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.

So Much For "Sensitive" Owls

Not too long ago we had a whole kurfluffle on the Minnesota birding listservs when a long-eared owl was reported. The emails inevitably spiraled into the "someone got too close to the owl and flushed it causing it severe stress and ruining it for the rest of the birders." However, this story about long-eared owls found roosting in Chicago makes you wonder just how sensitive these birds are. Be sure to check out the photo gallery.

Catching Up

Boy, it's taking me a lot to catch up from my trips. It was so cute, when I came home Sunday night, Cinnamon hopped right up into my lap--followed by Non Birding Bill (it's nice to be missed).

Email is taking me forever to sift through. I thought I had made progress yesterday, but this morning the Inbox was at 103. Sigh. If you've sent me an email in the last week--I'm getting to it, I swear.

Right now I am at The Raptor Center and got an update on Peregrine 568. She's had more surgery and I'll put photos on that up later today.

Don't for get that this Thursday is Birds and Beers at Merlin's Rest. I'll be bringing some of the stuff I picked up at Bird Watch America. And Sunday, I'm doing a program at The Raptor Center on owls--and it will be indoors, so something to do in the sub zero weather.

Eagle's Opportunistic Nature Gets Them In Trouble

UPDATE: I'VE ADDED SOME MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS STORY FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. THE NEWS IS IN BOLD, MY COMMENTS ARE IN REGULAR TYPE

From the Seattle Times:

ANCHORAGE -- Most of the 30 bald eagles who survived a disastrous dive into a truck full of fish guts are close to recovery, said officials at Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge.

Two birds have died, but most of the remaining may soon be released.

Another 20 eagles died Friday after dozens swarmed an uncovered truck full of fish waste outside a processing plant in Kodiak, Alaska.

The birds became too soiled to fly or clean themselves, and with temperatures in the midteens, began to succumb to the cold. Some birds became so weak they sank into the fish slime and were crushed.

The truck's contents had to be dumped onto the floor of the Ocean Beauty Seafoods plant so the birds could be retrieved.

Workers from the seafood plant and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service washed the birds in dishwashing soap to help remove the fish oil. The birds spent the night drying out in a warehouse space, Gary Wheeler of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge told the Anchorage Daily News.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife officers are investigating the incident.

Eagles are protected under federal law and killing them is a crime.

It is still to early to determine what penalties, if any, the seafood company may face, said Kim Speckman, a special agent who is part of the investigation.

Officers consider numerous factors looking into incidents such as this, including intent, she said.

"It's pretty obvious in this case nobody intended to break the law," Speckman said. The seafood plant has been very responsive and cooperative, she said.

HERE IS MORE FROM THE ALASKA DAILY NEWS:

Era Aviation and Alaska Airlines are bringing the birds from Kodiak to Anchorage so they can be cleaned and cared for by the Bird Treatment and Learning Center before being returned to the wild.

Six of the eagles arrived on afternoon flights Sunday and 12 more were expected on evening flights, said Cindy Palmatier, director of avian care at the center.

The rest of the birds should arrive on flights today, said Gary Wheeler, manager of the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, which has been caring for the birds since Friday's bizarre episode at the Ocean Beauty Seafoods plant in Kodiak.

Twenty bald eagles died when about 50 of the birds dived into an uncovered dump truck filled with fish guts.

Most of the dead birds were drowned or crushed in the gooey substance, which one wildlife official in Kodiak likened to quicksand. Two died later Friday night, but the rest appear to be getting better, Wheeler said.

"They're getting a little feisty now," he said. "They're feeling their oats, for sure, so you can tell they're feeling better. They're more perky. They're wanting to fly."

Wheeler said wildlife workers in Kodiak planned to wash the eagles again this weekend when a bird biologist with the International Bird Rescue and Research Center recommended sending the birds to the rescue center in Anchorage instead.

"The folks there have more expertise," Wheeler said. "This is the first time since the Exxon Valdez oil spill that we've had to handle this many birds. We've kind of improvised."

No one's certain where the eagles will be released once they have recovered.

The city of Kodiak -- home to about 500 eagles, Wheeler said -- would like them back. But the logistics of flying the eagles back to Kodiak -- three on this flight, five on that flight, until all 30 have made the trip -- could mean they're released in Anchorage, Palmatier said.

At least there's no rush to determine the birds' fates. The eagles are likely to remain at the recovery center for at least two weeks, Palmatier said.

If bird lovers want to help, she added, they can do so in two ways -- by donating salmon (frozen is fine; processed is not) or cash.

The salmon will help keep the eagles fed and the money will help pay for the center's utility bills, which are expected to soar as high as an eagle with so many birds to take care of.

Workers at the center cranked up the heat this weekend to between 75 and 80 degrees to keep the eagles warm, and it will use a lot of hot water in the coming days to wash and rinse the birds.

Keeping the birds warm is as important as getting them clean, Palmatier said, because the birds can't stay warm by themselves with feathers soiled by oily fish guts.

"They don't have a lot of thermal regulation because of the oil," she said. "They're very cold."

And stinky.

"It's a new form of aromatherapy," Palmatier said with a laugh as she described the scene at the center. "It smells very fishy."

