Still Cold

Fat is the order of the day with the birds and the cold weather. This hairy woodpecker was getting the suet while the gettin' was good.

Soup has been a popular menu item with the dip in temperature. I was so excited, I found a stewing hen at the grocery store (those are getting harder to find)--now that makes a flavorful broth! It's in the pot right now. It's night and day between the difference of using one of those "young fryers" compared to an old stewing hen. If you've never tried making soup with an old hen, give it shot, you'll be amazed.

My banding class was canceled yesterday since it was far too cold to be safe for trapping birds. So, rather than bringing you photos of banded birds, I'll pass along some announcements from the blog inbox. For those who have been coming to Birds and Beers (the next on is February 28) you may be familiar with Wild Ones and Sue who talks about landscaping your yard for birds. Well, Wild Ones is having their 7th Annual Spring Exposition Through the Eyes of Nature: The Birds’ View of Landscaping Saturday, February 23, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm at the Radisson Hotel Roseville. So, if you're in Minnesota and want to landscape more for birds, check it out.

And my buddy Steve Moore emailed that he is starting his own bird podcast called Birdwatch Radio. He was at Bird Watch America while I was there and interviewed a bunch of my friends.

I got an exciting email from the Potholes and Prairie Bird Festival in North Dakota full of fun stuff. One being that my buddy Kate Fitzmeier from Eagle Optics will be there--she is a party looking for a place to happen (I'm also going to see her at the Detroit Lakes Festival too--WHOOT). She and Bill Thompson III will be doing a Bird Watching For Beginners in North Dakota that will cover things like the difference between bird families and species, two terms often used when bird watchers try to identify a bird, bird identification short cuts and tips, how bird, behavior can help with bird identification, how to recognize birds by their songs, making your own “life list” by keeping notes and records of the birds you see how to join bird clubs, take field trips, and attend bird festivals nationwide. Should be a good time.

Red Head Recovery (the bird, not the Tina Louise kind)

I got an email asking to promote a project with the Audubon Chapter of Minneapolis to address the precipitous decline of red-headed woodpeckers. The big project for 2008 is to identify and map all existing clusters of red-headed woodpeckers in Minnesota--a 'cluster' defined as two or more nesting pairs in relatively close proximity (say 1/4 mile) of each other. A cluster probably indicates good savannah habitat, which is key the recovery efforts. If you have a cluster or if you would like to learn more, visit their website.

I went to check the website called www.RedHeadRecovery.org, which suddenly put the image of Amy Hooper of WildBird on the Fly needing recovery--she's a red head. I got even more of a chuckle imagining red-headed women running around when I read some of the website:

"Red-Heads often occur in loose colonies or clusters."

"Educate yourself and your neighbors to the Red-Head's habitat needs. You may be richly rewarded."

Yeah, there's a crude joke to be made in there, but I just can't put it all together at the moment.

Life Imitates Blog

Another Way To Recycle Phone Books

It's cold. Painfully cold. The type of cold that makes you utter a colorful four letter word with every step you take outdoors.

I went to The Raptor Center for my shift today and got an update on Peregrine 568. She's alive, feisty, and still in recovery. She has some bumblefoot issues but still, for a bird with all sorts of metal pins, she's doing as well as can be expected.

We have an education turkey vulture named Nero at The Raptor Center. Almost all of our ed birds are housed outdoors since they would be here in winter and are capable of surviving sub zero temperatures. The few exceptions would be Nero and the new broad-winged hawk we have in training. Nero's housing has been adjusted, complete with plexiglass and a heater, but the staff was making some upgrades to it and he was tethered in the prep room. He's imprinted on humans which means he would look to defend his territory from humans and worse...try to mate with one in spring.

Now, turkey vultures are the type of bird, that need a little enrichment when in captivity. In the wild, they fly around and look for carcasses to rip apart. Because of that instinct to seek out things to rip and tear, they can be a challenge in captivity. Above is a photo of Nero attempting to rip apart the astro turf around his perch. The turf is important, so birds can slough off dead skin on their toes and help prevent bumblefoot.

The staff would rather he rip apart his turf instead of his jesses. He is capable of picking and ripping apart the bracelets around his feet and could potentially get loose. He's sometimes given other objects to purposely rip and shred for enrichment-too keep him engaged with his natural behaviors--and keep him from ripping up his jesses.

Today, he had a phone book. Now that is what I call creative recycling! I wonder how much longer we'll keep getting phone books?

As much fun as it is to watch a turkey vulture take out the yellow pages, when my shift was over, I had to head home. On my way out, the front desk got a phone call that someone had a hawk or a falcon sitting outside the Rec Center of the St. Paul Campus of the University of Minnesota. The bird had hit a window and the weren't sure if it needed to be picked up. Since it was on my home, I offered to drive by and check it out. I found a place to park and just walking one block in the wind, and in all my long underwear, it was still painfully cold and my eyes were watering. I met up with the man who had called in the bird, and he pointed me to a dark corner. He said that the bird appeared to be recovering and was now standing up, as opposed to laying flat on the ground. I looked in the corner and said, "Holy Crap! It's a merlin!"

