The Latest Craze To Hit Minnesot Birders

The hotest bird to show up in the Minnesota Rare Bird Alert? Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches--birds not typically found in Minnesota.

On the 29th, Mike Schrage reported three GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCHES in Cloquet, St. Louis County. Directions from interstate 35 take the Cloquet/Iron Range exit and go north on state highway 33 to the second stoplight in Cloquet. Turn left onto County Road 7 (also called Big Lake Road) and go about three miles to the intersection with County Road 5. Turn left onto University Road and go about 100 yards. Look for the blue building on the left. This is the Fond du Lac Resource Management Division office. The birds have been on the sunflowers on the right side of the building. This is a working office building so birders are asked to please stay in their cars and remain at least 75 feet from the birds.

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It used to be that you would have to wait months to see a bird's photo in the club's publication. Eventually, people posted photos on their website. Now, you can watch videos of the rare bird on YouTube. I love technology. Bob Williams reported that the above film on You Tube was shot by my friend Brad Beisel and editted by my friend Mike Hazard today. At the end you may hear me say that all 3 birds are there, but only 2 show up in the film. The quality is not the best but at least you can see them in action.

I don't know if I'm going to be able to see the birds. In-laws are arriving for the weekend on Friday. I might head out on Tuesday afternoon if they are still being reported.

Bird Watcher's Digest + birdPod

Bird Watcher's Digest (BWD) and birdPod have united to deliver downloadable Florida bird songs and photographs from www.birdwatchersdigest.com. BWD is America's favorite bird-watching publisher, and birdPod is the hottest bird identification tool for the extremely easy-to-use Apple iPod.

Florida birdJam, the innovative new download of 77 Florida bird songs and photos is a companion to BWD's popular "Florida Bird Watching: A Year-Round Guide" published by Cool Springs Press. The definitive bird songs and vivid photography will help even casual bird watchers quickly identify what they are seeing and hearing.

Bill Thompson, III, editor of BWD, says, "We are delighted to be the first publisher to deliver birdPod bird songs and photographs for easy, fast and economical download from our website. As thousands of bird watchers head to Florida, they can download bird songs and photos to their iPods to study before they arrive, and then use them when visiting birding hotspots throughout the state."

You can read the rest of the story here.

What's Up With Rhode Island?

I'm heading out to Rhode Island for a day next week for some birding related training. I thought I would check and see if there are any bird related stories going on. I found one about a Beagle Club that's in trouble for getting rid of raptors on their property that were supposedly eating the rabbits that were meant for the beagles (getting rid being the use of poisons, guns and leg-hold traps).

The other story was about a family that is being "forced" to leave Rhode Island and move to Montana because of roosting vultures (because, you know, they have so few vultures in Montana). You can watch a video of the man who comes off as a big whiny-pants at CNN. I really do try to be understanding of people who don't know very much about birds, but really it's not hundreds of roosting vultures, it's dozens. He's the only one really complaining about them, the other neighbors don't really care (of course, it's not as much fun to give screen time to people who are reasonable). If you watch the CNN clip, you can see an old man at the end asking who would want to live in such a place, who would bring their family to that neighborhood...ME! Alas, Non Birding Bill is not moving to Rhode Island.

Ice and Cormorant Fishing

Yesterday morning it was in the 50 degree range with a thunderstorm. The rain was thorough and it was just chilly enough to feel like it was 30 degrees when you were wet. This morning it was in the 20s and tonight at some point it's supposed to get down to 6 degrees. Br.

But that kind of cold weather means that it's time to turn the park near our building into an ice rink. Yes, in warm weather it's a place for Cinnamon to frolic:

And in cold weather the parks people bring out the sprinkers:

Which gradually begins to create a layer of ice...

..to make our park an ice rink. This is the very early stages of our ice rink being formed. Every year I keep meaning to learn to ice skate and take advantage of it. Maybe this winter I will finally take up that challenge. It is fun to watch hokey games from our kitchen window.

In looking through my mountainous blog potential file, I did find this interesting vacation you can take. It's very unique and good compromise for the couple that is one half birder and one half fisherman:

Cormorant Fishing! You can read more about it here.

Presenting: Cinnamon Eating Parsley

I took this video with my new camera:



This is what makes all the chewed up wires worthwhile. In other news, Non Birding Bill has added another page of disapproval.

Back on the Blogging Horse

Turkeys roaming the grass a few blocks from the Mall of America after a few days of laying low around Thanksgiving.

I swear, I take a few days off during Thanksgiving and I just can't get back on the blogging horse. Normally, I have a back log of stuff to write about but this week I'm a little slow. Part of it is that I'm getting a new camera (the other part is just writing deadlines). It finally arrived yesterday. Based on a friend's recommendation I got a Fuji FinePix 900 which is supposed to be very good with digiscoping...now all I need to do is get my hands on a spotting scope... The above photo was taken with a friend's camera but I'm having fun testing out the camera on whatever is nearby:

"This place is a dump, look at all the dust under the coffee table. I don't approve."

This is The Raptor Center chicken hawk...no no, just kidding. We use this bird with preschool programs. It's a bird kids can touch and still go home with all of their digits intact.

Boy, I can't wait to try this camera out at banding this Friday.

I realized I forgot a couple of gift ideas in the last post--one being the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp (aka Duck Stamp). I great gift for someone you don't know what to get them--give the gift of conservation along with a pass to all National Wildlife Refuges. Also works well for coworkers, people you don't know very well but have to give a gift to anyway since it's in a good price range.

You will note I still have the stamp tag on my binos.It's not as annoying as we thought, and I think the Ross' goose adds some nice flair to them. Also, note the little rose-breasted grosbeak and the red-bellied woodpecker in back? It looks like some Target stores have brought back their accurate bird ornaments. About five years ago they had a whole bunch of birds and my in-laws bought me the whole set. And I'm not just talking cardinals and bluebirds, they had orioles, scarlet tanagers, indigo buntings, barn swallows, cedar waxwings downy woodpeckers--a really great selection of birds--a red-bellied woodpecker for cryin' out loud--are you kidding me? So, check the Christmas ornament section at Target for these birds. I think they're only $5 - $6 (I have only seen them in Target store, I did not see them available on the website).

We always try to get a live tree with a little stick on the top, and then I try to attach the downy or the red-bellied to it. In this photo, the downy woodpecker got the top spot. You can see I propped up the red-bellied and tried to hang the white-breasted nuthatch in the proper "rump up" position too. This is an old photo, our apartment walls are white instead of red. As I was digging it up, I found this photo of me with my mother-in-law:

Ah, good times. The in-laws always come up from Ohio to visit the first weekend in December and help us pick out a Christmas tree and catch up. Judy and I were putting on the lights when Non Birding Bill said, "Smile you two!" and on cue this was the pose we struck. We ended up using that as our Christmas card that year with the caption, "Sharon gets the ultimate wish this Christmas." I'm so lucky to have such an understanding mother-in-law.

I used to feel bad that they would come up the first weekend in December because that's the same weekend as the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union Paper Session but I now realize what a good thing it is. The in-laws love to visit the Mall of America and I do not. So NBB takes them to the Mall while I have to go to the paper session--whew, bullet smartly dodged.

Gifts for Birders, Bird Watchers and Bird Lovers

Are you stumped what to get the bird nut in your life? Here are some suggestions for the coming holiday season.

Books, CDs and Calendars
Voices of North American Owls CD - This two CD set has every known call from every owl in North America. The tracks are not narrated, but you can follow along with the playlist to learn the different calls. Most complete collection of owl calls for North America.

Fascinating Loons - A great gift book full of beautiful loon photos and informational captions. This book is full of great loon tid bits without being overwhelming. The information is thorough enough that even someone familiar with loons will find it enjoyable.

Fascinating Loons Audio CD - Sold separately from the book, this CD identifies the different calls of the loons and then the rest is just the calls of the loons mixed with other natural sounds. If you're longing for loon sounds in mid-winter this is the perfect fix. Great for relaxing.

Letters From Eden - This books is perfect for anyone interested in nature, birds and art. It's as if you've found Julie's journal and get to explore not only her writing, but her sketches as well. Perfect gift. If you order from the link above in a reasonable amount of time, you can get it autographed by Julie herself.

All Things Reconsidered - Books with Roger Tory Peterson are always a hit with birders. The essays, photographs, and illustrations in the book were selected by Bill of the Birds. He's the editor of Bird Watcher's Digest, which ran Peterson's column, "All Things Reconsidered," during the last twelve years of his life.

The Shorebird Guide - This book makes shorebirds sexy! It works to break down shorebird identification into an easy and fun way to learn. You won't be an expert overnight but it's the best tool out there for the job. The photos in this book are AMAZING and the book will give you a new apprecation for their beauty. Great for hardcore and intermediate birdres. It even includes quizes to help test your id skills.

