Guest Blogging Day 2: Lynnanne Fager

And we're back for Day Two of the Swarovski Guest Blogging Contest. This entry, from Lynnanne Fager, is about a very unusual visitor to her backyard.

Results of a Backyard Bird Bordello

Spring is in the air and that only means one thing in my backyard: sex. At least for the birds, that is.

We hang cute little boxes, put out their favorite foods, all in an effort to coax the feathered sex fiends into the yard. We make sure the nest boxes have the right size holes for the bird we’re trying to attract. We put ventilation in, so the poor things don’t overheat. Sometimes, we even go so far as to put guttering on to catch the rain. We do all this just to invite sex into the back yard.

These birds don’t need any instruction, any sex manuals, doctor’s visits, or prenatal exams. Or do they?

It would seem our chickadees are out of control. They have no sense of dignity. At least one of our chickadees has been caught foolin’ around with the titmice. It seems we’ve created a backyard bird bordello.

This is what I found at my feeders one day in October, 2006.

Hybrid Chickadee x Tufted titmouse, north central Indiana (photo by Lynnanne Fager, 2006)

As far as I was concerned, there was only one thing it could be: a chick-a-mouse. (There are several word combos that one could put on this bird, but we won’t go there now!)

I put an email out to Cornell, minus the photo, explaining the bird I had and requesting any documentation on chickadee x tufted titmouse hybrids. I received a response that basically told me I didn’t know what I was talking about – and that if I had a photo, this gal would try to explain to me what it was I was seeing.

I sent the photo to her and moved on.

I put out a call and sent the above photo to master bander Dr. Ron Weiss who made swift plans to get this bird banded.

He did some research on the hybridization of these two birds and posted it on his website.

Ron arrived one Sunday, set up his nets and opened his banding station. This bird did nothing but tease us the entire morning flying into the feeding area, up and around the nets, that is until Indiana Wesleyan University Professor Steve Conrad showed up (Steve is working on a sub-banding permit, on the hybridization of the black-capped and Carolina chickadee. We joked and said the bird was waiting just for him).

After dancing a few jigs on top of the mist nets, our bird finally flew into the net.
Ron flew out the door, contained the bird and brought it into the house and closed the door behind him. He wasn’t taking any chances.

All the proper measurements were taken and recorded; the bracelet was secured around its leg. Ron checked the skull, and patterns on the tail feathers, noting it was a hatch year bird.
He collected DNA and plucked a few feathers, while I took quite a few photos. He then went outside, took GPS coordinates and released the bird.

Team Chick-a-mouse from left: Ron Weiss (holding the bird), Steve Conrad,
Lynnanne Fager, Tom Barker and Nancy Barker (photo by Jenna Fager, 2006)

The gal at Cornell wrote back a few weeks later with a sweet apology and included an ID from one of their top ornithologists stating that he thought it looked like a hybrid titmouse x chickadee. He suggested I contact Ohio State, but it was too late. Ron already had the bird. To date, the DNA cells are still in process (If there’s another lab out there who is interested in crunching this bird’s cells, contact me – I have rights to half of the DNA collected.)
The bird hung around our yard for a few months, until the sub-zero February winds blew through, carrying our strange little bird away with it.

Since then, I am constantly looking for a touch of unique in my yard birds. I find myself paying close attention, especially to those chickadees and titmice, and am always on the lookout for another strange creation from my backyard.

Guest Blogging Day 1: Amy Haran

Hello all, NBB here. Sharon is well on her way to Guatemala, where it's sunny and 80°, which means that it's time to begin Swarovski Optik Guest Blogging event. Our first entry is a fun one from Amy Haran of Your Bird of the Week.

What Kind of Bird Are You?

Which member of the avian world are you most like? It's a question every cool person asks at some point, for sure. So, I've composed my very own Cosmo-esque personality quiz to help you find out.

Please select the statements below that most closely represent you in regards to fashion, food, friends, conflict and communication. Then, scroll down to see what kind of bird you are and why.

It’s all very scientific, I assure you. OK, maybe not.