It was an adult female merlin and when we got within ten feet of her, she took flight and zoomed down the side walk, zigged and zagged through some small trees and darted off in an ally. Well, I guess it's safe to say that she didn't need any time at The Raptor Center. It was so sweet to watch her dark form darting through the campus, right over student's heads--such a cool bird. As I walked back to the car, I found a couple of spots of sparrow and junco leftovers. I think the merlin has been doing well. The wind was very strong and numbed by fingers and stung my face, I wondered if maybe that helped propel her into the building in the first place. I was glad I didn't have to take her in.

And now I leave you with some videos of the turkey vulture ripping his phone book and adjusting his turf:

Kitty Hive RIP

Alas, the fear I had this past fall has been realized, the Kitty Hive has failed. The above photo is the last one I have of the hive alive. On January 1, I could hear some activity in the hive, but I have put my ear up to Kitty twice in the last two weeks and both times the hive has been silent. I had hoped it was just that they were tucked deep inside, but today we got confirmation. Mr. Neil checked the hives this afternoon and with the warm weather, the Olga hive was dumping out dead bees and pooping. The snow around her hive was completely melted. Kitty was silent with no visible activity and the snow was not melted around the hive. He opened the roof, looked in and found all bees inside to be dead (on the upside, that's not Colony Collapse Disorder).

I think it all started with my mistake of preventing the swarm, that led to a late requeening and having too few bees to keep the hive warm for the winter. Sigh.

We expected complete failure our first year, and were pleased as punch that we got as far as we did this fall, including harvesting a wee bit of honey from Olga. But, I still feel bad and will miss our girls. After all, they were the ones who I installed after my initial panic and unlike Olga, none of us have ever been stung by a Kitty bee.

I also got some of my best photos from the Kitty Hive. I loved the above shot of all the Kitty workers coming to lap up a river of honey that surged down a frame when I accidentally opened some cells. Kitty, you taught me lots. I'm sorry we couldn't keep you through the winter.

The Next Birds and Beers Is Scheduled

There's been a request to have the next Birds and Beers on February 28 at 6pm at Merlin's Rest and so it shall be. I've also added a Google Calendar Feature to my Appearances Page so that way I can add in where and when I'm going to be instead of the usual process of assuming Non Birding Bill is reading my mind and updating it for me. So, that is where to check for upcoming Birds and Beers.

Birds and Beers is a gathering of ANYONE interested in birds from the hardcore lister to the mildly interested. You can meet people from all walks of life, ask bird questions and just generally have a good time.

Afternoon Buteo Call

Yes, I did just make that joke.

It was hard to contain any Twin Cities resident indoors today. After sub zero temps, the weather really warmed up to the twenties and thirties over the weekend and today it got to the low to mid forties--whoot. And we need to gather our rosebuds while we may, because tonight it's rain that turns to ice as the temperature is supposed to plummet to a low of 3--which as coincidence would have it will be our high for tomorrow, with the temps going somewhere in the neighborhood of -14. That's about a 60 degree change in the next twenty-four hours--how do we not a get winter tornado with that?

So, it was take the spring like day while you can. I took a quick jaunt over to the Minnesota Valley NWR. When I arrived, I could hear an angry red squirrel squeaking and general angry bird chips. I wondered if the sharp-shinned hawk was around and dashed behind the Visitor's Center.

Well, it wasn't a sharpie, but a young red-tailed hawk (not the yellow eye and the lack of red in the tail). It was half heartedly preening its feathers and bobbing its head watching was moving below. It was close, but not in the best light.

Some of the birds seemed to sense that they weren't high on the prey item list for this species of hawk and returned to the bird feeder. But, young hawks are unpredictable because they'll try anything once, so birds that did brave the feeders, keep a watchful eye towards the hawk.

I think the red-tail got tired of the squeaky red squirrel and it flew down the hill towards the river--which was great because I could get a photo with a better background. The only problem was that it was facing away from me. So, I did my best whistled impersonation of a red-tailed hawk scream and it looked at me. Great day with a great hawk. And with that, I left it to hunt in peace.

I Just Bring It Out

I took this photo of Cinnamon during the interview last night. This is the stare down--she does this hoping that if she stares at me long enough, she will have willed me into giving her a treat.

Well, last night's online show (The Rabbit Show) took a weird turn. I guess when you have an online show hosted on Talk Shoe, you can have a forum going where people can ask questions and it's very interactive. And as happens in forums, someone joined and started asking...well let's just say they were questions that Cinnamon would not approve of. The poor host seemed surprised and flustered. My inclination would have been to just giggle quietly and ingore it, but the host was trying to delete them, which I think just made the anonymous posters pose even worse questions. Then, there was an odd sound and I couldn't hear the host. I figured I was on hold or the show was stopped because of the questions. Non Birding Bill was in the other room listening live and shouted, "Hey keeping talking--he's not on, but I can hear you, fill the dead air."