Ornithology - Do you know a hardcore maxi geek birder who seems to have everything already? They don't have this yet--it's the new edition of Ornithology by Frank Gill.

Birdchick Calendars - Shameless self promotion I know but it's my blog and these calendars are part of how I make my living. They are available for the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and Indiana. Each month has fabulous photos by Stan Tekiela, a list of common birds to expect, a list of tips for attracting birds and trivia about birds specific to each state. Available at most bird stores, book stores and online at Adventure Publications.


Hi Tech Birding

Handheld Birds - I think this is a great educational gift for anyone of all ages. You can purchase either the program for a Palm Pilot or you can purchase the unit all in one. It's a National Geographic Field Guide including bird calls all in one pocket sized package. Many of the terms are highlighted and when you click on that word, a definition will pop up. I think this is a great gift for a kid seriously into birds (some may argue the expense, but when you compare it to video gaming systems, it's competitively priced.

birdPod - This is a great gift for someone who already has the Stokes Birding CDs and an iPod. It's a program that organizes all the bird calls into different playlists, takes out the narration, and takes all the tracks that have two bird species on them and divides them into two separate tracks.

FYI to people who already have the birdPod software! New playlists are available to download. They even have a playlist for the Space Coast Bird Festival.

Outdoor Breezy Singers - These solar powered birds can be placed outside and sing when they sense motion. The cardinal and the bluebirds will make most people mildly interested in birds, but if you want to really impress a birder, get them the common yellowthroat.

Shirts -

Nice Boobies
Hot All-Bird Action
Pish Off
General Bird Shirts (I especially like the herons).

Optics - If you are ordering optics, please consider using the link on the blog page with the Eagle Optics logo. Any purchases made using that link supports this site.

Eagle Optics Insight - Monoculars are great for kids if you're not sure if they are ready for the responsibility of binoculars. I also like them for adult birders--I call mine the emergency binocular. I can always keep it in my purse if I'm somewhere and don't expect to be birding but suddenly find myself outside during a warbler fallout. I know joggers and bikers like to keep them in their pockets too when they are out and about. I like the insights best, they're only $25 and have pretty good clarity for that price. If you're getting one of these for "purse binoculars" I recommend getting the yellow ones, they are easier to find in a dark purse!

Optics are tough because it is such an individual choice. What I like in a binocular is based on my small hands and how my eyes are set on my face. Just because I like something doesn't necessarily mean everyone will. Here are a couple of suggestions.

I think a great starter binocular is the Stokes Talon - one of the best that you can get for under $200. Has a great lifetime no fault warranty (even if you drive over it, send back the pieces and they will either repair it or send you a new bino) is waterproof, fog resistant, and can close focus within four to six feet.

Do you know of a good gift idea for a birder? Leave the suggestion in the comments section.

Bless Records Committees

I raise my glass and toast state records committees. For the non birding readers of the blog, bird record committees are the groups in each state that vote on whether or not to accept bird sightings. This is an important (and often times thankless job) with scientific value and meaning. It can be important information if a species is changing its range. They have a tough job and I respect what they do. And sometimes I feel a need to defend them.

Yesterday I got a postcard in the mail from a name I didn't recognize that read:
"How could you tell the three birds in Desha Co., AR were not Tundra Swans? There is a large difference in size, but when the birds are alone ID is difficult. Could you please send me a photo? Trumpeter Swans are increasing their numbers in AR."

After the first perusal I was racking my brain over what this was about. Who would be giving me the business about swans? Have I raised an issue about swans recently in the blog? We're knee deep in the tundra swan migration along the Mississippi in southern Minnesota right now, but I'm not leading any trips this year. What could this be about? Then I remembered: eBird!

I've never been too much of a lister, but I've been trying in the last year and have made a valiant effort (for me) with eBird. I will say one thing about eBird. When the people are double checking to see if you really meant to say that you saw a buff-bellied hummingbird in Arizona contact you, they are very gracious and patient. They do a good job of double checking your sightings without being overbearing.

Recently, someone started double checking the Arkansas sightings and has been asking me about lists from a year ago when I was on the ivory-bill search. I don't keep detailed notes and what notes I did have were turned in to Cornell at the end of the trip. Apparently we saw some birds in the White River Area that just aren't usually seen in that part of Arkansas. One species being some trumpeter swans. While on the search one day I heard some trumpters, looked up and three flew over me looking like they were about to land. I followed them to a nearby lake and took some photos just playing around (since there wasn't a certain woodpecker there at the moment). The person at eBird told me to turn in a report to the records committee, that it was a good sighting for the area. So, I emailed it in, fully understanding that a person they have never heard of is telling them that a year ago three really unusual birds were seen and that I should expect an email back asking to confirm the identification. That leads to the postcard at the beginning of the entry.

It just cracked me up that the postcard didn't start out with "Hi, how are you, I'm with the records committee for Arkansas and I just want to confirm a few things about the swans." No, this postcard went right for the jugular--"How could you tell the three birds in Desha Co. AR were not Tundra Swans." It's hard to read that without hearing the Grinch's voice in your head. I honestly try to read every correspondence I get with a friendly, if not goofy voices a la Snarf from the Thundercats (which makes nasty comments from anonymous fun to read). But this one I wasn't prepared for, mostly because I thought the correspondence would be done via email, not snail mail.

I do have a few not so great photos (see above) and I sent one to them, but for me there is no mistaking a trumpeter's call for a tundra. We get both in Minnesota, as I said earlier we're getting 10,000 tundra swans staging to migrate to Chesapeake Bay along the southern Mississippi right now and trumpeter's are starting to gather to spend the winter in Monticello, MN. See below:

I think people on the committees sometimes get so caught up in making sure the answer is right, they go right for the point of their correspondence without the usual pleasantries that make a reader feel more comfortable. This can lead to people feeling hurt that their sightings are being questioned and for some even refusing to turn in sightings, which could be important to know about. I remember the first time I turned in a record to the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union Records Committee (or MOURC) I got a preprinted postcard that read:

Dear, ________________ Your sighting of a ________________ in ____________________ County in Minnesota was voted as acceptable/unacceptable by the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union Records Committee.

Non Birding Bill put it on the refridgerator. The sighting was accepted, but the idea of someone receiving a postcard labeled "unacceptable" just cracked me up. It reads a little harsh, almost "Not only do we not believe what you say you saw, but it's just plain unacceptable!!!!! Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha." They're not trying to make friends, they're just trying to get to the bottom of unusual bird sightings.

So, if you see a member of your state bird record committee, give them a hug or a pat on the back. They've got the tough job of not only figuring out the tough bird identification problems but dealing with people when they turn in sightings. It's not an easy job, but someone has to do it.

It's About Time

There is a general lack of blogging going on...

"And I don't approve! Harrumph!"

Disapproving Rabbits Shirt Available

Nope. No, Sir. I Don't Approve.

Okay, I have placed the shirt order and they should be printed next week. We're going ahead and taking orders. We're doing these shirts in batches: we based the first order off the replies in the comments section, with a few extra to be on the safe side. So, if you want a shirt by the holidays, be sure to order one now.

They should start shipping late next week.

Visit Birdchic Boutique to order.

Frank Taylor Photo Contest

Let's face it, most of us are at home the day before Thanksgiving or if we are at a job we are barely functioning because so many people are out on vacation. Who can concentrate? For readers of the blog who are not living in the United States, Thursday is Thanksgiving where many of us gather with family and eat crazy amounts of food and prep for an insane amount of shopping the following day. Non Birding Bill and I take a low key approach and celebrate Naked Thanksgiving.

Anyway, Frank Taylor sent over is final banding report for the 2006 Season and he included some great raptor head shots. So, can you identify all the raptor head shots in order? The prize is a Zeiss Lens Cloths and a Leupold Tote Bag (with a cool meadowlark graphic).

1.


2.


3.


4.


5.


6.



7.



8.


9.

Feel free to try and age and sex the birds, but really to win, all you need is the species id in the order they are shown. First correct answer in the comments section with a name attached wins the prize.

Even if you can't identify all the birds in this contest, it's fun just to take in Frank's photos.

I Got Schooled!

Remember a few weeks back when I posed the question of whether or not you would attach a tag to your binoculars to show off your Duck Stamp?

While in Texas, I had the pleasure of hanging out with conservation mover and shaker Paul Baicich who is helping to spearhead the movement of birders purchasing a Duck Stamp. He's the one that sent the photos for that entry. We hung out, had a great time and talked about shade-grown coffee. I was surprised that he had not brought up the Duck Stamp holder or just people purchasing it in general. Three hours into trip he asked:

"Hey, Sharon, have you heard any noise?"

