Scotland is a Top Birding Destination in Europe

From the Daily Record:

A BIRDWATCHER has won Scotland's first five-star award for wildlife tourism - for taking groups to live in caves.

Jeremy Hastings, 45, runs Islay Birding on the Hebridean isle. He offers 10-day trips where tourists sleep in caves to learn survival techniques.

His is among 22 nature based operators given a star award from Visit Scotland in their Wildlife Experience Quality Assurance scheme.

Read the rest of the story here or a more in dept version of the family business here.

Meanwhile in Minnesota, it' been four days of drizzle! No chance for digiscoping, banding, or even scouting for woodcocks for next weekend's trip. Argh. I'm pretty sure this is Nature's way of forcing me to work on taxes. I'm going to get through them today and maybe tomorrow I will finally see some sun. I must...get...through...receipts...for...the accountant...ehn.

Oh, to be a bunny tucked away in her little cardboard fortress of solitude with nothing more to do but disapprove of my receipt filing system.

Old Bird Book & New Insect Book

Carrol Henderson and I have a love for old bird books. The other day, he showed me this gem: Birds Through an Opera Glass by Florence A. Merriam. Even before Roger Tory Peterson, this woman was starting the trend to observe birds through optics as opposed to the "double barreled" method.

The book came out in 1897 and look at that, Houghton Mifflin was the publisher! Many of us are familiar with their Peterson Guides and Kaufman Focus Guides. From the start, HM has been there to provide great natural history guides.

This early field guide uses much different names for the birds we know today. For example, the bird above which many blog readers see is called a Chewink. Can you guess what that is? The drawing is a little misleading, that makes it look like an Oregon junco, but it's not. (Special hint to Sharon's mom--you told me these just showed up behind your condo). It's a towhee! Other fun names include Yellow Summer Bird for Yellow Warbler--it makes sense. Many of use see yellow warblers in summer and they are yellow.

The language is much more colorful than what we would see in today's field guides. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the blue jay's description:

"The blue jay comes with a dash and a flourish...And so he flashes about, and screams and scolds till we crawl to the window to look at him. Ha! what a handsome bird!"

For a fun giggle, reread the above but exchange blue jay with Nathan Lane.

While we're on the subject of Houghton Mifflin, I should mention that they have a new book: Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America written by Kenn Kaufman and Eric R. Eaton.

I have to say, I love Kenn's dedication--gotta love a guy who dedicates a book about bugs to his wife. He's either a very brave man who likes life on the edge or she's just kinda weird.

Not for the faint of heart: a page of roaches! Did you really want to know how many species would be finding ways to infest your abode? Actually, the book is a perfect addition to the birder book shelf. Let's face it, there are days when the birding is slow and you notice more bugs than you do birds. This guide is in an easy to search format to the common insects we would find across North America. It's not a complete field guide--otherwise it would be as large as the multi volume Bent series but it will answer most bug id questions.

There's even a whole section on honey bees! One feature I really like about the book, is that not only does it identify the insects themselves but also shows their evidence and for some, what they look like in their habitats. This a good general guide that would appeal to adults with interest and budding young naturalists.

Go Check Out Mike's Blog

If you haven't seen the Fox Sparrow and Suprise at Mike's blog, do so this instant. He got a surprise when he got home and watched the video up close as opposed to through the view finder.

Southwest Minnesota Prairie Birding Festival

At yesterday's tourism meeting, it was said that last year in Minnesota we had 8 bird festivals. This year we have 14 going on throughout the year. Here's a new one I just learned about called the Southwest Minnesota Prairie Birding Festival going on April 20 - 21.
It's based out of Luverne, Minnesota and the trips are to Blue Mound State Park and Touch the Sky Prairie. Here's a link to a photo essay by Jim Brandenburg of Touch the Sky Prairie.

Alas, this is a new festival and in a tiny town so there's not much information online. In order to find out more information or book your space you need to contact the Luverne Chamber of Commerce. The upside of these new tiny festivals is that the field trips aren't too crowded and you get a lot of individual attention from the guides. This should be a great festival with breath taking prairie landscapes and really sweet birds--prairie bird songs are some of the best!

I love prairie birding and really want to do this one, but Non Birding Bill and I are performing Play on Birds at the North Coast Nature Festival the following weekend and we will be rehearsing.

Valmont Owl Cam Back

A faithful reader over at Schmoker's Blog noticed that the great-horned owls at the Valmont Owl Cam are giving it a second shot. Originally, the female laid two eggs and then quit incubating. They eggs were removed and the cam switched to a family of barn owls. But the great horned owl pair were stimulated to lay eggs again since the eggs were gone. Let's see if the female can incubate this time.

Meanwhile, the peregrine falcons at the King Plant have a couple of eggs.

Coolest Pileated Woodpecker Post In The History Of This Blog

Holy crap, this is going to be a super cool post! Warning: Gratuitous photos of pileated woodpeckers ahead.

So, today I had a meeting with the Explore Minnesota Tourism folks at Eastman Nature Center in Elm Creek Park (cool stuff that generated from that meeting will pop up in the next few weeks). During a break in the meeting, I went to check their feeders for some digiscoping. At first I just saw the usual suspects: nuthatches, downy woodpeckers, chickadees, etc. The feeders were spread between two rooms. When I walked into the second room, I saw this:

Okay, it may be hard to get an idea of scale with this tree, but that is a large sliver of a lump up there. I knew instantly: a pileated woodpecker. Knowing how cagey these guys can be, I just set the scope up and started to photograph hoping I might get a shot of the head.

Then, the pileated flew over to the window feeders! I was way too close to digiscope, so I took a photo old school style--just through the point and shoot. I went to the back of the room and tried to digiscope.

However, the feeder was swinging violently due to the bird's weight. It was a tall order trying to get the head in the frame and in focus at the same time. I have about 50 blurry and blank photos.

Okay, there's the head, and it's kind of in focus...but the suet feeder is in the way! Although, I did like this shot because if you look at the bottom of the lower mandible you can see it's white. I have never had the opportunity to see that part of pileated, who knew it was white?

Okay, still not quite in focus but I love this because the woodpecker was in mid peck and had its eyelid lowered to protect its eyes. This looks thicker than a nictitating membrane (extra eyelid birds have that is transparent--they use it to protect pupils in flight so dust won't damage it). I'm sure they have some sort of eyelid protection since they chip off such large chunks of bark when pecking.

Whoot! It's in focus, it's not head on, but you can still see the face very well. I like how you can see the crest feathers come together in the back. Kind of reminds me of a kewpie doll.

I couldn't believe how accommodating this bird was. The whole group had gathered in the room to watch at this point. I asked one of the naturalists if the windows were tinted and she said that they are not, these birds are just that used to people. There was also a female flying around, she was eating at the tray feeder. She tried to bump the male from the feeder, but he always won.

She was fairly close to and I was able to get a head shot of her. For those who can't tell the difference between male and female pileated woodpeckers, here is what you need to look for: the female lacks the red mustache and her red crest starts halfway up her head as opposed to right at the bill. I was pretty jazzed about this photo. Finally, a crisp head shot! Double whoot!!

The female started working her way around towards another empty suet feeder. However, instead of flying up to the empty feeder...

She went right underneath us to forage for all the fallen suet chunks! What a treat to look right down on a pileated woodpecker only five feet away! I was so excited, I almost peed my pants. There were still about ten of us in the room and we call crowded around the window.

Here's my buddy Carrol Henderson taking a photo of her. It's not uncommon to see pileateds on the ground, they do forage a bit, not quite as much as northern flickers, but they do know how to dig around old fallen snags for juicy bugs.

The male didn't stray too far away. When he was finished at the other suet feeder, he flew to a tree to keep an eye on the female. My goodness, were we watching a pileated lunch date? Boy, if things keep going this well, he'll be at third base in no time.

Eventually, the birds flew off and we had to finish the rest of the meeting. Sigh.

The naturalists told us about a barred owl nest right along one of the trails. While we were finishing our meeting, I saw Sue who volunteers with me at The Raptor Center walk by the outside window. I flagged her down to say hi. She was going to look for the nest, so I told her to let me know if she found it on her way back. Five minutes later she walked past the window and gave a thumbs up--she saw the owl. Afterwards we went to look for it, we found the nest hole, but she was hunkered down for the day doing some hard incubating. Now quite what I was hoping for, but after the pileated show how can I really complain?

One last thing, we did find a disapproving jack rabbit at Eastman Nature Center. Apparently, he didn't approve of being stuffed.

Thank You Star Tribune!

Thanks to Non Birding Bill, I got a mention in today's Star Tribune Web Search. It's a really nice write up.

Yes, Mom, we are going to pick up a copy for you and will mail it to you, but you can also see it online by clicking the link above. Happy Birthday too.

Urban Eagle Nest Near My Home

Yesterday I was driving home and I was on Hwy 77 heading onto Hwy 62 going west. As I rounded the exit, I noticed a very large stick nest in a residential area. I made a note to myself to check it out this weekend. A pair of red-tailed hawks have been hanging out in this area.

Today, Bruce Fall posted to the Minnesota bird listservs that he found an eagle nest at Hwy 77 and 62. An eagle nest? Well, last week I did see an eagle thermalizing above where I saw the nest yesterday. Since it's only five minutes from where I live, I decided to go check it out today.

I know some people get all upset when you post exact raptor nest locations on the Internet because the nests can be disturbed, but this pair of bald eagles are obviously not too worried about humans disturbing them. It's right on a street in a residential neighborhood and you can't see it, but to the right in the photo is a VERY busy highway. These birds made an informed decision to nest in a busy little neighborhood. Did I mention that this is adjacent to the Minneapolis/St Paul Airport? This is a busy and NOISY neighborhood.