So, I kind of "umed" and "ahed" and "you knowed" my way into getting rabbits from humane societies, it was very strange. And fortunately, there were people asking questions that didn't involve impossible rabbit mating processes (thank you to all those kind folks) and I was able to speak to those.

The host made it back on--he had a power surge from his house and got knocked off the show. An eventful interview to say the least. You can download a podcast version here. I guess I was the first author he had on his show--I hope the experience didn't sour him on future guests on his show. Thanks, Dan, for having me on and for promoting the book.

After it was finished, NBB shook his head and said, "You just bring that out in people, don't ya my little trouble maker."

The Rabbit Show on Talk Shoe

Cinnamon and I are going to do an online talk show tonight at 9pm EASTERN TIME (as much as a rabbit can be on a talk show) on TalkShoe called The Rabbit Show. You can listen here and you can call in. If you miss it, you can get a podcast version too.

The Cabin

Okay, I'm more confused about the track I found than ever. Someone suggested elk, but didn't think their were elk anywhere near where I was. Well, thanks to the great readers here, I've learned that there are in fact reintroduced elk less then 140 miles from the cabin and it wouldn't be out of the question for one to have meandered. Moose seems more likely for the area though. Whatever it was, it was big.

I woke up the first morning at the cabin and it -13 degrees Fahrenheit. Br. Now, that may look like a big field out beyond the bird feeders, but that is a very frozen lake. So, with it being that cold, it made it easy for me to avoid going outside and taking photos as a distraction.

It also made it a great excuse to eat lots of bacon. I loved the truth in advertising that came with the bacon. It's true, bacon does make everything better--even sub zero temperatures.

The few times I did venture out, it was nuthatch central out there and they did not care about people. I could walk right up to this one. She was too close to even digiscope. When I waked by she would continue eating. If I stopped to look at her, she looked back almost as if she were asking, "Yes, can I help you? Must you stare while I eat?" She would wait until I moved opened the door and went inside and then she would resume eating.

I would allow myself some outdoor time once a day, and I did do a tiny bit of digiscoping. It was tough because the birds were so close. Also, the temperature was so low that it just killed my batteries--even storing them with hand warmers (that only seems to work when it's above zero). Also, it made my camera run very slow. I got a kick out of this series of three photos, starting with the female red-breasted nuthatch above. I took her photo, and there was an long pause while the camera processed, and then when the screen came back on...

Oh, hey, check it out, she suddenly turned into a male red-breasted nuthatch! He must have chased her off while I was watching the camera. I took of photo of him and again, my camera took a long time to process the image and when the screen finally came up again...

It turned into a whole different species of nuthatch! The white-breasted nuthatches were out numbered four to one by the red-breasteds.

There were some ice fishing houses out on the lake and from time to time a snow mobile would whip around on the surface.

From time to time, a snow plow would come through and keep a road cleared, which I thought was strange. There were several ice houses out there, but nothing too warrant a whole road.

Here was a couple setting up there day of fun. You can see the auger on the left to poke the hole in the ice, their truck, a snow mobile and the little blue tent, is what the fisher person will sit in to keep the wind off while they fish. I love to go out on ice, but a big vehicle like a truck makes me nervous. I know when the weather is right and the ice is thick enough, you'll be fine, but it still makes me nervous.

I found out on Saturday as I was packing up to leave why there was a road being plowed. About a hundred cars came out onto the ice for a fishing contest. The tree is obscuring half the cars. This many cars make me REALLY nervous. I can see one out on the ice, but this many, so close together, just freaks me out.

See the green skinny structure up towards the right hand corner, in front of the blue truck--it's an on site port a potty! You could tell the mood was festive on the ice and everyone was ready to have a good time.

And before I left, I got this photo of a final photo of a red-breasted nuthatch. It wasn't the best, but I loved how they seemed to prefer to hang upside down on a feeding port, to feed out of the port below it--instead of sitting upright on the perch and feeding out of the port that is attached to it. I guess they're little Frank Sinatras--they do it their way.

Cannot Escape The Wireless & Animal Track Questions

Birdchick posting here.

Wow, there was a time when I would kind of worry about Internet access and how would I get it on the road--not anymore. Wednesday, I left for a cabin that some of my writing friends use to avoid wireless and other life distractions. When I arrived and opened my trusty laptop to begin writing, I still had my airport connection open and I noticed my Inbox filling: 9 new messages, 12 new messages, 15 new messages...Low and behold, there was a signal from a neighbor. Arg.

I had installed bird feeders at this cabin a long time ago and had hoped that no one would fill them, however the writer who worked here ahead of me, learned I was coming and topped off all the feeders before I arrived and they were chock full of activity--oh no, a digiscoping temptation. But I turned off my airport and closed the shades and lots of work did get finished.

I did go out for a walk at one point and found this print in a fresh dusting of snow on the driveway to the cabin. The same tracks were along the road, as well. I'm not so good with identifying mammal tracks, but based on size next to my boot (that boot is about as long as my 12" Powerbook), I think this is a moose. I didn't think I had gone north enough for moose. Any readers out there good at identifying mammal tracks and can confirm my id? I'm still at the cabin and don't have any of my mammal books. Even if this is not a moose, that's the biggest deer print I've ever seen, and I'm not sure how I feel about a deer having a hoof print half the size of my foot.

