-tailed hawk. Isn't it sweet? I didn't realize that he was the guy who took the photo. But geeked out when I realized how talented he was.

In the booth next to me was a lovely couple who carve birds. Their carved birds worked as great targets for people to test out the close focus on the various binoculars. They told me that they just sold a life sized ivory-bill carving for $12,000. They do tremendous work, that is one their ivory-bill heads pictured at right--even Tim Gallagher was impressed.

This evening we heard a wonderful band playing at the celebration called the Greasy Greens. Their big claim to fame was playing at President Clinton's inaugural ball. They rocked the crowd here...well, as much as you can rock a crowd of birders. They debuted a new song about the ivory-billed woodpecker that combined the Woody Woodpecker Theme and Rockin' Robin. Amy and I invented a couple of a new dances to it: the bino and the scope. I wonder how soon that will be all the rage at birding festivals?

Boy, I tell ya' I am racking up the author lifers here, I'll have to update the list as soon as I get home. I met June Osborne who is as sweet as she can be. She was sitting behind us at Gene's Barbecue and we ran into her around the festival. I also met Pete Dunne again, and he bought lunch for all of us hard working optic reps at the festival--what a guy! He even stopped by the booth to talk to customers about binoculars and offered some great pointers. He's currently packing seven power binoculars--I like a guy who is comfortable with his magnification. I'm going to use this photo for the author page, but can't wait to post it. Here is Pete stealing a fry as I steal a photo of him.

The blackbirds poured into the trees again tonight, just as hypnotic as last night. This time there wasn't anyone around to try and scare them with fireworks, which was a relief. I overheard someone say with a tone of disdain, while watching the millions come in, "You know, this is what people think birders do. Like birders want to sit around and be entertained by this?" I couldn't help it, I piped up, "I'm a birder and I love this, I could watch it for hours. It's hypnotic." I don't know what it is, but giant flocks of birds just fascinate me.

In the next entry: What does and ivory-bill haircut look like anyway?

Back to Brinkley!

I love being at the airport and I love traveling. I had a conversation with a freelance writer friend who warned me to be careful what I wished for. He said it was hard being on the road in a cramped plane, sleeping in an unfriendly hotel and just trying to get things done. So far I have found the opposite to be true. I tend to get a lot of work done catching up on phone conversations (with my hands free headset at left) and doing some emailing while waiting at the gate. Once on the plane I get a surprising amount of writing accomplished whether it be blog related, catching up on emails, an article for Birding Business or something for Eagle Optics. No distractions.

This trip I used the time on the plane to go over the packing list of product that will be waiting for me in Brinkley. I tried to make sure that I not only knew what was packed but try and memorize the weights, prices, etc.

Ever since I was a kid, I have loved airports, I love watching the people and I love the buzz of everyone off to destinations. You can see how excited some are to get to a vacation spot and other just off for work. I just like the energy. When I touched down in Little Rock, I got into my rental car and headed straight for the festival:

Welcome back to Brinkley! Okay, for the record, I am a safe driver, I do not snap photos while going down the highway, but about 15 miles from Brinkley one nasty traffic jam came into formation. When I got off the exit, there was a police officer directing traffic! Who knew? Could this be a sign that the festival is jammed packed full of participants? I was shocked. I was also a little concerned with the officer started using his cell phone while directing traffic. Call me crazy, but I want someone's full attention when they are directing vehicles of various sizes off of and onto highways.

Typically a traffic jam is not my first place to be, but there were so many snow geese moving that it was fun to watch swirling and descending onto the nearby fields as I sat in the highway parking lot. It was bird rush hour! As I got closer to Brinkley, I noticed hoards and hoards of red-winged blackbirds. I hadn't seen flocks like that since I was a kid in Indiana. I estimated one flock to be at least 2 million birds (that's a conservative estimate, not an exaggeration). I was super excited to notice that the flocks were heading towards the Brinkley exit like I was. Here is a photo of a flock (note traffic in the lanes heading away from Brinkley are moving quite fast):

When I arrived at the convention center, there was a young man with fireworks taking aim at the red-winged blackbird flocks attempting to roost in the trees (kind of like that scene early on Steel Magnolias when they boys are trying to get the birds out of the trees before Shelby's wedding--although in the movie they look to be rock pigeons with house sparrow calls dubbed over). The birds would land, and make the trees look like full foliage, the fireworks would zoom in the center, the flock would rise and then descend down into the trees again. I mentioned to the crowd watching that this a bird festival, the birds should be left alone. I was told, "This isn't a blackbird festival!" I was also told that we would want the birds gone because of the all the droppings the birds leave behind. I mentioned that birds tend to "evacuate" more when scared so all the fireworks were doing were just encouraging the birds to poop. At this point there was a loud bang, and the flock zoomed our way--we all hightailed it into the convention center.

Inside I found all the merchandise had been shipped, figured out where my booth was to be set up. The boxes were large so Steve Moore and Amy Hooper helped me move them. Boy, WildBird Magazine really is out to help! My boxes are in place, so I went to grab an Ivory-bill Cheese Burger and call it a night. Back at the hotel I fine tuned my presentation for Saturday: Birding 101. I love titles like that because it's open to interpretation, I can go several different directions...I just need to keep in mind that I only have 30 minutes.

