ID Contest

Okay, here's the photo contest. First correct answer in the comments section wins a calendar for one of the following states:

Minnesota
Wisconsin
Michigan
Ohio
Illinois
Indiana

Popularity of Birding

So, I'm very interested in the discussion started by Bird Stuff about using Google Trends to measure an activity's popularity. Have you checked out Google Trends? It's a way to track and search out how popular things are down to the region. Birding is not nearly as popular as hunting and especially fishing. I'm not sure if this means birders are deluding themselves about how many people are interested or if it just can't be quantified that way?

I did a comparative search for the ivory-billed woodpecker with birds like cardinals, hawks, owls, etc--even gull registered higher than ivory-billed woodpecker. Apparently, ivory-bills are not nearly that fascinating to the world. Hm.

Ballad Of The Slaty-backed Gull

I woke Sunday morning and loaded up the trusty Saturn with my bird gear and even at 7:30am it was already a very muggy 80 degrees in the Twin Cities. I think the heat index at the time was over 90. I asked Cinnamon if she wanted to come up north with me to visit Birderblog and Photon and to go see the slaty-backed gull:

"Nope."

Poor thing, the heat is just too much for her. I concur with her on disapproving of this weather. Blah! I moved to Minnesota for the cold, why is it hot here? I didn't want to force Cinnamon to come because I do worry that if something happened on the road that it would be rough on her to be pulled over on the highway with no air conditioning. So, off I headed towards Duluth alone, at least it's an absolutely lovely drive.

A front was pushing its way through north of the Cities and I was hitting intermittent drops of rain. When I arrived in Duluth and saw the dark clouds clustered between the ridge and Lake Superior, I happened to have Mozart's Requiem playing and toyed with the idea that the weather was a symbol of two powerful forces of birding coming together.

When I arrived at Laura's home she was experiencing a power outage, not sure if it was from the lightning or just a general power shortage that the power companies keep warning us about with the high heat and high power usage from everyone cranking their air conditioners.

We loaded up her Prius with our birding stuff and most importantly Photon (above) and set out. If you've read Laura's blog, you know that if anything she is environmentally conscious and she holds it to the letter. She watched the gas mileage like a gyrfalcon watches ptarmigan.

The clouds stuck with us all the way to Grand Marais but it was a wonderful and breezy 64 degrees--I actually had to put on a rain jacket and was still comfortable. Laura checked all the usual spots and found the gull quickly behind a cafe called the Angry Trout.

Of course the gull was sleeping so I couldn't really see all the things that make it a slaty-backed gull, but I was just happy to be in cool temperatures. That's a big plus to the northern states. Don't like the temp, then drive north near one of the Great Lakes and you're good to go. I did find it to be somewhat anti-climactic to drive all this way for a dozing bird and I was surprised that I wasn't jumping up and down like I would other birds. I started focusing on some of the herring gulls nearby. With the storm clouds in the distance and colorful rocks, it was quite pretty:

Then, Mother Nature decided to shake me out of my lackadaisical attitude towards gulls with a large crack of lightning behind the loafing gulls followed by a bone shaking crash of thunder. That was enough for me and I said, "Okay, Laura, time for lunch, let's go into the Angry Trout." To which she replied while bubbling over with enthusiasm, "I bet that thunder woke that gull up, let's get it back in the scopes!" Sure enough, she was right. I had some trepidation about being electrocuted and Laura said, "You're the shortest one here and the least likely to be hit by lightning." She had a point and if she was willing to take one for the team and risk being struck by lightning, the least I could do was give the gull a second chance:

Behold the slaty-backed gull in its standing glory...on a poop covered rock. Actually, it has not officially been dubbed a slaty-backed gull by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union Records Committee--the vote hasn't happened yet. It looks similar to a western gull but when it flies you can see the difference in plumage that makes it a slaty-backed and slatys have more of a tendency to roam than a western gull. The vote is expected to call this bird a slaty-backed...unless some starts greasing some palms of the records committee.

People at the restaurant were very curious about what we were all staring at on the docks and came down to look at the rare gull--this is a rare bird that does impress non birding people. It's noticeably different from all the herring gulls surrounding it and it's sounds cool to say this is a Korean bird. When we went to eat, the hostess at the Angry Trout made sure to put us by the window so we would still be able to see the slaty-backed from our table.

After lunch we walked around the lake a bit more, it was so cool and refreshing and I was in no hurry to return to what was now 98 degrees and 110 heat index. We found some warblers, including an immature mourning warbler which I had not seen yet this year. I even had the chance to walk Photon:

I can't believe I was trusted with Photon. It's kind of nice to spend time with an animal that isn't constantly judging me. She's a very well behaved and mellow dog. She was rewarded for all her hard work with a trip to Dairy Queen. Did you know they give free ice cream to dogs at DQ? Some other trip highlights:

On the way back to Duluth we stopped at a rest stop for a break and found evidence of young love.

As we went through Two Harbors, we passed the pantsless statue of the Voyaguer that Ian and Margery have been talking about. Laura was kind enough to stop so I could get a better look. So what does a woodsman with just leather leggings have under his tunic?

Oh my, is that shrinkage?

I'm really glad I went, thanks for all the encouragement, but I'm really glad I went with Birderblog. Seeing the gull was cool, but company on the long drive made it much better.

The Ballad Of The Slaty-backed Gull Part I

I'm totally trying to get my post up about Sunday with Birderblog, but I'm having blogger issues. It will be coming, along with another photo contest.

Did I Get The Slaty-backed Gull?

Ooooooooo. Ahhhhhh.

And So It Begins...