Because inside, I am 8 years old...

Fill-in blogging

Hello, all, NBB here. I am  myself extremely busy, but will try to keep you amused as best I can. On the off chance that you're one of the 4 people on the internet who doesn't read I Can Has Cheezeburger, today's post was one for the birding set:


moar funny pictures

Sneaking Away

I am currently on my way out of town for a few days to get away from the Internet. I have a project that I need to dedicate some time and the Internet is just too much of a distraction. I started an official bird banding class this morning (up to this point I have mostly been lurking and doing it when handed the bird) so I took my class and am now headed to a cabin with no Internet. Non Birding Bill will be monitoring the blog, and I'm sure we'll get some insight into his twisted...I'm sorry, how about unique view of birding. Who knows, last time he filled in for me, he got one of his blog entries published. Who knows what could happen for him this time?

If you have any bird questions, I would not email them, but maybe ask them in the comments section for the next few days--a lot of knowledgeable people check the blog and can answer questions as well (and in many cases better) than me.

In other news, people have been sending this NY Times article about how the town of Brinkley has gone from boom to bust with lack of a decent photo or video of an ivory-billed woodpecker. Here are some sobering excerpts:

"After the sighting was announced, local economies seemed to benefit for a while as scientists, bird-watchers and news media outlets from around the world flocked to Brinkley and to the other communities in the patchwork quilt of fragmented forest and farmland that surrounds the Big Woods.

“People came from everywhere,” said Gene DePriest, who still has an ivory-billed cheeseburger, salad and dessert on the menu of his barbecue restaurant in Brinkley. “I sold over $20,000 worth of T-shirts in six months.”

Lately, though, the ivory-billed boom has pretty much been a bust, especially since researchers and bird-watchers have, so far, failed to take a definitive picture of the woodpecker.

“It has been kind of a disappointment,” said Penny Childs, owner of Penny’s Hair Care and creator of the “woodpecker haircut,” which she does not get many requests for anymore. “The delta could use millions of dollars to build up our lives, but instead we struggle.”

Mrs. Childs, 43, is still cutting hair, but just down the street from her small one room salon, an empty brick building is all that remains of the Ivory-Bill Nest gift shop, which closed last January. Down the street, the former Ivory-Billed Inn and R.V. Park is now a Days Inn.

“I did invest a lot of money in stuff to sell, and I didn’t even break even,” Mrs. Childs said. “I have got a whole yard full of wooden woodpeckers right now.”

KARE 11 Bird Segment

I've been helping Audubon with their Great River Birding Trail website. We just go the Minnesota Page up. Lots of great folks are working on this, adding great birding sites and photos. If you are visiting states along the Mississippi River and you are looking for places to go birding, check it out. Some states are still under construction, but this is going to be a fun an useful tool for traveling birders...wonder if I should send a few thousand emails to potential birders?

Some people have sent emails asking for locations to watch birds in Minnesota in winter. For bald eagles, I suggested Black Dog Rd in Burnsville and Colville Park Marina in Red Wing.

For trumpeter swans, I recommended Swan Park in Monticello. If you don't want to go on your own, I'm co leading a trip to there on February 23 with Stan Tekiela. We'll also check out birds at some of the other local parks. Call Staring Lake Outdoor Center 952-949-8479 for more info.

I also mentioned that Sax Zim Bog is fun for winter owls and you can go on your own, go to the Sax Zim Bog Bird Fest, or go with Stan and me for the day on February 2. Call Staring Lake Outdoor Center 952-949-8479 for more info.

If anyone wants to share their favorite Minnesota winter birding spots, feel free to share in the comments.

And if you're not interested in Minnesota birds, Stan and I are leading a weekend trip to Nebraska March 6 - 9. We'll see a million snow geese, a few thousand sandhill cranes, watch some prairie chickens dance, laugh at a few prairie dogs and enjoy the song of western meadowlarks. Again, call Staring Lake Outdoor Center 952-949-8479 for more info.

City Birds Country Birds

"Hey, I'm not in this book at all--I didn't approve that!"

Check it out, it's a mock up of my next book. Remember a long time ago I blogged about a book I wrote called City Birds Country Birds? Well, I think it's actually coming out this spring--which is a total relief because I wrote this way before Disapproving Rabbits and I had dedicated this book to my mom and Disapproving Rabbits to my in-laws. And wouldn't you know it, the book dedicated to my in-laws came out first--AWKWARD! Actually, right after one of the radio interviews I did for Disapproving Rabbits, the hosts started talking the dedication and about people who have better relationships with their in-laws than with their own parents. I cried out, "Noooooooooooooo!" and tried to phone back in to the studio while Non Birding Bill said, "Oh, Sharon, it's just a segue into another segment, don't take it too seriously."

Yeah, easy for him to say because it was his parents not mine. For the record, I love my mom and my in-laws.