Tonight, my booth looked like this:

Tomorrow, it will be a buffet of fine binoculars!

How to Buy a Duck Stamp

I've gotten quite a few responses on where to buy a duck stamp. I went online and found that the official duck stamp site reads that I can buy a stamp, but the link isn't working. So I found this site that carries the stamp. You might also contact your local post office to see if they are carrying the stamps (not all of them do). I think when I get back home, I might do an entry on how to purchase a duck stamp.

Thank you to all the birders who are willing to buy a duck stamp. The top reason I thank you is that you are helping to buy wetlands for a host of bird species. The other reason is that you are helping to break down the stereotype that birders are cheap and want others to pay for conservation--we need to get rid of that, almost as badly as we need to get rid of the notion that birders aren't cool.

Holy Cow!

Check out this unbelievable looking pileated woodpecker. Interesting, this bird was found in the same area I searched in Arkansas with Cornell in December. It mentions Tom Snetsinger, he was our team's leader. Cool looking bird. I think I can say without causing a stink that we did not see that bird while our crew was there. Boy, I wish I had, that is a nifty looking pileated.

Off to Arkansas--again!

Last week, after spending over eight hours in windy single digit temperatures we had dinner at Clay’s house. While warming up and enjoying a hearty meal I smiled and announced how happy I was to finally have the hip and adventurous lifestyle of an optics rep--a childhood dream. All the other guys at the table looked at me like a chicken with my head cut off. Hip?? Adventurous?? Apparently, I was the only person who got that memo.

Okay, maybe it’s not exploring the Arctic, but it’s still fun and challenging. Non Birding Bill thinks all I do is talk about birds all day and sing karaoke all night while on the road, but there is a lot more to it than that and I love every moment of it. Since the Call of the Ivory-bill Celebration will be my first solo trek running a booth, I will chronicle what all an Eagle Optics employee has to do on the road. Here I am with my suitcase loaded with clothes, binocular demos and my traveling office. I'm opting for my camo jacket this trip, because it seems to help you blend in with the locals in Brinkley, AR.

Whoever is going to this festival is going to meet a bevy of who is who in the birding world: Pete Dunne, Amy Hooper, Greg Butcher, Bobby Harrison, Tim Gallagher, Marie Reed, Gene Sparling, David Lunneau...I wonder if there will be a skeptic crowd there? Boy, it sure would be a good opportunity to ask questions. Should be interesting stuff.

Duck Stamp Discussion

So, I was at a “Duck Stamp” meeting today—or rather a meeting for the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp Program. It was held at the Minnesota Valley NWR Visitor's Center next to the Minneapolis/St Paul Airport. There were feeders outside our windows so I had to work very hard to focus and not bird (note all the woodpeckers at left).

I was surrounded by people involved with Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, Fish and Wildlife Service and DNR, guys who work for Congressman Kennedy—all types of big wigs and all very interested in preserving wetlands and the species associated with them.

The group got very excited when a sharp-shinned hawk flew in and landed on top of the feeders. All the birds were gone at that moment and it moved on. Twenty minutes later a flock of house sparrows moved in. Like a blue blot from the sky, the sharpie dropped straight in and sent all the sparrows in every direction--some flew into the window. It looked like the sharpie nailed one of the sparrows and then flew off with its meal--cool! Of course, always having a camera ready for a blogable moment, I did get a photo of the sharpie on one of its passes (right).

Hey, here's a question for ya':

Did you know, approximately 98 cents of every duck stamp dollar goes directly into the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund to purchase wetlands and wildlife habitat for inclusion into the National Wildlife Refuge System?

Why aren't more birders (scratch that, make it people) buying this stamp?!?!?

We were trying to figure out how to increase the sales of duck stamps or at least how to increase the revenue from the stamps. Eagle Optics was invited so I was there representing the company and trying to find ways to be more supportive, because let’s face it, if there are no wetlands, there really aren’t much birds to watch and no one will need binoculars and I’m out of a job. It behooves me to pay attention and encourage others to buy duck stamps for the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp Program.

There’s genuine concern about the heritage of duck hunting disappearing. If duck hunters want to hunt they must purchase a stamp, something that birders do not have to do in order to go out and enjoy birds. For those folks who have never cared for hunting to begin with and are grateful for fewer hunters—you should be worried, very worried. Fewer duck hunters, fewer stamps purchased. Fewer stamps purchased, fewer areas of habitat for birds we enjoy and watch to thrive in.

There’s an idea in the legislature to increase the current stamp price from $15 to $25. Will there be some backlash from people who already purchase stamps and maybe this will be enough to make them stop duck hunting? Another idea is try to get non hunters to purchase the stamp. There’s been a push the last few years, but birders aren’t buying. I wonder what the reason is there? One is that most birders have the idea of “I’m not killing anything, so why not let hunters carry the burden on this?” or “I don’t need to worry about it, someone out there will make enough of a fuss so I don’t have to?” The comment was also made over and over again by both hunters and birders involved in the meeting that birders are cheap. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to be stereotyped that way. Birders and other frequenters of National Wildlife Refuges purchase a $15 Federal Duck Stamp each year in order to gain free admission to refuges. Conservationists buy Federal Duck Stamps because they know that the stamps are, dollar for dollar, one of the best investments one can make in the future of America’s wetlands.