With all the leaves off of the trees, the nest sticks out like a sore thumb, but once the buds leaf out, it will be well hidden. The nest is easily visible from the 5-8 Club (Home of the Juicy Lucy Burger) and from a church parking lot just across the street from the club. I digiscoped the above photo from the church parking lot, if you look close you can make out her yellow bill.

While I was there, the male flew in for a quick copulation (is there any other kind for eagles) and then perched for some preening. When I took this shot, a plane came in for a landing. Whoot.

Yeah, I think it's time to take the bald eagle off of the endangered species list.

If Clint Eastwood Were A Bird Watcher

Red-shouldered/Red-tailed Hawk Hybrid?

I lurk on a listserv that has a bunch of beyond hardcore birders fine tuning really tough bird identification issues. They mostly talk about gulls which makes my eyes glaze over, but last night an interesting little pickle came up.

A woman posted a link to a photo of a raptor that has been stumping Vermont birders as to whether it is a red-tailed hawk or a red-shouldered hawk. I just looked at the photo on that page and thought "red-tail" to myself and didn't dig any deeper. A few replied to her email to the list that it was a red-tail and started speculating on which sub species.

Then Sibley stepped in.

He dug further into the website and looked at this photo and this photo. I have to admit, the second photo is a bit more intriguing and I can see the features that would make someone think "red-shouldered hawk". Then, there is the link to the bird's call. That sounds like a red-shoulder to me. So, here is what Sibley had to say:

"What an interesting bird! While I had a momentary first impression of “western Red-tail” that was quickly dispelled as I looked at more details and I think this can only be a hybrid Red-tailed x Red-shouldered Hawk!

The pattern of orange breast with sparsely streaked and barred belly seems like a mixture of the two species and not normal for either, the posture and body shape in some photos looks like Red-tailed, in others like Red-shouldered, and several photos show clear reddish accents in the smaller wing coverts which is wrong for Red-tailed. I’m sure a careful analysis would reveal lots more “mixed” characteristics."

A hybrid red-tail and red-shoulder? Are you kidding me? Who knew? I'll be curious to see how this pans out. Boy, what I wouldn't give to get a feather off this bird to send in for some DNA analysis.

Disapproval Update

From my buddy Carrol Henderson...a disapproving viscacha.

"I don't approve of foreigner, not the band."

Now that is one dedicated friend, he went all the way to Peru to get me a special disapproval. Love you, Carrol! I'm not sure this is an official lagomorph, but it looks close enough to a rabbit to be considered for the blog.

In honor of the campaign to prevent people giving baby rabbits as Easter gifts (Cinnamon was an unwanted Easter gift that ended up at a Humane Society) I present My House Rabbit.com, a blog dedicated to educating and providing great info to current and potential rabbit owners. This is a site that I think Cinnamon would approve of and I tried to get a photo of her approval:

She didn't seem to hip to that idea. We tried bribing her with some bunny loving:

And this is as close to an approval as we're going to get. Look, she's kind of smiling...

Speaking of disapproval, Non Birding Bill just informed me that he has uploaded a new page of bunny disapproval! We're pretty jazzed at the moment, we saw some of the early pages of the Disapproving Rabbits book today--it's really going to be out this fall! Whoot!

Spring Movement

One of the more evil participants on our crane tour just emailed over this photo. On the ride home, I made a little nest for myself on the luggage and fell fast asleep. I was happily dozing when I heard, "whisper whisper...is she awake...whisper whisper...oh if only we could put this on her site..."

Now it all becomes clear...

Leave it to spring to get people excited about blackbirds! The red-wings are starting to descend on the feeding stations here in Minnesota. Yesterday was an insane 81 degrees in the Twin Cities. Above 80 in Minnesota in March--that was a record. Non Birding Bill and I took a walk around the neighborhood before his rehearsal and heard at least six species singing on territory: mourning dove, house finch, kestrel, cardinal, rock pigeon, and starling. There was one intrepid grackle giving it a try but his call was even squeakier and rustier than usual. They always sound like that when they first arrive in spring. I wonder if it's because of the journey or if it has just been several months since they've given that call? It sure is the equivalent of a bird cracking its voice.

I think this is my favorite nuthatch shot I've taken so far. I have no other reason for posting it, other than I thought it was cool. I'm having trouble thinking at the moment. We were incredibly busy at The Raptor Center this morning, it was non stop programs and tours. My final program was a very rowdy group of kindergartners. I'm bushed.

Hey, did anyone else see the corgi on Cute Overload this morning? I wonder if that's Phoebe, the Stokes' dog? If so, I'm very impressed.

Fox Sparrow Sunday

Well, Sunday was a free day since we came home early from the tour. It was an incredible 60 degrees in the Twin Cities in the morning, so what should I do with that free time--finish up an article that's due Monday for a friend who will be nameless or go birding...hmmm...birding....article...which to choose?

I went birding of course! And got some kick arse digiscoped photos of fox sparrows:

I ended up at the Minnesota Valley NWR. Oooooooo. Ahhhhhhhh. I love the above photo of the fox sparrow with the tiny morsel of food with a bit of dirt in its bill. How do these guys find anything edible?

There were at least six sparrows mixed in with a huge flock of juncos. All were a bit cagey, but after me standing still for a bit, got used to my presence. The fox sparrows were constantly kicking with their feet to move the leaves and other natural debris to get a s tasty seeds beneath.

For a brown bird, these sparrows really are very pretty and very striking. Well, I better get to work on finishing that article due Monday.

Saturday's Adventure

Saturday morning I woke up at 3am in my hotel room to the sound of rain beating a pipe outside my hotel room. "Wow," I thought to myself, "If this keeps up, there's no way we can watch prairie chickens this morning." I then rolled over and went to back to sleep.

Our plan had been to get up early and have breakfast, go to watch prairie chickens dance, meet Paul Johnsgard, confiscate Paul for a day of birding and then go watch cranes fly in during the evening on a friend's private property.

At 5:30 am it was still pouring raing and the weather forecast was bleak with a 90% chance of rain all day until 10pm. During breakfast Stan and I weighed our options. Stay and risk staying in the hotel all day or heading home. We opted for heading home.

We did have time to stop at Crane Meadows to meet Paul.

Here are Stan and Paul meeting for the first time. I was anxious for this to happen, I think both of them are the only two guys alive who have written the most books on natural history in North America.

And keeping with the glamour classification of the blog, I had to make sure to get in the middle and get my photo taken with Paul and Stan. Me sandwiched between two bird authors--my idea of heaven. I have said it before and I'll say it again, I love Paul Johnsgard. He was a tad under the weather and yet was happy to autograph books and answer questions from our group. Paul is a great public speaker, but I find I learn the most when just listening to him talk as he is sketching. Both Paul and Stan influence people with their writing. Stan's books get new people and kids excited about learning to identify birds, mammals and trees and Paul uses his books to educate people about the conservation of the prairie. I was honored to be the one introducing the two.

On the way home, I discovered a new use for my birdJam and iMainGo speaker: playing calls and having the group try to identify them. The speaker is loud out in the wild, but in a large vehicle, it was harder to hear it, I had to pass the speaker around for the group to hear the calls. It was still a good time.

I also rediscovered my love of the game euchre. We played for several miles and reminded me that I need to find some people to play with more often.

Friday Nebraska Adventures

So, Friday morning our group went to a crane blind at Rowe Sanctuary. They were kind enough to give our group our own blind that holds about 16 people so our group of 13 fit right in. It was a two story blind, people upstairs got to kind of look down on the cranes, while those on the floor got a head on view. I was on the bottom floor, above is the view from the window.

Here is the view of the cranes through the scope. The sandhill cranes use the Platte River as a roosting area at night during their spring migration. Our group watched about 17,000 - 20,000 cranes hanging outside of our blind.

During spring migration, cranes will paint themselves with mud, giving their feathers a rusty appearance. You can see on the bird above with wings outstretched, that it has already gotten underway in painting its plumage.

You do see some other birds on the river, like this greater yellowlegs pictured above. I'm calling this a greater yellowlegs because it was larger than the killdeer running around and because when it called it said, "you you you". Generally, lesser yellowlegs will only give a single "you" or a double "you you", while greater will give three or more. If you're Kevin Karlson, I'm open to other options on the id.

We also heard a great horned owl calling outside the blind. I did see a few red-winged blackbirds and wondered why they even bothered singing on territory since the din of 17,000 cranes tended to drown out their song.

Normally at a crane blind you sit in there for about an hour and a half to two hours and then they all fly off at once--a big noisy lift off and you can leave the blind. The cranes Friday morning were total slackers and we were there almost three hours and no lift off. Our volunteer guides let us vacate the blind and we thought the cranes would take off, but they didn't. Don't get me wrong, it was still very cool, but I was hoping our group would get to experience watching the several thousand cranes take off at once. Ah well, another adventure for another day.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous and I suspect the cranes we were watching were planning to take off and head north on Friday, so perhaps they were getting in a touch more rest? By mid afternoon the cranes were catching thermals overhead and the easiest way to watch them was to just lay on the ground. Temperatures in the sixties, bright sun, cranes flying overhead--what a great way to spend an afternoon.

Nebraska is still fairly dry and we had a tough time finding waterfowl in potholes as compared to previous years, but a visit to Prairie Dog Waterfowl Production area proved some great entertainment. We found loads of prairie dogs and some distant waterfowl including snow geese, pintails, shovelers, and greater-white fronted geese. Stan gave a great talk on prairie dogs and tried to get them to bark. All he got was the disapproving look above--I felt surprisingly at home.

There were quite a few killdeer running around amongst all the mounds. They both look so distrusting. I guess they have good reason--well, at least the prairie dog does. It's hard to find love for prairie dogs among ranchers. I don't know what the killdeer's excuse is.