So, if you sent a photo and it got used in the book, you are still getting a free copy. Incidentally, anyone have a good photo of a black-capped chickadee nest? Needs to be in focus and needs to be print quality. If you so, email it along with your mailing address to sharon at birdchick dot com.

Did You Get An Email From Kansas? (the state, not the band)

From the Wichita Eagle:

Millions of birds flock to Kansas during spring migration. Now, tourism officials are hoping a growing number of birders will follow.

Earlier this month, the state Travel and Tourism division sent an e-mail to 7,000 people who have an interest in bird watching. "Now is the perfect time to start making your travel plans for a spring birding adventure in Kansas," it read.

Tourism officials hope money from birders will supplement the millions hunting and fishing bring to the state annually. The division has no specific data on birders, but a state study done in 2001 estimated animal watchers, including birders, brought in $129 million to the Kansas economy, said Richard Smalley, marketing manager for the Travel and Tourism division.

Because of the Central Flyway migratory route, Kansas can boast sightings of 470 species of birds within its borders, more than surrounding states.

During spring migration from March through May, native Kansas birds mingle with millions of migratory birds on their journey north.

That's the breeding season, when each tree offers a concerto of life from songbirds and open fields teem with turkey, pheasant and quail.

The birds draw people, who spend money in rural areas buying gas, food and lodging.

"Until now, we haven't really gone for the birding market," said Cris Collier, director of the Great Bend Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Now, she is touting nearby Cheyenne Bottoms and Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, coupled with the new National Kansas Wetland & Wildlife Scenic Byway, a 76-mile road that links the wetlands and takes motorists nearer to wildlife.

In its e-mail, the state tourism department cited the wetlands, along with the Cimarron National Grasslands outside Elkhart, the birding festival in Wakefield, near the Milford Lake area, and the Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge as key birding destinations.

Now that Cheyenne Bottoms has an education center under construction, Collier said her area is ready to market nature-based tourism.

"We've seen the hunting and fishing numbers declining to a growth in people wanting to experience nature," she said.

At the top of the list are birders.

"The more the birders, the merrier," said Cheryl Miller, a longtime Wichita birder.

She contends birders often know the hotspots in tiny out-of the-way areas, like Busters, a bar and restaurant in Sun City.

"The more birders that come into rural areas, the more money for the community," she said. "When we are birding in the Red Hills, we know to go to Margaret's to shop for antiques. It stimulates the economy."

Attracting birders

Some Kansans say it may take more than an e-mail to attract bird-watching tourists.

"If Kansas wants to attract birders, the focus should include all aspects of our state's nature-based tourism potential," said Ron Klataske, executive director of Audubon of Kansas. "Opportunities include taking pride in our unique prairie landscapes, highlighting native prairie grasses and wildflowers along our highways... and making our state parks more readily available with the most affordable admission possible."

He also suggests that the state advertise its wildlife resources on license plates, like other states.

"If Kansas is to be successful in developing this opportunity, we need to promote birding and wildlife watching opportunities on a landscape scale," Klataske said.

Sunshine Travel

First and foremost--THANK YOU to everyone who came to the owl talk on Sunday at The Raptor Center! Early in the week we only had 15 people signed up and with the sub zero temps and the Packers game I expected a low turn out, but the room was completely filled! Whoot! Thanks, and the fee went to TRC, a great cause in my book.

Today was an unexpectedly action packed day that started with a bird segment on KARE 11 and then a meeting at Sunshine Travel Co. but the day ended up much more hectic with a slippery snow shower that started at "oh just a dusting" according to local weather reports and then ended up being 3 - 5 inches, which made for very slippery driving. Note the little bits of snow specks on the house sparrow in the above photo. On the upside, the high today was 9 degrees-which honestly felt great. Seriously, if it's above zero degrees--it's a good day in my book.

The funny part with KARE 11 was that I was having all kinds of mic problems and the stage manager was still trying to get me wired up after the segment started. When the camera cut to me, the stage manager was still crouched behind me trying to adjust my mic. It wasn't working properly and the camera cut away and they added another mic. It was hard to concentrate on smiling and talking while having someone run wires in and out of my shirt. Non Birding Bill had today off and actually got to watch the segment, he said that he didn't notice while watching the show, whereas I felt like I had wires appearing all over. Ah well, good times!

This is our friend Dawn who runs Sunshine Travel Co and is helping to create some bird tours to Harlingen, TX this fall and to San Francisco, CA next January. She is in shows around the Twin Cities with NBB and is just an all around hoot. I'm not sure if she really likes me or is just using me to get to Cinnamon. Every time I have a meeting at her office, she insists that I bring the Disapproving Bunny. It's hard for me to concentrate and look her in the eye during meetings because of all the bird activity. Note in the far left corner of the window behind Dawn--there's a junco lurking. I told Dawn up front that my lack of eye contact was not some sign of disrespect, but more my distraction from so much bird activity. She said that she has the coolest office ever and I agreed.

She has lots of suction cup window feeders placed on the windows of the office. The birds are not bothered by humans all that much. I was able to walk right up to the feeder and snap a photo of a chickadee at the window feeder without the aid of a spotting scope. This was a good idea, window feeders will help keep the birds from hitting the windows too hard. They slow down to check out a potential food source.