I'm encouraged by the ideas that were generated today and hopeful we will see success with them in the future. There are some real movers and shakers invovled with this so there is reason to be hopeful. The bottom line, however, is that more non hunters need to invest in the stamp, it's one of the best tools for habitat preservation out there.

(At the end of the meeting I sat by the window and watched the feeders a little to unwind and low and behold a possum trucked right on through.)

Eagle Optics Helps with Cuban Sandhill Cranes

Here's another way we're helping out at Eagle Optics.

In the United States, the Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis) is the most abundant crane species. However, in Cuba, the Cuban Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis nesoites) is classified as endangered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Found only in Cuba, this crane population’s survival is dependant upon open grasslands and savannas. Eagle Optics recently had the privilege to help the International Crane Foundation (ICF) in their efforts to help the Cuban Sandhill Crane or the la grulla cubana.

The ICF has sponsored seven expeditions over the last ten years to aid Cuban colleagues with research and educational efforts. Mrs. Xiomara Galves, who completed her PhD studies with the support of ICF in 2003, has spearheaded these efforts. Some of the accomplishments include surveying and identifying 12 populations of 650 of Cuban Sandhill Cranes, fitting radio transmitters on ten cranes to follow their seasonal movements, and educating the local communities on the importance of habitat conservation and creating activities and festivals centered on the cranes.

In 2006, a group of formal and non-formal educators want to travel to the Isle of Youth, Cuba to build upon activities and conservation education started ten years ago. In the Isle of Youth is the Los Indios Ecological Reserve that hosts the largest known population of Cuban Sandhill Cranes (about 170 birds). The education work centers on a week long Cuban Sandhill Crane Festival, where communities, government officials and schools surrounding significant crane areas celebrate the presence of cranes and other endangered and endemic species. There will be student and teacher workshops, presentations and an international art exchange. In 2004, a record of 680 American students from 14 schools across five states contributed crane artwork that was sent to their Cuban counterparts. Cuban children on the Isle of Youth created artwork, which was presented to the participating American school, creating the art exchange.

The ICF team of educators also shares resources, donations of school supplies and information on the cranes. Cuban school children and educators share activities and performances with the IFC team helping to create a sense of civic responsibility and stewardship towards natural resources like the cranes and their habitat.

To help support the Cuban efforts with the crane research and education, Eagle Optics donated ten binoculars and a spotting scope with a tripod. Cuban biologists, researchers, educators and students to observe the cranes and other endemic species and their nesting habits will use these. Some of the optics sent include Eagle Optics Denalis, and an Eagle Optics Raven Scope with a tripod.

Duck Stamp Meeting

Here is the lovely Amber with Sam the light morph great horned owl at KARE 11, yesterday. I made a point to bring a bird with me, it's my last time working with Brad Woodard, he's off to Houston, TX next month. I wanted to bring a bird because he a HUGE animal lover and he's always done such great animal stories (and is such a good time to work with). He will be greatly missed. Although, if he's in Texas I do have a chance to visit him when bird festivals blow me that way.

Today I am off to a duck stamp meeting and how to improve the sales. Why aren't more birders buying duck stamps? We know we should but we aren't. I must say, this is my kind of all day meeting. No being locked in the lower level meeting room in an office building for eight hours. This meeting is at the Minnesota River Valley Headquarters. Finally, a proper place for a meeting.

Owls On The Move - Northern Owl Symposium

Last winter, over 5,000 owls descended on northern Minnesota, setting records and drawing bird enthusiasts from across the country to this region. This March, a weekend symposium celebrating the mystique, natural history, and ecology of northern owls will be held in Duluth, Minnesota. Featuring owls, art, a poster session, and speakers from as far away as Finland, this one of a kind event will appeal to a wide range of owl enthusiasts. Proceeds will be used to further owl research and conservation.

Here is the info on The Northern Owl Symposium going on in Duluth, MN that I talked about on KARE 11 this morning. I wish I could go, but I will be in Nebraska at the Rivers and Wildlife Celebration for Eagle Optics, but if I weren't going out to see 40,000 sandhill cranes and a million snow geese, I would for sure be going to this.

After doing a few emails and blogs posts when I got off the plane yesterday, I was overwhelmed by my whining and decided to go straight to bed. I wasn't doing anyone anyone any good. I had the BEST experience! I woke up naturally at 4:35am, I was at the half way point: I could easily get up and meet the day or snuggle back into Non Birding Bill for two more hours sleep. I went with the latter. I love that, waking up and realizing I can sleep two more hours and easily be up in time to get to The Raptor Center to get the bird with Amber and then do to KARE 11! After so many hours of sleep I feel refreshed and ready to face the week. I sitll have a few moments, so I'm going to listen to Julie's NPR commentary on blogging--I hear ya', babe.