One of the tour participants said that she was having a tough time getting a photo of a single crane. After going through my photos, I had to agree with her. I have the above shot thanks to some cropping. I took this shot on our way to Fort Kearney. We were going to the bridge to watch the cranes fly in.

The bridge was packed. Some of our group was there on Thursday and not many people were around, but Friday night the Kearney night life came out. Above is a group from a local school who are part of an after school/outdoor club. This trip had some fishing and crane watching.

One of the really fun and cool things about this group was the willingness to share bird information and to corrupt Nebraska youth towards birding. I let the kids borrow my binoculars and look through my scope. The guy pointing towards me is Howard, a tour participant who let the kids look through his scope.

Wow, I thought I was trendy with the digiscoping, but here Howard is helping a youth photograph cranes with a cell phone through his scope. Now that, my friends, is high tech. The kids got some great veiws of the cranes thanks to our optics. I'm grateful the local schools have these outdoor programs and hope the kids know how lucky they are to grow up with multitudes of cranes every spring. They seemed really excited.

Home a Day Early

Check out what I found for sale at Rowe Sanctuary:

Crane temporary tattoos! I wonder if my tatoo inspired it?

We did make the trip back on Saturday instead of Sunday. The group was very understanding about it, and we're going to try and find a way to make up the lack prairie chickens to them.

I'll post more later, I am starving and there's rumor of a black vulture near the Twin Cities metro area, I may go look for it after breakfast and then come back and post about our group's Friday adventures. It's weird...now that I think about it, we left Thursday, birded the heck out of Friday and came back Saturday--still feels like we were gone five days.

Rainy Morning Entry

Some random photos of cranes, because, hey, that's about all I got.

Sometimes you just can't help but take pride in your work--I had that moment in spades yesterday. I really enjoy leading bird trips, they are exhausting but it's so much fun. It's kind of like hosting a mobile party that lasts all weekend. Many people don't realize that bird identification is the smallest part of the job. A more important factor is customer service and anticipating the groups needs and being sensitive with their comfort. The number one priority is not the bird, it's food. People will be forgiving if a target bird doesn't show or if you were planning on seeing 600 swans and only 4 are present. They know that you cannot control the birds. However, you can control food and if you don't have enough and people get hungry. If they don't get fed soon they get hangry (deadly combo of hungry and angry).

Having led a fair share of birding tours of the years, I've picked up on some little tricks and tasks that need to be done. I usually lead tours with my friend Amber and she is the best organizer. We have our trips planned down to the minute. Doing this trip with Stan has been very different, he's very...shoot from the hip, keep the schedule flexible and just do whatever. I think we're making a good combo as I play Julie to his Gopher (yes, that was a Love Boat reference).

The breakfast situation on Friday morning was up in the air, I knew we were going to Perkins, they don't really do reservations and I wasn't sure of our exact arrival. We have to stay in the crane blind until all the cranes take off which can be anywhere from an hour to two hours. I did call Perkins last week and say "Hey, sometime between 8:30 am and 9:30 am nest Friday you will have a group of about 13 people come in for breakfast. I'll give you a call a half hour before we arrive so as not to overwhelm your staff."

They appreciated the heads up. Yesterday we left the blind, I called, they said the were ready. As soon as our group arrived we were whisked away to a table and the waitress was pouring the coffee--and they were busy too, almost all the tables were full. Just as the last of our group came in, another tour bus arrived with 21 people who had been to a crane blind and they were ready for breakfast--but the tour leader had not called ahead and they were turned away. I smiled to myself and thought "Amateurs." I pitied the tour guide, the bus was looking a little hangry and restaurant options for a large group with no reservations are tough. We've seen the group a few times and they've been having a few glitches here and there. Even if you get great birds, a hangry group can be brutal.

As I'm typing this, it's pouring down rain--the worst weather for bird watching on minimum maintenance roads. According to Weather Underground it's not going to stop until tonight. Prairie chickens are not Gene Kelly and will not be singin' and dancin' in the rain. We're contemplating canceling the dawn prairie chicken watch this morning and perhaps even heading back to Minnesota today instead of tomorrow. From my table in the hotel lounge I can see the group with the glitches loading onto their bus...surely they are not going out birding in this weather? Not only is it hard to see the birds, but the gravel roads are much too dangerous and slick. Another part of being a tour leader is to "know when to fold 'em" as Kenny Rogers is known to sing.

Lights Out in Twin Cities to Help Migratory Birds

From the Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Two downtown Minneapolis skyscrapers are the initial participants in a new project that will turn off lights to prevent birds attracted by the nighttime glow from crashing into tall buildings or circling them in a daze until falling.

The 57-story Wells Fargo Building and 33-story Accenture Buildings will turn off unneeded lighting during peak migration hours under the Lights Out Minnesota Project.

Most songbirds migrate at night. Although most manage to navigate around tall buildings and other hazards, millions die each year. Lights Out programs in Toronto, New York and Chicago have saved migratory birds, said Mark Martell, director of bird conservation for Audubon Minnesota.

"The Lights Out program costs building owners or managers little or nothing to implement and will save energy and money at the same time it saves birds," Martell said.

The Minneapolis and St. Paul Building Owners and Managers associations are encouraging members to sign on.

Citizens who want to help the effort can donate money to the Nongame Wildlife Program on their state tax forms, or they can volunteer to collect fallen birds to help experts assess mortality causes. For more information, call the state Audubon Society at 651-739-9332.

You can also watch a video of the segment at WCCO. If you or someone you know works in a tall office building please encourage them to get their building managers to join this effort to help birds on their way to their breeding grounds. Also if you work in either the Wells Fargo Tower, the Accenture Building or any skyscraper participating in the Lights Out campaign, it probably wouldn't hurt to tell them thank you.

Have We Seen Any Sandhill Cranes Yet?

In case you were concerned whether or not our group had seen any cranes yet, here is your answer:

Oh, just a few...thousand! Once we got past Grand Island, they were all over in the fields. The group was antsy for them too. I forget how exciting the multitude of sandhill cranes can be. I was assuming after our nine hour drive that the group would want to unwind at the hotel, but as soon as we started seeing cranes, no one was interested in checking in to the hotel, they wanted to just sit and watch and listen--I was the same way my first time too! So, stop and admire we did.

We stopped at Fort Kearney and found a large flock that was spooked into the air and looked like a cloud of smoke off in the distance--pure magic!

Another highlight in Nebraska for all the Minnesota birders was all the Harris sparrows mixed in with the juncos. Boy, you know it's a hardcore birding trip when people are excited about sparrows. I must admit, I do enjoy Harris sparrows. They always remind me of Bluto...or Pavarotti.

No Way, Wireless already at the Lunch Stop

We are stopping for lunch and I must say, we are seeing oodles of red-tailed hawks at least six of which are dark-morphs, mostly in Iowa. Red-tails seem to be one every 4.3 miles. It's gotta be some spring migration. Other highlights include merlins and meadowlarks--spring woot.

No cranes yet, but we won't see those until we're much closer to Kearney.

Oh and in case you have not heard, the long-whiskered owlet has been "rediscovered". There are photos and everything! This is a species that wasn't discovered until 1976, and until now was only known from a few specimens captured in nets after dark, has been seen in the wild for the first time by researchers monitoring the Area de Conservación Privada de Abra Patricia – Alto Nieva, a private conservation area in Northern Peru.

Off To Nebraska

At times like this getting up at 4:45am that I question why I do what I do. Is it really worth it? After some coffee--yes it is.

Off to drive our group to Nebraska for thousand cranes and to see the man who designed my crane tattoo. I should have wireless in the hotel so we should have some updates at night.

Star Tribune Noticing Nature Blogs

Props out to Gwen from Bird Brained Stories for getting a nod from the Minneapolis Star Tribune Web Search for cool nature blogs. She got a mention up there with Hilton Pond which is one of the best naturalist sites out there. Whoot! Go, Gwen!

Around the Apartment

"Someone is advertising to me??"

As I'm typing this, I am hearing a full thirty second commercial for wild bird food on the radio. That is a first in the Twin Cities. I've heard local garden companies and bird stores advertise their seed but never a wild bird seed company advertising their product. And the bird calls in the background were somewhat accurate. It's for Scotts Wild Bird Food--available at Walmart. This adds an interesting dynamic to wild bird specialty stores, this company is doing its best to give the appearance that they know what they are talking about, something that wild bird stores have to this point cornered the market on.

Well, I found the swallowtail chrysalis! It was on the side of the shriveled parsley. Right under my nose the whole time. From now on I will watch parsley plants more closely in the apartment...I wonder how many swallowtail eggs and caterpillars Cinnamon has unknowingly eaten?

My flying squirrels are wearing out their welcome. Up until last night I have always loved that they fly right to our bedroom window and purchase seed just for them. I've mentioned before that they have this high pitched bark that I can hear and Non Birding Bill cannot. I always felt a tad superior about this--I'm more in tune to the natural world. Last night, that ability completely bit me on the butt. At about two in the morning the squirrels started barking at each other. I went to the bedroom window and opened it, hoping that would scare them off--no! They just chirped more! ARGH--more irritating than a leaky faucet and snoring husband combined. Curse my ability to hear high pitched noises!! Perhaps we will be cutting back on the night time treats...

Meet Robops the Robo Falcon

From the BBC:

The city council is mounting a campaign to rid the city of the birds, which it says are being fattened up by the public feeding them leftovers.

Ten robotic birds of prey are being brought into the city centre to scare off the pigeons and visitors are being warned not to give them food.

The council wants to encourage the birds into parks and open spaces.

The mechanical birds - called "Robops" - are to sit on the roofs of buildings, and can be moved around.

They look like a Peregrine Falcon, which is a natural predator of pigeons, and even squawk and flap their wings to scare off the birds.

Councillor Berni Turner, Liverpool city council's executive member for the environment, said: "Feral pigeons are a real nuisance in the city centre, they fly up at people and they leave droppings everywhere which not only makes the city look really unattractive but can make surfaces slippery and dangerous.