Fashion
A. My mantra: when in doubt, wear black.
B. I prefer to pair classic neutrals with rich, eye-popping color.
C. It doesn’t matter what I wear. My size and striking eyes make people sit up and take notice.
D. I’m not flashy, but I always look nice. Honestly, I prefer not to call attention to myself.
E. I’m pretty practical when it comes to clothes. I wear what’s best for getting my job done, whether it looks good or not.

Food
A. I’ll eat just about anything. Meat? Good. Vegetables? Good. Bread? Good.
B. I eat on the go, so fast food is my friend.
C. Give me meat! A well-cut steak, roasted chicken, fresh sushi, grilled pork chops—it all makes me drool.
D. I found the Atkins diet horribly offensive. It’s all about the carbs for me.
E. I love leftovers. If it’s good at dinner, it will be even better warmed up the next day.
Family/Friends
A. I’ve got many acquaintances, but I prefer to hang out with family.
B. The more the merrier. A crowded house is a happy house.
C. Leave me alone unless sex is involved.
D. Every meal is made better by sharing it with others, especially when it’s at the local watering hole.
E. People assume I’m solitary, but they would be surprised to see the number of friends who might show up for my holiday parties.

Conflict
A. When attacked by others, I rely on the strength of my family and friends.
B. I’m rarely aggressive except when it comes to matters of love. Then, watch out!
C. I seem tough, but you’d be surprised how little it takes to scare me off.
D. I hate confrontation! If things look rough, I beat a hasty retreat.
E. There is nothing, and I mean nothing, I won’t do to defend myself. Choose to mess with me, and you may not like the consequences.

Communication
A. I like to talk, and people usually hear me when I do.
B. My sweet voice masks a darker side.
C. I’m largely quiet except when frightened or turned on.
D. I chatter away all day. Who wouldn’t with a cheerful voice like mine?
E. I’m pretty quiet, but I do hiss when I get upset.

Now, add up your answers, and find the letter you picked most. Then scroll down to see what kind of bird you are. Don’t be surprised if you’re a mutty mix of birds.

Mostly A's: You are an American Crow

A medium-sized black bird, you eat whatever you can get—from road kill to fruit to insects to grain. You are close to your family, living with your parents for many years and helping them raise your younger brothers and sisters. You call on that close family when feeling threatened, and every crow within hearing of your harsh, cawing call will come to your defense!

Mostly B's: You are a Barn Swallow

A small bird with an iridescent blue back, caramel-colored body, and forked tail, you eat flies on the fly. You roost with often thousands of other barn swallows, building your own nest out of mud and grass on highway overpasses, bridges, barns, and parking garages. You’re little, but can be aggressive in matters of mating. Unmated male barn swallows are known to kill another pair’s nestlings in order to “break up” the couple and mate with the female. Meanwhile, females select males based on how long and symmetrical their tail is. This questionable behavior is masked by a sweet, warbling call.

Mostly Cs: You are a Red-tailed Hawk

A brown raptor with a brick-colored tail, you eat meat, including mice, squirrels, rabbits, fish, small birds, and even insects. Like most birds of prey, you’re largely a solitary animal, but you are believed to mate for life. While you are a large predator, everyone from song birds to crows will gang up on you and chase you out of their area. When this happens, you usually give up and go find less obnoxious hunting grounds. You are a quiet bird, but you use your piercing shriek to warn predators away from your nest and to attract mates.

Mostly Ds: You are a Chipping Sparrow

A small sparrow with a black and brown back, gray body, and rusty red cap, you prefer seeds above any other food. You are known for your highly social behavior, welcoming the company of other chipping sparrows and even the occasional quiet human being. Like all sparrows, you use rapid retreat to good cover to protect yourself from cats, hawks, and other predators. You are named after your happy little “chip, chip, chip” call. It’s not beautiful, but it’s a constant, comforting sound in gardens and parks.

Mostly Es: You are a Turkey Vulture

A large, blackish-brown bird with an unfeathered red face, you use your incredible sense of smell to find carrion. (Your unfeathered face comes in handy when diving into a rotting animal carcass.) Although often seen flying alone, you’re actually fairly social, roosting with other turkey vultures and gathering at smelly carcasses for an intimate meal. Predators be warned: You aren’t afraid of vomiting partially digested roadkill to warn others away and will even aim for the eyes if something gets too close. It’s all accompanied by a warning hiss that you learned as an ugly, little vulture chick.