Best Parts of a Bird Festival

Here was the most accommodating eagle sighted at the festival. It was nice of it to walk right in front of the scopes so people were sure to see it up close. With a bird that size, there is no doubt that it is female.

One of the best parts of a bird festival are the people you meet. I almost always discover that I'm talking to someone who I have either admired their photography or writing. Other times you may meet someone that has several of the same friends or just has an interesting life. When a festival is wrapping up, people who had booths, or were speakers, organizers or helped keep traffic flowing usually congregate to a local public house for a beer and good conversation. When we were finished in Connecticut we headed to a cozy tavern in the Griswold Inn. I ran into Jim Zipp again (did I mention on top of taking tons of bird photos he runs a bird store in his spare time--where does he get his energy?) and I met a friend of his named Jerry Connelly who runs The Audubon Shop (pictured with me on his lap, below).

Jerry is a character, he's a musician who runs a bird store--and has a very easy going wife. She didn't seem to mind a bit when I sat in his lap for a photo. Jerry has had a store since 1986 and didn't know much about birds when he started, but through running the store has become hooked. He said I needed to put his photo in my blog, which made me think he must not have read some of the July and November 2005 entries and saw the embarrassing karaoke...be careful what you wish for my friend, or you could end up in photos like these. If you're ever in Connecticut be sure to look up the stores for Jim and Jerry. Something interesting about these bird stores is that both carry a variety of binoculars--not something you see in many bird stores.

A Little More About Connecticut

Warning: more whining ahead.

There he is, the man of the hour, Mr. Steve Ingraham who is the Zeiss rep and purchased a case of Hot Hands for all of us to use on Sunday at the Connecticut Bald Eagle Festival. Saturday the weather was in the low twenties and teens with super high winds--not ideal conditions for an outdoor booth--especially when the snow moved in. Sunday when we arrived to set up in the morning, it was six degrees but sunny and no wind. Ben announced that he was wearing every article of clothing he packed in his suitcase. I was five layers with what was left with my supply of Hot Hands tucked in every available part on my body. They wore out but Steve was the man to supply us with more. All hail Steve! I'm sure I'm going to have to owe him a favor of some sort in the near future--hopefully not involving anything in waste management.

I did have a surprising birding incident on Sunday. The river boat that took people down the Connecticut River to see the eagles had an extra space so I hopped aboard hoping to escape the cold. I did not, because to really enjoy the birds, you have to be on one of the upper decks and chugging down the river in single digit temps is by no means warm. However, we saw not one but TWO golden eagles on the trip. Not only that, the birds started fighting and talon grabbing while they flew about eye level, above the trees along the banks of the river. That really made up for a lot. Everyone on the boat was excited--some were so excited, four letter words were flowing free and easily among the crowd. It really was pretty cool. Even the guy narrating the trip had to say, "Folks, I'm just going to stop talking because there's nothing I can to this, so just enjoy." He was quite right, words were not necessary to further enhance two golden eagles fighting in mid-air. Who knew, I had to go to Connecticut to see goldens?

We did see some bald eagles. It was interesting to me the number of people who came to this festival for the chance to see 16 to 30 bald eagles (there are three of them in the above photo). In Minnesota we had well over a hundred in the Colville Park Marina in Red Wing. Not to mention all the bald eagles that are found between Red Wing and Wabasha. But I suppose it's all relative. One nice bit of luck the festival had besides the two golden eagles was that a pair of balds were constructing a nest right across the river from where all us optics people were set up. You can see our army of scopes set up in the photo above. If you were thinking of purchasing a spotting scope, it was a great day for that because you could just go down the line and see the difference between all the makes and models on the nest.

The seal that we saw on Saturday morning showed up again in the river on Sunday afternoon. One of the bald eagles constructing the nest made a bee line for it and tried to steal a fish it was eating. That was quite a sight! Watching that big bomber cruise right along and lower its talons and then swoop right down for the seal. The seal ducked under water and the eagle circled a few times waiting for it to resurface. Every time the seal did, the eagle dove for it and missed. The crowd went wild.

I mentioned in the previous post that this was a hipper crowd and the outfits continued to impress on Sunday. I couldn't believe the number of people wearing long fur coats--definitely was the weather for it, but it's just not the type of coat that you see at bird festivals. There's a lady wearing one in the line of eagle spectators on the boat. The crowd was full of younger people too. I even saw a teenage couple having a date on the boat, snuggling each other while watching for birds. It was very cute.

Rode Hard & Put Up Wet...and COLD

I am plum wore out today. So worn out that I missed the reception with Phil Donahue and Dr. James Watson. I am exhausted, and not sure if I will make it to finishing this blog entry tonight. Bear with me and brace yourself for typos.

I did get to meet one guy who I kind of geeked out over, and that was Jim Zipp (pictured in the left photo with me). You may not know Jim by name, but he is a very prolific photographer, so if you get magazines like Birder's World, WildBird, National Geographic or Birding you have seen his photos. If you have a bird magazine handy, take a look at the photos and see if you can find a Zipp. When not going hither and yon to take photos he runs a wild bird shop called Fat Robin. For some reason, it wasn't until this weekend that I put together that the Jim Zipp who owns Fat Robin is the same Jim Zipp that takes all those photos. Anyway, it was an honor for me to meet him.