"We need to get the message across that anyone who feeds the birds intentionally, or occasionally with leftovers such as sausage rolls or burgers, are responsible for our streets being so crowded with these birds."

The pigeons get bigger because their natural diet is seeds and insects, rather than high-fat junk food.

Councillor Turner said it is making them "overweight and gives them a scruffy, unhealthy appearance".

She added: "We want to be able to showcase our city centre in our birthday year and of course in 2008, so it's essential we tackle this issue now and educate members of the public that if there's no food, there'll be no pigeons."

The city council uses the equivalent of 88 man hours a day cleaning droppings from streets and buildings, at a cost of £160,000 a year.

I tried to find a video of the robo falcon in action at the Robop's website but there doesn't appear to be one. There is a dvd you can order, but nothing on the website yet. I love how the site bills it as "the world's first intelligent bird repelling system."

I tried You Tube for a video and didn't find this exact product but did find another robo falcon that does look like loads of fun for someone who would is interested in falconry but just can't get a bird at the moment:

Peregrines and Red-shouldered Hawks

A guy named Craig is starting a blog dedicated to his nesting red-shouldered hawks. A different take on a nest cam.

Peregrine battles are popping up all over. We had the one at the Riverside Cam and word at The Raptor Center today is that one heck of a battle happened yesterday in downtown Minneapolis. The females were going at it and were found fighting in the nest box at the Multifoods Tower. One female is banded and the other is unbanded. The banded female is Mendota who has a notorious history. In 1999 she ended up killing the resident female at the Colonnade in Minneapolis. The battle last over two and a half hours but she was the one who ended up taking over the nest. At this point it's not known who won the battle and we may not know right away. During the 1999 battle, the older female won the initial fight and chased Mendota off. She flew to the nest bloody and missing and eye. The next day she was found dead and Mendota took back control of the nest. Peregrine expert and ornithologist Bud Tordoff always said that Mendota may have lost that particular battle, but she won the war.

Mark Alt posted to the Minnesota listservs this link to another peregrine battle caught on camera in Pittsburgh. I think we'll be seeing more of these as space for nests runs out on buildings.

What Is My Bunny Singing?

"I disapproved myyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy way!"

Assembling the Hives

I'm starting this entry with the tufted titmouse photo above. Non Birding Bill really liked it (that's sayin' something). I set some mixed nuts in a tray of one of Mr. Neil's feeders and EVERYBODY flew in right away. The titmouse is contemplating the large Brazil nut. Look at the size of that food morsel! Alas, it is way to heavy for this mere titmouse to carry away in flight.

Today we decided to assemble our bee hives. The bees won't ship until late next month but that gives us plenty of time to prepare for their arrival. This gives me time to order anything that I discover is missing after assembly.

We were told that we are supposed to name our hives (with women's names) so NBB put together Olga...

While I put together Miss Kitty. Some readers my recall that I was thinking of using screws, but thanks to Old Drone's assurances we went with nailing the hives together and he was right, it was easy. The wood was soft and many of the nails were small so I didn't have much chance to smash my fingers.

We had to put everything together: the boxes, the floor, the top, the individual frames where the bees will build the comb for larvae and honey--ten frames for each box! It was tiring. The wax in each frame is there to encourage the bees to build their comb in an easy to access form so I can check the hive and partake of the honey.

Between frames I did sneak away to watch the birds...

The juncos sure were frisky. Lots of chirping and chasing while feeding. You could see pin feathers on some of them, I'm sure molting in fresh feathers for the breeding season was bringing on a surge of hormones in them. I enjoy their mechanical twitters in early, early spring.

"Ugh, I don't know if I'm in the mood for that much nut."

Another bird flies in to contemplate the Brazil nut. This black-capped chickadee gave it some serious thought, but instead went for half a pecan. A hairy woodpecker ended up flying away with the large prize nut.

We did finish both of our hives, and after assembly I realized that our starter kit only came with two brood boxes for each hive. The class that I took recommended that for over wintering bees in northern states that I should have a third brood box for each hive, so looks like I'll be doing a little ordering this week.

I have to admit, I was really not looking forward to assembling these, fearing it would be really complicated. I think this stems from having to assemble aluminum purple martin houses at the bird store. I hated those things! Don't get me wrong, I think aluminum martin houses can work well to attract martins, but assembling them is about as fun as stubbing all ten toes. You have to follow the directions EXACTLY and if you get something wrong at step five, you won't notice until step 487 when the roof won't line up with the box--and you have to take it apart and start over. Whereas with a bee hive, if you make a mistake or split the wood--the bees will just fill it with propolis.

Ah, martin house assembly is coming back to me now...ahhhh....I would always try to tell customers that it was important for them to assemble their own martin house so they could truly understand it and I also would lie and say how much fun it is to put together on a rainy Saturday afternoon.

Putting the hive together was much more simple and quite pleasant and I'm looking forward to assembling the third brood boxes.

Incidentally, if you're thinking of getting a purple martin house, get the plastic gourds, they are usually cheaper, are easy to snap together (if not already assembled at purchase), are more resistant to predators and save bird store employees (and you) hours of assembly grief.

Et Tu, Attenborough?

So, we loved Life of Birds so much that we rented Life of Mammals from Netflix. Life of Birds was so accurate. As we are watching a segment on pikas, David Attenborough just mentioned that eagles are a predator. As soon as he said the word "eagle" a red-tailed hawk cry was dubbed over.

Big sigh of disappointment.

MEOW! Saucer of Milk to Table 2

Some catching up: DK and the Fluffies won the owl caption contest with "Yes, damn it, we are having rodent for dinner again tonight and until you can flap your a** out of this damn nest and get your own damn food, I'm not having any more whining from you! *snap*"

Sorry I fell behind on that one, I blame the bee class. Email your snail mail to me.

Okay, a BIG FAT thank you to Veronica B in SoCal for bringing this to my attention:

Okay, to the untrained non birder eye, this might look like bird "marital relations" but it is quite the opposite. This is an all out peregrine falcon territory battle happening at the Riverside Falcon Cam. You can view all of the photos at the website, but you will need to scroll down to March 11, 2007.

You'll note in all the fight photos that the raptors are keeping their heads back and their feet forward. On raptors, the feet are the business end of the bird, they are strong and sharp. The goal is to kill or severely disable your opponent--aim for the eyes with the toes. The eyes are the last thing raptors want destroyed on their body--they can't see to hunt or defend the territory. That's why people who work with birds of prey and have them sitting on the fist aren't worried about being bit. Raptors don't want to use their bills as a primary weapon, they want to keep their eyes away from any potential danger. By bringing their face close to your face to bite you, they risk bringing their eyes closer to a dangerous situation. It's much safer for them to use their talons.

Speaking of fights, I go out today for awhile and when I come back home all heck is breaking loose on the birding blogosphere. Laura Erickson has left binoculars.com and started her new (temporary) blog here. I had a link earlier to her notice of resignation that was up at the old blog, but it has been taken down. Mike has a copy of the original notice up on his blog. I'm sure Laura will come out on top when the dust finally settles. If you're worried and want to help her, you can always purchase a copy of one of her books--even if you already have one, purchase another and gift it to a school, your senator, or library.

If you're looking for a place to purchase binoculars, I still recommend my former employer Eagle Optics. Their record for giving back to the birding community and funding for conservation programs speaks for itself. There's even quite a bit that they do that no one ever hears about. Early on in the current war in Iraq, Dan Hamilton (the owner) read about an army unit that had really poor binoculars among the many hardships they were enduring. He sent the whole unit new optics. It didn't make the papers. Just one of the many interesting facets of Dan Hamilton.

Swallowtail Shots

Well, our little swallowtail has gone to that big field in the sky. The other wing ripped this morning and we put it down. I did some great macro photos of it yesterday. In the above photo, you can see the shriveled remains of the right wing that didn't develop well in the chrysalis.

It was fun to have a chance to get some macro photos of it. Here you can even see it pooping/excreting something. How do butterflies do it? They even make the act of pooping look dainty and artistic.

You might notice some liquid int he flowers above. Hyacinths aren't that nectar rich--we tried to feed it by putting drops of nectar and juice from a fresh orange into the flowers. Above you can see the butterfly using its proboscis to search out nectar.

Mmmm, it found some tasty nectar. Watch it slurp!

It really dug the freshly squeezed orange juice even more than the home made nectar. I wasn't sure about the nectar, I've read so many different formulas for butterfly nectar: 10 parts water to 1 part sugar, 4 parts water to 1 sugar (aka hummingbird nectar), equal parts water and sugar. I made equal parts first and the swallowtail ignored it. It did sip a little of the hummingbird ratio nectar though.

All the macro photos were taken with the Nikon Coolpix 4500.

Peregrines Setting Up Shop

I was running some errands yesterday and I drove by the Colonnade on 394 & 100 to see if the peregrines were setting up shop and yes they were. Do you see them in the above photo? There are two.

One of the birds was perched on the ledge where the actually nest box is. This was a tired bird who kept dozing as I was taking photo.

This bird was on the ledge on the other side of the corner. I like how you can see its reflection in the office windows. That means it's time to start watching all the falcon cams out there. I tend to watch the Xcel Falcon cams since those are birds in my area, but you can check Beak Speak for a list of all the cams in your area.

Yo, mom, here is the link for the Indianapolis Star peregrine cams.

Interesting...

Looks like BirderBlog will be nesting in a different territory...

Upcoming Trips

Hey, what happened to the links on the side? I have switched to a blog roll format, I want to avoid having a list three pages long of blog links. If you don't see your blog there, try refreshing it and it should show up. We'll be adding to the list so keep your eye to it, you may see a new blog.