What I want to know is, what made the eagles fly into the tank? Most birds have a poorly developed sense of smell, but were the eagles able to smell the fish oil? When the first bird got in and stuck, did that activity to get out attract more eagles? Are they able to see the fish oil in the ultra violet spectrum and that's what attracted them to the chum? Has anything like this happened before? I wonder if this has happened with birds people don't care about like double crested cormorants but because it was a few dozen bald eagles this time it gets media attention? I'm curious to see where this goes.

I also think that's it's speaks volumes about the company that it helped get the eagles out by dumping the nasty contents onto the factory floor and the workers helped clean the eagles.

Also, that's a whole lotta birds for a rehab center to get in all at once. If anyone has a spare few bucks, you might consider sending a little to the Bird Treatment and Learning Center. Given the daily readership here, if only a third of us gave $5 bucks, that would be a good size donation towards fish purchases.

Violent Kingfisher

Well, getting Internet access in Atlanta didn't pan out quite like I thought it would. To have wireless access at the convention center, I would have had to have paid $50 a day. I don't even pay that a month at home. I have wireless access at the hotel, but I was hardy there.

But, I'm packing now and and will catch a flight in a few hours and I can get back to regularly scheduled updates. There are some cool products on the horizon that I will mention in the next few days some of the hard core birder, and some for the backyard birder. Wingscapes had a booth with their camera up and running and Bart showed me some footage that they've been getting with hit. You can do video as well as still images. Here's one of a kingfisher going for the camera and beating the crap out of a fish:

Viera Wetlands

Here's a great egret head.

Well, I'm in Atlanta right now and the drought is still on--the grass is very brown and there are water conservation notices in the hotel rooms. However, as I type this, there is one heck of storm raging outside, so maybe this is a sign for the better? So, time to finish up the Florida entries:

So, Viera Wetlands (again, just a fancy name for a wastewater treatment area--yeah, I mean sewage) wasn't just about the cool bittern loaf. No, there were other birds there, they were just all over shadowed by the cool brown heron like bird. What else could be so cool?

Brown ducks! This is an exciting duck since it can be found in most places around the US. It's a relative of black ducks and mallards and that plumage in the above photos is about as flamboyant as it gets for the mottled duck. I can hear Non Birding Bill smirking all the way in Minnesota.

The wetlands were chock full of herons and egrets. Above is a flock of cattle egrets threatening to block the road as we were driving through.

Here is a pair of sandhill cranes near the road. Again, I would like to point out how birds in Florida are mellower than birds up north. There's no way sandhills would stick near the road if a vehicle slowed down near them. How close were they? For one thing, I didn't digiscope this photo. Here's another comparison:

That's my buddy Clay Taylor in the driver's seat watching the cranes--these birds just don't care about humans. Maybe it's the vacation atmosphere in Florida? Everybody, even the wildife is chillin' out.

Here's another anhinga, drying out its wings in the sun while surrounded by blue-winged teal. It kind of threw me to see it with blue-winged teal, a species we have nesting in Minnesota.
Here is an adult anhinga (note the white on the wings). The anhinga is another kind of celebrity bird for me. I remember staring at their illustrations in my field guides when I was a kid, in all the books, there was at least one showing it with its wings out. It's fun to see them when I am in Texas or Florida.

Speaking of birds throwing me, here's a savannah sparrow. I wondered if I was driving Clay crazy by second guessing so many birds. I kept asking things like, "Is that really a savannah sparrow I'm seeing?" I'm so used to seeing and hearing them in open areas around the Minnesota, I wasn't expecting to find them lurking in the grasses of some wetlands in Florida.

The birds weren't all brown at the wetlands. Check out this striking fellow--kind of like a coot in drag. It's a common moorhen. These birds are very grunty, belchy and farty sounding. They make a variety of noises, but it's the grunty sounds that stick in your mind.

The moorhens were mixed in with the coots. Many of the coots formed a tight raft and fed in the water. With the black bodies and heads, accented with the white bills, it was kind of hypnotic. Here's a video:



Here's another Dr. Seuss looking bird. This is the glossy ibis. Viera was just fun, everywhere you scanned you find something cool, if not on the water, then in the grasses and shoreline. There's something for everyone. And you might be surprised what you find as you're scanning:

Oh hey, what's that on the shore? Why, it's an alligator. And this wasn't the only one, they were ALL over.

Now, these birds must like life on the edge. Here are two sizable alligators and near them on the shore is a glossy ibis and a few moorhens feeding away. Are these birds just not the brightest bulbs on the tree or does their diet make them taste so nasty that an alligator just doesn't want to bother.

You could get fairly close to the alligators. Above is a member of our group named Andy getting a photo with his point and shoot. I noted the alligator was longer than I am and decided to digiscope it from where I stood behind Andy (if the gator decided to come our way, it would get Andy first).

Not a bad photo and much like the bittern photo, I could only get a head shot of the gator to fit in my field of view. Perhaps, that means I'm too close to it.

We did see some non lethal animals like this red-bellied turtle and a river otter that came running out of the water and was entirely too fast for me to digiscope.