For me, the day started out full of promise and excitement, our booth was set up just across the river from a bald eagle nest, and the pair was in full renovation mode. A harbor seal popped up within about 20 feet of the dock which was unusual for where we were I was told. Also, I felt well dressed to deal with the cold and our booth being outside. I was surrounded by other optics reps, I was basically surrounded by cool friends to hang out with. There were definitely some interesting folks milling about at this bird festival and you certainly saw a bit of a hipper crowd here (who knew Connecticut was such a hip place). One surprise was the young man wearing a jacket announcing that "Sid Lives" (photo, right). For those who don't know, this is a reference to Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols (punk band).

I think hands down, my favorite out fit was this lovely lady pictured on the left with the bright red cowboy hat and the leopard print pants--I have a soft spot for leopard print--must by my Hoosier heritage. I thought she was just too cute.

It was about this time that the weather took a turn for the worse and wind dramatically increased in speed, temperatures dropped and a squall moved in. On the upside, what better opportunity to talk about waterproof binoculars, on the other hand, the wind was so strong, that combined with the snow it made viewing any kind of birds incredibly difficult. Our booth was next to the Swarovski booth and they had a propane heater near their table that they graciously shared with all the other optic reps. Alas, something went wonky and it made strange noises. I think it may have overheated (oh, the irony) and was not used for the rest of the day and the rest of us had to find a way to muddle through.

As the snow moved in, some of the customers moved for local coffee houses for cover. A few die hards lingered for a bit. That's the Brunton booth in front with Jim Danzenbaker--I wonder if he bore the "brunton" of the wind in the storm (so lame, I know, but couldn't resist in my weakened condition--I'm cracking myself up so hard right now, this is very sad).

Jeff Bouton of Leica doesn't let the wind, snow and cold get him down. He's always ready for a good time.

Jeff's happy feet move him over to the Vortex booth. That guy's a one man party.

We didn't see much in the way of eagles after the snow died down, but some mute swans moved in. The temperatures continued to drop and the winds increased. By around three o'clock all the optic reps outside were dancing and bouncing around trying to keep warm. It was an odd dance as there was a choir not far off doing Cole Porter and Andrew Lloyd Weber medleys. I'd post photos of that, but I'm quite certain that would get me banned from future events--we don't look good.

Clay at Swarovski arranged for us to close down early because the wind was keeping customers away and knocked down at least one display scope. On top of that he drove all the optic reps to his home where he and his wife Debbie put on a super tasty spaghetti dinner to warm us up. This was incredibly gracious because the day before, high winds knocked down a huge tree that took out a bay window on their home. In the above photo that's a subdued Jeff, Steve from Zeiss and Clay.

Here is Mike from Nikon. I think his face sums up how happy, warm and satiated we were thanks to Clay and Debbie's hospitality.

And now I think I have the shower nice and warmed up and I'm going to sit in there until I reset my core temperature. Word on the street is that it is supposed to be ten degrees colder. Now, my plan is to take the hottest shower I can stand, sleep in my hotel with the heat cranked. I want to be hot and sweaty when I start tomorrow morning so I can be ready for that weather.

Oy.

Grossly Under Dressed

Just call me Sharon Q. Whineypants.

I'm in Connecticut this weekend with Ben Lizdas, Joe Hamilton and Bruce Mercer for the CT Audubon Society's Bald Eagle Festival. I learned today that our booth is still in fact outdoors, on the river and NOT in a heated tent as originally planned. I think I packed okay for it, thigh-high wool socks (not as attractive as it sounds) lots of fleece, sweaters and my cold weather helper: Hot Hands. I know I'm a Minnesota girl and should be used to the cold, but I bird in the car when it's cold. I'm sure Non Birding Bill will read this and think I'm being especially whiney since today the Twin Cities were -14 degrees with a wind chill at -36. I'm going to be in 20 - 30 degree weather (though on a river so it will feel colder).

When we arrived today, we greeted some of the festival organizers. They were kind enough to invite us to a gala going on tonight. One of the organizers told us that the invite said "black tie" but not to worry, they get a little funky with their idea of black tie (I need to consult with them on their definition of funky). In fact, one of the organizers pointed to his jeans and red cotton shirt and said that was all he would be wearing. Thinking that this was like an ordinary bird festival, I figured we could dress in our regular clothes and fit in. Alas, the Connecticut Audubon Eagle Festival is not your typical bird festival. There weren't just black ties, but ties of all colors. All the gentlemen were in suits and many ladies were wearing shoes that I'm pretty sure cost more than the contents of my suitcase. We showed up in denims, khakis and sweaters. I decided to wear my "Hot All-Bird Action" shirt, thinking it would be a good conversation starter (which it typically is at bird festival socials). That's Ben and I trying to blend in (above photo). Do you think it worked? What else can you do in that situation, but make the best of it? I always try to think, "What would Auntie Mame do? And that has yet to steer me wrong. We decided to enjoy some of the free whine and hors d'oeuvres and as we relaxed we started to mingle and met some really interesting people. One lady was the Vice President of Pratt & Whitney, one of the major sponsors of the festivals. Her company makes airplane engines--and I thought my job was fascinating. On top of that she was a pilot too. I would like to see what life is like from her shoes a day, it does sound like fun.