"What?" I asked.

"Have you heard any clicking?" he said as he flashed his Duck Stamp tag on his binoculars.

I had not heard any sound from the tag on the bins--I didn't even notice it was there, I didn't think to look! He then gave me my very own tag to attach to my binoculars:

I did not have my stamp with me but went ahead and attached the tag anyway to test it out. Well, tie me up and call me Gomer, but the tag doesn't make any noise when you are wearing it. I'm in the habit of using my bins one handed and did have to switch the stamp holder to the left instead of the right, but I can see myself actually wearing this on my bins (it's still there).

One other thing, Paul would also prefer us refer to the Duck Stamp as the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp because it doesn't just benefit ducks--but all birds that use the same habitat. If you are looking for a gift for friends that not only helps save habitat, I can't recommend this stamp enough. You can also throw in a holder. Here's some info from Paul for ordering your own stamp holder:

To a dozen selected Stamp-supporters:

I've already given out 160 of the nifty Stamp-holders for the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation [Duck] Stamp. Yes, I'll be ordering some more holders.

I wanted to let you know that they are on sale from QTL: three bags of holders (20 key-ring holders in each bag) for the price of two bags. Each bag normally costs $8.90.

Note the correct model number: #92033

So......... if you want some of your own, they are available at a fairly reasonable price!

Hot All Eagle Action

This entry is rated PG-13!

I dedicate this to Laura Erickson. Hm, kinda makes you wonder about her Colbert fetish.

Birder Blog

I'm not sure if I've linked to this yet, I saw it right before I went to Texas. On the off chance anyone out there has a problem telling the difference between Birdchick Blog and Birder Blog, Laura Erickson has come up with a helpful how to guide.

And for the record, I do love nerdy men. That's not to say I can't appreciate the aesthetics of Daniel Craig. For proof of my love of nerdy men, here's my favorite picture of Non Birding Bill:

WildBird on the Fly

For the record, Amy of WildBird on the Fly is a fantastic baker. She almost always comes to bird festivals with fresh baked cookies. I love to eat them and many think I share rooms with her at bird festivals out of frugality or even because I enjoy her company, but really I'm just using her for cookies.

That said, sometimes birding gets the better of me and if I'm having a good birding moment, I might go to extreme measures to keep it going. Below is a video of the laughing gulls eating from my hand from the minivan window in South Padre Island. I think I originally called this wild birds on the fly eating WildBird on the Fly's cookies. The quality on Google Video isn't the best, but I don't have to pay for the bandwidth. It looks super cool and ethereal on my computer and I took it with a Nikon P4. It's about a minute and a half and it's incredible to watch how quickly they fly down and snarf the cookie bits.

Minnesota Light Morph Red-tails

When I was coming back from Texas, word was spreading of a very light colored hawk in the southern end of the Twin Cities. Scott Shultz, inventor of the Squngee sent me photos of it the day before it broke on the birding nets:

Here's the beauty in flight. This is more than likely a Krider's red-tail--a light variation in plumage, but not a separate species.


Notice the striping on the tail?

Also, can you see the yellow eye--this is a passage bird (bird hatched this past spring. When it molts into adult plumage, the tail will probably be a cream color. We have a Krider's that you can see at The Raptor Center named Casper. I wish I had a cool photo to show you, but the bird is a tad high strung.

The bird has been seen around I 35W and Black Dog Lake and around the Mall of America.
Cool photos, Scott.

New Life Goal

Went to see Casino Royale last night. I now have a new life goal: write a hit movie about birdwatchers starring this:

The new Bond movie totally rocks and not just for the obvious beefcake. Daniel Craig really is a very good actor. I would put this James Bond movie as my number two favorite. Hmm, I think I'll get to the birdwatching script right away. The first scene: Daniel Craig's character has chiggers and must be rubbed with Chigger Rid...

I wonder how many Sibley Guides he could carry all at once?

Bobby Harrison on Radio

I just got this from Steve Moore:

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned to you one of my favorite NPR shows, What Do Ya Know with Michael Feldman.

I just noticed that Bobby Harrison is going to be his guest this Saturday. You can scroll down the page a bit to 11/18 for details.

Thoroughly enjoying your Texas posts. The butterfly is gorgeous, your feet are not. :)


Thanks, Steve. I think.

Rio Grande Valley Fest Odds and Ends

Did I mention that I ran into Mr. Neil in Harlingen? I was invited to a party at Marci Fuller's house and there he was at the kitchen table. Here he is regaling Amy Hooper, Marcie and Katie Fitzmier with his stories. This was the first time I'd run into him at the bird festival.

The fun thing for me when visiting another state is just enjoying birds that I don't normally see where I live, even if I have seen them before. On the lines we have large flocks of great-tailed grackles and starlings gathering to roost for the night. The grackles made so many strange clicks and whistles, they really remind me of dolphins. I really enjoyed seeing some different blackbirds.

Here the blackbirds are coming in for one last bathe for the day in this drainage ditch. When the starlings joined it, there were so many of them flipping water around it created almost a mist and you could barely make them out.

Blackbirds are well and good, but a fancy pants scissor-tailed flycatcher is fun to watch for on power lines too. This one was digiscoped the Swarovski scope and Nikon P4 camera. Here's what it looks like at a distance:

Even at a distance you can't help but notice that bird. I wonder what non birders from the East visiting the western United States think when they see these guys?

Neil appreciated being able to see these guys through the scope.

Here' s a bird that his more Mr. Neil's speed--a butcher bird aka loggerhead shrike! These predatory birds are different from raptors because they use their bill to catch and kill their prey and not their feet like a hawk or falcon would. Theses birds also impale their prey on thorns or barbs to make it easier to hack at and that's where their folk name comes from.

Another fun part of travel are just odd things, like this water tower proclaiming to be the home town of Freddy Fender. It was great to see the town of San Benito so proud of their native son with such prominent 1970s hair and handlebar mustache.

If you ever find yourself in Harlingen, Texas either for the RGV Bird Festival or just going on your own, I can't recommend this place enough. It's called Alicia's and I was introduced to it by the Eagle Optics staff. They are only open for breakfast and lunch and you get large portions for a small price. Think a whole Mexican style breakfast for $3.75. Another great place for lunch and dinner is Pepe's but be sure to specify that you want the hot salsa.

Part of Alicia's charm is the artwork on the wall. Check out all the deep inner meaning. I like how the loin cloth morphs into the mustache.

I had intended to do an entry about the kid's artwork at the festival, but WildBird on the Fly beat me to it so we'll talk about Alicia's art. It's not all religious, there's also interesting takes on the great masters:

The Mona Lisa bunny hands freaked me out at first, but then the growling dog behind her weirded me out more. Don't even get me started on the men in the mountains.

I must say, they had cooler hats at the festival. It's not often you see a black cap and then add such a striking green jay to it. Mr. Neil looked very smart with it on.

I think this brings the RGV coverage to a close at the moment. It was an awesome time and I hope to go again next year.

Non Birds of Rio Grande Valley

WARNING!!!

If you do not like spiders, do not continue reading this post. You really, really, REALLY will not care for this one. Also be warned that at the end of this post are a couple of gross photos of my foot. If my feet and spiders bother you, do not continue. If you have a fetish for large spiders and nasty looking feet, you're gonna have such a good time I'm thinking of charging a fee.

Periodically, I hear people say that "butterflies are the new birds" meaning people are starting to list butterflies and not just birds. Now, if it's a charismatic species like the above--a Mexican Blue Wing, I can kind of get on board with that. We don't have a big variety of butterflies in Minnesota, but visiting south Texas I can see where people get the spark. When I went to see the northern jacana in Weslaco, it was chock full o butterflies. I would pass a flowering bush and a virtual swarm would fill the air. There is a butterfly festival that happens in Texa and even optics companies are responding by making optics that have close focusing abilities to 3 and 4 feet. I'm marginally interested.

I love the Rio Grande Valley Bird Fest--it's my number one favorite in the country, but if I could change anything about it, that would be that there should be separate field trips for the butterflies and dragonflies. I'm not saying that I don't want them pointed out here and there, but one of the trips I took we had a guide who was REALLY gung ho for dragonfies and we kept stopping for them constantly. It really irritated me because didn't pay money for an insect trip, I paid for birds. The trip really seemed to drag for me as we stopped for them, it didn't help that it was chigger and mosquito city where we were birding and a good portion of the trip was out in the direct sun. It was one of the reasons why I decided to ditch the Brownsville trip the next day and go out on my own. I could take control of destiny and not have to stop for bugs I had no interest in. We looked at the above which is a dragonfly not typically found in the United States called a Tawny Pennant. I don't know, I can understand getting excited about black dragonflies with red wings or the all purple dragonfly but really, it should be separate trip for people who really want to watch that sort of thing.