Here's a rabbit--this poor thing was frozen and hunkered to the ground, there was a young red-shouldered hawk hunting nearby and the rabbit was using its camo ability to evade becoming a mean for the hawk. One of the guys on our trip was a Florida naturalist and he said that this was a marsh rabbit. They can swim, although, I wouldn't advise it with all the gators in the water.

John Newland--Doh!

Just landed in Atlanta and I got this news item from Blue Lizard Blog. The worm has turned somewhat on the Texas cat shooting case. Remember how the bridge worker argued that the cats were his pets and that was the reason Jim Stevenson should not have shot them. Well, that reasoning has just turned around and bit the bridge worker in the butt according to this story from the Galveston County Daily News:

Bridge worker gets citation for too many cats

By Scott E. Williams
The Daily News

Published January 8, 2008

GALVESTON — For about five years, John Newland has fed a clan of cats near the San Luis Pass Bridge where he worked.

Newland said he never had problems, until November 2006 when island bird-lover Jim Stevenson shot one of the cats. A year later, charges against Stevenson were dropped after a deadlocked jury.

Now, Newland himself is headed to court as a defendant in a criminal case.

Last week, city animal control officer Leroy Cooper issued Newland a misdemeanor citation, accusing him of keeping too many animals.

The charge carries a possible fine of up to $500.

Newland is set for court next Monday before Preceinct 1 Justice of the Peace Jim Schweitzer.

Newland said the feedings have been going on for years.

“These cats have been here longer than we have,” he said. “They keep us company, and no one had ever told us it was against the law to feed an animal that was hungry.”

However, Galveston police Lt. Mike Riedel said the feedings were against the law, because 15 to 20 cats had been eating the food Newland put out for them. A Galveston ordinance bars a person from keeping more than four cats or dogs, and Riedel said that feeding the animals made Newland responsible for them.

“The cats are breeding like crazy, and there are health and safety concerns, because he’s not getting them fixed, he’s not even taking them to the vet. He’s just feeding them,” Riedel said. “I know he thinks he’s taking care of the cats, but he’s just making the problem worse.”

Attorney Tad Nelson represented Stevenson at his animal-cruelty trial, which ended in a jury deadlock in November.

Nelson praised law enforcement for pursuing a case against Newland.

“It’s a tough position to take, but I’m proud of the city for doing this because it’s the right thing to do,” Nelson said. “As lovable as Mr. Newland is, he is naive to think he’s benefitting those cats.”

Stevenson, president of the Galveston Ornithological Society, faced a charge of cruelty to animals for shooting the cat near the San Luis Pass bridge.

The crux of the case was whether the cat was feral or domesticated, as the animal-cruelty law under which he was prosecuted applied in cases in which an animal’s owner did not consent to the animal being harmed.

Newland said he suspected Stevenson of complaining to police about him feeding the cats. But Riedel said Stevenson had nothing to do with Newland being ticketed.

Riedel also said he would prefer to charge the people at the root of the cat problem.

“The people who dump those cats off, the original owners who abandon them out there, that’s who I’d like to get,” he said.

Give Kat Doc Advice

This question came in through the comments from Kat Doc:

Great bittern photos! What a problem to have, to be "too close" to a bittern.

Birdchick, I am going to Orlando later this month. After my veterinary conference (5 days locked inside of hotel convention rooms) I have 3 days free. Any suggestions on places to go birding near Orlando?

~Kathi

Any Florida readers have a suggestion for her? I told her that she should look at the Space Coast Bird Festival site (so wish I was going to the festival, maybe next year). When I was there this week, I did Viera Wetlands (another entry about that forthcoming and Merritt Island). How about it, all you Florida insiders: tell katdoc where to go...birding that is.

Hot Gratuitous American Bittern Action

Well, I thought getting some great head shots of the wood stork was going to be the high point of my trip, but hands down, it was the American bittern action, I captured at Viera Wetlands yesterday. Now, the American bittern is a bird I can see in my home state of Minnesota, but not easily and certainly not in good photography light. One thing I am fascinated with birds is how birds respond to human activity in different states. In Florida, the birds are totally mellow: osprey right on the street lamps like red-tailed hawks. Herons and egrets will let you get within 10 feet of them. We have some of these same species in Minnesota, but they are way more cagey--it's just an interesting regional difference.

Bitterns are birds that skulk around in reeds, using their stripey plumage to hide in the reeds--it's hard to find them, you generally hear them more than you see them and when you do see them, it's usually when they are slinking back into the reeds and out of your sight. When I got the above photo of a bittern disappearing into some vegetation with the sun behind it, I considered myself very lucky.

Then we got to this spot and a fellow birder mentioned to our group that there was an American bittern in here that is a real ham. I'm a ham, I would even say chickadees and nuthatches are hams. But bitterns as hams? They are more of the Howard Hughes type. But, the light was perfect, I had a flash card to fill and couldn't resist a chance to digiscope a bittern. We couldn't see it and buddy Clay Taylor said that we were probably going to have to walk around and just work it. Clay and I assumed our positions with our scopes and our cameras and waited. Less than sixty seconds later, we saw the bittern.