Blog reader Denise came to The Raptor Center for a tour today and gave a very generous donation--Thanks! That feeds a merlin for a month and a half! And what did she get for her generosity?

A photo with the sooty shearwater head! Whoo hoo, a round of applause for Denise. Thank you for being such a good sport. Hey, Denise, if you were totally grossed out by it blame WildBird on the Fly, it was her idea.

Hey, remember the art car post from the other day? Well, when I went to KARE 11 on Monday, this car was in the lot. This isn't just art, this is the flirtologist's car. She was on the same show I was that day. I'm going to be on her radio show on August 26 when she's broadcasting live at the Great Minnesota Get Together. You can grab some fried cheese curds (or my personal favorite: scotch egg on a stick) and come watch or listen online. She flirts, I bird...should be interesting. Maybe some single birders can learn some tricks.

Speaking of interesting get togethers, Birderblog and I are meeting on Sunday. She's gonna take me to Grand Marais to see the slaty-backed gull. Two mouthy bloggers, one super rare bird...whose post will come out victorious (I watch too much Iron Chef--and I mean the original not that iron chef america crap). She has already blogged about it so I'm sure this is old hat to her. She wants to know if I'm bringing Cinnamon. I'm not sure. It's about a three hour drive from Duluth to Grand Marais...that's an awful lot of disapproval in a tiny car to inflict on the uninitiated. I don't know if I want to expose poor little Photon to that.

And I just have to say how much Non Birding Bill rocks. Last night was one of his few nights off from rehearsals and he spent it reloading photos that were lost in the wipeout a two weeks ago. Here is one that I was missing from 2oo2 that I was so happy to get back:

We were hawk trapping and an adult sharp-shinned hawk was chasing a Nashville warbler and both ended up in the nets. After we got them out, we were posing them at the same time and it was just too much for the sharpie, she made a quick jerk to try and nail the Nashville. She didn't get it though. The Nashville was released quickly to give it a chance to hide while we banded the sharpie. Don't worry about the sharpie, it was fat and sassy and would get another bird at another time without any problem.

Ah, that just makes me with it were Autumn right now! I am so ready for hawk migration...it's like my Christmas.

Raptors--Aussie Style

I'm not sure why, but I've been getting emails of some Australian birds from a couple of people--don't get me wrong, I love 'em, I just didn't expect 'em.
I have been sent these photos from Maarten Vanderhaar who has a couple of blogs. One is Maarten's Digital Travels (and be sure to check this post--no possible way I will ever use that toilet) and now is starting a bird related photo blog.

He sent this, which was a treat:

They have osprey in Australia--sweet. I can't explain it, but there is something a little different about the Aussie version--looks a little beefier than our sleeker ospreys. They must deal with heavy duty fish.

This was originally sent as a sea eagle but the face to me doesn't say eagle. I was thinking it might be a whistling kite, but I'm not an expert on raptors down under. I almost turned this into a photo contest but was worried that it might cause a mutiny.

Out of curiosity, anyone want to take a gander at this species? Yes, it's from Australia.

Notes From The Raptor Center Clinic

It is Cooper's hawk city down in the clinic of The Raptor Center. Every time I run downstairs to grab some food for one of the education birds, I see someone working on a young Coop. It makes sense, right now they are learning to fly and hunt and since these hawks have done such a great job of adapting to living with people, they are easily noticed by kind hearted folks. Since adult Coops will sometimes drive songbirds into windows to stun them, young Coops who haven't figured out all the nuances of flight hit quite a few windows this time of year.

Most young red-tailed hawks have been out and hunting for a couple of months, but even they are showing up injured. This young red-tail with massive talons was just admitted and was under going an eye exam and an all over check up.

If you notice this envelope on the tail, that is put on the birds so they won't damage their tail feathers as they are recovering in the clinic cages. Strong, unbroken feathers are just as essential to their survival in the wild as everything else. It would be a shame to heal the raptor's injuries and then send it out with broken tail feathers that would affect it's flight and hunting ability.

Here the red-tail is getting ready to go in for x-ray. Since birds are more relaxed if they cannot see what's going on, the clinic vets put a hood over it's face. This, believe it or not does help birds feel safe and keeps them calm for the x-ray.

This red-tail was chock full of this NASTY smashed up bug. This is a hippoboscid fly (read all about 'em at Hilton Pond) and is one of the down sides of insects that you face if you work with wild birds. They are blood parasites and pretty much all birds have them. They don't really get any benefits from mammals, but that's not to say the flies don't try. They move all herky jerky like a spider, and then fly into your face or hair and crawl around. This one is a little smashed, the vets grab and pop them as they find them on the bird. Eeewww. Ah, the glamorous lifestyle of a raptor vet...popping blood parasites.

Contest

My 2007 calendars have been printed! I just got my complimentary calendars in the mail today--whoot!

I have bird calendars for six states: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Each month has gorgeous bird photos, a list of birds to expect, a to do list for your birds, and trivia as to when to expect certain species and records for each state. For example: On December 4, 2003 7,400 common goldeneyes were seen at Pool 8 of the Upper Mississippi NWA in Minnesota.

So, in honor of my calendars arriving, I'm throwing a contest (hopefully comments are working). Whoever is the first to id this bird (correctly) gets a free calendar of the state of their choice:

Can you identify this bird butt? Post answers in the comments area.

