Twitter Digiscoping Duel #birding

I love digiscoping and I love blogging.  After you've had a blog for awhile, you try to think up ways to keep it interesting for you and for your readers--otherwise it will just fall apart.  As Facebook and Twitter have grown, my time spent blogging is now spent interacting with folks online.  I try to divide up my time to upload posts, Tweet and Facebook, but still go outdoors.

I love to digiscope my feeder birds, but how many photos of white-breasted nuthatches can I post before readers go, "Oh, wow, another nuthatch photo.  They eat nuts just like she says...all...the...time." I wondered how could I channel my love of digiscoping, birds and social media...then it hit me--I challenged my fellow digiscoper--Clay Taylor to an online digiscoping duel tomorrow on Twitter.

Clay lives in Texas, I will be at Mr. Neil's house.  I set a challenge to see who can take the most photos of birds with digiscoping and post them to Twitter from their respective yards before 4 pm Central Time.  You can follow this contest online if you have a Twitter account by following me @Birdchick and Clay @CTaylorBirder.  If you used an application for managing your Twitter follows, we will also use the hashtags #digiduel and #birding as we upload photos of birds.  Feel free to retweet photos you like them.  With fall migration, we should get some interesting shots.

I love this idea because Clay and I can kind of bird together but in different parts of the country and we can share our birds for a compare and contrast for others to see--and we don't have to fly in a plane.  I'll be curious to see how this pans out.  Since he's in Texas, he could have more birds...but if the winds are weird or his online connection is wonky, I could post more photos before he can.  Either way, there will be some awesome birds on Twitter tomorrow.

Cormorant vs Gull

Amidst all the staging, a double-crested cormorant captured a fish.  The bird had pierced the body of the fish clean through.  When it surfaced and tried to reposition the fish for better swallowing, a young ring-billed gull thought, "Hey, cormorant, your fish is relevant to my interests."

The cormorant struggled with the fish and the gull jockeyed for position and a game of bird and fish ensued.

Finally, the cormorant dove below the surface and waited for the gull to lose interest.  Then resurfaced and swallowed the fish.

Shorebird Migration

Migration is in full swing!

Ah, it's the special time of year when I drive around looking for flooded farm fields and get the opportunity to misidentify shorebirds.  We've had several flooded fields thanks to some heavy rain storms in Minnesota this summer.  My neighborhood flooded again two weeks ago.  In general, I like shorebirds--they are cute, have crazy shaped beaks and run around comically as they probe mud or sand for food.  But they do have a tendency to defy the field guides or at least my understanding of them.  If your travels over the next few weeks take you to some shallow waters in a flood farm field or around some sod farms, take a closer look.  Even if the field looks deserted of birds with the naked eye, give it a quick scan with binoculars, you might be surprised at what you find.

Some of these birds, like least sandpipers are the size of sparrows and easy to miss.  But the sure are adorable to watch as they probe for food.

Here's an example of my misidentification misadventures:  I tried to make the four birds above from left to right a solitary sandpiper, a lesser yellowlegs, least sandpiper and least sandpiper.  Turns out that both the 2 larger birds are solitary sandpipers and different plumages.  There go birds again--not living up to the field guide name.  Shorebird id is so much like a logic problem.

I get excited when I do find easily recognizable shorebirds like the above Wilson's snipe.  I saw several working a farm field southwest of the Twin Cities.  Not only do I enjoy these birds for their identify-ability, but they look so strange, with the super long bill.  What kind of squishy bugs and crustaceans can a bill like that detect.  According to All About Birds, snipe have sensory pits at the tip of the bill which allows them to feel its prey deep in the mud.  I often wonder what it's like to experience the world as a bird when it can see in the ultraviolet spectrum, but how about detecting things with your mouth--crazy!

The field had several shorebirds, mostly pectoral sandpipers, but as I scanned, I found several snipe lurking in the vegetation.  They look similar to woodcocks but an easy way to tell them apart is the striping over the head. The above poor guy kept trying to take a snooze but was constantly interrupted by foraging shorebirds or more snipe calling as they landed in the same field.

I do have mixed feelings about the shorebird migration this year and feel an especially hard pull to go out and really watch birds and enjoy them.  I love seeing them and I wonder if their numbers will plummet.  I wonder how many are off to the Gulf and how many we will lose on the way down and on the way back up.  Has their fuel supply been altered in some way we can't detect yet?  Will they find food, but will it be contaminated and force many birds to die in the Gulf waters rather than flying over the whole body of water? Migration is tricky business and I always wonder who will be strong enough to survive and return next year, but the oil contamination in the surrounding Gulf marshes could kill more birds.