It skulked out of the grasses and I got this photo. I thought this was pretty darned exciting and very bloggable--and a good representation of how you usually see a bittern through a scope or binoculars. Part of the bird and obscured by vegetation. I congratulated myself in my head for a digiscope well done. But, it didn't end there.

The bird continued to search the water at the base of the vegetation for fish and seemed completely oblivious to the pack of humans on the nearby road freaking out at how close we were to an American bittern.

Look at that! An almost completely unobscured bittern face? I felt like the luckiest girl in the world!

The bittern eventually came out fairy close to the road. If you look at the above photo, you see the end of the barrel of my spotting scope and at the top center of the photo is the bittern. I was dying at this point. It was sunny, the temperature was in the upper seventies, a slight breeze was blowing and I was watching a really cool and generally hard to see bird.

The birder we met on the road was right, this bird was a ham. Here it is point its head up to camouflage as a helicopter few over (or maybe it was simply watching the helicopter).

And then it poked its head out and continued its "relentless warfare on fish." Some of the members of our group were not birders and did find the bittern cool, but I'm sure they were wondering why Clay and I just planted ourselves for the better part of an hour photographing the bittern.

The bird was so close, I had a tough time getting anything but head shots, so I moved myself further back and was able to start getting the whole body in the frame. What amazed me was look at the size of the head in relation to the body--tiny and skinny head governing a large body in back.

At a couple of point, it puffed up slightly. I wondered what that was about. I once was fortunately enough to watch a bittern give it's call and it's really interesting. They inhale air first and their bodies blow up like a big brown beach ball and the bird deflates as it gives that pumper call. Here, it puffed up once? Is it giving some kind of call that is inaudible to me? What was it about? Still, so much to learn.

Here's a final photo, check out the wet feathers on the chin--I saw this bird get at least five fish, who knows how much it was getting as it would periodically disappear into the grasses. Though the above is the last photo, below is a video of the bittern. There is a spot on the lens and yes, I am aware of the spot. I've been uploading some photos to You Tube in the last twenty-four hours to blog about this week. Some people subscribe to the videos on there and see them right away. And a few have felt the need to let me know that I have a spot on my lens. It's a big spot and fairly obvious and it amuses me to know end that the commentors feel the need to let me know, on the off chance I didn't see it. So, as you're watching this, yes, I know that there is a spot on the lens.

Oh! And I forgot to mention, you will hear fish crows calling in the back ground--sounds like a crow that swallowed a kazoo going "ha ha". Also, watch how the bittern wiggles back and forth--that's how it's focusing on what it's about to stab it at. Alas, the flash card I was using when I took the video filled up and the camera stopped filming. Immediately after the video stops, the bittern nailed a fish.

Florida Brush Fire

There's a news story about a controlled burn in Florida that got out of control and is now a brush fire that contributed to a 50 car pile up. I think we saw it yesterday when we were birding at Viera Wetlands (the nice name for South Central Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility). I think we saw the start of it yesterday:

We saw smoke puffing up as we were birding and we wondered if it was a controlled burn or wildfire. I even called NBB and had him check Google News to see if there was anything we should worry about. There wasn't anything up in the news and we noticed that the wind was blowing in the direction of the smoke, blowing it away from us. When I was taking off from the Orlando Airport yesterday evening, I could see the smoke and see it starting in a different spot and wondered what was up.

This station has some photos of the smoke mixed with fog this morning, crazy stuff.

My feet

Man oh man, do I have chigger foot this morning. I'm tempted to post a photo, it's not quite as bad as Harlingen a few years ago, but it's up there.

Trash Birds

I just don't get why people keep calling some birds (like these boat-tailed grackles) trash birds.

Merritt Island NWR

Just rolled into chez Stiteler--how will I ever get all my Florida blogging in before I leave for Atlanta on Thursday? Above is one of the many palm warblers that were flitting around the hotel and just about everywhere else we went in Florida.

Yesterday afternoon we headed over to Merritt Island NWR in Titusville, FL. We pulled over so folks could test out some digiscoping stuff. I was trying to get a photo of some of a shorebird called a ruddy turnstone. Alas, it was too close to get the scope on it! It was just as easy to take a photo the regular way. That's my shadow and the turnstone in the upper right hand corner.

Eventually, I got some distance between the turnstone and me. C'mon, even if you don't care for shorebirds, you have to admit, that's kind of a cool looking shorebird. Look at those bright orange legs!

As we were going down the road, we pulled over for some wood storks. If you look at the tops of the trees, you can see a couple of wood storks. Would you like to see them even closer?

Is it a beauty? What? That's not close enough of that dry, wrinkly skin? You want more?

Almost makes you think that this is what a white ibis would look like at 80 years old. These guys mostly eat fish, but will go for weird things like baby alligators and cow dung. Kind of makes sense with a face like that. You want more of the face?

Breathe in the wood stork, breathe out. Breathe in the wood stork, breathe out. Look at that insane nostril too. Cool bird.

We didn't spend huge amounts of time at Merritt, a storm was rolling in. I was hoping for some roseate spoonbill action in the sun, but didn't see any.

Until the rain came and it got darker, then it was spoonbill city.