Some Days I Heart the Onion

Okay, I shouldn't be laughing at this but I need a laugh and the graphic just cracks me up. Someone at The Onion, must be a birder. Here's an excerpt:

Sparrow Aviation Administration Blames Collision On Failure To Detect Pane Of Glass

Mysterious Phenomenon Kills Millions Each Year

July 25, 2006 | Issue 42•30

PIERRE, SD—Sparrow Aviation Administration officials are calling the Monday collision of an westbound sparrow with the window of a Mitchell, SD home a clear case of "controlled flight into glass," after the bird failed to detect a transparent windowpane directly in his flight path.

SAA officials describe the crash at a press conference.

Howard R. Trojanowski, a Pierre-bound, 2-year-old field sparrow who had been licensed to fly since two weeks after he was hatched and had logged over 60,000 flying hours, departed from a ledge near Sioux Falls Regional Airport at 11:04 a.m. CST. Trojanowski never reached his intended tree branch, instead striking a tempered-glass picture window 2.5 miles northwest of Mitchell 74 minutes after takeoff at an estimated speed of 39 mph.

There were no survivors.

You have to read the rest of the article, there are more graphics to go along with it. I practically peed my pants from laughing...even though windows killing birds is no laughing matter.

Test

Can I upload photos?

Okay, I can upload photos now, but can I publish this post? I'm feelin' lucky, let's give it a whirl.

Blogger

Still issues with blogger and uploading photos, and I have some great ones too--Drat!

Well, I was ready to head to the gull on Friday but I forgot that my friend the librarian is having a cookout Friday night and I must go. I think I'll have to try for the slaty on Sunday. NBB and I only have one vehicle between us--thanks Twin Cities for great public transportation. But, he needs it for hauling props to rehearsals this weekend. Saturday night there's a Fringe Preview and he and his cast will be there. I can't believe his show opens a week from today. I can't wait to see it, I've only read it.

Hey, if you're an Australian guy reading this who has a first name Maarten, I would love link to your blog with your photos when blogger let's me post them, but you didn't include it in your emails and my searches for it have come up fruitless. I've tried emailing but have not gotten a response.

A Distraction

I went out with my friend Amber Burnette on Sunday to Dakota County on Sunday to go birding. She's a much better photographer than I am so I opted to go with her photos for this entry.

I never get tired of dickcissels. I had so much fun with Amber on Sunday, I drove the car and she took photos. We used the car as our mobile photo blind and I worked to maneuver the vehicle so she could get photos of the birds.

I love how she got the white stripe on this eastern kingbird. Oh, look at that right wing, somebody's moulting.

I'm debating about something. We have a slaty-backed gull in adult plumage up in Grand Marais, MN. This is huge, this bird is way out of its range and what the heck is it doing in Minnesota this time a year? I'm trying to justify going five hours to go see it. I'll go five hours for hawk watching easy...but a gull...even if it is a first state record...

I just don't know. I shouldn't go out of town, Non Birding Bill is getting into the final rehearsal period for his Fringe show (the show is not as racy as the title suggests--but is a very funny show), but I could easily fit in a trip Friday/Saturday.

Is a rare gull worth a 10 hour round trip drive?

Bunny Approval? Ch.

I admit it, I'm one of the eaters of Annie's Shells and Cheese but I've never really looked at the box until recently. Check out the label:

What's all this about "rabbit approval"? I grew highly suspicious of Annie's labels wearing a bunny of a approval. I even suspected that Annie had in fact never lived with a rabbit. Anyone who has ever lived with a rabbit knows the pain of never meeting a bunny's standards. You will note, that the Bernie on the box is smiling and approving. You will also note that the Bernie on the box is a cartoon. If you look at the real photos of Bernie, you can see that he does in fact disapprove. For further examination, take a look at one of the oh-so-tasty Annie's Bunny Grahams:

That looks like a sweet graham cracker of a disapproving bunny if I ever saw one. This leads me to believe that the folks at Annie's are in denial about their rabbit, it's not approving of anything. But perhaps that's why their food tastes so good--a vain attempt to win Bernie's approval. What does Cinnamon have to say?

"I don't approve of smiling bunnies and I never authorized my name to be on a box of "bunny grahams"--I can't believe you named me after a flavor."

I on the other hand, heartily approve of Annie's food and eat it any chance I get.

No Photos

I'd like to do a blog entry--I have so much stuff jammed in my blog potential file, I'm just bursting. Alas, no entries at the moment because blogger is not allowing me to upload photos. I checked the blogger status area and they were fixing something yesterday, but apparently a few lingering issues are still ongoing. I checked the discussion board and all day people have not been able to upload photos.

Updates are coming...including an approval scandal.

Oh Dear

Here is hands down the most ridiculous graphic I have seen put together for a "news" site about bird flu.

That is the most malevolent chicken I have ever seen. I like Non Birding Bill's suggestion that it won't be long before there's video of Canada geese lurking behind city buildings waiting to walk up behind people and sneeze on them.

One of Those Mornings

Yeah, this is starting off to a strange Monday. I woke up at 6am to Darci from A Balanced Breakfast calling because Ian and Margery wanted to talk about the red-necked stint that is wowing birders in Connecticut...with a little help from Darci and quick brush of my teeth I made it through that segment. I even managed to bring up the possible state record of a slaty-backed gull that we're dealing with here in Minnesota.

Then about a half hour later, Non Birding Bill and I are getting ready for our day and Ian and Margery start lamenting on air that they never do anything wild. Margery announces, "We need Sharon Stiteler the birdchick, she's the wildest person we know. She can help us." And then Ian tells Darci on air, "Darci, get the birdchick, let's find out what's the wildest thing she's done."

NBB and I looked at each other and he said, "No, no, no. Stop what you're thinking right now."

My cell phone rang, it was Darci.