Can you see the spider in this photo? There it is, lurking in the grass behind some unsuspecting birders. This guy was GIGANTIC. It was so big, someone thought it was a tarantula.

Here it is next to my Handheld Guide to Birds. That's a pretty big spider. Think that it is a wolf spider, but I have never seen one that big in Minnesota. If this is not a wolf spider, feel free to correct me in the comments section. I'm not the arachnid chick.

Eh, look at those fuzzy appendages at the mouth.

The spider was twice the size of this tiny frog. Any guesses on this species?

Here was cute little anole looking for tasty bugs on a patio--these cute little guys were all over the place.

Oh, now this was interesting. These were little pits made by antlions. These are basically little Sarlacc pits targeted towards ants. These little larvae make pits to trap ants and eat them.

A small ant (above) falls into the pit and as it tries to work its way out, that triggers the antlion to grab the ant and then feed on it.

If you look closely in this pit, you can see the front mandibles of the antlion. As I watched these little pits, I noticed that a species of ant that was red with very long legs could easily crawl out of the pits without triggering the predator below. Small ants did not stand a chance.

Here we have dung beetle in search of ...dung.

Now, in Minnesota we try to protect ourselves from mosquitoes and ticks. In Texas we watch for fire ants and chiggers. On one of the field trips we were going to walk through some grass to look for Sprague's pipits--guaranteed chigger bites. We were warned to be very liberal with the insect repellant--which I was. The mistake I made was spraying my feet with my Keens on. I should have taken the whole sandal off and sprayed, covering the entire foot.

If you look at the pattern of the swollen chigger bites on my foot, they follow the straps on my Keens. This looks a lot worse than it really feels. It's an odd little souvenir, I'll be scratching these bites for the next few weeks and thinking, "Ah, Texas." Amy recommended I try something called Chigger X to soothe the itch and it works well. I'm still not really clear on what it going on with chiggers, I've heard so many different things. Hillary the Zeiss rep told me to put nail polish on all the bites because the chigger is still inside my skin and that the nail polish would suffocate and kill them, relieving the itch.

I only had black or pink sparkley nail polish with me and went with the sparkley. They stilled itched. Hillary said I should have used clear, but really the bites looked so bad that I don't thing clear would have made that much of a difference. Someone else later told me that the chiggers are no longer inside me and that whatever they used as an anti coagulant to get blood is still in there causing the itch. I have no idea what' going on. Whatever it is, I'm glad sandal weather is finished in Minnesota and I can keep my feet hidden. Ah, what I go through for a good bird! Anyone else have any insight for the chiggeriness that has taken over my feet?

Ivory-billed Woodpecker Gala

I got an email from Norma, Bobby Harrison's wife. It looks like next year Arkansas is doing a Gala in Huntsville, (and not in Brinkley) for the infamous woodpecker instead of a bird festival on February 24, 2007. Norma has put together a site for Bobby here.

If you can't make it to the gala and you would like to help, you can still donate. I hope the town of Brinkley still gets some birders coming through. If the Ivory-bill Festival doesn't pan out, they could so turn their spectacularly ginormous blackbird flocks into a tourist attraction. I seriously could watch those for hours. Here's the rest of the info about the new Ivory-billed Woodpecker Foundation the Harrison's are starting:

Introducing the Ivory-billed Woodpecker Foundation


Because
“Second Chances are extremely rare.”

“Deep in the bayou,
through the
thickness
of the mist,
The long, lost
ivory-bill,
thought to be extinct,
has been
re-discovered;
And a Foundation
has been born
to care for it.”

© nh

Our Mission
For the locating, recovery, protection, management, preservation and conservation of Ivory-billed woodpeckers; through scientific research and documentation; and the education of the general public.

Dedicated to
The Ivory-billed Woodpecker
The most endangered bird species in this country

February 27, 2004 has been hailed by ornithologists, birders, conservation organizations and the media as a Victory for Nature. It was the date that Bobby Harrison, from Huntsville, Alabama and Tim Gallagher, from Ithica, New York rediscovered the magnificent ivory-billed woodpecker, long believed to be extinct in the big Woods of eastern Arkansas after, more than 60 years since the last confirmed sighting of the species in the United States. It highlights the need to preserve the world's critical habitats. Rediscovering the Ivory-billed woodpecker provides a rare SECOND CHANCE to save a species.

You are cordially invited to attend the
Inaugural Celebration Gala
on Saturday, February 24, 2007
in Huntsville, AL at 6:00 PM.

For additional
Gala and contribution information
please contact:

Pam White@256-883-1199
Cassandra Decoux@256-830-0738 (pm only)
Norma Harrison @ 256-776-2003 or 256-651-8466
www.ivory-billedwoodpeckerfoundation.org
or email: ivorybillwp@aol.com.

Gigantic Disapproving News!

We interrupt the coverage of the Rio Grande Valley Bird Fest for a special announcement.

First, remember the Disapproving Rabbits Shirt idea? You can view the graphic here. The caption will read "Nope. No, sir, I don't approve." and the back will have www.disapprovingrabbits.com on it.

The shirts are brown Hanes Beefy T-shirts and available in mens or womens sizes and will retail for $15 plus shipping and handling. Before I order, I need to get an idea of what people will want. Can you either leave the number of shirts you plan to order in the comments section or email me privately at sharon at birdchick dot com. Please note sizes. I don't want to go crazy Broadway-style when I order but I don't want to run out of shirts for people who are planning to give them as holiday gifts. I plan on placing the order over the coming weekend. I will order some extras.

And since Lynne brought it up as a suggestion in the comments section, I have other very super exciting news. Harper Collins has offered to turn Disapproving Rabbits into a book that hopefully will be out next fall. It will not be just Cinnamon...which she is not happy about:

"What do you mean I'm not the only one in the book?"

I am on a quest to photograph 200 some odd bunnies disapproving of various things over the next few months. What a way to make a living! Who knew this would happen when I started this site? I sure didn't know. I can remember when Non Birding Bill and I were kicking around ideas for this site and I said that I wanted a page of Disapproving Rabbits. He said I was crazy and no one would get it, especially since it was a bird site. I said that I didn't care as long as one person just happened to find it on a lunch break and got a chuckle out of it, that was enough for me. Who knew this would happen.

The poor editor at Harper Collins got an earful when he made the offer. I was so excited and disbelieving I unleashed a huge amount of profanity uncontrollably. Looking back, I'm a tad embarrassed by my lack of decorum, good thing Cinnamon wasn't there. I'm not sure I would have survived that disapproval.

Speaking of disapproving, NBB has added another page of disapproval.

Anyone out there have a gaggle of bunnies for me to photograph?

Holiday Hawk?

Thanks, Yvonne, for passing this my way:



Okay, it's not accurate at all but it's still making me chuckle.

Caption Contest!

The entry that makes me laugh out loud and is attached with a name wins. Bonus points if you can identify the bird getting its butt examined. Prize is a box of Zeiss Pre-moistened Lens Cloths--good for cameras, binoculars, scopes and glasses.

Please keep the answers PG-13.

And Now: Gratuitous Green Jay Photos

In case you don't already feel the necessity to go to South Texas next year, I offer this.

One of the highlights of visiting the Rio Grande Valley Bird Fest are all the green jays. They are so gorgeous and about as common as blue jays are for many of us.

Here, guide Richard Gibbons gives a young boy a recently banded green jay to be released. What a cool bird for a kid to get to see up close and even touch. That's a magic moment right there and that's where a kid will get "BIRDS ARE COOL!" burned into their brain.

Now that I look at this bird closer, it really matches the WingScapes logo. Just soak in that bird's color for a moment. I never get tired of watching them when I visit the area. What's fun is that there is a much more rare jay for the area called a brown jay (which I tried for and missed). Non Birding Bill thinks birders are nuts to try and go for the brown one and not just focus on the green one.

As cool looking as this bird is, keep in mind that it is a member for the jay family. And just like our boisterous blue jays, these colorful birds will eat eggs and nestlings of other bird species. I wonder if that's easier to tolerate when a bird is this strikingly gorgeous?

The banders were kind enough to offer to let me hold a green jay. I didn't quite do it right, I'm used to holding larger birds like pelicans and raptors, not tiny songbirds, but I still really appreciated holding something to unbelievably beautiful in my hands. I even got a life bite.

When I let the bird go, you could see all the bright yellow feathers under the wings and on the sides of the tail. Really, how colorful does a bird need to be? What a treat to see a living, breathing emerald with sapphire, onyx and gold accenting it?