Here's a spoonbill mixed in with a bunch of tricolored herons. As I was loading this onto the blog, Non Birding Bill walked behind me and asked, "Is that a roseate spoonbill I see?" I asked how he knew what a spoonbill was and he answered, "Because it's the one bird that actually looks like its name. It's rosy and it's bill looks like a spoon. That must have been the one day Audubon wasn't drunk when he was naming birds."

It's good to be home. Brace yourself for some pretty hot bittern action coming in the next 24 hours.

Birders Help Nail Pelican Poacher

Here's the story from the Tyler Paper:

Audubon Society members bird watching around Lake Palestine Saturday afternoon were shocked when the white pelican they were observing was shot from the sky.

The birdwatchers were parked on County Road 1134 viewing water foul fly back and forth from a private lake to Lake Palestine when they heard a gunshot.

"A pelican they were watching folded and fell to the ground," said Chris Green, game warden for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. "They're beautiful to see swimming together. They have a large bucket-type mouth and it's neat to see them fishing. That's why they are protected."

The birdwatchers called Operation Game Thief, a toll-free number where the public can report hunting, fishing and other environmental violations.

Green said he was dispatched to the area and located the shooter and his friends along with the bird that was hidden in a makeshift dumpsite on the property.

When interviewed, the 17-year-old Robert E. Lee student told Green he shot the bird because it was eating too many fish out of his private lake.

"I seized his shotgun and wrote him a ticket for killing a protected bird," Green said.

In he state of Texas there are three classifications for protection. The first is endangered, which includes species such as the whooping crane and brown pelican. The second is threatened, and includes the bald eagle, and the third class is protected which includes owls, hawks, pelicans and songbirds.

"They are numerous, but we still protect them from random shooting, and violators face a pretty steep fine," he said. "(The teen) will be looking at around a $500 fine."

In addition to the fine for killing a protected bird, he was ticketed for not having a hunting license or hunter education.

Green said even though the bird was shot on private property it is still against the law to harm or kill protected wildlife. He added that if it wasn't for the Audubon ladies looking through their binoculars, he probably would not have known about the shooting.

"The women were very disappointed. They came to East Texas to see the beauty of our wildlife and all we can show them are killers," Green said.

Serisously? People still name their kids "Robert E. Lee"?

Great Bird When I'm Away

The meeting that I am attending is a mix of both birders and hunters. Yesterday, as we were reconvening after lunch, I did a quick check of email to discover that an ivory gull was reported in Duluth, MN. I announced that I had to fly home immediately, the guy running the workshop who is also a birder said, "Not unless I can come too!" Most of the birders in the room wanted to go.

This morning when I woke up, Sparky Stensaas had put up a photo of the gull on his site.

Oh well, I have ibises to keep me warm.

Dixie Crossroads Seafood Restaurant

I just thought this was a cool photo of a boat-tailed grackle--almost looks like he has mutton chops.

Tonight we had dinner at the Dixie Crossroads Seafood Restaurant, which is a must if you are birding around Titusville, FL or are going to the Space Coast Birding Festival (they were actually having a meeting prepping volunteers for it while we were there) I highly recommend the broiled rock shrimp. Outside there is a small pond full of fish--many huge, some minnows.

In the dark, along the rocks, you could see a green heron fishing for the minnows. For twenty five cents, you could purchase fish food and many of us tried to aim it in the green heron's direction to get the fish over its way, but it seemed to have its own system and ignored our helpful tosses of fish pellets.

Another Sneaky Meeting Entry

Here is a young and vocal red-shouldered hawk out in the parking lot today.

Sneaking an Entry During the Meeting

I wonder if anyone caught on that I'm blogging yet?

From the earlier entry, this was the scene not far from our hotel. The double-crested cormorant on the right (just sticking its head above water was stirrin' up some fish and the herons, egrets and ibises followed the cormorant to grab the freaked out fish.

We're here to learn more about optics and talk some digiscoping and when I went out yesterday, Ann came along to try this digiscoping thing. The crazy thing about Florida birds is that the birds just do not care about people and you can get fairly close, which was good for Ann above, she doesn't have an adapter for her camera and she was hand holding her camera up to my scope.

In Minnesota, you can't get that close to a cormorant, unless they are fightless in the nest. I was just fascinated by the detail in the cormorant's feathers.
Their eyes were such a beautiful emerald green, I don't think you can see it so well in this photo, maybe if you click on it, you can see it then.

The birds were diggin' this yellow floaty thing (I think it was damming the water). Up above we have a snowy egret, tricolored heron and white ibises. It must have been kind of a corral for fish, the birds would jump into there and gorge themselves...

and then back up to loaf on the yellow floaty thing.

And it was very much monkey see, monkey do. Once one bird would start preening, the rest would follow suit. It was a kick watching the Dr Suess-like ibis clean is feathers (that's the snowy egret behind it--the bird's yellow toes).

Speaking of toes, check out the freaky toes on this great egret (note how they are all black compared to the snowy egret).

This little group of birds was so great, you could really see the size difference. Look how tiny the ibis is compared to the great egret.

The tricolored heron was a treat, we just don't get too many of these (any) where I live.

It's even pretties on the side.

And I leave you with an ibis, while I return my attention to the meeting.