NBB said, "Make something up but don't do tell them anything." He knows me all too well that before a sturdy cup of coffee, confronted with an audience and a challenge to tell the wildest thing I've done could spell trouble.

Did you ever think you would see the day when a popular morning radio show has a birder on air because she is the wildest person they know? The birding times they are a changing.

All this before 7am and a good cup of coffee. Now off to KARE 11.

Business As Usual At The Bird Store

I have a Showcase Minnesota appearance on Monday and I want to talk more about birdbaths so I stopped in at my old stomping grounds in Wayzata to borrow some props. Melissa who used to work with me and now has my job said that she would allow it, but only if I helped locate some monarch caterpillars for their monarch ranch, she just can't find them. I will say that is one thing I totally miss about my old job is the big monarch ranch that we would have going in late summer and early fall. Once I get my groove going, I get obsessed with finding them. I was happy to oblige.

While there I checked out what new stuff she brought in. One thing was this interesting idea for feeding oilers and or peanuts out of the shell:
At first I thought this was some type of bluebird feeder since it appears to be made out of left over Peterson bluebird house parts. The opening has mesh over it instead of being open so birds feed out of the hole where they would normally enter the box. Since you have to kind of teach bluebirds to use birdfeeders if they are not used to it, I thought this would be for bluebirds. The idea with this is that you can feed oilers and peanuts to chickadees and nuthatches and keep blackbirds away. I can see how this could work to keep grackles away because they aren't cavity nesters, but starlings do nest in cavities--won't they still be able to feed out of this?

She also has some new books in, including Laura Erickson's 101 Ways to Help Birds and Pete Dunne's Art of Pishing.

It was nice to see that some things never change--like dead birds in the store's freezer. Customers drop off dead birds to be identified or the employees will take them to the Bell Museum or The Raptor Center as study skins or use for imping (repairing broken feathers). Here was the current dead bird:

Boy, these sure are a lot smaller than I thought they were. It fits in my hand and I have tiny hands. They seem much bigger in the wild.

Look how long the nostrils are on the bill--must have a very sensitive bill and perhaps a highly developed sense of smell.

Note how long the bill is in relation to my index finger.

Yee ah, comin' at ya'! Hot cha cha cha chaaaaaaaaa.

Note the interesting toes as well as the striking black and white on the vent area.

Another thing that amazed me was just how narrow and skinny this bird is. Perfect for the type of habitat it toodles around in. This particular bird was found in Minnesota.

Art Cars--not bird related

My neighborhood is very arty. Every summer we have an art car parade. I completely forgot about this year's until walking down the street I saw some of them parked here and there.

This is the cork car. I've always had a special fondness for this truck covered in corks. The year we moved to Minnesota, we saw a special on tv about art cars and the artists who make them. The cork car artists was one of the featured people. We were excited when we discovered the artist lived in our neck of the woods.

This one had the license plate HIPOGRF. You can't see it in this photo, but there is a My Little Pony attached to the dash board.

Modest, but still arty.

Reminds me of some vehicles in southern Indiana that apparently are unintentionally arty.

Just plain weird. It's hard to see in this photo, but there are big plastic lizards attached to the hood and somehting that looks like swamp thing on the roof.

ID this Bird

Reader Nan has sent in this photo asking to ID what it is. I think I know what it is, but since I have so much fun trying to id birds, I thought I would let everybody have a crack at it. Can you ID this bird--and this time we can do it in the comments section--how exciting!

My Right Foot

At Morgen's request, I'm giving an update on the black-crowned night-heron foot.

First, I have to tell everyone that according to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act you cannot have parts of native birds in your possession (even if you just found them on the ground without state and federal permits). I have an umbrella permit through The Raptor Center. I can have in my possession for education some of the most illegal bird parts out there--eagle parts by using their permits. Now, if you're reading this thinking, "Holy cow, I have a stock pile of cardinal feathers, I gotta flush 'em quick!!" Don't be alarmed. This treaty is in place to prevent poaching, let's face it, it's hard to prove poaching unless it's witnessed, so this is a tool for Fish and Wildlife to get someone suspected of poaching if they have parts without a permit. It's generally not abused, otherwise second graders across the country would be hauled in on a regular basis for every blue jay feather they find.

So, back to the heron foot. I tried to dry the foot in my office with nasty, smelly results but thanks to Morgen, I put it in some silica gel in a plastic bag and it worked great.

Here is my beautiful heron foot, dried in all it's glory. This will be a great prop for explaining why both herons and osprey are predators, but what's different--the feet for one thing. A heron's not going to get fish by using it's feet like an osprey does.

When I was in Maine our group found that washed up sooty shearwater and our guide was kind enough to cut the head off for me. I stopped and got some more silica gel and packed it in my carry on. I didn't have any permits with me so I was curious if I would get this past security. Of course my carry on was flagged at the Bangor Airport--I wondered if they thought the baggy full of a whitish substance was some type of drug? The screener pulled out the bag and raised an eyebrow. "It's got a bird head in it, see?" and I jiggled the bag to reveal the bird head. "I'm drying it out."

"Ma'am," he started, "we're not allowed to let you touch this table, but I'm going to make an exception and have you repack this bag."

So, for those curious, it is possible to get a sooty shearwater head past airport security without too much of a fuss. Here's the dried head, not too bad and more importantly, not too smelly.

I have the head in the bag about three weeks and took it out today. Some of gel is still a little grainy in the cranial cavity... say that five times fast.

Again, another tool for showing a predatory bird with a hooked beak but is still different from raptors. Hm, maybe I'll start doing the duck thing that WildBird on the Fly does, only with the sooty shearwater head. Will I be able to get wacky photos of people posing with my head?

