Mary Scott In Ghost Bird

Here is a clip from the upcoming Ghost Bird movie. It's an interview with Mary Scott who is one of the first people who saw an ivory-billed woodpecker in the White River area of Arkansas. She also used to run BirdingAmerica.com which appears defunct. She's infamous for incorporating non traditional methods in her search for this species (up to and including using a psychic):


Ghost Bird (Preview: Mary Scott) from Scott Crocker on Vimeo.

If you are having trouble viewing the video, go here and watch it. If that doesn't work, select the "HD OFF" option.

Updates

Some interesting updates on blog entries this from this month:

First regarding this week's snowy owl. An interesting email came on the birding listservs from Linda Whyte regarding the owl being seen now and that there apparently was another snowy seen earlier in the winter:

"For those interested, the owl currently being seen at the airport is not the same one that was seen earlier. Apparently, a couple of weeks ago the party hired by the airport to trap the snowy succeeded in doing so. That bird, a very white male, was examined at The Raptor Center, found to be in good health, banded, and then taken for release (where is unknown) by the party that captured it. Raptor Center personnel recommended against removal, because the owl hadn't been in trouble, and due to their territorial nature, it was likely another one would take its place as soon as it was gone. It appears that has happened, as this one has the black widow's peak and lots of barring."

I've heard that snowy owls are sometimes trapped at the Minneapolis/St Paul Airport and relocated because the official airport statement is concern that they owls might collide with a plane and cause an accident, but I wonder if it has more to do with the influx of birders coming to view the owl and making a headache for airport security?

Interesting to note that there have been two owls and the first was missed by many of us. Also, this is quite the photographed owl. Lots of peeps are posting links to photos on the Minnesota birding listservs, check out EcoBirder's shots--he got shots of the snowy in the sun--those eyes just glow. Rumor has it that Jim Williams of the Star Tribune will have photos in his column soon.

The other interesting note that showed up on the listserv was regarding the Bonaparte's gull observed on December 9 on Black Dog Lake ( the gull circled above). When I was out trying to bone up on my gulls, this was one of the eight species observed. Jim Mattsson was excited when it was first observed and commented that it was late for a Bonaparte's to be in Minnesota this time of year. When Jim talks gulls, he gets a twinkle of excitement in his eyes. He even wondered, where had this gull been all this time. Well, we might have our answer from Linda Sparling:

"Many of you may remember the gull reported as as a possible Little Gull at Lake Calhoun in mid-October. Throughout the day after it was first reported, many noted that it was on death's door, wouldn't make it through the day, was going to die at any moment, etc. It also became apparent that the gull was in fact a Bonaparte's Gull.

Update - I took the gull to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota. They nursed it back to health. They noted that it was very weak and depressed and had trouble walking. Today I received a card from the Center indicating the gull recovered well enough to be released 12/9 at Black Dog! Coincidentally, three observers reported seeing one Bonaparte's Gull in Dakota County on that same day. I was surprised to hear it had been released up here. When I spoke to the folks at the Center, they felt there weren't enough BGs around for a safe release. They were willing to put it on a plane for points South to ensure a safe release. It ended up being such a fighter, I gotta think it's doing well!"

It is interesting that it was late and there weren't any Boneparte's around that the gull was released at Black Dog, but in this economy, perhaps getting the bird on a flight was difficult. There's no doubt that the bird in the photo is the released gull. Interesting, I guess we have the answer to Jim's question about where it had been all that time. Here's hoping it either finds warmer climates or manages well the rest of the winter.

Scott Weidensaul

I was reading comments made by Mike McDowell about the Endangered Species Act changes this morning and noticed he linked to comments made by one of my favorite birding authors Scott Weidensaul. I followed the link to Scott's blog--which I was aware of and the last time I spoke to him he wasn't sure where it was going, just wanted to try it out so I didn't mention it too much here (or check that frequently either).

I read the first sentence of Scott's post, "Although I've been blogging almost daily about our owl research project, I haven't been updating this blog - though there's lots to report. Wait a minute, there's been a blog combining Scott, banding, and saw-whet owls?? Where have I been. Check out Saw-whet Owl Research! You can even follow specific saw-whets. Another great cleanse from the news.

Cleansing Titmouse

When Non Birding Bill and I do holiday cards, we usually take one of my photos and he doctors them up. I sent him a few and the above was one of our finalists. Just cracks me up the way the hat sits jauntily on the crest.