Cool Bird Under a Benningan's Sign

It is very much like spring here to me. It's green, (whoa, check out all the palm trees) there are warblers chipping in the trees, and it's a mild temperature. Today, I was very comfortable walking around the hotel with light pants and a jacket, not the hot temps I was expecting, but hey, it's not freezing. Across from the hotel is a Bennigan's Restaurant. I noticed a lump that looked birdish, so I set the scope on it.

It was an anhinga loafing under the sign. Sweet. I was also excited that the first bird I saw in Florida was not a house sparrow, staring or pigeon (I have yet to notice one). As the plane was coming in for landing, we passed over a turkey vulture. As we were taxiing to the gate, I saw more turkey vultures thermalizing overhead--what kind of sign is that to see over an airfield? A bunch of turkey vultures? From my hotel window, I watched a bald eagle perched on a dead tree, I would have tried to get a photo, but the window was too dirty.

Testing The Internet Situation

Quick photo of birds outside my hotel. Awesome. More later. How many can you id? Not a contest, just for fun.

It's Raining Iguanas, Hallelujah!

Just saw this Florida headline this morning: Cold Snap Causes Frozen Iguana Shower. What the heck am I flying into tomorrow? Apparently, I'm getting in to Orlando way early for the meeting and I'm hoping to do some digiscoping...I'm not sure how the blogging is going to be. I was just reading the hotel's amenities list. Wireless Internet access starts at $10! What is up with that--paying for Internet access at a hotel? I think I can get around that with my bluetooth phone, but I don't know how photos will load. We'll see.

The blog got a nice shout out from Wallace W Hansen's Northwest Native Plants both on their website and in their newsletter (available as a pdf on the site). I think this is the first time the word "intellectual" has been aimed in my direction. It feels weird, and pleasant.

You have a chance to win original International Migratory Bird Day art, while supporting bird conservation. With a minimum donation of just $5, your name will be included in a drawing for the 2008 International Migratory Bird Day art.

All donations will benefit La Tangara, the newsletter of the International Working Group of Partners in Flight. This newsletter and its associated website are recognized as the critical information exchange mechanism for Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation. The goal is to raise at least $10,000.00, which will make La Tangara available to biologists and educators in the Western Hemisphere for one year.

A drawing will be held to determine the winner of the art on February 16, 2008 at the IV International Partners in Flight Conference in McAllen, Texas. You do not have to be present to win. Contributing is easy...just visit www.birdday.org/conservation.php to see the art and to make your donation. Payment may be made by check or credit card. For questions, contact Environment for the Americas at 1-866-334-3330.

Seven Years, Four Months

Just got a report from Mr. Neil. A mouse has been found in the trap under the beehive. The dead mouse was carefully laid on a stump for consumption by any interested predator.

So, I was reading a story about a barn owl being used as a ring bearer in a wedding in Wales, when I realized, hey, time to schedule the next Birds and Beers--Thursday, January 17, 2008 at Merlin's Rest. I'll be just back from Bird Watch America and have tales of what's on the horizon in birding products. Birds and Beers is a gathering of ANYONE interested in birds to have a beverage, maybe a meal and talk some birds. It's a great way to share birding stories, ideas, and meet fellow birders of all levels. If you lead trips or run a bird store and want to promote yourself, please do. If you are working on some project or research about birds--come on down, if you want to know more places to see birds or ask about how to attract more birds to your yard--come on out.

Cinnamon had an appointment today at the vet. As you can see in the above photo, she was not happy. Check out the name tag on her box, she got that from our friend Dawn, who invited us to her office blessing. Everyone had name tags--including Cinnamon. They are huge fans of Cinnamon had Sunshine Travel--speaking of which, we'll be doing some tours through them, one to Harlingen in Texas this fall and one next January to San Francisco.

Check out that furry little chin! I had to give Cinnamon lots of treats after the vet. She's happier when her nails are freshly trimmed, but like most rabbits doesn't seem to like the indignity of having them trimmed. The weird thing was that I finally got a handle on her age. I don't celebrate pet birthdays, I don't like to think about how much shorter their lives will be compared to mine. I have an idea of how old Cinnamon is, but can't remember the exact year we brought her home of the St. Paul Humane Society. When I was paying for her at the front desk, someone asked how old she was, the receptionist behind the desk said, "You've had her seven years and four months." She had Cinnamon's file in front of her and we had brought Cinnamon in for an exam and to schedule her spay right after we got her, so they would have the records. Wow, her HS file said she was just under a year old when we got her, that makes her eight. My, how the time flies.

Hmmm.

Well, I'm supposed to fly to Orlando this weekend, and at the time I agreed to the trip, I thought that a trip to Florida in January would be a smart move. However, there's a news story that it was 28 degrees in parts of Florida last night and now Minnesota is starting a warm up this weekend (it might be 35 degrees!).

Sigh

Question For A Goldfinch

Hey, did you guys see the nuthatch with the deformed bill over at Mary's View?

I've encountered some long-billed birds before, we had a peregrine come into the hawk blind a few years ago and I saw some deformed red-winged blackbirds in 2006 in Nebraska too. If you see long-billed birds you can report them to either Julie Craves or Cornell.