South Texas Banding

So, I took a day off from racking up life birds (seeing birds I've never seen before) for some songbird banding. After two days of bus trips and one day of birding around all over on my own, I was ready for some low key activity. On this trip we sat on a patio of Los Ebanos Preserve. We were even served coffee while birds were brought to us! Above we have bander Mark Conway handing a dove to a young lad very excited about birds. Mark is awesome. He's a careful bander who is a high school teacher in his spare time, this gives him the rare ability to educate while doing in the midst of banding.

Mark does quite a bit of work with South Texas subspecies. He's currently working to prove that there are a separate population of common yellowthroats (above) and Carolina wrens (below).

It was a treat to watch banding in a different area and to see different birds come in. Mark and his assistance must do their banding early in the morning before it gets too hot and over stresses the birds.

Here we have a field trip leader by the name of Richard Gibbons. He's reading the bander's bible by Peter Pyle. It's one of the hardest to read bird books out there but is key in aging and sexing birds in the hand. Richard was reading Pyle out loud which is tough on birders and can work as an instant sleep aid. Pure evil.

It was fun to see so many great birds up close, like this female golden fronted woodpecker.

She was a noisy bird, squealing the whole time they had her for banding. She reminds me of a blond red-bellied woodpecker.

Here's something you don't see every day--the yellow eye of a mockingbird. These guys gave a very plaintive "mew" while being banded. Mockingbirds are such fierce defenders of their territory, it was surprising to hear such a sad little cry from them.

Here's a black-crested titmouse. Don't let that cute face fool you...

This bird had bite. The banders were very careful around the titmice. That sharp bill they use for cracking open seeds and nuts is a handy tool for wedging under fingernails.

Here's one of the many white-tipped doves we got in the nets--check out those crazy yellow eyes.

The doves also had beautiful purple iridescent feathers on the back of the neck. From this angle you can really see what a tiny head holds an even tinier brain that governs a very large body. How do doves manage it?

This was one of the cutest doves we got in, an Inca dove. What was so interesting about these tiny guys was how fast they flew and how quickly their wings flapped. I'm so used to the larger morning doves who lumber around, it was a shock to see these zippy little dudes.

It was a nice way to round out the festival.

Punishment for Ditching a Field Trip

Birds punish the birdchick for ditching a field trip. Beware their wrath.

Laguna Atascosa NWR

I think my favorite area to bird in South Texas so far is Laguna Atascosa NWR. When I decided to ditch one of my field trips and venture out on my own I chose Laguna partly for aplomado falcon but also because there is such a variety of habitat you can see anything from crested caracaras to long-billed curlews. It was a windy and chilly day for Texas and birds were blowin' around all over the place.

I also thought this would be the perfect place to try out the Swarovski 80mm Field Scope and eye piece and Nikon P4 with digiscoping adapator: Verdict--cool camera, sweet scope, futzy digiscoping adapter. I like the macro feature on that camera, but Swarovski has two different adapters for their scope and the one that works with this camera is way more futzy than the other. However, I got some rockin' images with this set up.

Here is one of the many white-tailed hawks that can be seen in this area. You can just assume every raptor here with a light chest is a red-tail. These guys are beautiful to watch fly!

This photo was not digiscoped, but I thought it established some of the terrain and windly, cloudy weather for the day. This turkey vulture sailed right by the minivan window trying to get control of its direction in the aggressive winds. Nice shot with the P4.

Here's another habitat shot with the added bonus of a coyote taking a leak on the side of the road as I was approaching. This was not digiscoped. I was hoping for an ocelot, but I guess a coyote marking his territory will do for mammals on this trip.

Here's a digiscoped white-tailed kite. These guys could be seen all over on brush and power lines. Kites are a treat since we don't have them in Minnesota.

Here was the bird of the day for me: a wood stork. I spotted it on my way to Laguna in someone's yard. At first I thought it was odd yard art. Then I thought it was the weirdest ibis I had ever seen. After much deduction and consulting with the Handheld Guide to Birds, I fell on wood stork. When I got to Laguna, I showed them to images to confirm and to find out if this was unusual. They said that these birds are possible, but should have migrated south by now. I didn't see the bird marked on the official festival checklist, but since I saw it on my own and not part of the official field trip it couldn't be counted. Still, a bird I was not expecting to see and a liver. I even got to watch it labor swallowing a large fish.

Doh, have to go catch a flight. More later.

Speaking of Listing Birds

This so rocks! Teeny, tiny McAllen Airport has free wireless!

So, according to the last entry I was to make a last ditch attempt for an aplomado falcon before heading to the airport to head home to Minneapolis. One of the things I absolutely love about bird festivals and doing so many is the truly awesome network of friends you acquire. Everyone is eager to share information on bird locations and help you get life birds if they can. I had tried for the aplomado on my own on Saturday and Clay the Swarovski rep had given me great directions and a map on a paper plate. I followed them and found myself on a sandy and muddy road (it rained the night before) and was sliding down the road. Being in a minivan on my own with questionable cell phone reception I didn't go all the way down the road and missed the falcon.

Sunday I spoke with the Nikon reps and they had seen the falcon so I thought I would for it this morning. When I was dropping the keys off at my hotel I ran into the Nikon folks and one of the festival guides and reconfirmed my directions and set out. I got a call from Ben and Kate at Eagle Optics, they were going to go for the barn owl and wanted the directions to the one that I saw on Saturday--a lifer for Ben. They were on their way to the falcon and I told them to give me a call if they got it.

As I was going down the sandy road, my phone rang. Kate and Ben were looking at an aplomado and based on their location I had just driven past it. DOH! I back tracked and called back just to confirm where their sighting had been, ten minutes later with the radio blaring U2's Where The Streets Have No Name (what a great song to have on when chasing birds) I was looking at the aplomado falcon they had seen! Sweet! It sat on the pole and then took off and bombed a northern harrier. I called Kate and gave her a blow by blow description.

Later when I was checking into the airport Kate called to confirm she and Ben got the barn owl and the directions were just like I had described them. Whew. I love it when a birding plan comes together!

Alas, no photo to go along with the aplomado falcon.

Thank you to all involved who helped me see this bird. I could almost do an academy award acceptance speech:

I'd like to thank the following people who helped me get this bird (single tear flowing down left cheek): to Clay Taylor who gave me the initial directions--you rock man! (tears down both cheeks) To Jen Brumfeld and Michael Retter who pushed me to just go for it, to Ben and Kate who were there for me when I didn't think I was going to make it, to Amy Hooper who just really made the whole thing possible to begin with, I love you. (all out bawling now with my hand over my heart, deep sigh because I can barely go on) And to you (sniff), Non Birding Bill who has loved and supported me through all my bird (sniff, sniff) I know you don't understand what I do, but you support me and love me and just really...(can't go on, too overwhelmed with tears and emotion)...and oh yeah, thanks Mom, I love you.

Racking Up Great Birds

My flight doesn't leave until about 1:40pm today. WildBird has already left for her flight, so I'm thinking of finishing packing and then heading to out to try and see an aplomado falcon before heading out. I've seen so many great birds this trip, some I've seen before and some completely new.

One bird that has eluded me in the wild is a barn owl. I've handled them but I've never seen one in the wild. Someone gave me directions to an old, abandon cotton gin:

Doesn't this just look like the set for lots of slasher type murders? I tried looking through all the broken windows and couldn't find the bird. The door was a ajar and I poked my head in. The wind rattled everything that was loose and you heard creaking and and metal vibrating. The building seemed like it could collapse at any time. I scanned and found a pair of barn owls. I tried to digiscope, but knew it was way too dark. It's enough of a souvenir for me though:

One of the birds flew to the other side of the gin and disappeared behind a rafter, then I heard tiny rasping begging calls--they were nesting! I headed out and left the owls in peace.

Choices

I struggled with a decision the last few days. When I originally registered for the Rio Grande Valley Bird Fest, I must not have been birding for a few days because I signed up for as many field trips as I could schedule. When I arrived and looked over my schedule, I saw that I had registered for a trip that was to last 11 hours to get a rare bird called a white-collared seedeater. I thought to myself, "Do I really have an 11 hour bird trip in me? One that has a two and a half hour drive out there and the same on the drive back?

No.

I worried that this was a sign that I had reached my birding threshold. Did this reluctance for the trip mean that I'm getting "too old" for that kind of birding? Was I loosing my edge? I tried to justify that the trip wouldn't have been that great for bird photos for the blog and not a very interesting entry. I exchanged the 11 hour trip for a bird banding demonstration instead, still wondering if that was the cool thing to do. Here is the answer:

Oh yeah, I made the right decision. More dazzling photos coming within the next two days.