I thought it was a good cleanse after the recent news.

It's Official: The Endangered Species Act Is Broken

From the Associated Press:

The Bush administration is reducing protections for endangered animals and plants.

Just six weeks before Democratic President-elect Barack Obama takes office, the current Republican administration is changing endangered species regulations.

Some mandatory, independent reviews that government scientists have performed for 35 years are being eliminated. The scientists' advice from such reviews can delay or block dams, highways and other projects.

The new rules will take effect in about 30 days. The rules also prohibit federal agencies from evaluating the effect on endangered species and the places they live from a project's contribution to increased global warming.

Obama has promised to reverse the new rules. Congress also could overturn them. If Obama doesn't do something to reverse this, he will be no different than the current administration.

Gull Mental Note

NOTE: I swear this blog will not turn into one of those endless gull discussions, just a note on a minor breakthrough I had with my birding ability.

I had a breakthrough in my gull watching ability at Black Dog Lake Power Plant yesterday! Number 1: I enjoyed doing it yesterday and number 2: I was actually able to pick out gulls that looked different from the bazillions of herring gulls and ring-billed gulls and made tentative mental ids, and had them confirmed by both a field guide and a guy who knows WAY more about gull id than I do.

So, I'm going to post a few photos and see if you can A: pick out the gull that is different and B: can you id the gull? There's not prize, just an easy going series of photos to see if you can find the bird that is different.

The first photo will be big a big flock. The second will be a closer view (and if you are new to gull id, if you can just pick out the different gull and why--that is a triumph of the birding spirit).

Here's the first photos. I think if you click on it, you might get a larger view. Can you figure out which bird is not a herring gull or a ring-billed gull? I show it in a later entry, just see if you can mentally find it. A bigger hint will be in the next photo:

And no, it's not the duck in the front, although if you can id that bird, pat yourself on the back. So, which bird is different, why is it different, and what species is it?

More later.

Ghost Bird Movie

Well, well, well, ivory-billed woodpeckers are still in the news! If you're not tempted to get one for the $50,000 reward, there's a movie called Ghost Bird coming about the whole IBWO phenom. Here's a trailer:

Two things struck me about the trailer. Number one, the use of the song "Where Is My Mind." I think the first time I heard that song was the movie Fight Club (love that movie). And for some reason I always thought of it in association with the ivory-bill. When I would listen to it, I would imagine what it would be like seeing one (and this was before the whole rediscovery thing). So, kudos to them for using it.

The second thing that struck me is that the Ivory-billed Skeptic blogger is in the documentary. I giggled aloud when I saw that. Man, that was a blog that stirred the pot and then totally disappeared. If you're wondering what happened that blog, now that people have lost interest in woodpecker skepticism, he's moved on to climate change skepticism (you go, boy). My fondest memory of that blogger was that once I linked to him in a very tongue and cheek manner and he sent me an email informing me that I need to take him a bit more seriously because David Sibley and Jerome Jackson read his blog. Oooooooooo.

Ah, good times.

Looks interesting, perhaps even a little bit Waiting For Guffman-ish. I think the press release says it will be out in January 2009.

Interesting Red-tailed Hawk Story

How can I be expected to pay attention to gulls when there are immature red-tailed hawks in the sun. I've been going out and watching gulls when I can. I figured that I know my hawks so well since I watch them constantly--especially in the fall, that maybe if I watch herring and ring-billed gulls enough, I'll find a Thayer's or glaucous gull on my own. But I try to watch gulls and I find a perfectly posed red-tailed hawk in the sun and had to take photos.

Speaking of red-tailed hawks, I got this interesting note from Lori Arent, Clinic Manager for The Raptor Center:

"On Monday, the clinic received a banded red-tailed hawk that was dead on arrival. We checked our database and the bird was here before! It originally came in on 6/1/07 from Lesser Prairie as a brancher that was suffering from a maggot-infested neck wound. Eight days later, the bird was fostered with a new red-tailed hawk family in New Hope, MN. The adoption obviously worked well and the bird survived a year and a half until being struck by a car near the airport (Hwy 5) a few days ago."

It's sad that ultimately the hawk was hit by a car, but interesting to get actual proof that putting young raptors in foster nests when it's no longer possible to put them in their original nests actually works (and proof that raptors can't count).