This goldfinch has little black feathers on his head--signs of his black cap he will have in breeding plumage. Now here is the question for the goldfinch: is he slow at molting, is this left over from last summer or is this a hint of what is to come? Is he starting his breeding plumage changeover all ready?

Speaking of signs of spring, this morning, even though it was -5 degrees F, black-capped chickadees were singing "Spring Soon!" The birds must be feeling like the glass is half full or they have read The Secret and are just trying to will the weather to be warmer.

Pigeon Smuggling? Seriously?

People are smuggling pigeons? I'm against smuggling, but I understand when people try it with something like a parrot, but pigeons? From the AP:

LEWISTON, N.Y. (AP) — Border agents pulled four live birds from the pockets of a pigeon collector and a traveling companion trying to enter the United States from Canada.

The pair were stopped Sunday at the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge border crossing, where they told inspectors they were on their way to visit an uncle in LeRoy, outside Rochester, Customs and Border Protection spokesman Kevin Corsaro said.

Inspectors found the pigeons wrapped and taped from neck to tail in pockets of the pair's coats after they asked the men from Uxbridge, Ontario, to remove their jackets.

One man told CBP officers he is a pigeon collector who belongs to a club that trades and sells birds of various colors. He said he was taking the birds to trade or sell to his uncle.

The men, whose names were not released, were fined $1,000 and the case was referred to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and United States Department of Agriculture inspectors for possible criminal charges, Corsaro said.

People bringing pet birds into the country are required to arrange for a veterinary inspection at the border three to five days before entering to protect against the transmission of communicable diseases such as bird flu.

USDA inspectors took custody of the birds.

First Bee Post of 2008

Lots of snow has been falling in Mr. Neil's woods. There are some trails from the deer, some from the dog Cabal, and quite a few from rabbits, squirrels, and deer mice. This morning we took whoever was still around from the New Year's party out to the beehives so people could experience the magic of live buzzing bees while it was somewhere near zero degrees (Fahrenheit) outside.

As everyone was putting their ears to the Olga hive, I noticed a very steady trail of deer mouse tracks...

...leading directly underneath the Olga hive. This is not good. We have a mouse guard on the entrance, but our hives are elevated, so there is a space underneath the hive that a mouse could chew and gain access to the inside. It's a tempting abode for an enterprising deer mouse: bees keep it warm and you'd be surrounded by honey. Was the mouse just hanging out under the hive, or was it going up and into it? I stuck my camera into the space below Olga:

There was a pile of bee parts and some tiny wood scraps The bee parts could be decomposing dead bees that had fallen out, but the wood was a sure sign that some chewing was underway.


I tried to take a photo of the bottom of the hive, and low and behold there is a hole large enough for a deer mouse to gain access to the bottom of the hive. I think we have caught this early, I was just out a week ago and there were no tracks. Lorraine headed out and purchased some snap traps to place under the hive. I feel bad for the mouse, it's a clever way to survive the winter, but I have a responsibility to my girls to help them survive the winter--the mouse has to go. Funny thing--we had two traps, but had trouble setting one of them in the extreme cold because the metal was contracting.

But now to some very exciting news! We are prepping the hives for the coming spring! Last year, Non Birding Bill and I put the hives together and painted them. In preparation for this spring, we ordered assembled hives and Mr. Neil is commissioning artists paint them. The first artist?

Kelli Bickman came in from New York to paint one of the new hives! It is so incredibly cool(and isn't Kelli adorable?)! The colors, the dripping honey, the skulls! I love it, and I can't wait to see it alive with a colony of bees.

Here is the other side. Kelli has actually done three deep brood boxes and two of our comb honey supers. I'm going to find myself impatient to put this hive together through spring and summer in order to see the whole art, but it will be a gradual process.

Here is a close up of the eye. Kelli's cousin, Jen did all the detail work here, down to a bee in the middle of the pupil. Beekeeping is fun enough, but to have an artist create such a space for our bees, really takes it to a new level. This is just such a gift and this beekeeping thing combines so many elements I love: art, natural history, learning, and friendship. Kelli's work is so vibrant and the color composition has a way of taking me to a peaceful, vibrant world. Can't wait to see what the personality of this hive will be.

So, here we have it: The Kelli Hive. I like this new rule, you paint the hive, we name it after you.

Highlights & Gratitude For 2007

I'm a little foggy from last night's New Year's party. There was a man there who taught ballroom dance for a living and all the women took turns being twirled, whirled, hustled and rumbaed around the room. Good times.

The first bird that I saw and digiscoped for 2008--a white-breasted nuthatch. Mr. Neil tried to make a joke that seeing a white-breasted nuthatch meant a year of bad sex and Non Birding Bill wisely encouraged him to avoid inaccurate bird jokes before I have any coffee in the morning...so the fantasy writer still lives...for the moment.

I week or two ago I was tagged with a top birding moments of 2007 (for the life of me, I can't remember who tagged me) but I wanted to wait until 2007 was fully over before I put it together. I also get a wonderful email from a friend expressing gratitude for moments in the last year, so I think this will kind of morph into that as well since I have so much to be grateful for.