Comments

I've enabled comments and in less than 24 hours I found my first spam comment. This does not bode well and is one of the reasons why I've been hesitant to enable them (that and the occasional obscene emails I get from someone who claims to be incarcerated). I may have to require comments to be made by only those registered with blogger.

I'll give it a little more time.

I will say, getting comments from people who felt they couldn't email me is a plus. You're always welcome to email, I just can't guarantee a response. If I didn't want people to email, I wouldn't have it available on the site.

Cinnamon Demands

"Um, excuse me, I need your attention."

"Hi there, what are you up to? Um, what's this button do? Gee, that's great, can I have your attention please? Hey, what are you typing about me right now?"

"Hey, I don't approve of you writing that about me on the internet! And I don't think you understand my meaning, pay attention to me right now or I delete this blog entry you've been composing for the last twenty minutes!"

"There, was that so hard? Now, be a smart girl and learn to type one handed, and say nicer things about me. Oh, a little harder behind that right ear...ahhhhhhhhhhh."

I need photos

So, yesterday I had meeting with my editor and we went page by page through the book deciding where I'd like photos. I had to fight for color for the book, but I think it's worth it. There are a lot of great books out there with great information, but if they don't have bird photos with them, the books just don't sell very well. I saw that at the bird store and don't want that to happen with this book.

Alright, here are the types photos I need for my book City Bird/Country Bird. Take a look, do you have a photo from your yard that might work for it? Keep in mind that all the birds need to be native to North America, commonly found east of the Rockies.

1. Wooden bird feeder
2. General shot of a yard with a bird feeding station (feeders need to look clean).
3. Birdbath on a deck (preferably with birds using it, but if you have a really cool birdbath, I'm interested in that too).
4. Heavily Wooded Yard
5. Mildly Wooded Yard
6. Few to No Trees Yard
7. Marsh/Wetland
8. Birds in obvious city areas--sidewalks, sides of buildings, etc.
9. Hummingbirds near people
10. Robins on lawn
11. Bird feeders mounted from a deck
12. Bird houses mounted from deck
13. House finch nest in plant basket
14. Hummingbird coming to plant basket
15. Photo of shepherd's hook pole w/feeder
16. Squirrel Baffles--hanging and pole mounted (raccoon resistant)
17. Window mounted bird feeders
18. Squirrel-proof feeders
19. Birds eating mealworms
20. Birds using egg shells
21. Birds eating berries--chokecherries, pincherries, crab apple, sumac
22. Birds bathing in birdbaths
23. Dirty bird feeders
24. Photo of a sick bird (puffed up, eyes half closed)
25. Bluebird houses (Peterson style, Gilbertson style, or Gilwood style)
26. Wren house (1 inch hole)
27. Chickadee house
28. Robin nest ledge
29. Purple martin house
30. Suet feeders
31. Wood duck houses
32. Cats
33. Woodpecker pecking on house

I need the following species either feeding on bird feeders or using bird houses or on some type of building or fence (or something that shows the birds are coexisting with humans):

1. Cardinal
2. Black-capped and Carolina chickadee
3. Orioles
4. Ruby-throated hummingbirds
5. Rose-breasted grosbeaks
6. Pileated woodpecker
7. Bluebirds
8. Goldfinches
9. House finches
10. Nuthatches
11. Squirrels (fox, red, gray, black phase and albino)
12. Raccoons
13. Blackbirds (grackles, red-wings, yellow-heads, starlings)
14. Crows
15. Blue jays
16. House sparrows
17. Canada goose
18. Hawks (Cooper's, sharp-shin, kestrel, red-tail, broad-winged, red-shouldered)
19. Rock pigeons
20. Indigo buntings
21. Scarlet tanager
22. Wild Turkey
23. Ring-necked pheasant
24. Pet birds at a bird feeder (budgies, cockatiels, lovebirds, etc.)
25. Native sparrows (white-throated, white-crowned, song, Harris, chipping, tree, etc)
26. Eastern warblers
27. Bears
28. Deer
29. Flying squirrels

If you do have a photo based on the list above please email the highest resolution possible (or for those not so techno savvy --the large picture that comes straight from the camera). My editor and publisher have final say if it gets used and these are some of the considerations to keep in mind when submitting.

This is obviously a photo of an indigo bunting, but there are wires blocking and it's slightly out of focus. This couldn't be used in the book.

This is a cool shot of an oriole and downy woodpecker eating suet at the same time on the same feeder, but the oriole is cut off and the pole is blocking the feeder. Fun for the scrapbook, but not usable for the book.

This would be an ideal shot because you can see the bird's body, it's near a house--you can see cars and a trampoline in the background. Also, it's in focus and not taken through a window screen.

If your photo gets used, you get credit in the book and a free copy of the book. Please email photos to sharon@birdchick.com and be sure to put photo submission in the subject line of the email. If you send emails with blank subject lines, they have a greater chance of ending up in the spam file. Be sure to include your name and snail mail address.

Doh!

I'm here at the Saturn Dealership getting my ignition looked at after the key snafu on Sunday. And I'm being sent this article about the Ivory-billed Woodpecker halting a huge dam project from several people. I'm sure other bloggers have this out already, but I remember last December when I was down in ye olde bayou hearing about this project and speculation on whether or not it would be stopped. Now, apparently it has.

By ANDREW DeMILLO

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A federal judge halted a $320 million irrigation project Thursday for fear it could disturb the habitat of a woodpecker that may or may not be extinct.

The dispute involves the ivory-billed woodpecker. The last confirmed sighting of the bird in North America was in 1944, and scientists had thought the species was extinct until 2004, when a kayaker claimed to have spotted one in the area. But scientists have been unable to confirm the sighting.