Sources:
The Birds of North American Online
All About Birds

All photos taken from Wikimedia Commons:
American Crow
Barn Swallow
Red-tailed Hawk
Chipping Sparrow
Turkey Vulture

Thanks, Amy! Come back tomorrow for our next guest entry!

Swarovski Guest Blogging Contest

I'm going to Guatemala in a couple of weeks and I'm told that between the rigorous itinerary and the uncertainty of Internet access, I need some help covering the blog. So what do you do when you are the sole writer of a blog and you need some time off? I've used a guest blogger, like the trusty Non Birding Bill and, before she had her own blog, Julie Zickefoose covered for me while I was in Arkansas looking for a certain woodpecker for two weeks. Julie now has her own blog and well NBB only has so much interest in covering for me, so I came up with a plan.

I talked with Swarovski Optik and asked if they would help me host a guest blogger contest. So I bring you the Swarovski Guest Blogging Contest--you could be a writer for my blog! If you already have a blog and would like to get a larger readership, this is an opportunity to show off your content to my readers. If you're not sure you can do a blog but have an adventure to share, I have a great audience willing to read it.

You can submit a blog entry for my blog. Non Birding Bill and I will read through them and select 10. We will post one blog entry a day while I'm gone (it will be ten days starting on February 18). If your blog entry is one of the ten published, you win...

...a Swarovski Cleaning Kit ( $39.95 value) for your optics. At the end of the 10 days, there will be a poll up for the ten entries for readers to vote on. Whichever entry gets the most votes wins...

A pair of Swarovski Crystal Pocket Binoculars (a $900 value)!!!! They're pocket binos, but made with Swarovski glass and coatings so they're awesome and they're covered in swag. I love these! These are hand down the snazziest pocket binoculars you have ever seen. I got to play with these in Cape Cod last year and fell in love!

Rules:

1. ANYONE CAN ENTER: If you already have a blog you can enter. If you have never blogged at all, you can still enter. If you do already have a blog and your entry gets selected, I will link back to your site with your entry.

2. BLOG ENTRY MUST FIT THEME OF THIS BLOG: I'm not going to say that you have to write about wild birds for the contest, but do keep in mind what the themes for my blog are - mostly wild bird related (watching, feeding, rehabbing, banding) with some pet rabbits, other wildlife, and honey bees. NBB and I will choose blog entries that are not only great, but fit in the overall theme of this blog. Our decision is final.

3. Content must be emailed to birdchick at gmail dot com by Monday, February 16th at 5 p.m. CST. It can include text, photos (web appropriate size) and links to videos. We may not proof read so if you your entry has typos, chances are good it'll go up that way. Make it look good before we get it. You, obviously, agree to let us post your material in the blog by sending it to us.

4. The email entry with your blog submission MUST include your full name and mailing address. These will not be published in the blog entry, but we need them for the prizes. Also, be sure to include how you would like to be credited in the blog entry. Do you prefer that we put up your actual name or your user name and a link to your website.

5. Content must be original--your own content that you wrote. If you have a blog and you want to recycle and old blog entry from your own blog, that is your choice. If it is discovered that you use someone else's content without credit or pass off someone else's photos as your own, not only will you be disqualified, but it will be blogged. One entry per person.

Skywatch Friday

Between the excitement of Peregrine 568s recovery and getting ready for tomorrow's book signing, I almost forgot that today is Skywatch Friday. You create a blog with photos of sky and then you add your link to the Skywatch site. While there, you should check out everyone's photos of sky. Some of my favorites this week are at Desert Observer, Jim's Little Photo Place, and Shimmy Mom.

My entry for this week takes us back to Cape Cod for the Swarovski Blogging Event. While we were getting photos of shorebirds, we could see fog approaching us. See the low darker clouds on the horizon?

The fog never overtook the beach, but seemed a sinister dream land just off the shore. It was strange to see it just sit there out of reach of the surf.

It crept in and touched the beach, the sky coming in to touch the sand. Gulls were loafing just inside the mist.

I tried to digiscope them and the black-backed gulls sat in the fog and looked a tad expectant. What were they waiting for? Or perhaps they wondered about the group of humans on the edge of the mist observing them, wonder what it was all about.