I had a good time just sitting next to Dawn's windows and watching the birds come right up for some food. I did note that there was some milo on the window and I advised Dawn that since we live in the East without a huge number of pheasants and quail coming to feeders that this seed wasn't the best seed idea. I even snuck out during a break in our meetings and tossed some black oil sunflowers on the milo. The chickadees totally dug that idea.

During the meeting, one of the chickadees grabbed a sunflower and tried to stuff it away for a later date. It kept trying to wedge the sunflower in this overhang above the windows. If you look just to the right in the above photo, you will see a very dark crack. This chickadee would cling to that and try to peck the sunflower into the crack. It didn't succeed, but it was interesting it watch it try.

I did do a minor bit of digiscoping since the birds were so close and I was not too anxious to get back onto the highways with the snow. I can't help but fall in love with juncos in falling snow.

My intent had been to drop Cinnamon off at home after my meeting with Dawn and then go to the grocery store, but the roads were so slick and I had to drive so slow that there wasn't time and I had to take her with me to pick up dinner. Even though she has a fur coat, she is in an indoor rabbit and not used to the outside and it was far too cold to leave her in the car. I decided to risk bringing her in the grocery store with me. I don't like to do this--who knows who is allergic to what animal and I don't want to be an annoying pet owner who assumes her cute pet can go anywhere. But my grocery store offers disinfecting wipes for carts and Cinnamon is litter box trained, so I decided to risk it. I hoped no one would notice because A. I didn't want to get kicked out of my favorite grocery store and B. when people notice an unusual pet, everyone wants to pet her and that can add some time to what would otherwise be a quick errand. When we got there, I put my scarf in the basked around Cinnamon and put in a few bunches of parsley on either side of her. I relied on an old trick from my days of being a magician's assistant and didn't look down at her in the cart--don't look at what you don't want people to notice--they usually won't.

Alas, this plan worked until I dashed down the final aisle when I heard behind me, "Is THAT a BUNNY?!?" and like little old ladies near Sir Andrew Llyod Weber, we were surrounded. Everyone was super nice and I was happy to let them pet Cinnamon--and goodness knows she was lovin' it, but I didn't want to push my luck at my favorite grocery store. We made it to the line, I got checked out without the manager's notice, wiped out the basket she had been riding in and all was right with the world.

Cinnamon really needed a day out. It's hard for her to be cooped up and this morning she was making her rambunctiousness known. After the alarm went off and I walked past the rabbit room, she was hopping in all directions and digging out her litter box. The second time I walked by, she was up on her hind legs, pressed against the toddler gate, her front paws stretched as high as they would go, as if to say, "Mom, I need an adventure NOW!" Dawn's office was a treat since it's carpeted and she could run. But the grocery store is what set her over the edge--what rabbit doesn't love the chance to be with their human to pick out the freshest bits of parsley and carrot tops for the week? Plus, there was the added bonus of several humans massaging her oh so soft fur.

Hunkering Down

Current temperature: -13 degrees Fahrenheit. High temperature for today: -1 degree Fahrenheit. It's so cold, people are feeling sorry for house sparrows. I had lunch with a friend who works at Hubbard Broadcasting the other day, and I noticed that someone had been putting out some seed for the birds in the back of the parking lot.

Can't Escape That Moonwalking Bird

I'm having some birding withdrawal, but it's just too darned cold for me to want to go out and my camera batteries would just go on strike if I did. No, this is the type of weather where you stay in with a large cup of shade grown coffee and surf the net for birds.

Last night's Birds and Beers was a great time--I was amazed at the turn out despite the weather. For the Twin Cities Birds and Beers we seem to have a group of regulars and always a group of new people show up. The next Twin Cities one will be either February 21 or 28. I'm going to be in Essex, CT around Feb 16 & 17 if anyone has suggestions for a Birds and Beers there, please let me know.

When I came home last night, Non Birding Bill was watching his favorite game show called QI which is some sort of quiz show with Stephen Fry as host with a bunch of British comics as contestants. He asks hard questions and comedic answers ensue. Last night they were referencing the red-capped manakin familiar to many online birders as the Moonwalking Bird. I think most birding blogs have covered it already, however, if you've missed it, here it is:



Here is the reference that was on QI last night:



And as if those guys have you longing for the song A Night To Remember, some clever person on You Tube remixed it with that song:



I posted that mostly for NBB. And, here is the original snippet from Nature that brought the red-capped manakin to the tv viewing public. This researcher is actually talking about a couple of different species of manakins--and do watch it, some of the ways they make sounds are really quite interesting--plus you actually get to see the birding researcher attempt a moonwalk:

Bird Watch America

Wow, this has been an exciting week, figuring out my coming travel schedule. I'm going to a Bald Eagle Festival in Connecticut in February, Detroit Lakes in May (doing a digiscoping workshop and seeing Scott Weidensaul), Potholes and Prairie Bird Fest in North Dakota in June and the ABA Convention in Utah in June--whoot! I'll have to try and schedule a Birds and Beers in all those places. If anyone has suggestions, drop me a note.