Good grief, Stan is keeping me busy this spring! I'll be doing all sorts of programs for him. Above is the Looking For Mr. Woodcock Video that Non Birding Bill and I made. I've had some emails asking about a woodcock trip this spring and yes, we will be doing one. Here is the list of what I'm doing for the Eden Prairie Outdoor Center:

April 7, 2007 6pm - Dance of the Woodcock (we'll be looking for dancing woodcocks)
May 5, 2007 10am - Basics of Birding By Ear (good for kids from 8 and up)
May 12, 2007 8am - Bluebird Trail (we'll go check out some bluebird nest boxes--bring a camera!)
June 30, 2007 8am - 2pm - Birding in Dakota County--species we'll watch for include dickcissel, bald eagle, Swainson's hawk, clay-colored sparrows, and waterfowl.
July 7, 2007 10am - Monarch Ranching! (learn how to look for monarch butterfly eggs and caterpillars and raise them until they emerge from the chrysalis ready to fly south).

Call the City of Eden Prairie for pricing and making reservations: 952-949-8479.

By the way, if there is a class or workshop or birding field trip you would like to take, please offer a suggestion and we might do it in the future.

Cardinals and Owls

I have not found the chrysalis of the swallowtail butterfly in my apartment, but I did find a bunch of frass on the kitchen widow frame around a very dried out parsley plant. The plant had been chewed down to mostly nubs by Miss Cinnamon and I am sure that this was a wayward caterpillar that came in on some grocery store parsley and found its way to the dried pot. I wonder if I will ever find the chrysalis? Based on the frass it managed to live on the dwindling parsley in the window. I feel bad that I never noticed it.

I had a meeting with Stan at Staring Lake Nature Center for our trip to go see sandhill cranes in Nebraska next week. I got there an hour early to do some digiscoping in the evening light.

There was a small flock of cardinals hanging around the bird feeders. I was surprised that the males were still tolerating each other and not more territorial, but I suppose we have a few more weeks of winter left. This bird popped up when I whistled a cardinal call.

Even some of the female cardinals popped up to check out my calls. I either have mad skills in speaking the cardinal language or I said something really offensive.

Stan told me that he has a great horned owl nesting nearby--right along one of the trails. He pointed it out and I set the scope up on it. The owl nest is in the center of the red circle above. It's a great horned owl that took over an old crow nest.

Here is what she looks like through the scope. As people arrived for the meeting I had them look through. It was almost like a magic eye puzzle trying to make her out from all the branches. People would look through and say, "Well, I see a bunch of sticks...oh, OH! I see her!"

This bird made an informed decision, it nested right on a well used trail (even in winter) near a parking lot. So much for owls being skittish at the nest.

And now for some light reading...

Non Birding Bill picked me up a boxed set of Casino Royale from Target that includes a booklet on the making of the movie. I'm not kidding when I say light reading--it's all photos. Mostly of Mr. Craig, but a few to make it more artistic, like a photo of Dame Judy Dench. You know, to make it classy and not just about beefcake.

Birds Have Beak Sensors

"I do??"

Birds may be able to fly vast distances without getting lost because of sensors in their beaks, according to a study on Wednesday.

German scientists said they found tiny iron oxide crystals in the skin lining of the upper beak of homing pigeons, laid out in a three-dimensional pattern that might help the birds to read the earth's magnetic field.

"The study suggests that the birds sense the magnetic field independent of their motion and posture and thus can identify their geographical position," publisher Springer said of the report in the journal Naturwissenschaften.

Scientists have long wondered how birds find their way, often migrating over thousands of miles to find the same tree.

Read the rest of the story here.

Some Days Woodpeckers Just Crack Me Up

What this downy woodpecker is thinking: "Dude, she totally can't see me. I'm blending so well and as soon as she leaves I will have first dibs on the mixed nuts. I am so smart!"

Unexpected House Guest

This morning as I was making breakfast, a blob crawling slowly on the floor of the kitchen startled me. It was misshapen and moving slowly. After a minute, I finally realized that is was some sort of butterfly dragging its wings. I picked it up and put it on a hyacinth I purchased two days ago.

The bottom half of the right wing is severely shriveled, it looks like something went wrong in the chrysalis. It looks to me like a black swallowtail (but I am happy to defer to a butterfly expert) and it's a tad early for these guys to be out and about in Minnesota. I wonder if this guy came in as a caterpillar on one of the many parsley plants or carrot tops we bring home for Cinnamon and made a chrysalis under our table or on our curtains? I'll have to do some investigating in the kitchen to see if I can find the chrysalis.

In the meantime I made up some butterfly nectar and left it on a Q-Tip in the flowers and left out a few pieces of banana for it to nectar on.

I swear this blog isn't going to the insects--more bird stuff soon.

Dave Ahlgren, A Man Who Made A Difference with Birds

The birding community has lost one very valuable member and a life example of one person making a difference. Dave Ahlgren has died. I am not very eloquent at summing up a person's life when they are gone, but Carrol Henderson from the MN DNR who knew Dave very well has done a wonderful job and included the photos:

Good morning. I thought you would want to know that Minnesota's bluebirds, trumpeter swans, the Nongame Wildlife Program staff, and I, among many others, lost a very special friend yesterday. Dave Ahgren passed away after a long and courageous battle with prostate cancer. Dave was one of those "once in a lifetime" personal and professional friends who epitomized the "bluebird of happiness" that he did so much to help. I guess you could say he was the "Dave of Happiness."

I first met Dave in about 1982 when I was working on revising my old eight-page Birdhouses in Minnesota booklet and developing it into the first "Woodworking for Wildlife" book. I had learned about Dave's carpentry skills when he was a volunteer at the Minnesota Zoo. I had asked him if he would be willing to review some of the birdhouse designs that had been proposed by various "experts" for the various species involved like purple martins, bluebirds, and wood ducks. He didn't like the designs...they looked like they had been designed by a biologist. He suggested improving the designs by eliminating as many angled cuts as possible, and converting many of the plans into a simple "one-board" design. It was a stroke of genius that laid the groundwork for one of the most successful birdhouse books in the country.

When I wanted to expand our Nongame Wildlife Program's bluebird conservation efforts statewide at the urging of Dick Peterson, I decided that we needed bluebird workshops in each of our six DNR regions. I figured that we needed one hundred Peterson bluebird houses to distribute to the workshop participants. I called Dave and asked if he could make some bluebird houses for the Nongame Wildlife Program. He said "sure." Then he said, "How many?" When I said 600, I recall there was a temporary silence; then Dave said "sure." Those initial workshops helped give rise to the Bluebird Recovery Program which is now looked on as one of the most successful in the nation. Since learning how to make Peterson bluebird houses in quantity, Dave has cut out about 80,000 bluebird houses. Everywhere I go in Minnesota, there are Peterson bluebird houses--probably made by Dave. I think we have more nest boxes per mile of highway than any other state in the nation. Dave has made a difference.

When I began planning the Minnesota trumpeter swan restoration project in the early to mid '80s, I told Dave that I was planning to go to Alaska to get eggs from swan nests in central Alaska. I had countless people offer to be a volunteer assistant on those trips, but Dave had a special advantage. He was a pilot for Northwest Airlines and he knew the vice-president, Bill Wren. He was able to get first class seats, for the comfort of the eggs, of course. In June of 1986, 1987, and 1988, Dave and I made trips to central Alaska with US Fish and Wildlife Service pilot Rod King to collect swan eggs. What great adventures! Dave was an invaluable partner as we collected eggs. At the research cabin on Minto Lake, he boiled water to put in hot water bottles to keep the eggs warm as we collected them. On one occasion when Dave was with Rod and I to collect eggs, we landed on a small lake, taxied to the nest, and we got the eggs. Meanwhile the wind died. Rod backed us up to one shore and attempted to take off, but as we reached the other end of the lake, the plane failed to break free from the surface tension of the water, and he shut the plane down. We thudded into the opposite shore. We tried again; with the same results. Then he explained that this lake had changed from a three-person lake to a two person lake and that one of us had to go. I lost. Rod dropped me off with a sack lunch on a tiny island in the middle of the lake and explained that I should be safe from the bears there. Just before they taxied off, Dave threw me a sleeping bag, and I remember Dave's big grin as they departed. Rod did manage to find me again.

Anyway, Dave helped collect the Trumpeter Swan eggs, and he helped with the swan releases at the Tamarac National Widlife Refuges. In more recent years, he and Jan have made regular trips to Monticello to see the growing flock of trumpeter swans at the home of Jim and Shiela Lawrence. He was, once again, an integral part of a great wildlife success. Wildlife conservation is a long term, lifelong commitment, and Dave saw this project through from its beginnings to the wonderful success that it is today.

When I got the idea to do a book on bird feeding, Wild About Birds, who did I see but Dave. He had some great ideas on some very functional and easy-to-build bird feeders. The "Wild About Birds" book has much of Dave in it. He knew what worked, and he was happy to share his ideas with others. Dave was a very common-sense type of person who interspersed every conversation with abundant smiles and nonstop humor. He was uplifting to all who knew him.

Dave and Jan believed in practicing wildlife conservation around their own home. They have lots of bird feeders with lots of bird traffic, along with a few deer and other assorted critters. And their tree, shrub, and flower plantings are a model for the concept of "Landscaping for Wildlife." In fact, Rebecca Kolls did one of her television shows at Dave and Jan's home a couple years ago featuring the landscaping for wildlife theme. Dave became a regular TV personality. There were other programs on his bluebird accomplishments featured on KARE-11 TV with interviews by Ken Speake. He was also a recipient of the "Eleven Who KARE" awards because of his volunteer efforts to help bluebirds.

Dave was a continuing inspiration throughout the 25 years that I knew him, and hopefully I can continue to pass on that uplifting lifestyle to others. His unselfish manner, humility and vast knowledge were also special because he was so dedicated to helping wildlife. I gave him his own carousel with our DNR bluebird conservation program and he did many seminars and programs for civic groups and school children throughout the metro area.