Still, U.S. District Judge William R. Wilson said that for purposes of the lawsuit brought by environmental groups, he had to assume the woodpecker exists in the area. And he ruled that federal agencies may have violated the Endangered Species Act by not studying the risks fully.

"When an endangered species is allegedly jeopardized, the balance of hardships and public interest tips in favor of the protected species. Here there is evidence" that the ivory-billed woodpecker may be jeopardized, he said.

You can read the rest here.

This is huge, this is not over and it's gonna get ugly. I personally think there are one to three ivory-billed woodpeckers down there, but there is no concrete proof. Look at the judge's quote, "allegedly jeopordized". That is not going to sit well for those who are pro dam. This could have gigantic ramifications. Will someone try to sue Cornell for declaring the refinding of an extinct bird without concrete proof because the dam is halted? Hm, I wonder if that last sentence is going to end up as a quote on another blog that likes to take things out of context?

Egrets in Kansas in Trouble

Many parts of the country are having a dry spell--Minnesota included. We finally got some rain yesterday but when I was out in some agricultural fields before the storm yesterday, all the birds were congregating around those big water sprayers (I'm not a farm girl, I don't know the term for them--what are they irrigation systems?). That's where I saw most of the shrikes and kestrels and large flocks of blackbirds.

Kansas is having quite a problem right now too. Here's a story from the Hutchinson News and good reminder to all of us who are in areas with little to no rain to put out some extra water:

Egrets were dying of thirst Wednesday afternoon in Hutchinson, while others panted and wobbled in the heat at East Avenue C and Severance.

City of Hutchinson workers erected snow fence Tuesday to corral the birds after numerous egrets were hit by vehicles traveling in the area.

The two-sided fence covered half a city block, but the long-legged, white migratory birds - panting in the 104-degree heat - acted as if they were trapped.

Drivers swerved to avoid hitting throngs of birds, which scrounged the neighborhood near the Hutchinson Correctional Facility in desperate attempts to find water. Many of the egrets nested in the trees at the corner of C and Severance.

You can read the rest of the story here. I like how towards the end of the article it tells how Walmart donated a whole $25 dollars for a wading pool for the egrets. Normally, I don't like to criticize a business for its donation, since everybody hits up businesses for donations and every little bit counts, but c'mon. You can't tell me that Walmart couldn't donate some actual pools? A donation that small from a company that size just looks cheap--especially since many people have a negative view of how Walmart takes over great wildlife habitat.

Hawk ID

The young hawk in question is an immature Cooper's hawk. That was a toughie, since the bird was being held and its body was crumpled in an awkward fashion. The flat head should have been a big clue.

I don't know what the final prognosis was for the bird, it did look good, there were no broken bones. This time of year a lot of young Coops learning to hunt fly into windows when pursuing birds at feeding stations.

I and the Bird

I and the Bird is up at Bog Bumper this week.

For those who have never encountered I and the Bird, this a collection of bird related blog posts. Bloggers submit what they think are their best posts from the last week, so if you're interested in reading other bird blogs, this a great way to sample from the blog buffet.

Whole Lotta Fledgin' Goin' On

"I don't approve of this."

Okay, first and foremost I have finally enabled comments on the blog. I don't know if it's the hormones or just a plain old wild hair (or hare in my case) but I'm caving to reader pressure. My concern has always been that inappropriate comments will come in, but NBB assures me that we can get rid of those. I'll give it a whirl. I can always disable. That said, I'm gonna leave the hawk post unanswered another few hours. I'm still not sure about this whole comments thing.

This morning I met Stan in Dakota County at 7am to show him the goldfinch nest I found last week. After I showed him the nest I drove around and saw several fledging birds especially eastern kingbirds, kestrel and more loggerhead shrikes in a 2 mile area than I've ever seen in my life: 12! The really funny thing was that I was approaching an adult shrike when a newly fledged kestrel flew up and landed a few feet away on the same line. Intriguing...one predator gets it's food with it's feet, the other hacks at its food with its bill. What will happen here? The shrike looked as though it wanted to fly but perhaps realized that the kestrel could out fly it and decided to stay. The young kestrel looked just happy to be there and as if it was about to say, "Why hello there, isn't it great to be out of the dark nest box. By the way, do you have any food?" The kestrel then got distracted by a flock of blackbirds and took off towards them.

The kestrel landed again, this time next to a mourning dove. That dove totally wanted to take off but knew there was no way it could out fly a falcon. The kestrel just looked quizzically at the dove. They were similar in size so it probably wasn't occurring the falcon that this was potential prey. Eventually the falcon moved on, much to the relief of the mourning dove.

This afternoon I headed out to Cambridge to meet with my editor and come up with a photo list for the book--it's really coming together. I'll be looking for photos, and will post a list tomorrow--maybe someone out there can help me with bird photos from their yard.

When I left, I was surprised to find two adult sandhill cranes foraging in a field near the road. I know they're supposed to be around here, but they are always unexpected when I drive by them.

Can You ID this Bird?

Here's a young hawk that was brought in for examination at The Raptor Center today. Any guesses as to what it is? Cinnamon wants to give a hint:

"I really don't approve of these types of birds, must you include them in the blog??"

I don't know how much help that was. It's best not to expect a lot from a rabbit.

Bird Bound

My friend Marci who I met last year at The Rio Grande Valley Bird Fest has started a new site called BirdBound full of tips for the traveling birder...including a most intriguing section on how to travel with Non Birders. My favorite quote is, "More friendships are tested and found weak in the areas needed when it's too late - in the middle of a trip."