Another Quick and Dirty Post

Okay, got my two articles sent off! Whoot. This morning I bailed on my scheduled trip and just drove out on my own. I love going in groups and sharing the birding experience, but I really needed a day away to bird without a group dynamic. I did a quick stop to South Padre Island and had some fun with some laughing gulls. There's something just so fun about feeding gulls. The above photo was taken right outside my minivan window with no zoom.

The gulls were coming from far and wide for bits of sausage. I ran out of sausage and grabbed some tasty chocolate chip cookies that WildBird on the Fly made:

Check it out, a wild bird on the fly enjoying WildBird on the Fly's cookies! Sweet.

Tonight we listened to JeffGyr give the talk as the keynote speaker for the Rio Grande Valley Bird Fest. It was his "top ten birds of the last thirty years". The first part was just amazing birds that popped up in North America, the last part was focused more on birds that have caused HUGE controversy. He even brought up the infamous pygmy nuthatch incident from 1996.

Pygmy Nuthatch Incident Sidebar: In 1996, a pygmy nuthatch was visiting a bird feeder in North Dakota right on the Red River border to Minnesota. One intrepid birder played a pygmy nuthatch call and got the bird to fly across the river and become the first Minnesota state record. This lead to huge amounts of debate: you shouldn't call birds, why can't you use calls to attract birds--the nuthatch was visiting a bird feeder and that's as artificial as taped calls, it wasn't a natural movement into the state, it was only a couple of dozen feet the bird flew over to get to the other side of the river it's no big deal, blah, blah, blah.

Jeff added a nice touch of what Minnesota Ornithologists' Union Records Committee meetings are like and showed footage of a cowboy shootout, a huge bar brawl, sword fighting, Civil War battles--it was hilarious and a tad accurate.

The talk wound down to the ivory-billed woodpecker of course. As Jeff was showing the footage of the Lunneau video, I was thinking to the first time I saw it last year at the Rio Grande fest and how I was excited and full of hope and couldn't wait for the adventure of going to Arkansas. Now watching the footage again and being slowed down I was a tad jaded and depressed--we didn't have better footage to show for it yet, I truly thought it would be different this year, hope can be so fleeting sometimes. Plus, watching the slow motion of the wing beats on the video compared to a pileated woodpecker reminded me of the whole "back and to the left" of the Kennedy assassination. Come on, Florida, get us a GOOD photo.

The talk was interesting, but I truly enjoyed listening to all the birding controversies best. I told Jeff he should do a book on it, fascinating stuff. I must get to bed, we're banding tomorrow.

Oh, so I tried out a Swarovski digiscoping set up today...I realized that I have never truly digiscoped, I only think I have digiscoped, I've been faking it until now. Here's a preview:

Black vultures!

Yeah, Baby, That's What I'm Talkin' About

I'm going to get a new digital camera and I'm testing out a Nikon P4. I want something that does great macro and is good for digiscoping. Today I got this photo of a zone-tailed hawk at Anzalduas Park at the Rio Grande Valley Bird Fest:

Here I took the photo through a Leica field scope (sweet shot of the "I'm gonna poop or maybe just turn around.")

And this one I took through a Brunton Eterna scope (super sweet shot--the zone-tailed staring down the paparazzi). I love how the bird is looking right at us. This is a very good species for the valley, I saw it last year at the ABA Convention in Tucson, still sweet to see. The bird is part of a controversy. On one of the field trips on Wednesday, a pontoon was taken to this area for birding and a common black hawk was reported and photographed (super rare for this area). Now, there's talk that it was actually this zone-tailed hawk (unusual but not unlikely for this area) that people saw. There's some "spirited discussion" going on. I saw one of the photos of the reported black hawk posted in the lobby and it looks like a zone-tailed to me, but I'm not going to arm wrestle over it, I wasn't there when they saw it.

I have more entries planned but discovered that I forgot about a looming Birding Business deadline so all spare time must be devoted to those articles today. Once I get them sent off, I can resume regular posting. Coming relatively soon: bugs of the Rio Grande Valley, more fabulous birds and a very special post: "How Paul Baicich schooled the Birdchick."

Upper Rio Grande

This quick and dirty blog entry is brought to you care of Leica. For some reason, I can only pick up a wireless signal at their booth--a clever plan to get people to come over and look at their optics.

Today was an AWESOME day--lots of new life birds for me. I was worried about heat, but we birded in the morning and it was cool and foggy along the Rio Grande River. The river is very swollen, they've had 40 inches of rain in the last six weeks. It was foggy and I loved seeing neotropic cormorants (above) and ringed kingfishers (they're HUGE) and green kingfishers (they're so tiny)!

We stopped at a trailer park to see an elusive brown jay that visits feeders there. No brown jay, but oodles of great-tailed grackles. For all those people who think they have it bad with common grackles, don't complain--great-tailed are MUCH bigger and MUCH noisier. One was feeding at a tray feeder and about a dozen house sparrows landed around it. The great-tailed hopped in the air and spooked all the sparrows away. So, they are good house sparrow control but only if you only want to have great-taileds at the feeder.

Eventually the sun did come out and I was amazed at how well all the birder khaki blended in with the sandy landscape. I did get some intriguing bug photos, which I will post later.

Side Note - Cinnamon, you are the best rabbit ever and I love you. You'll be getting a huge carrot top when I get home...and stay out of the kitchen.

I'm running into lots of Minnesota people here. One is Kim Eckert (one of the few Minnesota birders who doesn't have a blog).

All New Disapproval!

Here is a page of some bunnies that have been submitted for Disapproving Rabbits.

Also, notice the WingScapes link on the side, that's one of the companies I'm working for now. It's cool stuff and more about it will be coming.

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Well, I made it to the Rio Grande Valley. Today was just going my way. It wasn't too cold so I was able to go with my plan of wearing a skirt with some tights and sensible shoes and then as soon as I hit Houston, TX I went to powder my nose and ditched my tights and sensible shoes and put on some sandals. As soon as the plane landed in McAllen, TX I grabbed all my luggage got my rental car (and got upgraded free to a minivan WHOOT!--I LOVE driving minivans--police tend to ignore them and who wants to steal a minivan and go joyriding?) and I got a ton of work done on the Minnesota River Guide on the plane.

I followed Bouton's helpful instructions to the northern jacana and found it right away--as well as a whole gaggle of birders I know (Bouton's photos are better than mine). As more and more people arrived from the airports to get the jacana before checking in, it was almost like cheers: "Jess!", "Terry!", "Birdchick!". The bird put on quite a show, lifting it's wings to see the yellow primaries and secondaries, lifting it's giant feet, showing it's super cool wing spurs. Someone told me they could hear me squealing from the other side of the marsh. Terry from Leica casually pointed out an anhinga flying over head and I casually observed a new life bird.

I have always wondered what it would be like to be a hardcore ticker--someone who hops a flight to get a life bird, sees it and leaves after five minutes. That was almost me today. After watching the jacana put on quite a show I had to leave, my body was not adjusting well to going from 40 degree weather to 88 degrees--sweat was literally everywhere on me.

I love being in such a different habitat. Instead of red-tails on telephone poles, it's Harris hawks, instead of blue jays all over, it's kiskadees--I love this bird festival! It's awesome and if you only go to one festival in your life, make it this one.

I did have a close encounter with danger today. While walking towards the jacana with a group we heard loud buzzing and saw a loose swarm of bees moving fast over our heads. Someone warned, "Don't look up and move swiftly the other way!"

"Are those what I think they are?" I asked.

"Yep, Africanized honey bees."

Eep! I hope that the last I report on those this trip. I like adventure as much as the next gal, but it can be kept to a minimum.

Crap, my power is running out. More later.

House Sparrow Resourcefulness

Can you see the house sparrow in this photo?

The golden eagle above looks like she doesn't have any feet. She's actually sitting on her mailbox perch behind her pedestal perch. Do you see the house sparrow yet? It's camouflaged in the pea gravel in front of the pedestal perch. A pair of house sparrows have taken to scavenging in the mew of our education golden eagle at The Raptor Center. It started with a male and now a female joins him. I've seen them quietly lurk in some of the great horned owl mews as well. They behave in such a different way when foraging for food near the raptors than when I see sparrows visit the feeder. A few muted chirps will be given right before they land inside but once there, they keep a cautious distance from the birds of prey and keep silent as they feed on leftover rat bits. The sparrows seem to have a sense that these are larger and dangerous critters near this valuable protein source. This is a true testament to how resourceful house sparrows are and shows their uncanny knack for finding a good food source.