Dave was a pilot. He knew the beauty of flight, and he made a difference in helping put wild birds like swans and bluebirds back in the sky that had been missing for many years. The bluebirds should be back any day now. Each returning bluebird is an opportunity remember Dave's legacy and to realize that we each have an opportunity to be an inspiration to others and to make a difference for wildlife. As for Dave, I shall be checking for any cedar sawdust sifting down from above. I'm sure he has already checked to see if they have a really nice woodshop in Heaven where he can make some Peterson bluebird houses for Heaven's backyard.

Me Want Spring Now!

"Dude, hold your horses, I'm molting as fast as I can!"

Note all the little pin feathers on this goldfinch's head--it's going full force for the breeding plumage--sign of spring.

Holy Mackerel! When I came home from beekeeping class followed by a Hera concert (loves me some Icelandic folk music) I found tons of messages on the Minnesota bird listserv on signs of spring--especially early migrants. People are seeing meadowlarks, killdeer, bluebirds and...brace yourself...grackles! Yo, if you are not keen on grackles and you want to try and avoid them, now is a good time to start switching one of your feeders to all safflower to give the other birds a chance to acclimate to it.

Today we learned about honey and wax extraction in beekeeping class. Yum. I also learned that among the beekeeping community "raw" is a four letter word when used in advertised honey. I have mentioned before that I am a fan of Really Raw Honey. Many in the bee keeping world aren't too pleased with honey being called advertised as raw, because all honey is raw. Also, there is some resentment that honey with visible wax, propolis, bee parts, etc. being advertised as raw and charged a premium is selling poorly filtered honey at an outrageous price. I don't care about the "raw" issue, I just really like the way Really Raw Honey tastes--it doesn't have that weird after taste that you find with liquid honey. I also really like the thick, creamy consistency of Really Raw Honey and wanted to know how to encourage my bees to create a thick honey. Apparently, it has to do more with the types of flowers than any kind of processing. One of the instructors told me that the bottom line is that the honey that comes from my own hives will taste better than any other honey I ever purchase because I helped create it. Makes sense.

This whole bee thing is fascinating. They are not native to North America, they were introduced. They evolved for pollinating Europe and Africa. We have hummingbirds in North and South America for our pollinating which they don't have in Europe in Africa. Honey bees really like to pollinate exotic plants (plants geared and evolved for attracting insect pollinators like bees) and that can be a problem. I actually found places on the Internet advertising Loosestrife Honey. If you don't know the woes of Purple Loosestrife, read about it here. We go to great lengths to cultivate the non native honey bee because it is an important part of our economy--it is illegal to set up a hive without arranging the frames in just the right way in order to prevent the spread of diseases. Coming from a birding background where non natives tend to be bad news, this whole bee attitude kind of throws me for a small loop. Imagine of house sparrows and starlings produced some kind of sweet edible liquid...

At any rate, I have my certificate and feel ready for the challenge of beekeeping this spring and summer. If you are remotely interested in beekeeping, I highly recommend the University of Minnesota's short course on beekeeping. The class had about 100 people and they were from as far as Vermont to take part. They do a good job of walking you through your first year and give you some great literature to get you started. I can't wait until the end of April when we get our two packages of bees!

Lead Poisoning--Eeep!

Remember all those dead birds that turned up mysteriously in Australia not too long ago? Turns out the culprit was lead poisoning. That's certainly not good news for the birds, and is very bad news for the resident of the town.

From ABC News Online:

Esperance MLA Graham Jacobs is calling for the town's port to halt its lead handling operations until the source of the lead, which is believed to be responsible for the deaths of thousands of birds, is found.

The Department of Environment has been investigating since birds began dying at the start of the year and announced late last week it was likely to be due to lead poisoning from the south-eastern Western Australian port's activities.

The department directed the port to increase its air monitoring, but Dr Jacobs, who is a medical doctor, says a more drastic measure must be taken for the safety of residents.

"I know that lead, we can't muck around with if you like, it's quite a serious heavy metal, if it is actually causing the death of the birds then we need to think about community and our children," he said.

The Esperance Port Authority says it will work with the Department of Environment and the local shire to determine the source of the lead.

Chief executive Colin Stewart says although the port has not been directly identified as the source, it will still conduct a major review of its operations.

He has also asked the lead exporter to review its operations.

Help A Teen Advance In Birding

Here's another bright spot the future of birding from Fox 21 News in Colorado Springs:

Local Teen Going To Compete In National Bird Watching Competition:

Under the road and between the trees, away from the hustle and bustle of city streets nature lives and breathes, waiting to entertain those with a keen eye.

"It is kind of relaxing and entertaining to watch birds and it is interesting," Saraiya Ruano said.

Ruano has a passion for bird watching. Last year she was named the "Young Birder of the Year" by the American Birding Association. Now she is headed to Texas to compete in a national competition.

"It is a 24 hour birdathon, it is also called a 'big day' and you are competing against other national organizations to see the most species," Ruano said.

Ruano and her three teammates will begin at midnight and end 24 hours later. Every bird she hears or sees will be documented in her field notebook.

"All team members have to hear or see the bird for them to count," Ruano said.

Ruano encourages more students to get involved with bird watching. She says birds can teach people more about nature.

"Birds are environmental indicators so they tell you a lot about the environment," Ruano said.

With spring and summer right around the corner Ruano says the birds will begin to appear in greater numbers, something she is looking forward to.

Ruano is helping raise money and awareness for the American Birding Association. The money will go towards public outreach and education for young birder's conferences. If you would like to pledge log onto their website.

All pledges made in Ruano's name will help her win a free trip to the next birding conference.

Hey, gang, if any of you have a spare dollar or two, why don't you drop it to the ABA in her name?

Another Break

You know what's fun? That bee people really aren't that different than bird people. During the bee class there's been a guy behind me answering questions loud enough for all in the immediate area to hear. He hasn't raised any bees but has read so much, he is an expert (his words, not mine).

So, we're at another break in the bee class so I thought I would catch up on the doin's that transpired at Carpenter banding yesterday.

It was a veritable junco 'sploxion. we trapped and banded a ton yesterday. And they were a little chirpy. I wonder if the warmer weather was stimulating them? They will be heading north soon.

We didn't have the mist nets up, only the Potter's traps to get smaller birds. Somehow this female mourning dove lumbered her way in. Interesting: you can sex mourning doves in hand by checking their neck. If there is quite a bit of iridescent rosy pink the bird is male. If there is mostly tan coloration then it is female. She had mostly tan on her neck.

After banding, it was so warm out I couldn't just go home and decided to head down to Red Wing to take a quick look at eagles. I passed a bank sign that said the temperature was 47 degrees. I ditched my coat, gloves, earmuffs and scarf and wandered around the marina.

The warm weather was helping the eagles feel the love and there was some flirting going. Above are two eagles on the same branch. That's the raptor equivalent of second base. There is a nest at the marina and I did see an eagle sitting inside the nest.

Many were across the marina, but a few lurk in the trees right over the walking path at Colville Park, fairly oblivious to humans. That's what I love about this area, these eagles are not delicate flowers to be given distance. They see the humans, they get what we're about and they will hang out fairly close to us. Heck, they nest right off of highways and here at the marina with high boat traffic. These birds made an informed decision and will nest in an open area, easy for humans to watch and enjoy. Raptors nests aren't always as fragile as some would like you to think.

While at the park an eagle picked off a large fish, probably a carp. As soon as it landed in the tree all the other dozens of eagles in the trees were screaming and squeaking. I'm not sure if they are saying, "Way to go, dude, nice catch!" or they are saying, "Aw man, I'm so hungry. It's not fair, I was thinking of going for that fish."

While this guy was eating, another eagle came over to check out the situation (above).

This eagle was really, really interested on watching the other eagle eating its fish.

It kept looking down at its toes. Our eagles at the Raptor Center do that all the time. I wasn't sure if this bird was watching fish bits fall and debating with itself if it would be worthwhile to go get them or if it was hoping that at some point a fish would magically appear in its talons.

Breaks over.

Bee Class

Wireless! Whoot!

We're taking a break in the bee class. I just learned something fascinating! Nectar rich plants for hummingbirds won't do much for our hive. Bees do not recognize the color red and the plants that work to attract hummingbirds aren't as easily accessible to bees. Honey bees are very attracted to yellow, which is one of the reasons why yellow flower feeding ports are no longer recommended for hummingbird feeders.

I have to say, the class is huge! It looks like there are about a hundred people in here.

Not Bird or Bunny Related

God Bless Cute Overload (my favorite site on the Interweb) for bringing our attention to this most awesome video on You Tube! Make sure to have the sound up so you can hear it with the music--excellent use of the Dance Macabre.

Save this in your bookmarks for days when you are in desperate need of a chuckle:

Signs of Spring

So I headed out to Mr. Neil's today to check out our bees supplies. They have been shipped, sans bees (we won't get those until April) but I tried on some of the gear and looked over the hives. They need to be put together, which looks like it's going to be an all day project that I will put off until next week. The instructions say that I am to use nails to put the hive together, but I'm wondering if I can use screws instead? I like screws because A. I have a tendency to split wood and put nails in crooked when using a hammer and B. I tend to smash my finger tips. Plus, who doesn't love using a power screw driver?

Mr. Neil's yard had ample helpings of snow, but if I aimed my camera just right I could get photos that reminded me of summer. Check out this tufted titmouse, that background could pass for green summer foliage. The weather today was terrific, a perfect day to play in snow. It was in the forties and bright and sunny. These are the times when we think, "Wow, winter really isn't that bad!"