New Swarovski ELs & Contest

One of the things I wasn't able to talk about right away from the Swarovski Blogger Event (or Swarblogski as Non Birding Bill calls it) was that we got to see the new Swarovski ELs. They just debuted them at Bird Fair so now I'm allowed to talk. Honestly, I wasn't expecting that much of a change. Swarovskis are really great binoculars and I'm incredibly grateful for all the support they give my blog and I LOVE my 8x32s. Even when I worked for Eagle Optics and people would come up and ask me what the best bino is, I would say that if I were a woman of unlimited means, it would be the 8x32 EL. Optics are subjective and what works for me, may not work for everyone, but the clarity, ergonomics, and light weight of Swarovski really works for me.

The biggest difference that you can see besides the slightly different design is that the eye piece lenses are bigger--and the edge to edge clarity is superior to the current ELs (not that it's that bad anyway). Swarovski has also greatly improved the close focus ability of the binoculars. I was able to focus within about 5 and a half feet with the new ELs. They are coming out with new ELs in the 8.5x42 and 10x42 models, not the 8x32s or 10x32s. They will be available in the US early next year. They'll probalby be at Bird Watch America in January 2009. What does this mean for you? If you're probably going to see current models of ELs going on sale in the US (just in time for the holidays). So, if you've been saving for a great pair of bins, you have a choice: get the current model at a discount or keep saving and going for the new ones. I don't have exact pricing on what they're going to be at the moment.

I also got to hold the new 80mm scope--it's lighter than the current model. There's also a new eyepiece coming, a 25-50 zoom. I currently use a 20 - 60 zoom. I'm curious to play with that for digiscoping.

Also, Clay was telling me how surprised he was that not more people in the US entered Swarovski's Digiscoper of the Year Contest. Here are what the winners get:

The three entrants chosen as “Digiscoper of the Year” will receive the following products from Swarovski Optik as their prize:

1st	Swarovski Optik ATS or STS telescope and eyepiece of the winner’s choice
2nd	Swarovski Optik binocular EL 8.5x42
3rd	Swarovski Optik binocular SLC 8x30

The best 20 images (places 1 to 20) will be published with the photographer’s name in the Swarovski Optik Digiscoping Yearbook 2009. This will attract a publication fee of EUR 300 (that's like $600 in the US).

National Winners:
National winners will also be chosen from the five countries with the largest number of entrants (the number of images does not count). The five national winners will receive an award of EUR 200 for publication in the Swarovski Optik Digiscoping Yearbook 2009 in addition to the publication fee referred to above.

You don't have to be a Swarovski customer either. Check out the rules:

Cameras:
Any digital camera format - from a compact digital camera to a bridge or digital single lens reflex camera - may be used.

Field Spotting Scopes:
Any commercially available spotting scopes and eyepieces may be used, with or without an adapter.

The contest closes on September 30, 2008. Read the full rules here. I've seen some of the winning entries from last year, and there are some awesome digiscopers in the US that could totally win the contest. If you digiscope, go for it.

Getting To 499

Hey, on Monday at 3pm, I'll be on Twin Cities Live talking about attracting birds to your yard and the City Birds/Country Birds book signing on August 23, 2008 at Cardinal Corner:

August 23, 2008: Cardinal Corner in West St. Paul Store (651-455-6556) 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. Cardinal Corner in Newport (651-459-3880) 1 p.m. - 3 p.m.

Don't forget, Cinnamon fans, the Queen of Disapproval will also come and hang out at the signing too.

Okay, so I think I'm going to finally finish up my Swarovski Blogging Event posts...oh wait, no, I just realized there's one more thing I can talk about after this, but I have to wait a few days longer before I actually talk about what we got to play with. But back to Cape Cod birding--I gotta a couple more lifers bringing my list to 499. So close to 500, yet so far away.

One was a roseate tern--this very light colored tern with a mostly black bill. That was pretty exciting. Terns are amazing creatures. If I ever transition from point and shoot camera digiscoping to SLR digiscoping, I want to try and capture terns fishing. Terns are such dainty and elegant birds in flight and when they dive into the ocean, it's like watching a delicate piece of origami smacking onto the surface of the water. Loves 'em.