There's a really, really good article at One Earth that even has some quotes by bird people who know far more than I do like Laura Erickson and Scott Weidendsaul.  It's a good read and highlights many points anyone involved with birds has about the Gulf Spill not being over.  I know BP and surprisingly some government officials want us to believe that it's over, but it is not.  Just because the oil is below the surface and "out of sight" does not mean it is gone.

Autumn Bobolinks

I woke up in the dark on Sunday morning and was irritated.  I realized that I was awake and since it was still dark out, I assumed it must have been in the middle of the night.  Was it the humidity?  Was it the moon?  Was it that early evening cup of coffee?  All three could be causes of insomnia for me.  Since sleep wasn't coming, I decided to get up and do some writing (Non Birding Bill calls this my acorn gathering time, I generally say yes to a TON of freelance projects in the late summer to tide over the leaner months in winter).  I walked into the living room and was surprised to see the clock read 5:30 am. Waking up at that time would make sense since I went to bed early the night before...CRAP, it's dark at 5:30am--that means the days are getting seriously shorter. I said, "Screw writing." Then grabbed my digiscoping equipment and hit the road.  Gotta enjoy the warm weather and birds while it lasts.

I took in a ton of fall migrants, but my favorite birds were the flocks of bobolinks nibbling on grasses along some gravel roads.  I pulled over and was serenaded by late summer katydids while took photos of the yellow birds as they popped out and then down in the tall grasses.  I'm not sure if this is a male or female, this is the bobolink's non breeding plumage and they both look the same.  If you click on this link you can see what a male bobolink looks like during the breeding season--quite a dramatic change!

I sometimes have trouble remembering that bobolinks are thought to be in the blackbird family--especially in the fall.  They look like large yellowish sparrows.

This is my favorite photo--the bobolinks lurking and hiding while feeding.  The plumage makes sense while migrating.  These birds will also have to contend with the millions of raptors moving south this fall too.  They yellow and brown stripes will help them hide while they feed.

These bobolinks were near some flooded farm fields with lots of shorebirds, I actually went shorebird watching a couple of times last week, but shorebird id stresses me out and I haven't put the photos up yet.  I'll have to bite the bullet and get them up.  Their migration is full on.

If you haven't been out to enjoy some birds, get out there now.  Migration is on!

Unexpected Afternoon Owls

I am terrible with people names--bird names are generally not a problem.  However, if I've met someone at a bird festival in Texas and see in them in winter in Minnesota, I have a tough time remembering them.  Same with meeting one of Non Birding Bill's friends at the grocery store--totally clueless.  Sometimes that happens with birds too.

Saturday, NBB and I met up with some friends who live along the St. Croix River and were gracious enough to take us out on their boat.  It was the perfect low key way to spend the summer day.  What was especially fun for me was cruising through this area for fun, not work.  I've been on this stretch when we've banded bald eagles and as we coasted along, I recognized nests.

The area was chock full of herons, egrets and osprey--we even had fly by of a family group of sandhill cranes.  Above is a great blue heron perched on top of a snag.  We marveled at how peaceful an area so close to the Twin Cities can be.  The back waters were still with lush patches of arrowhead and cottonwoods.  Green frogs sounding like a bunch of musicians trying in vain to tune up for a 21 banjo salute called from the vegetation.  Taking in all the sounds of summer, I heard a familiar screech. I knew instantly that the screech sound was a raptor...but what kind...the little hamster wheel in my head churned...I'd heard it before...but where...it was a begging call...it was daytime...but I knew it wasn't a hawk...owl...it was an owl...daytime...late afternoon and time of year could be barred owl...but barred owl doesn't sound like that...it sounded...like...a great horned owl.

Our friends eased their boat into a small channel and one owl flushed but then we found another perched on the side of the tree--it was a total great horned owl (all the way).  Since we were in a pontoon boat, I thought I would give digiscoping the owl a try.

Getting the great horned owl in the scope was a challenge because any slight movement on the boat moved the scope view and then the darned bird was looking way.  As I lined up my camera, I whispered to Non Birding Bill to sound like an injured mouse.  He helpfully said in a less than enthused manner, "Ow."

But that did the trick and the owl turned to look at us.  There are plenty of times when I suspect an owl is nearby or I can hear a sound and know what bird is there, but I don't always get the opportunity to show friends that what I saw is actually there in the trees.

There were at least three different owls in the area based on the screeching calls and the directions the vocalizations came from.  Great horned owls make several sounds besides the expected hooting.  They screech, they twitter, they bark, heck, they even snap and hiss.  I realized that the screech I heard was the same sound  I have heard imprinted great horned owls give at The Raptor Center when they beg for food--I generally don't hear it in the wild, especially in the afternoon.  I thought it odd that great horneds would have begging chicks right now, that seems late for Minnesota.  But if there first nest failed, the adults could have tried a second clutch.