Because of Non Birding Bill's rehearsal schedule I haven't been out and tending to the bird feeders as often as I usually do. When we arrived, I swear the birds recognize our vehicle and started swarming the feeders. This bird in the tree (above) caught my eye, I haven't seen one since last winter. This is the female of the species, can you guess what she is? Here's the male:

Purple finches! Early on in my birding career I was just frustrated trying to tell purple finches and house finches apart, but now I just know them as soon as I see them. Female purple finches always look like mini female rose-breasted grosbeaks to me.

The finches were just a delight. They were all over the sunflower chips. Look at this guy above, you can see some of his yellow starting to come in--breeding plumage--whoot!

On this little dude you can see the black cap starting to come in on top. It's weird, these are one of our latest nesters. Goldfinches don't get busy with the eggs until July but they start getting patches of their breeding plumage in February. By July, some house finches will be contemplating a third brood for the summer.

I finally get to go back to banding tomorrow--it's been weeks between snow storms and my travel schedule. And then this weekend it will be off to a weekend course in beginning bee keeping.

Per advice from the comments section, we have named the hives after two other friends that were visiting at Mr. Neil's today: Kitty and Olga. I wonder which will be the better honey producer? I just hope I don't kill them.

And Yet Another Contest

Things are looking dire at the Valmont Owl Cam. If you haven't noticed, in the last few days the female has been shirking her incubation duties. Here's some discussion over at Schmoker's Blog about it.

Fortunately, the live owl video is still going strong. Non Birding Bill captured this shot yesterday:
I think this calls for a caption contest! I'm not at home at this moment, so I'm not sure what the prize will be, probable suet or an optics cleaner. The caption that makes me laugh out loud and has a name or identity attached to it in the comments section wins. You can still place a caption even if you don't want to win the prizes. You guys are a most creative group.

Woodpeckers and Concentration

As gonzo as I am over the whole digiscoping thing, I find that I am going to have work on my awareness abilities when focusing on a view finder. The following series of photos inspired the last contest.

I was focusing on this downy woodpecker at a suet feeder, concentrating hard between frames to keep the swinging feeder in focus.

After I took the above image and the camera processed it, I was suddenly surprised by this in the view finder: A hairy woodpecker and a red-bellied woodpecker. I had no idea a red-bellied was in the vicinity until it popped on the view finder. Hmm, what going to happen during warbler season if I'm intently trying to focus on a black and white warbler...what if I miss a blackburnian warbler. I'm going to need to learn how to use the Force a little better and be more aware of the birds around me.

Anyway, as I was snapping these photos that's when I got the red-bellied sliver.

Bird Identification Contest

Remember the evil eye contest?

I thought this was a tough contest but Non Birding Bill got it on the first guess. The prize is a green Leupold tote bag with a meadowlark on it and a bag of veggie suet pellets.

First correct identification with a name/identity attached in the comments section wins the prize.

Apiary vs Aviary

"Hmm, I don't think I should approve of this."

A play taking place in an office in an old farm house starring me, Non Birding Bill, Mr. Neil, and Mr. Neil's personal assistant Fabulous Lorraine:

Birdchick: Bees are just fascinating! I love reading about hive management.

Mr. Neil: I've always thought that my plum trees would actually have fruit if I had some bees to pollinate them.

Non Birding Bill: Hey, what bird is that outside?

Fab Lorraine: Neil, don't forget about that deadline, maybe you should go out to the gazebo and work.

Birdchick: That's a nuthatch, dear. You know, I've always wanted to try bee keeping when we move out of our apartment.

Non Birding Bill: No, hey, look out here at this really weird bird. Over here, honey.

Mr. Neil: Me too! I've always wanted to have a bee hive here.

Fab Lorraine & Non Birding Bill: You're both too busy!

Mr. Neil: What if we kept bees here and you came and took care of them, and I could help when I'm in town.

Fab Lorraine & Non Birding Bill: (imagine moving in slow motion) Nooooooooooooooooooo!

Birdchick: I bet between both our travel schedules we could do this.

Non Birding Bill: No! What will happen is you both will be out of town at the same time and there will be some kind of bee emergency and I'll have to take care of it, no. No no no no no no no!

Mr. Neil: I know the perfect spot to keep the hive over where we went owling a few winters ago.

Birdchick: That is a perfect spot!

Fab Lorraine: I am NOT helping with this at all!

Birdchick: There is a great weekend class we can take in March at the University of Minnesota that tells us how to keep bees!

Mr. Neil: Let me show you some useful websites.

End Scene

And so this summer I get to realize my dream of keeping an apiary! I'm taking a weekend course in bee keeping this weekend, whoot! We've got our bees ordered, they will arrive in mid-April which means no ABA Convention for me this year (which is okay I wasn't that excited about going to Louisiana).

I promise that this won't be the bee chick blog but there probably will be one or two posts relating to our bee hive enterprises. I think we'll survive this, I've blogged about Monarch Ranching before.

Cowbird Mafia

From the Chicago Tribune:

Gangsters in the nest: When birds go bad By Charles Leroux
Tribune senior correspondent
Published March 5, 2007

Jeffrey P. ("J. Edgar") Hoover and Scott K. ("Edward G.") Robinson are ornithologists. Those nicknames aren't really theirs, but it seemed fitting to invoke the legendary head of the FBI and an actor famed for gangster portrayals.

That's because the two scientists have discovered that some birds go bad in a most "Sopranos" way.

They explain this in a paper titled, "Retaliatory Mafia Behavior by a Parasitic Cowbird Favors Host Acceptance of Parasitic Eggs," (available at the National Academy of Sciences online edition). Their research concluded that cowbirds, members of the cuckoo family (whose isn't?), can become enforcers in their neighborhoods.

"We did the work in the Cache River watershed in southern Illinois," Hoover, who works at the Illinois Natural History Survey housed at the University of Illinois, said in a phone interview. "We put up half-gallon milk and fruit juice containers for the prothonotary warblers to nest in."

"Prothonotary" comes from scribes who wore yellow -- somewhat like these warblers -- robes and hoods. Think of the warblers as innocent neighborhood family folk. The cowbirds are the goons who collect protection payments.

"The brown-headed cowbird," Hoover said, "is a brood parasite. It lays its eggs in warbler nests so the warbler will raise its chicks. The question was why would a bird raise chicks so obviously not their own?"

The answer turns out to be old-fashioned intimidation -- wreck the place, kill the kids. The warblers who reject the cowbird eggs soon learn to ask themselves, "Do I feel lucky?"

The ornithologists found that 56 percent of the nests of warblers who refused the cowbird eggs were destroyed by the cowbirds. The warblers who meekly accepted the eggs that weren't their own suffered retaliation only 6 percent of the time.

The enforcers always were females -- goon-ettes if you will. Sometimes they would wreck a nest and steal the eggs before attempting to place eggs there. The tactic is called "farming" and forces warblers to rebuild, giving the cowbirds nice new nests to invade. Fully 85 percent of rebuilt warbler nests ended up hosting cowbird eggs.

One more thing. If you are with the cowbird anti-defamation league, don't blame the messenger.

The Cockatiel Diva

"I don't approve of amateurs! I should be on tv!"

Today was quite the Monday.

You know, I just don't lose it on tv very often, but today was the day. I think the last time I got this flustered and was laughing uncontrollably was the mouse incident several years ago (I was cleaning out a bird house and three deer mice shot out during live television).

I had a Showcase Minnesota segment on pet birds and though not my main passion, it is something I can talk about and direct people to some great resources. I thought I would take our cockatiel, Kabuki. As I have said before, Kabuki is bonded to Non Birding Bill and sees me as competition for his affection. However, when we are out of the house he's much friendlier to me because I am a recognizable member of his flock.

Kabuki was well behaved and was content to sit on my shoulder. I tested him out around the cameras before our segment and the first time one of them moved it startled him but once he got used to the movement he was fine.

We started the segment and all was going well. Now, our bird has a loud tinnitus inducing warning call that he gives when he hears a blue jay or a Menard's jingle (what can I say, banjos set him off). Rob and I got into the topic and just when I was going to talk about why birds don't always make the best pets, someone coughed in the back of the studio and Kabuki went wild. Rob and I tried to continue, but the bird was sounding an ear-splitting warning and was not going to be stopped. I just started laughing and Rob started cracking jokes. Thank goodness I didn't take live phone questions today. I've had crank callers, challenging questions and flappy birds happen live on air and I've been able to deal with it all, but this just got me the giggles and I couldn't stop--I really couldn't see the point in trying to out talk a loud squeaky bird.

Round about the last thirty seconds of the segment Kabuki calmed down and we got a few more words in. Afterwards the crew was laughing and said my bird could come back any time. He was a good reminder that no matter how in control we think we are, animals can put us all in our place and just take control of a segment and take it in a whole new direction you weren't expecting.

When I arrived there was a guy dressed like Don Johnson from Miami Vice (note photo above) with a British accent. He had sunglasses on and was filming a tease for his segment. When he saw me with a bird on my shoulder he asked if I was a pirate. He had a small entourage and with the accent and tacky clothes I thought to myself, "Oh man, what 80's wash up did they get for this morning?"

I asked the producer who he was and she said that he was the owner of Restaurant Miami. This is just a few blocks from where we live and we were wondering when they were going to finish construction and be open . The owner was a hoot! He did his whole segment in character just oozing good old 1980's shmarm with quotes like:

"I miss America when it was at it's best, nothing but lots of money, bigger, powerful, that's what my place is all about!"

or

"I've lived in Minnesota for the last 20 years so I'm very qualified to open Restaurant Miami."

I think I sense a girls' night out coming on!

Showcase Minnesota March 5, 2007

February was (pet) bird month (and rabbit month and bird feeding month and etc). The producers of Showcase Minnesota asked that I talk about some resources for pet birds. These are handy in case you find a pet bird at my feeder. I personally have had three parakeets and two cockatiels show up in all the years I've been feeding birds. The few I was able to get indoors were great pets.