Nice scope posture there, Corey! Corey and I each had a few lifers to catch up on. We both needed roseate tern and we also needed arctic tern. The group watched for them, but at the same time we loved getting photos of all the birds on the beach--dead or alive. I was standing with Corey and Ben from 600 Birds. They had spotted something dead further down the beach. It first glance, we got the impression that it was a dead black-backed gull...but when you looked through the scope, the bill looked all wrong. I wondered if it was a dead gannet. All three of use lit up with excitement and hurried off towards the carcass. As we closed in, Clay called from off in the distance, "Aaaaaaaaartic tern!"

Corey and I stopped, Ben who already had an arctic tern said, "Uh-oh."

Corey and I wavered, we were so close to the gannet, could we get photos of the gannet and make it back in time for the tern, or would the tern take off.

Ben, sensing our indecision said, "Gotta make a choice, dead bird? Life bird? Dead bird? Life Bird? Dead Bird? Life Bird?"

Corey and I finally made a rational decision that between the two birds, the dead gannet was guaranteed to stay in one spot, while the tern was not.

So, here is an arctic tern (masked in some major heat shimmer and non breeding plumage). This is an intense little bird if you think about it. This species breeds around the Arctic Ocean--as far north as Greenland and then winters on pack ice in Antarctica. This bird is about the length of a blue jay and flies pole to pole--that's over 24,000 miles round trip. Then when you look at things like banding records and find that in ten oldest birds found on record--the arctic tern comes in at number seven--a bird documented to have lived for 34 years! Imagine living 34 years and making that trip every single year--that's insane. This may be a small somewhat blurry photo, but the amazing potential in this bird deserves a little attention and was well worth abandoning a dead gannet. It was a good thing too. Not long after Corey and I joined the group, a family coming down the beach frightened the flock of terns and the arctic tern disappeared from view.

And then we hightailed it back to the dead gannet. Based on plumage, it looks like a first year bid. You just can't get close to gannets--they're amazing to watch in flight, but this dead bird was a treat to really look at some of its features up close.

The feet were incredible. They were webbed like a duck but had large white claws on the tips--they nest on ledges of cliffs, in the direction of prevailing winds, perhaps that's why they need the claws for gripping?

Who knows how this bird died: disease, poor hunting, poisoning, eating plastic--tough to say but I appreciated the chance to admire that long, tough bill.

My Amazing Birding Morning At South Beach In Cape Cod

So, Swarovski took all us bloggers out to the remote South Beach section of Cape Cod for some birding and digiscoping.

The morning started foggy and chilly but warmed to a sunny day--a few times, it looked more like we were in a desert rather than the cape.

We saw some horseshoe crabs. They do look like some strange aquatic tank as they truck around.

Here we have the great blogger and science chimp Julie Zickefoose examining a horseshoe crab that young Dakota found--Dakota came along on the trip with Bird Freak and started his own blog this summer: Dakota's All Natural Experience--It’s like the “Jeff Corwin Experience”…Only Smaller. For Julie's wisdom on horseshoe crabs, check out her blog entry here.

And a mini Jeff Corwin he is! Dakota had a knack for finding horseshoe crabs of all sizes. For those curious, above is the underbelly of those funky lookin' crabs. These are also the horseshoe crabs that are central to the red knot debate.

I love birding along coasts on warm days. There's something about watching a bunch of crazy looking birds (like the willet and dowitchers in the above photo). Willets always throw me. I first saw them on the east coast, so I associated them with beaches, but we can see them in western Minnesota and the Dakotas. They always throw me when I see them in the prairie.

We did see an interesting short-billed dowitcher--that's typical coloration of a dowitcher on the left and an unusually light dowitcher on the right.

My buddy Clay zeroed in on the very light colored dowitcher above right away and I followed to digiscope it. At first we weren't sure if it was really light from wear on its feathers or if it's a leucistic bird. I sent the photo to Doug Buri who knows shorebirds better than I do and he seems to think it's a leucistic bird.