So, I've been sorting through all my notes from Bird Watch America to see what is exciting to the birding consumer in the coming months. Here are some things on the horizon.

The coolest thing that I saw that appealed to me as a birder is the Remembird--which I was surprised to see at the show. I've heard of it and it's popular across the pond, but they are now going to offer it in the US. It's pretty darned sweet. It's a microphone that can be attached to your binoculars. You can use it to make audio notes as you are watching birds and it is capable of recording some bird songs (depending on how close) so you can take it home to compare to your cds--and the software that comes with it allows you to keep it organized on your computer (and a big plus for me--it's Mac compatible--whoot). As if the recording potential weren't cool enough, the device comes with a card of North American bird calls from Cornell. It comes with headphones, but I'm sure you can find away to attach it a portable audio speaker if you are so inclined. I did get one and I can't wait to play with it--it was tested in northern Minnesota and the device works in sub zero temperatures--I'm just not keen to bird in that kind of weather.

Feeders made out of recyclable material seems to be a growing trend. These are some of the hopper style feeders offered by Woodlink, but many major bird feeder companies are offering feeders made of recyclable plastic.

Speaking of Woodlink, last year they offered the Martini Hummingbird Feeder, this year they have the Sundae hummingbird feeder--cute.

When I worked at a bird store, customers would come in complaining about the seed mess under their bird feeders and why couldn't someone design something to catch it. I would answer that it would have to be huge. Well, someone in Utah took those complaints to heart and came up with an idea, it's called the Seed Hoop and it can be mounted to most feeders like the one on the pole above or on a hanging feeder and it catches the bird seed that the birds kick out, leaving a mess.

Here is a three day sample. The full jar on the left is all the seed that was caught by the seed hoop and the jar on the right is what was on the ground. It's been tested at bird stores in Utah and appears to be making customers happy...one small note, they don't have huge amounts of squirrels in Utah so it hasn't had a heavy duty squirrel test. One squirrel has been found eating the seeds on a seed hoop and it was able to support it's weight, but still, it might make squirrel proofing your feeder somewhat tricky, but it's a cool idea if it helps keep the area under a feeder clean.

Squirrel proof feeders are still a popular item. This was a new one called the Birdie Banquet and promoting itself as "aesthetically, one of the most pleasing bird feeders available, at any price." It's cute and my concern was that it looked like it was made out of hard plastic and chewable by squirrels. The company assures me that it's made of "space age polycarbons with additives for durability" and not chewable by squirrels. I'm skeptical, but I was told it has a lifetime warranty, so what do you have to lose. I'll be curious to see what happens to it under field conditions.

Continuing along the squirrel repellent category, we have the Squirrel Stopper baffle system. They've been at Bird Watch America before, but now have made some adjustments to their design. The above photo is the inside of the baffle system. It attaches to a pole and has springs, so it bounces, making it almost impossible for a squirrel or raccoon to get past. You can get the baffle or the whole pole system. It costs about the same as any other standard (well made and sturdy) pole and baffle system. I think when the ground thaws out that I'm going to give this go in Mr. Neil's yard.

This is called the Two Bowl Bird Bath. The idea is that if you have a bath shallow enough to accommodate all sorts of bird sizes from large to small, it will evaporate quickly. This system allows you to have a deep bath and the second bowl inside allows a smaller amount of water for small birds to bathe in. If you don't want the whole bird bath, you can get just the inner dish and use it with a bath you already have. The company that designed it is located in Iowa and they have tested it in winter weather with a heated bath and it works well.

Here is a phrase that will get your attention--Nite Guard: Solar Powered, Night Predator Control Light! This is designed to keep all sorts of predators from your yard: keep coyotes out of chicken coops, keep great horned owls away from your purple martin houses, keep raccoons and deer from raiding bird feeders and gardens. The idea is that red is a natural danger sign and other predatory animals perceive it as the eye of another animal watching them. I'm kinda curious about how this would work with skunks around our beehives. It's solar powered so you don't have to use batteries and the company is based in Minnesota so it should work in all kinds of weather.

This Just Makes Me Larf

Here's a series of images captured by the Wingscapes Camera. One of the fun things about these types of cameras is that even if you don't use the video mode, the series of photos still tell a story.

On a side note, that baffle needs to be removed from the pole, it's below five feet, so the squirrel can jump up on it and use it as a means to get to the feeder. Even though the squirrel appears to have trouble getting food out of the feeder, it's using the baffle to stand on while it can avoid setting off the lever that closes of the food. If the baffle was removed, the feeder would keep the squirrel out.

US Birding Industry Finally Getting A Sense Of Humor?

Okay, the US birding industry has had a sense of humor, but nothing really out of this world since The Mad Bluebird and the squirrel dressed as a blue jay image, but I think I finally saw hints of some naughty humor at Bird Watch America.

Is this a double entendre I see? Shocking! And a refreshing change.