A huge highlight was getting to perform Play on Birds with Non Birding Bill at a Nature Festival in Ohio. I love doing this show and I love working with my husband on stage. I hope we get the opportunity again.

Digiscoping has just taken over my birding life and I've observed some really great moments with it. One big highlight was getting some great photos while at a meeting at Eastman Nature Center.

I also got a chance to digiscope a singing male indigo bunting. The bird was so focused on singing, he never noticed me. He sang so long that after I had taken all pictures I could, I just had to finally take the time to just enjoy him. What a treat and what a great bird to have such a beautiful bird in existence.


A big highlight was getting the chance to photograph and video a male golden-winged warbler at a bed and breakfast in Vergas, MN. If you follow this link, that will take to the post to watch the video of the golden-winged warbler and also of a bobolink that was singing at the bed and breakfast as well.

North Dakota was another great time, and getting the chance to observe ruddy duck courtship display was a definite highlight. I just happened to find them while exploring some remote gravel roads and spent and hour watching the males display and the females take their time in showing any interest. North Dakota was also a great chance to hang out with great friends and explore Clark Gable's grandparent's home and find a burrowing owl.

Young Cooper's hawks provided no end of entertainment from bathing in a puddle of a neighboring roof (she's a dirty girl) to nailing a pigeon right in front of my apartment building. I never ceased to be amazed at the incredible amount of nature right in front of our eyes in a busy metro area. Going out in the middle of nowhere is fun, but incredible wild stuff is happening anywhere, as long as you go out and take a moment to notice.

Banding hawks in the fall is always fun, but this year was particularly exciting because I got a chance to "yank the pigeon" and help bring hawks into the nets. I also slept in a van out in the fields to prove that if I need to, I can still rough it.

I finally had a chance to improve my shorebird watching skills! Doug Buri offered a weekend workshop in August and he promised me that I would learn my shorebirds. I was skeptical, but he promised that I would see least sandpipers within five feet of me. The man did not lie and not only can I had identify shorebirds in my area, I find them quite beautiful. I hear he's offering two workshops next year--I highly recommend them!

Carpenter banding is always fun, but this year when we had an adult sharp-shinned hawk try to get one of the juncos we had just trapped, was a big highlight--Hellziggy took the above photo. We ended getting the sharpie and banding it as well as the junco. This is not to be confused with a separate sharpie/junco incident that happened in December.

Having a young titmouse sit on my head while at Mr. Neil's was another highlight.

Speaking of Mr. Neil, I finally got vindication with a saw-whet owl. For years, I have insisted that one should be in his woods. I had found saw-whet feathers in wren nests, I had found poop, but never the saw-whet--until this year when I found the above bird sleeping in a pine. Whoot!

Birds were only part of this magical year. Beekeeping has opened my eyes to a whole new world, and words cannot express what it felt like to have a worker bee lick nectar off of my bare finger. From having a massive panic attack when installing the bees, to requeening problems, to even giving sex advice, to my first bee sting...this has been one weird year and I cannot wait to see what new adventures lay ahead of us in 2008.

And let's not forget the porcupet--the baby porcupine who was found on the side of the road next to his mother who had been hit by a car. He was being cared for by a friend of mine who is a professional wildlife rehabber. By the time he was in her care, he had already been imprinted on humans and could not go back to the wild. He is now living at the International Wolf Center in Ely, Mn and goes by the name Clover. His videos are still a sensation on YouTube.

Birding also got me a brush with coolness when the Colbert Report filmed a segment at an Eagle Festival in Connecticut.

And I can't talk about what an amazing year it has been without talking about Cinnamon and Disapproving Rabbits. That has been one wild ride to have a web page we put up for fun and have it turn into a book. To have signings and have people come from different states to meet my bunny is just overwhelming. When I looked over the blog in the last year and how it has morphed and changed, I noticed that Cinnamon has been featured less and less. I'm not sure why. At first, I thought it was my infatuation with beekeeping, a new subject to write about. Then we started a separate blog for Disapproving Rabbits so I wondered if I was keeping it separate. But, I also get some strange emails (greatly overshadowed by some really wonderful and funny ones) from fans. I wonder if the few odd/unpleasant ones are making me feel protective of my bunny's privacy and the fun times we have. Or is that she is getting older and I want to distance her to protect all from being too emotionally invested when the inevitable happens? Not sure, but we'll see what happens in the coming year.

Birds and Beers has been a real treat. Above is a photo from the first Bird Blogger Conference where many bird bloggers got to meet face to face for the first time. I'm hoping to expand Birds and Beers in 2008 where anyone who is remotely interested in birds from beginner to kinda interested to very interested to birding has taken over my life will get a chance to sit down, share a beverage and talk some birds.

And I would like to once again thank EVERYONE who reads the blog, leaves comments, sends emails, or spreads the word. I feel incredibly honored that people are interested in what I put on here and make it such a fun part of my day and my life. I've made some great new friends and connections and I love it when someone sends a note to tell me that they noticed some bird or activity that they never would have noticed before if they had not read the blog. We also did some good this year when readers from here did the "Click for Condors" and helped Ventana Wildlife Society win $10,000 in grant money. Not bad at all. Thank you very much, and here's hoping you have wonderful new year and share new adventures.

Thank you.