While focusing on the shorebirds, the tide quickly swept in. I was digivideoing these shorebirds (notice the different feeding techniques. The largest bird is a Hudsonian godwit and it's surrounded by short-billed dowitchers--note how both species use their incredibly long bill to probe deeply into the sand. You'll also see a colorful ruddy turnstone that has a smaller bill--note how it seems to skim the surface of the sand). Anyway, while filming, I felt a rush of water and the tide had come in. I turned around and many of the other bloggers were overcome with the tide.

Another interesting bird was this herring gull with a beak full of clam. This bird kept flying up in the air, dropping the clam, and then following it to the ground. It was trying to drop the clam to crack it open to have access to the gooey goodness inside. Alas, this is not the brightest gull on the string. Other gulls had figured out that parking lots accomplished this task quickly. This bird seemed intent on dropping the clam over the sand. I watched it drop the clam from high in the air and by the sixth attempt I had lost interest. Not sure how long the gull kept this up or if ever got at the desired insides.

I was trying to get a shot of the semi-palmated plover (the bird on the right) when I noticed the tired sandpiper behind it--the bird is so tired, it can't even tuck its bill into shoulder. I'm not sure of the species, if I had to guess based on size, I would say least sandpiper, but whatever it is, its too cute dozing on the beach.

More later.

Banded American Oystercaters

While birding at South Beach in Cape Cod last week, we found some banded American oystercatchers. Above is number 52. At first, I was going to enter its information to the Bird Banding Lab (where one typically submits found band numbers), but the yellow tags with fairly easy to read numbers usually means there's a specific study. Sure enough, I went to google, entered "banded oystercatcher" and found AMOY Banding--someone is doing a specific oystercatcher study! Based on the yellow bands, I was able to figure out that this bird was banded in Massachusetts. I submitted my siting and today got this info from Shiloh Schulte of the Zoology Department of North Carolina State University :

"The bird you saw was banded on South Monomoy as a chick in July 2004. This bird overwinters on the west coast of Florida near Cedar Key. This is the first report of the bird on the breeding grounds since the year it hatched. Reports like yours really help us understand how oystercatchers move and use habitat throughout the year. Please let us know if you see more bands!"

Looking over my photos, I now see that more oystercatchers were banded, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to read the bands--at least three birds in the above photo are banded. So, if you see any oystercatchers, double check to see if they are banded. The colors are not just yellow, there's green, blue, red, and black as well.

Loves Me Some Ruddy Turnstones

When Swarovski took us birding out South Beach in Cape Cod, I made a beeline for ruddy turnstones. LOVE those guys. They're shorebirds which give them a kind of Dr. Seuss look and they are so flashy looking. Attention must be paid to a turn stone. They are opportunistic and feed on rocky and sandy beaches during winter and on migration, by turning over rocks and pebbles (oh hey, a bird living up to it's name--shocked, I'm shocked I tells ya'). They'll also turn over seaweed, shells, and even garbage. Traditionally, I think they ate invertebrates and tiny fish, but I've seen them around carrion and once watched my father-in-law feed them oyster crackers. I just read on BNA that they will also go for other birds eggs...hm, I wonder if people will dispise them as much as blue jays now?

There were some people digging up clams while we were birding along the beach. When they would leave, turnstones would run over and see if they could find any left overs. Click here (click on the Watch In High Quality link) and you can watch a digivideo of the above ruddy turnstone feeding on clam bits in a shell (keep the volume low, the wind is kind of loud).

And they fight! This is part of the brawl that's in the video I posted earlier (click on the Watch In High Quality link). Now, BNA reads, "Less aggressive during nonbreeding season, though extremely territorial when feeding in flocks." What are they like in breeding mode when they are more aggressive??

I think we can see who had the upper beak in this shot. Check out the dude on the right--completely on its side-belly facing the camera. With that sassy plumage, they could qualify for the WWE.

Swarovski's Bird Blogger Event

So, about a month ago, I got an email from my buddy Clay about inviting some bird bloggers to the Swarovski Optik headquarters in Rhode Island. I wasn't sure what exactly it was going to be about, but I figured Swarovski wanted to find out about this whole blogging thing. That was half true, but in the afternoon they pretty much let us loose to just talk amongst ourselves and the meeting ended up being beneficial to bloggers as we talked about everything from why we blog to tips for increasing traffic and dealing with trolls.