Being married to a non birder, I know that all too well.

Want to Contribute to the Reward Fund?

Investigators want to know who abused bald eagle in Michigan

July 18, 2006
By TINA LAM

State wildlife investigators are trying to solve the mystery of what happened to a mature bald eagle found two weeks ago in a field in the Upper Peninsula with clipped flight and tail feathers. And its characteristic white head had been spray-painted brown, as if to disguise the fact that the bird was an eagle.

When the eagle was found, it was weak and emaciated because it hadn’t eaten in days. It couldn’t fly and could only hop a few feet.

“When we got it, it kind of hung its head like it was depressed," said Randy Bruntjens, who runs the Upper Peninsula Raptor Rehab center from his home. “It was abused. It’s a total disgrace."

Bald eagles are protected by state and federal laws and no one is allowed to possess them without a special permit. The eagle wore a leg band which will eventually tell investigators where its nest was, which might help them figure out who captured the bird.

There is a $1,200 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who captured the bird, and that person could face fines and prison time.

You can read the rest at The Detroit Free Press.

Birds Fighting!

Non Birding Bill just gave me such a cool gift, a 1955 book called Birds Fighting by Stuart Smith and Eric Hosking (with field assistance by George Edwards). I haven't been this excited about an obscure book since he got me the Parasitic Birds and Their Hosts for Valentine's Day!

These British ornithologists went out and did experiments on birds to see what would happen when they came into contact with a predator, parasitic bird or another one of their own species during nesting season. For all of those people who like to think of the sweet nightingale singing high on his perch, you may want to look away. As I have attested to before, every bird has a dark side and this book captures it. Here are some highlight photos from the book:

Here is a stuffed sparrow hawk (the European equivalent to a sharp-shinned hawk). The stuffed bird was put out and then attacked in the top photo by a nightingale and in the bottom photo by a cock whinchat (is that an actual bird name?). The stuffed hawk isn't the best representation and looks a little goofy--kind of adds a whole new level of eerieness.

Isn't this an odd little tableau? In Europe the cuckoo is a parasitic bird like the brown-headed cowbird is here--depositing its eggs in another bird's nest. So, the Brits decided to see what would happen with a stuffed cuckoo near a nest. I love this photo, there's the odd looking stuffed cuckoo looking like he's saying "Huh?" being yelled at by a wood warbler while the warbler's young is begging for food in the background. This kind of reminds me of candid family photos at holidays.

Here we have a tree pipit giving the what for to a stuffed cuckoo--actually ripping out feathers! The cuckoo studies were quite interesting. The chapter was called "Part One: Adventures with a Stuffed Cuckoo". Isn't that a great title? I want to write a buddy picture starring William H. Macy and title it that. Heck, this book makes me want to chuck it all and declare a new life that involves adventures with a stuffed cuckoo. Anyway, check this out:

Some species were stimulated to attack based on the shape of the head. For example, these willow warblers vehemently attacked a cuckoo head as demonstrated in the above photo but were not so aggressive with a cuckoo body without a head. Or this just means that they are just as freaked out as I would be if someone came by with a human head on a stick.

Here's an up close view of the warbler attacking the head. It looks as though it's thinking, "Blood, murder, destroy." Almost enough to make Alfred Hitchcock proud.

And finally I give you this sad little display. Here we have a stuffed redshank being mounted by a live redshank. I've seen this kind of behavior in spruce grouse, but I guess I expected a little better from a redshank. Here is the passage describing the events that led to this photo:

"We placed our stuffed Redshank alongside a nest containing four well-incubated eggs. The hen Redshank returned, saw the dummy from a distance and ran towards it, calling with a melodious 'chew-chew-chew' note. It then rushed the dummy and thrust its bill into the dummy's neck tearing large pieces of feathering away. It then sprang on to the dummy's back and violently attacked its head, crushing it meanwhile to the floor. In this position, the dummy stretched out with its tail somewhat erected, and in a quite different attitude from the upright position in which we had first placed it. The Redshank now sprang on to the dummy's back again, but this time did not attack it, but attempted to mate with it. The crouched posture and raised tail of the dummy now elicited an entirely new reaction from the Redshank."

I'll say!

So, if you're looking for a fun read about three British ornithologists who go out and mess with a bird's head all the while discovering interesting and useful information about aggression and other bird behaviors, this is the book for you.

Boy, they just don't write 'em like this anymore.

A Cleansing Post

After all the whininess of the previous post, now some wackiness.

What's this, Cinnamon wants to help put groceries away? What a helpful little bunny! Alas, this was all a clever ruse to distract me. She was using the bags as a cover for her real plan, to steal a stick of butter off the coffee table.

And she would have gotten away with it too...if it hadn't been for all the globs of buttery evidence on her nose. Naughty, naughty, willful rabbit. For once, I disapprove of you. Foot's on the other shoe now isn't it, bunny butthead--how do you like them apples?

Candidate For Worst Weekend--key won't go into ignition

WARNING! Severe whininess ahead. If you wish to ignore it (and I don't blame you), skip ahead about nine paragraphs. Yes, that's right, nine paragraphs of whining--wanna make something of it?

Technology-wise this weekend bit the big one. The cowbird of life laid a big fat egg in my unknowing warbler nest.

Every time I could see hope, the rug was quickly pulled away. First, there was the initial powerbook wipe out. Then Non Birding Bill seemed well on his way to recovering things. Almost all photos from 2002 until April 2006 were spared.