The golden eagle watches with some interest as this male house sparrow searches for meat scraps on her pedestal perch (we know for sure our education golden eagle is female--she lays infertile eggs in spring). It's unlikely that she will ever go after the sparrows, though even with a broken wing and being blind in one eye she is still able to nab the occasional small squirrel or young rabbit that foolishly find their way into the education courtyard. Sparrows are small and fast and the effort it would take for a golden eagle to grab one would not be worth the small meal reward she would get.

Too Excited to Concentrate

I am so excited and happy today! I'm trying to get as much writing accomplished as I can before leaving for Texas. I thought I was leaving Thursday but double checked my reservations and found that I am in fact leaving Wednesday morning. I should be working on revising birding loops for the Minnesota River Pomme de Terre and Kandiyohi regions but I keep thinking of kiskadees (like one above that I saw at the Rio Grande Valley Bird Fest last year).

I'm also excited because a northern jacana that was found at Estero Llano in Weslaco in August is still apparently hanging out. WildBird on the Fly and I are sharing a hotel room again and she gets in later than I do on Wednesday, so I plan on going from the airport to the jacana and then to the welcome reception. The jacana is one of those birds that have always stuck out to me in field guides that I thought would be so cool to see.

Last week in Cape May was one of the few times when I could tell my friends, "I'll see you next week." Since they have to work the RGV bird fest too, I get to hang with them again. So, besides looking forward to all the birds, I get to see great buddies like Jim Danzenbaker the Brunton binoculars rep. Who has the most awesome profile shot ever. In the above photo Jim is enjoying a giant heap of meat--oh besides friends, now I am looking forward to all the food--the cheap and oh so spicy food of Harlingen.

Meanwhile, I am finding the internet a huge distraction with memes, Julie's post about blogging and caring about what you do, and some sparring going on between BirderBlog and Birding is Not a Crime. I'm not sure what happened there, but it started with a Kirtland's warbler sighting and then someone got served and now apparently "it's on".

And now, with much love to both, I dedicate the following to BirderBlog and Birding Is Not A Crime!!! (The clip is two minutes and eighteen seconds and doesn't have swearing.)

Birder Survey

Have you seen Patrick's Birder Survey? It's pretty cool and good for new places to bird and books you may not have heard of.

Glow Possum

Took this photo last night. Either Mr. Neil has some freaky animals coming to his feeding station at night or I'm still feeling the effects of the Godsmack after party.

The Steve Irwin of Birds

I wasn't going to blog this until Sunday but our friend Kat who is a caterer to rock bands is in town tonight and invited us to an after party for the band she is currently with called Godsmack. It starts at 11pm so I'm blogging to stay awake. It's always a party when Kat's in town. Last year she got us backstage to a Motley Crue concert (no Tommy Lee is not a birder).

So, there was a bird exhibit going on at Cape May Autumn Weekend by John Wood the president of The Raptor Project. That's him above flying a one-eyed golden eagle in the convention center surrounded by a huge and excited crowd. It was interesting to watch his bird handling techniques. The man sure can bring out the birdmanship. The audience was engaged and wowed--especially when he would walk through the crowd with his Harris hawk and perch it on someone's head or when he would let people come up and touch one of his owls. He did quite a few flight demos with his birds which are oh-so-cool and yet oh-so-risky because the bird doesn't always come back...or land where it is intended to land.

While I was there he flew his white gyrfalcon (above)--what a cool bird to watch fly, although a few times it didn't always get it back right away. John's a master falconer so he knows how to fly birds. A wind storm was raging in Cape May during the weekend and I figured he wouldn't fly the falcon--windy days can help propel these fast birds far away and out of sight of the trainer. He flew the bird and during a few of the shows it disappeared, but fortunately he has telemetry hooked up to it and he's usually able to retrieve (although, one show it looked like it took him about half an hour to 45 minutes). I was excited to see the flight. I was told last year when he flew this bird, it ignored him and tried to take out a gull. The gyr grabbed the gull, but didn't kill it and ended up in the ocean.

He flew the bird out on the beach and with the sun and wind and crashing waves it was a movie-esqe scene. John warned all of us to stay together in the group and not to stray so the bird wouldn't mistake any of us for him. He did warn all of us to use common sense, if the bird flew our way we were to duck. I'm not sure if the guy in the above photo was just some poor dude walking the beach or if he was part of our group and foolishly separated from the rest of us. Sure enough, the gyr tried to land on him. It was incredibly windy and the guy was trying to run backwards...

He fell over backwards with the gyr still trying to land. Ooops. The bird backed off and did head over to John and the audience got a huge giggle. Future reference, when the bird handler says stay in the group for safety--stay in the group.

The bird did make it back safely to John and it was a treat to watch the world's largest falcon fly right in front of me. Kids had a great time at his booth. For $20 you could get your photo taken with a bird. I saw kids walking by with two or three different photos showing them off excitedly like little bird baseball cards. Always love seeing kids excited about birds and boy can this guy wind 'em up.

Now, here we have a real bird celebrity. John's birds generate quite a bit of income from television and movie appearances (and not to mention a spanky sponsorship from Nikon). This prairie falcon pictured above played Mordecai in the movie The Royal Tenebaums (awesome movie by the way). According to the trivia on the DVD the original bird used during shooting was kidnapped and held for ransom - production could not wait for him to be returned which is the reason that the bird that appears later in the movie has "more white feathers" - it's a different bird. Doh!

Working Cape May

Once again I found odd bathroom signage on the road when I visited Cape May. Being someone who likes to defy authority, I did change a shirt in this bathroom. Sh, don't tell. I wonder how the whole restroom society falls apart if people are changing clothes in a restroom?

Some of my friends from left to right: Alvaro Jaramillo (who gave some great insight about the western veery in August) he was working a booth for Field Guides, Kenn Kaufman (field guide author and all around good egg), Kimberly Kaufman an Ohio naturalist hanging with Kenn for some reason , Jeff Bouton working the Leica booth, and Carlos 'Hawk Eyes' Bethancourt of Canopy Tower.

One of the really cool things that happened after I finished my time at Eagle Optics was getting work from my friends. It's been really fun and a whole new world of job possibilities has been opened up for me. One of them has been with Bart Stephens at WingScapes (and it takes everything I have not to call him Bart Simpson). He's a birder (although I don't know if he would call himself that) who WildBird on the Fly and I have gotten to know by running into him at different festivals in the last year. He's been channeling his interest in birds into a new product that his company made. When I talked to him in September he asked if I would be willing to give him an extra set hands at booths and oh, would I mind coming with him to Cape May, NJ? Working with a friend and going to a bird hot spot--that was a tough call--NOT!

Bart's a very laid back birder, and I got a kick out of visiting his home in Alabama and he had red-headed woodpeckers coming to his deck feeders--he was very relaxed about that, even as I freaked out with excitement. Also, his deck is elevated and we watched a red-tailed hawk thermalize right off of it--how we got any work accomplished, I will never know. We'll be hearing more about him and WingScapes in the coming weeks. At Cape May I helped Bart conduct surveys at a booth to get an idea of what people know about bird feeder cameras. We had a lot of fun and filled out a ton of surveys.

Here are more friends:

I kept noticing this cute blond and I kept thinking that I know her from somewhere. I also noticed that she kept looking at me too. I worried that I met her at a previous festival and it had escaped my mind. She came over and introduced herself, it was Somewhere in New Jersey (aka Laura). That was fun to say hi to her, I knew she lived in Cape May and was glad to have a chance to connect.

Above we have one of the Swarovski reps demonstrating how light their new tripod is. I even lifted it myself, very light weight.

This blogger I recognized right away from his photo--that smile gives him away. It's Patrick Belardo (aka Hawk Owl's Nest)--who was quick to point out that he had nothing to do with the server crash last weekend--guilty conscious, Patrick?

I did run into another blogger--JeffGyr who was on the same team as I was for the ivory-bill search in Arkansas. The only photos I have of him are from karaoke and I can't post those...

Here's Chuck Hagner the editor of Birder's World, showing off the new design. I pointed out that he's the only bird magazine editor without a blog and when was he going to get on the bandwagon:

Eeep! Angry Chuck! I love Chuck, he's got a great sense of humor and I wish I could run into him more often. Word on the convention room floor was that the Birder's World booth had the best candy, so if you go to a bird fest and BW is there, go for the candy, stay for the magazine.

Here's Taryn, a publicist for Houghton Mifflin rockin' a really wicked bad dragonfly face painting. She helps keep me informed of all the cool bird books they have coming out. You will note the book that's not fully in the picture called All Thing Reconsidered--that a certain Bill of the Birds edited.