We later left for dinner and found a lovely little Chinese restaurant that served sushi. After we ate, our fortune cookies came out, and Joe was lucky enough to get two in one package (pictured, right--Joe looks as though he is not fully grasping the gravity of his double fortune cookie). I think the double fortune cookie bodes well for our success this trip not only in meeting new people but for birding as well. For example, when we ran into Jeff Bouton of Leica this afternoon, I asked if he could get me any new birds. He walked me to the river's edge and pointed to a great cormorant. Sweet, a new bird right away--Jeff is so good like that!

Right now I'm trying to debate about singing karaoke. We have it in our hotel at the Ship to Shore Bar and Restaurant. I can't seem to round anyone one up and I don't want to go down by myself. I should really get rested up anyway. We have long day ahead of us and I will also have a chance to meet Phil Donahue (I'm not even going to think about the possibility that Marlo Thomas might be with him--if she is I will just GEEK out). As if the chance to meet those two cool people weren't enough, but Dr. James Watson, co-discoverer of the DNA double helix, Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize winning biologist and head of the NIH Humane Genome Project will be here. I'm kind of curious to meet a man who had a movie made about his discovery and had Jeff Goldblum play his character (as I recall, he chewed some serious gum in the movie). I tell ya', birding leads me to some incredible people.

So, while I decide to sing or not to sing, I will ponder what I found on the back of the fortune in my fortune cookie. Feel free to ponder it along with me:

Packing for Connecticut

Monday morning I took a walk in this:

This morning it's below zero so I'm choosing not to take a walk in this:

We were supposed to have piles of snow this morning, and just south of the Twin Cities they are getting a few inches, however there is a freezing cold front that is pushing the snow to just south of the Cities. Yesterday's forecast said we could have five to seven inches in the Cities, now they are saying maybe one inch by 5pm but the below zero weather is here to stay through the weekend. The same snow is hitting my cohorts in Madison and all of us are flying out early tomorrow morning for the Connecticut Bald Eagle Festival, so it will be interesting to see if we all get out. I'll find out in Detroit.

For all of those who may be missing Cinnamon's disapproval, I did get my fair share in San Diego. This is the California ground squirrel and they are everywhere. I didn't notice them while I was working at the convention center, but when I took a walk before my flight, the ground was squirming with them. They kind of looked like scruffier versions of the gray squirrel that we have in Minnesota, and they weirded me out because they aren't bouncy like our squirrels, they just scurry around. They're not interested in trees but burrow little holes in the ground right along the water.

I'm trying to get packed for this weekend and get things prepared for what I will need to bring to the Arkansas Ivory-bill Celebration next week (my first time running a binocular booth solo) and Cinnamon is being no help whatsoever. I have supply of binoculars with me for use in bird walks and other programs and I will need to take some of them with me to Brinkley. I was just double checking my supply when Cinnamon decided she needed to get involved and give instructions. I kept trying to shoo her away, but back she came. She was very interested in the yellow Typhoon binocular, especially the strap. She kept trying to rearrange it to lay on it. I don't know what that is all about. I think she must be acting out, since I'm not home as much. I was thinking about taking her with me to the Rivers and Wildlife Celebration in Nebraska, but I'm still undecided if I want to do the drive by myself. I often do most of the driving on the trip, but I have others in the car for conversation. Non Birding Bill really wants me to fly, but it's such a fun drive and great way to watch for all the different color morphs of hawks--I'm torn. It would be fun to take Cinnamon to her first bird festival. I think she'd have a good time.

I And The Bird

Last night I got a call from Amy at Wild Bird on the Fly asking me what I thought about her theme idea for hosting I and the Bird this week. My first response: "Crap! It's I and the Bird this week? I completely forgot! Can I quick send an entry? Oh, and I think your theme is a great idea."

She was gracious enough to allow me to send my link, and she does have a great idea of doing it in the style of a bird festival. Considering that is about the only time we hang out, it seems appropriate to me. So, here is this week's I and the Bird in the theme of a bird festival.

The Sibley Difference

I decided that when I went to the west coast I would take my National Geographic Field Guide to Birds. It's a little smaller than the Sibley Guide to Birds, and fit perfectly in a pocket of my carry on suitcase. I also chose it because I keep little check marks next to birds that I have seen so I could have an idea for target birds. Oh, lamentable choice, it steered me so wrong! I misidentified another bird in the blog--that's two birds in a week. Uff-dah.

The gull misidentification was not field guide related, that was Kate and I trying to remember a gull with no field guide handy over dirty martinis. Lesson learned: don't id birds in a blog at a bar without a field guide. The hummer id, I blame on the guide, I should have checked Sibley before I posted, yet I was impatient.

Here is the hummer photo that I posted (granted, not a great photo):
Now, having only the National Geographic I narrowed it down to either an Anna's Hummingbird (below)...