The roster of bird bloggers included myself and:

One third of 10,000 Birds
600 Birds
Adventures of Bird Girl
Bird Freak
Born Again Bird Watcher
Julie Zickefoose

Some I knew from the bird festival circuit and others I met face to face for the first time. So for me it was part friend reunion and a chance to connect with some of my favorite blogging colleagues. We talked about how different our blogs were and how we each had aspects that we envied of each other like having a team of bloggers, or being married to your in house tech guy who runs your site, or those who have a knack for editing, the ability to interact well with their commenters (I'm such a non commenter, I don't mean to be, but I am) etc. I have to give Swarovski props for wanting to learn more about bird bloggers and they are certainly ahead of the curve on this compared to most other birding companies.

This is Albert Wannenmacher the CEO of Swarovski Optik in North America proudly displaying the Digiscoping Plaque that Clay and I won at the World Series of Birding this past spring. Swarovski has been great to me, they have given me tremendous support that allows me to blog as much as I do and they invite me to tag along at bird festivals and events. You read about other types of blogs and how companies send them press releases or invite bloggers to visit and meet and create mutually beneficial relationships. The birding industry has been slow to catch on. Publishers (though not all) like Houghton Mifflin have been great as has birdJam by involving bloggers with press releases, but many bird related companies are still quite befuddled by the Internet. I've had some companies accost me at trade shows, "Hey, Birdchick! Why don't you talk about me?" to which I answer, "Because you don't tell me anything."

I'm not saying that blogs need to be all about advertising, but let's face it, bloggers want to provide great content and to that you need time and in some cases money. The dream is to find a way to work with a company you legitimately like and find ways they can help you provide some good content. And there are lots of companies out there that are very involved with conservation projects and have contests. I would love more of them to toot their own horns and let us know about the projects they are funding, both because the projects are often cool and it's nice to know which companies are out there helping birds and not just selling product.

I actually arrived a day early and spent some time in the optics repair department. Above is Kyle and if you have a pair of Swarovski ELs and have sent them in to be repaired or upgraded, this guy has worked on them. Talk about a perfectionist, he walked me through a whole upgrade on an EL, up to and included replacing the casing on the outside--I saw naked binoculars!

It's not every day you get to see a man skin a pair of binoculars or all the components that make them work.

Oh, and ladies, a piece of advice: if you wear cosmetics while birding, take a make up wipe to your eye cups from time to time--especially if you're sending them in for repairs. All that dirt and old make up can't be good for your pores anyway.

Kyle also gave my 8x32 ELs a once over and we took my focus wheel apart. He showed me how it all worked and it was just fascinating to see the gears and grease and all the places my barrels are sealed to keep them waterproof. He showed me one part of my focus wheel that's called a "Flip Flop"--seriously, that's the actual technical term. I looked at him skeptically and he assured me that something just gets lost in the Austrian translation.

The next day, the other bird bloggers arrived and got a similar tour. I love this shot of Corey from 10,000 Birds. I took this photo through one of the prisms that would go into an EL. That's Ben from 600 Birds off to the left. Julie arrived with some ELs to upgrade and I offered to take care of them for her since I learned how to do it the day before. She got all huffy and said I would just get Cinnamon's fur all over her binoculars. I retorted that I don't see how rabbit hair is much worse than Chet Baker slobber. Albert and Clay had to separate us after that.

But of course, being birders, you can only sequester us indoors for meetings and tours for so long before we get antsy and must go outside. They ended the meeting early and took us out for some light birding. We didn't see too terribly much but I did get a fun head shot of a herring gull head. The real birding was to be had the next morning...(more on that later).

One thing I've noticed with Swarovski is that if they invite you to dinner--GO. They always know the best restaurants. Above, I'm sharing a moment with Ben of 600 Birds as he samples his very first lobster.

Part of the fun of eating a lobster is getting to tear it apart. This place was so fancy that the waiter would don rubber gloves and take apart your lobster for you. Not sure I was classy enough for this place and Non Birding Bill suspects I freaked out Helena of Adventures of Bird Girl with my table manners.

It was an interesting group and if you can believe it, some of us were super chatty and had a lot to say, others of us were quiet and listening, soaking the whole scene in. I think we all know which category I fall into. The bird blogging crowd is an interesting mix.