There were a few other intriguing booths at the trade show. One is something being developed called iFieldGuides which is supposed to take the Stokes' CDs and organize them on your iPod similar to BirdPod but will also have photos for all the species as well as a listing feature. It's also going to be cheaper. It's not ready yet, but it's interesting watching technology playing out in the birding field. Where will it go next?

There are more and more nature photographers popping up out there with boothes to sell their stuff. I have heard some of my professional nature photographer friends grumbling that anyone with a camera (or digiscoping set up) thinks they can call themselves a professional nature photographer. I didn't really get what they complaining about until now. A photographer had a booth and had quite a few photos displayed that you could purchase as frameable prints or cards, but what first caught my eye were the number of prints for sale where the bird wasn't entirely in focus. I tried to give the photographer the benefit of the doubt--maybe they were being arty...then I found the photo that just really shouted "I don't know quite yet what I'm doing." The photo was of a warbler sitting on concrete. It was an up close shot and I thought, well during migration you can see exhausted migrants. It wouldn't be my first choice for a background to a bird but if you didn't know birds all that well it was an up close shot of a cute yellow bird--then you saw it: a twisted foot out to the side. There were a couple of different prints at different angles of the same bird and yessirree bob, the bird's foot is off to the side and twisted upwards. I just had an image of a birder getting a birthday card in the mail from their mom who didn't know birds well and wondering, "Why did mom send me a card of an injured bird for my birthday?"

Cape May Birding

I may have to revise my answer about the best bird festivals to go to. In the past when someone has asked me, I have said Rio Grande Valley Bird Fest (which I'm going to next week--whoot!) and Detroit Lakes Festival of Birds as my top two must dos. I think Cape May Autumn Weekend will have to come in as number three. It's a weird migration/fall out area where unexpected things like thousands of robins pouring over the top of your hotel occurs. The town is beautiful and in warm weather is a red hatter's dream, but since it's the end of the tourist season, it's quiet and deserted and chock full o' migrating birds.

For me, visiting Cape May, NJ was kind of like visiting Hollywood. There have been a ton of articles written about the magic of birding there as well as books on how the whole place became such a hot spot. It was interesting putting faces to names from the book Season at the Point, it's been a few years since I read it, I'm finding I need to go back and reread. Cape May is definitely a different atmosphere and meeting some local birders you would think they invented bird watching (in many ways they did--lots of field guide authors honed their skill there).

With some of the "top birders" there is an attitude--not undeserved and I admire how open they are about it. We have it here in Minnesota and I'm sure it can be found in any state but they are so open about it in New Jersey. For example, we all have our own personal standards for bird reports. You'll read about a sighting on a listserv and there are some people who may report a king rail who you will believe and some you take with a grain of salt. You keep this to yourself and in select company you might discuss it. Not at Cape May! I actually overheard the phrase (and it was said in front of a crowd), "Somebody whose name means nothing reported a frigatebird from Higbee Beach two days ago." It was later determined that someone who has a name that means quite a lot had seen a frigatebird the following day from the convention center so perhaps that no name was correct.

The weather situation was insane. Friday morning was beautiful (pictured above at the Meadows) and sunny and I woke up to fish crows outside the hotel and had time for some quick birding at the meadows. Friday night a nasty wind storm blew in and all the birds laid low.

Saturday was not good birding but you were practically tripping over yellow-rump warblers (above) and ruby-crowned kinglets. Sunday got a little better but was still windy and Monday was perfect--although all the fish crows were gone--where did they go?

I didn't have to leave for the airport until late in the afternoon and I spent the day hitting Cape May spots like Higbee's Beach and the Beanery. As I was walking the Beanery about 9am, the sun was behind me and I was identifying a Lincoln's sparrow I noticed lots of dark, shadowy blobs in front of me on the ground. I looked up at the sky--raptor migration was on. Forget sparrows, I high-tailed it to the Hawk Watch platform. I'm so glad I did, not only were there several raptors and turkey vultures flying over, but a Swainson's hawk was seen in the distnace as well-very rare for the east coast.

(You may be wondering why I don't have more photos of this--the camera I was using "went for a walk" at the Philly Airport. All I can say is that I am so grateful I downloaded all the of the photos from the previous night's karaoke party--WHEW!)

One of my favorite moments was when WildBird on the Fly and I were walking back to the hotel on Sunday night and you could hear some night migration starting. We went to the walkway along the beach, laid on the benches and the ground and watched birds fly just about the street lights in the dark. It was chilly, you could hear the waves crashing on the beach (and no traffic!) and see birds on their way for migration and doing it with a great friend--what an awesome moment.

I dedicate the following photo to Keith Dowling who was envious in a comment about eating at Uncle Bill's Pancake House:

I think this photo is now Non Birding Bill's new desktop. These are the oh-so-tasty pumpkin pancakes available at Uncle Bill's. This is a must stop for refueling for more birding.

Readers, I Need Your Help!

Hey guys, I just looked at the sales of my calendars and the sales are not what they could be for Indiana, Ohio and Illinois--part of that is to be expected, this is the first time we are doing the calendars there. But I need to buckle down and promote them in those states. If you live in any of those states and know of any radio/tv stations that it might be a good idea for me to send a press release and interview request, can you tell me the name of the station (also, if you know of a local show that would be ideal for birds that would help too).

Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan are doing well, but I'd love ideas for radio and tv shows I could send press releases to those states too. Thanks guys, in many ways you are my think tank. Please leave suggestions in the comments section.

Bunny Letter Opener

Usually when Cinnamon does this, she doesn't stop with just opening it.

Mystery Bird Found Dead in Texas--Alcid?

A reader sent me this link to the Victoria Advocate in Texas about a weird bird found dead on the side of the road. At first the people who found it thought that the dead bird was a penguin but after consulting with people at Texas Parks and Wildlife Department it was decided that it might be a loon. I think it's some kind of alcid, but then again I am a land locked Minnesotan with not a lot of experience with seabirds. Any guesses from you guys? Any Texas birders read the blog, have there been any discussions about a mystery bird on the side of the road?

Impressive Face Painter

That face painter really did a nice job. When I asked her if she could do a goshawk, she said "A what??" We borrowed a National Geographic Guide and she painted away. You can see it here at Amy's site. Here's a goshawk photo:

And here's me:

Not bad! After it was finished, most people thought it was cool but couldn't quite guess the id. Bill Clark was there, he actually consulted on Amy's kestrel as did Clay Taylor:

But Bill knew what I was. The only other person was this adorable 11 year old boy with red hair who sat down, looked at me and said, "Mmmm, I would say that you are a northern gosawk."

I said, "Wow, the only other person who guessed right away was Bill Clark, you're pretty good."

He said, "Bill Clark, yes. My mother took a class from him when I was 5 months old. I really don't remember much."

Yeah, in another ten years, I see this kid will be hanging out with the rest of us bird festival bums.

CONTEST!

Okay, with the blog being down for so many days I think it's time for a contest! The prize?

1. Brand spankin' new National Geographic Field Guide--hot off the press. Note the new thumb tabs to make it easier to find the birds. Ooooo. Ahhhhh.

2. An official Cape May Bird Observatory Field Guide holder with strap. Oooooo. Ahhhhhh.

3. An official WingScapes (the company I'm working for) key chain flash light--perfect for looking for woodcocks! Oooooo. Ahhhhh.

4. A Leupold tote bag with a meadowlark design. Ooooo. Ahhhhh.

What will the contest be? Well, my friends that's somewhat diabolical. Identify what bird I had painted on my face:

You will note, that I am standing next to Sibley (see Susan, I did actaully get within touching distance). Here is a hint for my face painting:

Next, identify the bird painted on WildBird on the Fly's face:

Now, identify the author who has a cat painted on his face:

Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Evil? A little, but look at the cool prizes! First comment that correctly identifies all three AND includes a name wins.

Not Since Sixteen Candles...

So, I finally am at the same place as David Sibley. I work up the courage to talk to him and ask if I can get a photo with him. I see photographer Kevin Karlson and ask him to take a photo with Sibley and WildBird on the Fly...

Yeah, just like Farmer Ted and the prom queen. From left to right we have my feet, Sibley's feet and Amy's feet. Really, I swear, that's Sibley in the middle. Honest.

The Blog Is Back!

The blog, the blog, the blog is back! Oh happy day. For those who don't know, the server that hosted the site "got corrupted" on Saturday and after waiting for the problem to be fixed decided to switch servers. And I thought not being able to upload photos through blogger was irritating. Try having your site go down right in the middle of one of the busiest bird festivals in the country and introducing yourself as the operator of a very popular birding site and it's gone. Ugh!

It may take a day or two to work out all the kinks with the switch but boy do I have some swag and great contests coming withing the next 24 hours.