...or a black-chinned hummingbird (below).

Thinking the bill was a tad off, I chose to go with the black-chinned, based on how dark the throat looked, the white spot behind the eye and that the throat color didn't appear to go as far back in the photo as it appeared to do in the National Geographic illustration. I took a chance and posted...

...then I got an email from fellow Minnesota birder Terry Brashear:

Your Black-chinned Hummingbird appears to be a Male Anna's. A black-chinned this time of year would be unusual for San Diego since the majority of them are in Mexico. When they are found in San Diego in spring they are usually in the foothills in the east part of San Diego County. I birded there 25 years and saw one Black-chinned in the coastal area of San Diego. I took a look at the CBC data for San Diego and none were reported this year. Thought you'd like to know.

Doh! So, as soon as I got home (well, after a warm greeting from Non Birding Bill) I checked ye olde Sibley to see where I went wrong. Here is an Anna's hummingbird in the Sibley Guide...


...and here is a black-chinned hummingbird in the Sibley Guide:

Looking at the Sibley guide, I see the bill shape is incorrect for a black-chinned the light pattern on the head more closely matches the Anna's. So, from now on I will pack Sibley.

One Last Laugh

The captain's binoculars, compared to mine. It still makes me chuckle. In hindsight, I wonder if I should have offered to sell him a harness.

Wrapping Up The San Diego Fest

Here is a photo of Katie and I having a blast on our whale watching trip.

Katie has already left for the airport this morning, but my flight doesn't head out until afternoon so I'll catch up on some work and maybe sneak out for one final sunny walk before heading to Minnesota. So, as I type this, I'm listening to Ian and Margery over the internet and learned that Barry Manilow's latest album is number one--here's to you Barry! They just said "hello" to me on the air over the internet--love those guys.

We've had a quite a time here, albeit a more subdued time than at other fests. Perhaps word has spread of my incriminating photos that I have been collecting, so people are on better behavior. The most exciting photo I have of antics, is magnetic Clay Taylor lifting the end of a fork with the end of his butter knife (pictured right)? Perhaps this explains his birding ability, the birds are just attracted to him?

One interesting thing, was a water main broke down the street and on Saturday our hotel had no water. I felt bad for all of the people who had all day trips in the desert only to come back to the hotel to clean up for the festival banquet and discover that there was no shower to be had or toilets to be flushed. The water came back late in the evening, and Katie, Amy and I thought we would take advantage of the hot tub, only to discover lots of towels and bars of soap outside of it. Apparently, some guests decided to chance bathing in the chlorine filled waters. Ew.

Below are some of the great times we have had here:

Okay, you're looking at this photo and thinking, "Birdchick, they're pigeons, you have them at home, what gives?" Look close, there is a male Brewer's blackbird mixed in with the flock at about 11 o'clock in back. Those dudes are much more leary in Minnesota, so I fed some pigeons to coax over the male Brewer's.

Here is a (let's hope I get it right this time) western gull trying to get some cat food put out for all the dock cats. Free roaming cats were all over, which surprised me, but can you blame them, what with the smell of fish every where. None of the cats seemed to be interested in the gulls or pigeons, if anything they were a tad irritated the gulls would come down for their food.

Here are some sea lions we saw on our whale watching trip. I don't know what it is about these guys, but as soon as I hear them barking I have an uncontrollable urge to bark myself. That may just be me.

We heard hummingbirds all over the place, which seems odd in February to this Minnesota gal. I found this black-chinned hummingbird on one of my morning walks singing (or more accurately, hoarsely twittering and sputtering his song from his perch). I took this photo through my DLS binoculars.

Purse puppies are spreading everywhere! This cute little guy nestled in that fabulous purple bag was having a great time at the festival. Watch out Chet Baker.

I end with this beautiful photo of our warm and sunny trip. I just got off the phone with Ben at Eagle Optics. We are traveling to an eagle festival in Connecticut next week and he just informed me that we will have our booth outside. Eeeeep! Yes, on the east coast where all the snow just got dumped. I'm not real sure how heated a tent will be in February in Connecticut, but sounds like I will be wearing my typical Minnesota clothing.

Sigh.

Making Connections

One of the fun things at bird festivals are all the connections that are made.

I think Keens are becoming the official birding shoe. I was wearing mine and Katie started pointing out all of the people walking by with Keen Shoes. We corralled all the Keen wearers we could find for a photo.

The booth next to us is the PullUin Software booth, the company that makes the Handheld Field Guide to birds. The lady running the booth was working by herself, so if she needed to step out to powder her nose or grab some lunch, I knew enough about it to answer questions as people came by in her absence. It's fun to be helpful and goodness knows I love to talk about gadgets.

I was excited when I noticed a participant wearing a Sky Hunters t-shirt. Four or five years ago, I went on a trip to Idaho with Birds of Prey Expeditions and met the owner, Nancy. We had a wonderful time on the Memorial Day Weekend trip, the birds and scenery were fantastic. We met an old woman who was the local bird lady who, bless her heart, was out in the middle of nowhere and had limited access to bird handling training, but was one of the worst bird handlers I either of us had ever seen. One of the things she did was blow in a bird's face to calm it down. I also learned on that trip that sixty year olds set in their ways are not likely to take advice from frantic twenty somethings. Nancy, on the otherhand knows what she's doing and talking about when it comes to birds, so if you find yourself in the San Diego area, do be sure to check out her facility, and like many raptor rehabbers is run on donations, so if you have spare change, Sky Hunters is a great place to make donations.