Here are the groups that I talked about today on KARE 11's Showcase Minnesota.

Parrot Adoption Education Program, 763-780-3377
founded in 2000, takes in unwanted companion birds, fosters them and
helps find new adoption homes. With about 15 foster homes, and many
other volunteers, we took in 86 birds and placed 68 just last year. We
host open houses, provide counseling and bird behavior tips, and present
bird care seminars with national speakers.
The Soaring Spirit in Plymouth is an Avian Warehouse, selling toys, food
and for our companion birds, and offering boarding for them. 763-546-2100

MN Companion Bird Association, the largest and oldest pet bird club in MN,
has monthly meetings with local and national speakers and community
events.

Midwest Avian Adoption and Rescue Services or MAARS will help rescue pet birds on the loose outdoors and help with adoption. If you are considering getting a pet bird, looking at this site is a MUST. Birds are not easy pets and are long term. We're talking 20 - 80 years depending on the species. Most birds have the emotional and mental capacity of a two year old child. Do you want to live with a two year old for a few decades? Think about it.

If you have any questions about pet birds, please contact the organizations above.

Crane Cam is Back!

The National Geographic live Crane Cam at Rowe Sanctuary in Nebraska is up and running. I love listening to this at dawn and dusk, crane music is the best back ground noise.

I'll be off to Nebraska with Stan Tekiela later this month as we lead a field trip to Kearney, NE to see thousands upon thousands of sandhill cranes as well as prairie chickens, western meadowlarks (they'll be singing by then) and oodles of waterfowl. We leave Thursday morning, March 22 and return Sunday evening March 25. There's still some space left if you want to go. Call Eden Prairie Outdoor Center 952-949-8479 for details and pricing.

And really, if you don't go this year or go with me, you should plan a trip out to Nebraska in March at some point in your life. It is one of the truly awesome bird/wildlife spectacles that happens in the United States. Watching 40,000 cranes at dawn or dusk that are sometimes mixed in with a million or so snow geese is truly a spiritual experience. So much so for me, I was moved to get a crane tattooed on my back (just one, not forty thousand).

Sunny Day

The roads were moderately clear today and the sun was out! I headed back to the Minnesota Valley NWR. It's right off the highway and easily accessible. A turkey spent most of her day at the feeding station. She kicked up quite a bit of snow under the feeder to get at the spilled sunflower seeds.
This was to the absolute delight of the juncos and trees sparrows. The turkey also kicked up quite a bit of spilled Nyjer which these birds love to eat.

There were a TON of woodpeckers--mostly downy (above), hairy, and red-bellied. These two just cracked me up. They were eating on either side of the peanut feeder and if they noticed each other would get in a fight. While two woodpeckers would be on the peanut feeder, two more would be on the suet feeders. Then you would see at least a half dozen more woodpeckers waiting in the trees for their turn at the food.

All of a sudden, all of the birds flew off except for this one female downy woodpecker. She remained frozen where she was. I noticed some snow shoers taking off their gear outside the nature center and wondered that were it. No, her attention was elsewhere. There must have been a hawk nearby. Then someone in the building spotted it.

An adult sharp-shinned hawk had flown in. In the above photo are both birds. The female downy is in the yellow circle, the hawk is in the red circle. Both sat still waiting for the other to move. Finally, the hawk relaxed, and tucked in one of its feet (something birds do when they are totally relaxed or about to sleep). The downy saw her chance and flew to safety.

That allowed me to digiscope LOTS of photos of the sharp-shin! You could see those bright red eyes! I took about 120 photos, entranced by those deep red eyes. More snow shoers passed and this hawk didn't pay them any attention. Even a chickadee was brave enough to mob and scream a warning within a few feet of her. I learned from one of the staff that this bird hunted this area quite often, which confirmed my suspicion (on Wednesday I wondered about some curious cardinal feeding behavior and I wondered if it was because of a hawk). Eventually, some small birds flushed and the chickadee that had been mobbing her got nailed and became sharp-shin dinner.

About five minutes after she flew off with her prey the birds returned to the feeder and the original feeding frenzy continued as before--see hawks don't keep birds away from a feeder permanently. Just for the time they are present in the yard. Prey knows that as soon as the hunter gets its fill they are safe for the moment.

It was a different experience being at the nature center on a Saturday instead of a week day. I spent a good chunk of the afternoon giving a digiscoping presentation. It's strange to me that being on the road and going to bird festivals, I get the sense that EVERYBODY knows about digiscoping and it's sweeping that nation. However, to most at the nature center it was very new and different. I had quite a few people ask what I was doing with a "telescope"--was that really for watching birds?

Perhaps I will set myself up there more on the weekends with all my bells and whistles: binos, spotting scope, Handheld Birds, birdJam with speaker...yes, step into my parlour little flies...let me show you how cool birding can be...mwa ha ha ha ha ha.

The Mailing Of The Book

I digiscoped this photo at the Minnesota Valley NWR on Thursday. I forgot to post it. I think it is an incredible photo and my reasons are two fold: 1. It shows a red-bellied woodpecker feeding on an upside down suet feeder (they are used to keep starlings at bay) and 2. you can see a hint of red in the belly area...although the red looks like it's more in the vent area. Someone please officially rename this woodpecker.

Travel on Friday was ill advised by the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The Twin Cities metro area didn't have it as bad as Duluth. We got 12 inches of snow in my neck of the woods, up there they got a blizzard with over 20 inches of snow! Friday was meant to be a day of rest, slacking off, and perhaps a little play in the snow. However, we had to get the Disapproving Rabbits book in the mail no matter what.

And luckily for us the post office was still open. Above is Non Birding Bill holding the disk ready to drop it off. It's out of our hands now. I'm happy and excited about it, and feel good about the book, but there is still worry that this is not what Harper Collins is expecting. I think that is just typical nervous knots kind of thing.

After that adventure I was ready to move around and exercise. What better obstacle course could there be than snow covered sidewalks and mounds of plowed snow to climb. To add to the workout, I headed towards the sound of spinning tires. I knew someone would need a push so I would be doing a good deed and getting good strength training at the same time. After three cars, I could feel the burn.

Many people still had not heeded the snow emergency rules and the tow trucks were swarming the neighborhoods like vultures on a thermal. It was interesting to watch the drivers pick and choose vehicles to tow. The first ones to go were the ones that had been parked outside of restaurants and businesses--people who don't live in this part of town and think, "Oh, I can park here for a half hour." The resident cars that are plowed in are the last to be towed. Can't blame the tow drivers, it's a lot of work to get those cars out.

I wandered back home enjoying the quiet and taking in all the bright white. Even though the sun wasn't out, it was still very bright. Lots of snowmen in the neighborhood. This one was my favorite, a nice friendly guy to welcome you home.

I have to end this entry here, the buzzer just went off and that means the wild rice is finished cooking and the barbecue pork is ready to come out of the oven, more later.

Snow Day! And A Cardinal's Demand For Spring

Well, Non Birding Bill's place of employment has declared a snow day so he now has a three day weekend. I'm very grateful, he's helping with the finishing touches of the Disapproving Rabbits book. The creative part is easy, it's the tedious part of matching names to photos, organizing it, and basically getting all the cool crap that is so perfect in your head onto the disk that is the hard part.

We still had to be up early this morning to deal with all the snow emergency parking rules. If you don't move your car at the allotted time, your vehicle is hauled away for a costly incarceration. If you are one of the few who miss the sweeping of the tow trucks, you get plowed in but good to the curb with hard, solidly packed snow which can take hours to dig out. It's a lose/lose situation, so it behooves you to pay close attention to the snow emergency parking rules.

As I was up and getting ready I found myself whistling the cardinal tune to myself. How did I get that song stuck in my head so early? Then I realized: I was hearing it softly outside the bathroom window. I opened the window to take a peek.

Sure enough among the snow covered branches was a lone male cardinal who had found some small space in which to perch and was singing his territory song. It wasn't the usual robust, "hey I'm one sexy guy" kind of song, but just kind of a softer "I'd really rather be soliciting for a mate than sifting through this new landscape."

After a few rounds of his song, he slipped down into the lower branches, chipping and scanning for danger before making and attempt for the bird feeder.

The snow continued all night. Across the metro we have anywhere from 10 - 17" of snow with another 1-3 predicted to land before 6pm today when the winter storm warning will be over. I kept waking up over night hearing a loud thump on the bird feeders. It almost sounded like a squirrel jumping onto our window hooks. Our flying squirrels are WAY too small to make that kind of sound and the regular squirrels aren't active at night. Curious, I opened the window. I didn't see any tracks down below that would signal any kind of animal. Then I noticed there were no tracks or depressions at all. I knew we had a lot of snow, but the pigeon and squirrel activity should have left some sort of depression--this was strange. Then I felt a little extra snow on my nose. I looked up and on the roof of our building was a large snow bank hanging over the edge--large chunks of snow apparently had been falling on the feeder throughout the night. I quickly yanked my head back in and breathed a sigh of relief that I didn't end up the butt of some cartoon slap stick of snow in the face. Whew.

It sounds like the Houston Owl Festival is still going on. I really wanted to go tonight to see Denver Holt, but I just don't want to risk the roads. Some day, Mr. Holt, some day.

Alright, we're gonna finish off this book and then go out and play in the snow.

The Big Whompf!

The big snow is a blowin'. I just got word that Non Birding Bill's place of employment is closing early, but depending on the conditions of the roads, he may end up being home at his usual time.

Meanwhile, the pigeons are balancing like novice trapeze artists on the trees outside the apartment building. They're going after the berries. I have no idea what kind of tree this is, we have them all over the neighborhood.

Snowed In Owl

Check out the photos Schmoker grabbed from the Valmont Owl Cam. Now that, my friends, is being snowed in!