I thought this was interesting too because we were near one of the bald eagle nests that in 2009 was used by great horned owls.  I wondered if the parents of this group of owls had been the ones to use the eagle nest last year?

Always appreciate an unexpected owl.

Want A Free Swarovski Shirt?

Right now on Facebook Swarovski Optik is having a "like giveaway." The fans that refer the most Friends in a week to "LIKE" the Swarovski page and submit a comment could win a Swarovski Crystal Binocular figurine.  I don't want to win the contest, but I would love it if people said they were referred by Sharon Stiteler or Birdchick because Swarovski has been such a HUGE supporter of my blog and I'd love to get a good showing. I just want to return the love that Swarovski has given me. All new fans that are referred will get a Swarovski Optik T-Shirt. The new Fan must hit "LIKE" on the Swarovksi page and submit a comment stating who referred them and their shirt size. Ex: "John Smith and I Like Swarovski Optik and want an XXL Shirt and Birdchick referred me!"

And why would you want to like Swarovski Optik?  Number 1 they have AWESOME product.  When I used to work for Eagle Optics and people would ask what the best pair of binoculars were, my first answer was, "If I was a woman of unlimited means, it's the ELs."  All the digiscoping and bird photos and most of the video is courtesy of my Swarovski Digiscoping set up.

Number two--they give back a lot to wildlife in a big and global way.  A great example is the Sociable Lapwing in Kaszakhstan.  Swarovski Optik is the Species Champion for this bird through BirdLife International. Basically, they give money so BirdLife can set up crews in Kazakhstan to work with locals to keep breeding habitat safe.  It's local people working with local people to build strong relationships and helps prevent a bird from going extinct.

Again, Swarovski has been a huge supporter of this website--from offering contests and making it possible for me to attend several bird festivals and well, all the digiscoping that goes on here.  I want them to know they are loved, so please fan them and remember, if you refer me, you get a t-shirt.

Sandhill Crane Hunt In Minnesota

Well, I guess I better keep my lower back covered in orange this fall:  The Minnesota DNR announced that after 94 years they are reopening a hunting season on sandhill cranes this fall.

I know some birders are outraged by this, but I have to admit, I'm not so outraged.  I'm a little curious that it seemed to happen with no discussion, the DNR just suddenly announced it without any public input.  The only hint I saw was a pole on the Outdoor News website a few months ago asking if Minnesota should have a season on cranes.  Originally, the pole was in favor of the hunt until the site was mentioned on a few birding listservs and birders swayed the pole to a firm "No."  There's currently another pole asking if people approve of the season.  Birders have yet to find it, so the overwhelming answer on the hunting website is, "Yes!"

I'm not a hunter, although this summer I have been trying my hand at fishing and I understand the interest in hunting.  Heck, quite a few of the techniques I use for getting photos of birds are similar to hunting techniques of getting closer to wildlife, I understand the human nature's thrill of the chase (I have a ghillie suit for cryin' out loud).  But I see this being a good thing in the long run. When a bird or any other animal is suddenly made a game species, all sorts of money goes to habitat restoration and insuring we have a sustainable population (to hunt).  Many other bird species including native warblers, sparrows, shorebirds and all sorts of wildlife would benefit from sandhill crane habitat protection, so in the long run, this could be good news for habitat.

Sandhill cranes are already a game species in a handful of other states.  I have had conversations with 2 different crane hunters.  Both had the same comments about cranes: 1. They are hard to hunt, very cagey and wary of decoys.  2.  It is some of the best bird meat you will ever eat in your life--better than grouse, better than turkey and even better than pheasant.

Who knows, maybe a Cranes Unlimited organization will sprout up?  Will there be a Crane Stamp leading to more conservation dollars?  Hunting groups are well organized and get the money they need for their species, I would argue they are more organized than most birding groups.

We have a healthy population of cranes in Minnesota. Our population that breeds in the state is part of a 450,000 bird population that exceeded the conservation goal of 349,000.  That's a lot of cranes.  Birders may not agree with it, but they can at least take heart that there will be dollars seriously set aside for crane habitat.

And really, do birders have as organized a voice as hunters?  Had there been a time for public comment on a crane season, would they have had a strong enough voice to stop it?

Splendor In The Grass

I put this photo on Twitter last week, but I have to put in the blog for my mom (she doesn't do that wacky Twitter with all the Tweets and the ReTweets and the @Replies).  It's been crazy at the feeders this year.  There's usually an indigo bunting hanging out in spring, but once the insects hit, they disappear.  Now there are so many nesting around Mr. Neil's feeding station at we have at least 2 different pairs coming to the feeders.  They are rather cagey birds.  If they detect any movement at the window, they take off.  They are coming in to the Nyjer and sunflower chips and will land on the feeders or forage in the grass below.