Tonight it looks like a group is heading out to dinner: Amy from WildBird, Jim from Brunton, Clay from Swarovski, Steve from Zeiss and maybe a couple of others, I don't know who. There's no Bill from Bird Watcher's Digest or Jeff from Leica so I think karaoki is out. But I so happy enjoying the fresh seafood-mmmmmmmmmmm.

Heron at the Fest

Herons are all over the place around our hotel and marina. Here's a great blue watching life go by.

The San Diego Fest is a good time. The vendor mart is small but jammed packed, we talked noon-stop for almost eight hours! We're in the optics section and we're lucky because we have a window view. I checked the gift vendors and they are tucked away in a room with no view. Something interesting on a side note was someone selling organic soaps. The soaps were named after endangered species and a percentage of the profits goes to conservation. They of course had an ivory-billed woodpecker soap, but I was not allowed to take a picture of it. Hmmm? Do they have secret ingredients or does the Cornell policy of not talking about ivory-bills spill over into the world of organic soaps?

In the optic vendor room we can see an osprey nest, way out over the water that's been built on top of a condemned boat. It's fun to have a good target to test out binos and scopes.

I'm enjoying the common birds that I don't see in my neck of the woods especially this time of year. They are so people tolerant too. Here is a juvenile black-crowned night heron hanging out on some rocks (right). I took this photo using my digital camera and DLS binos.

There is also a small armada of snowy egrets hanging out by the convention center, but they are too quick for me to get a decent photo, I will try again later.

Don't Blog From The Bar

Last night Katie and I did a quick blog update over some dirty martinis at the hotel bar and misidentified a gull. We got this from Julie:

Methinks 'tis a second winter western gull there so Katie is not such a trollop after all.

JZ

Doh!

Pelagic Birding By The Seat Of Our Pants

Katie and I had way too much fun on the job yesterday with our whale watching/pelagic birding trip. And best part was that there was no barfing from us. We took some precautions by having a somewhat healthy breakfast with no greasy foods and taking some Dramamine. We noticed that the food offered on the boat was not my first choice for an anti barf diet:


Chili Cheese Dog on a pelagic trip? This boat crew likes life on the edge.

Funions, Cheetoes and tobasco? That sounds vomitish to me. Sheesh.

We had called around the day before asking people who offer whale watching if they ever see any seabirds on their trips. My favorite answer:

"See birds? Yeah, we see lots of birds. There's one that dives down and swims in there just like it was some kind of fish."

We didn't go with that company. When we called H & M Landing asked them about seabirds, the answer was"

"Oh yeah, you'll see some birds, like petrels, pelicans and gulls on our five hour whale trip."

They used "petrel" in their answer, so we decided to go with them. H & M guarantees a whale sighting on their trips and they recommended that if we want to see birds, we should go along on a fishing trip, since they would chum the waters. Katie and I decided to go for the whale trip since, hey how often would someone from Minnesota or Wisconsin see whales. The downside would be that we would be totally responsible for all bird identification, so we made sure to bone up on our seabirds before we left.

We got a kick out of the captain. He saw us standing on the deck with our DLS binos and proceeded to point and laugh at our "teeny" optics. He later showed us his massive pair of 10x70 binoculars--oy! As he poudly showed us his all powerful optics, he offered that if Katie and I were good, he might let us use them. I don't think we could have if we tried, I know I didn't have the upper arm stregth. We considered asking if he might want to look through ours, since like may things in life, size isn't everything. But we had a feeling that he is very proud to be at the help of his boat toting his massive binoculars while coursing the seas.

They had an antique field guide on board just in case any seabirds came by--published in 1957.

We didn't see too much in the way of whales, but did get to glimpse a juvenile gray whale (got the guaranteed whale, so no money back), harbor seals, sea lions, and dolphins. When we first got to the area where the dolphins were Katie and I both spotted a small black, gray and white football shaped birds whizzing around. We both about peed our pants and shouted, "Murrelet"! As we were freaking out over the life bird, everyone else was freaking about about a dolphin and calf swimming along with us at the bow of the boat. One lady in particular was trying to commune with them by leaning forward and sticking her hand out (left). I know Non Birding Bill is reading this and wondering if I was in fact the one leaning over the bow trying to touch the dolphin since I have a track record of doing foolish things to see wildlife, but I must be maturing because I decided to stay sensibly on the boat.

The trip included a run to the Coronado Islands, they looked like matte paintings of prehistoric islands on our approach. It was so sweet to see the brown pelicans catching thermals off of the clifss and circling, while the gorgeous blue water full of sea lions crashed along the rocks below. The pelicans were breeding, so we got to see the gorgeus color on the males and even a few chicks.

Gulls were following along the boat from time to time, hop