I did find this this photo from last week. That's Mark holding an unhatched osprey egg and Amber holding a five week old osrey. Imagine going from the size of that egg to the size of that chick in just five weeks! I thought this wasn't so bad, until I started reviewing the blog and discovered all the banding photos missing--all my precious Harris's sparrow photos--gone! What was odd was that some photos were found, but the really super cool ones are just gone. The only photo I have left as a souvenir of Maine is the open mouth of a dead sooty shearwater. The upside is that my best photos I put in the blog, but they are not print quality. So, I can visit them in the blog, but I won't be printing them out any time soon.

NBB is doing his very best to find anything that may be archived. He found half of my calendar. However, all appointments and meetings I've made are gone--festivals and conventions are still in. I know I have three meetings this coming week, but I'm unclear on the times...If anyone reading this has an appointment with me in the next couple of months, I'd email to clarify the time.

I thought my music was spared, because of the new replacement iPod had a full backup of my music. Saturday night while driving to a friend's outdoor wedding (in 100 degree heat), the iPod froze--FROZE! When we got home, NBB was able to load all the music onto the USB drive but the playlists appear to be gone. I'm not sure what will happen with the iPod, it's barely used. I hope my warranty will let me get a replacement iPod for the replacement iPod.

Did I mention that we discovered a mouse in the home this weekend?

Sunday, I woke up to our neighbor who decided to rev and ride his motorcycle at 5am--even his own house mates yelled at him for that one.

I started to doze off again, only to be woken by the young blue jay (above) that has been driving us nuts as he learns to fly and learns to convert his begging calls into the raucous jay calls his species is known for, thereby setting off the cockatiel alarm. This morning even his parents were avoiding him. He's so loud and obvious, I'm really surprised that he hasn't been eaten by the area Cooper's hawk yet.

NBB and I were going to film some video for online segments today. We are on a timeline because we have to return the camera to Sam Crowe so he can use it to film puffins. NBB made me a fantastic breakfast of pancakes and we set out on our way. We stopped to gas up and when I went to put the key in the ignition, it would not go in. We tried my key, we tried NBB's key--it just wouldn't go in. I check the Saturn handbook--nothing. I called the Saturn roadside service. Since it was Sunday, no mechanic was available and the person answering the phone had no idea. Our Saturn dealership was closed, so the only option was to call AAA. We had it towed to our mechanic (who was closed). Our tow truck driver said that it was a Saturn--this happens all the time and all we needed was a locksmith.

It was iffy as to whether or not AAA would cover this because we are only allowed one call per car problem, but if they are going to diagnose it as something they take care of and it's in our coverage, we should get that coverage--shouldn't we? AAA agreed and the first thing the locksmith said when he pulled up was, "Yeah, you're going to need a new ignition." He squirted something called "true flow" (not WD40--it doesn't do the job as well) to lubricate the ignition. Apparently, this is a common problem for Saturns, the ignition plates get stuck and you can't get your key into your Saturn, call a locksmith and then make an appointment to get your ignition replaced.

Ugh.

We finally got on our way and were able to get to our filming. Part of the filming included working with a couple of The Raptor Center birds. When we were finished filming them, I had to feed them.

And you know, I can have the worst day possible and things can be just going completely wrong and then I get to feed a peregrine falcon on the fist. I felt all the stress of the weekend disappear. Haaaaaaaaaaa. There really is nothing quite as soothing as the rending of flesh.

I have gotten some really great emails over the weekend from friends. Susan Gets Native sent me this note:

Sharon, Wanted to write to someone who understands the horror that is vulture vomit: I have been training to be the new education director for RAPTOR, Inc and yesterday I got to hold Earl, the resident program education vulture. And she( yes, she's a she) barfed on me. I didn't even care, really. I must be smitten.

You can see her account in this entry--congratulations Susan! Take a look at that albino red-tailed hawk. We have a Krider's red-tail and a dark morph red-tail but not an albino like that.

Amber sent me photos she got of our osprey adventure last week:

This coming week is going to be great--I know it. It has to be.

Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Any guesses as to who built this nest? This is really a tough question. I wouldn't have any idea if I had not taken the photo. It will be identified at the end of this post.

I think the powerbook problem is almost resolved--my volume structure is no longer corrupt and there are some losses, but not as many as there could have been. I think Non Birding Bill has been able to recover almost all of my photos, I don't know if I will get back the osprey photos from yesterday, but we'll see.

Recent events have helped a great deal with this situation. Right before I went to Maine, my iPod went kerflooey. I got a replacement from the warranty last week and I had just hooked it up and synchronized it to iTunes so all of my music is backed up--whew.

My important files of articles, calendars and books were mostly backed up. I think some articles and MANY emails are totally lost. I'm a pack rat by nature and I think these periodic losses due to my not backing up files is necessary for me. Sometimes to generate new ideas, slates need to be wiped clean and force me to start from square one. If the idea had been that great in the first place, I would have gone to a greater effort to back it up.

We have been dealing with this problem since yesterday afternoon and were up well past Midnight trying to get it figured out. 1am is the worst time to hear--"I think everything is gone." Needless to say, it was a restless night of little to no sleep. Banding ended up being cancelled this morning so I took a small sidetrack to Dakota County to refocus.

I went to the substation on 210th Street to just take in the meadowlarks and dickcissels. I have to say we are having quite the dickcissel explosion in Minnesota this year--they are everywhere, even in the metro area. Kestrels were fledging and awkward juveniles were on just about every powerline.

At the substation I took walk and found lots of suspicious acting clay-colored sparrows. There are several small conifer trees for sparrows to nest in. I was following one sparrow and he led me right to the nest below. Can you tell what bird this is based on the naked chicks?