I don't think this is that shocking, but my mom has a thing for Albert Einstein, so I figured she might like it.

Delving into pop culture here. Impressive.

On a side note, would anyone care to identify what US bird this is supposed to be? It has a Gary Larson quality to it.

Dawn, It Takes Fish Oil Out Of Your Way

Thanks to Michele Hope for sending me this link for an update about the eagles that got stuck in some chum. I must say, Dawn is getting some mighty fine publicity according to this quote from the article:

"Cleaning the eagles requires scrubbing them off with unscented Dawn dish detergent to remove the fish oil and slime that soaked their feathers, then rinsing them in a wood-framed structure covered in plastic to keep things hot and humid."

Another interesting note about this case, all the eagles involved in the incident and recovering Bird TLC are male. I'm not sure what about that means. Be sure to check out this slide show of eagles getting a scrub down.

The Long Road For Peregrine 568

WARNING! Some of the photos in this entry deal with a bird injury and some surgical techniques to heal that injury. If you are eating a meal or are kind of squeamish, you may want to stop reading this entry after the third photo. Just an FYI.

After the Holidays and my travel schedule, it was time to get back to my volunteering at The Raptor Center and an update on our favorite peregrine.

They were busy in the clinic and while I was waiting, I checked out some of the other birds the vets were working on. This was a falconry bird that got injured in the field. This peregrine falcon was out hunting and she got into a thermal and was soaring high. An adult red-tailed hawk tried to soar into the same thermal. The peregrine looked down, saw the red-tail and stooped! The falcon dove down and hit the red-tail, locked onto it and the falconer watched the birds disappear out of the sky. It took him fifteen minutes to track them down and he found both the red-tail and the peregrine on the ground (and a couple of prairie falcons nearby). The red-tail flew off when the falconer walked up, but there were puncture wounds on the peregrine's face--indicating that she had been footed in the head by the red-tail. Fortunately, the falcon did not lose an eye, but her face did swell up. She appears to be healing well and remarkably did not suffer any broken bones.

Check it out, another way to use that handy tool known as the Dremel--trimming beaks. Above, a vet trims the beak of a young Cooper's hawk. As birds are recovering at TRC, they don't always rub their beaks well like they do in the wild and they can get kind of long, so the vets have to trim them--this is called coping a beak. It's better for the bird and a little easier on the vets when they get bitten by a bird.

So, while I was in Atlanta at Bird Watch America, I got a call from Dr. Julia Ponder the Associate Director of TRC. I knew that there was only one reason for the call--something was up with Peregrine 568. She is still alive, but had to have some surgery. It turned out that her leg healed improperly, causing some long term foot problems. It's at this point that the photos might get a little gross for some people.

Even thought the fracture was healed, the vets noticed that the falcon kept getting bumblefoot on both feet (that's some cleaned up bumblefoot in the above photo). They did some checking and it turned out that when the broken leg healed, that it was a little bit shorter than the other leg. Peregrine falcons are designed for extreme precision, this a bird that can dive over 200 miles per hour and needs everything perfect when hunting prey at that speed. The shorter leg was also affecting how she was perching and aggravating the bumblefoot. So, Dr. Ponder said that they had two options: 1. Put the bird down or 2. Try an experimental surgery that has been tried successfully on a parrot: fracture the leg again and as it's healing, periodically separate the bone, forcing length. Perhaps you have heard of limb lengthening surgery? It's like that.

They did the surgery last week and Dr. Ponder said that if something went wrong they would know right away. They did the surgery and it went well. Now came the hard part of lengthening the fracture once a day of 0.7mm. Since this is painful, Peregrine 568 is put under anesthesia (That's Dr. Mitch putting the falcon under while a clinic volunteer holds the falcon in the above photo).

Here's the fixator on the outside of her leg--she's got some bruising (notice the green, birds bruise green). I'm not sure if you would call her a cybird or frankenbird, but she's got some heavy duty metal works attached to her leg.

Here's what it looks like in the X-Rays. Check out the toes--they are wrapped in duct tape, but it kind of looks like eggs.

Here is an X-Ray that was taken not long after all the apparatus were put in last week.

I think this one was taken yesterday, so you can see that there is a tiny bit more space between the fracture.

So, here's Dr. Mitch doing the extension--although the official surgical term is called "distraction." They kept talking about doing the distraction all morning. I wonder what the origin of that is? Let's distract the bone into growing longer?

After the distraction and all of her bumblefoot areas were cleaned she was wrapped up. They put padding on both feet and seal that with duct tape to help with the bumblefoot. Then they have to clean and put padding around the fixator and then wrap it with duct tape--I swear, they used half a role on this bird. So, now we have to see how that fracture heals. If that heals well, she will need further surgery to correct some of the bumblefoot issues.

Miles to go before she flies. Some may ask, why go this far for one bird. Number one, thanks to the blog--lots of people know about Peregrine 568 and have a vested interest in what happens. Number 2, what we learn from this experimental surgery in birds could help someone's beloved pet in the future. Number 3, she's a young bird with several years of survival ahead of her.

So, not the best news, but not totally crap news either.