Breathe. You Won't See Every Bird On Earth. A Nyquil Post.

I am a terrible bird watcher.  I hate getting up early in the morning.  The older I get, the less I care about distinguishing flycatchers (yet, oddly admire those who live for it).  I hate birding in the rain--even if it is a life bird that I may never, ever get the chance to see again.

But when I'm forced to get up early in the morning, I'm generally rewarded with cool birds like the above horned lark skulking out on a gravel road above.  Rewarded so long as it isn't pouring down rain.  I enjoyed having that moment with the horned lark, watching it skulk out of the grasses, keep an eye towards the sky for a an aerial predator and go about its business of being a lark.

As one gets older, I think you take stock of what you can no longer do.  I grew up with the notion from my mother that I could do whatever I set my mind to, I think a lot of US kids get that:  This baby could grow up to be president, a movie star, a sports star, a Playboy Bunny--or all of them!  As you get older, you realize certain things.  For example, I remember thinking at my 27 birthday, "Oh wow, I'm too old to pose for Playboy, huh."

But the one thing that hurts the most as I get older is the realization that I won't see every single bird this planet has to offer--no one has.  I even get a little down when I realize just based on time and money that I'm not going to be able to visit every country or even every US city the world has to offer.  To see all the birds species in the world is a perilous pursuit, just check out the "famous birdwatchers" on the Birdwatching Wikipedia page and it lists all the horrible deaths (and even gang rape) of people who have attempted such a challenge--not to mention some of the bitterness that can come from family as you choose travel over family time. And truth be told, as much as I lament my husband's lack of birding interest, I genuinely enjoy his company and find leaving him behind a big fat bummer.

If time is running out, money is in limited quantity and I can only see so many birds in this lifetime, I do feel much better about not wasting energy on all the flycatchers that look exactly alike and focus on the ones I really find interesting.  And, not being a field guide author, the pressure is off for me to care about flycatchers that look the same.

As much as I hate getting up at 4 am, I do appreciate things that force me up at all hours and give me great moments.   And more and more, I find myself content to spend time with birds that I've seen several times before but still give me great views.  Above is a savannah sparrow that had a nest near where I was stationed.  I think that's why digiscoping appeals to me.  Sometimes I'll glimpse a brown bird in a gorgeous green background and I want to save that, the green only enhances the subtle beauty of the sparrow.

This pair of savannah sparrows scurried past me several times with beakfuls of squishy bugs for hungry nestlings.  I see this species in several states, but I enjoy their familiarity, much the same way I enjoy red-tailed hawks.  They also have a sweet, delicated and I fear under appreciated song.

Like the horned lark.  This is really a common bird, but many new birders find it evasive and don't realize that the brown bird with black tail stripes they flush as they drive down gravel roads is a potential lifer.  But, if you plant yourself on a gravel road, they come out.  When you get a chance to see one, they really are striking with the black horns, mask and bib.  Horned larks surrounded me not only on the ground, but in the air too.  Their territory song serenades me overhead as I note and count certain bird species.

And so I may not get to see every single bird there is out there, but I am content to sleep in as much as I can and smile while a horned lark takes a dust bath in the middle of a gravel road a few feet from where I'm standing.

Stealth Horned Lark

No, Mr. Horned Lark, I can't see you at all.  Really.

Secret Bobolink Conversations #birding

"OMG! My nails are so long! I'm like a cross between Howard Hughes and a red-tailed hawk!"

"I know, right?"

Dust Bathing Horned Lark

Man oh man, these last few weeks have been nuts, but fun.  I'm so looking forward to Birds and Beers tonight in Stillwater.  Hope you can make it.  Remember, if you come with nesting info to enter into MN Audubon's Breeding Bird Atlas, you are entered in a chance for a free growler of beer. Meanwhile, I leave you with a photo of a dust bathing horned lark who was my morning companion yesterday.  I'm off to check out some woodpeckers (not ivory-billed).

Bobolinks!

I have to do some work around cows this week.

I'm not going to lie, cows make me nervous.  Ungulates who stare at you and keep coming towards you are terrifying to me.  The only way they could be even scarier would be if they were bison.  That is just a lot of animal being controlled by an uncertain brain.  These are three of about three dozen cows that were surrounding me.  They just kept coming closer and closer with an expectant look.  Did they think I had food.  If I stepped wards them, they would back away, but some cows in the back of the her would run forward.  I tried mooing and that seemed to confuse them even further.

This one was really pushing its luck, "Oy, Bovine, back away from the carbon fiber tripod!"  The cows eventually went their way and left me alone, but I think being a five foot tall woman makes me feel uneasy about large cloven hoofed animals getting too close and too curious.  Has anyone made a horror movie about cows?  If not, they should.

Apart from the stress inducing cows, the big upside to my work this week is that I get to spend time in some of my favorite habitat--open grassland.  I'm surrounded by bobolinks, dickcissel, meadowlards and savannah sparrows.  Above is a female bobolink who scolded me as I walked to my work area.

Her brazen attitude on the fence made me realize that she must have had a nest nearby.  I made sure to watch where I placed my feet, the last thing I wanted to do was smush little baby bobolinks with my shoes.  Female bobolinks are crazy looking birds, they do not look like the males, they look more like sparrows.  Technically, bobolinks are considered blackbirds (for the moment, who knows will happen with future taxonomy changes).  If you get past the brownish colorization, you can kind of see a blackbird type of shape to these birds (think red-winged blackbird).

The male wasn't too far behind and flew in to chirp at me, also warning me that I was too close for comfort to his nest.  Out of habit, I pished at them and that set the male off in a frenzy of song above me.  I paused to listen to that crazy mechanical song.  I love that song, it's the general ringtone on my phone.  If this make wanted me to move a long, singing his song a few feet above my head was not the way to do it.

I love everything about these guys.  I love their song, their odd plumage (black on the bottom, blond wig on the back of the head, patches of white on the back).  This bird is too weird for color tv.  And check out those toe nails--they're so long!  I love these birds so much, they are worth putting up with a few dozen cows.

Random Coot

I just thought this was a really cool digiscoped picture of a coots face.  Normally when you see them out on a lake, you see a black duck with a white beak (yesssssssss, I know they aren't really a duck but most people describe them that way).  Often, most don't see their eyes.  Love this bright red eye.

Birds and Beers Excitement! #birding

Holy cow!  Amidst all of my travel in May and June, a Birds and Beers opportunity has come together and I'm really excited about it! The next Birds and Beers is June 29, 2011 (next Wednesday).  This time we’ve been invited to Lift Bridge Beer Company in Stillwater–we can sample some local beers!  Take the afternoon off, do some birding along the St. Croix or just come for the birding company after work.  Make connections, see old friends and welcome new ones!  But wait, there's more!

This brewery is really excited about the Minnesota Breeding Bird Atlas Project.  If you come and enter in data to the database, you can enter your name for a free growler of beer to take home.  This is notes on any bird you know of breeding in Minnesota.  Know of a coot nest (like the bird above)?  How about a cardinal nesting in your back yard?  Or an owl nest in a nearby park.  Anything, this is important info that MN Audubon needs for the project.  You can help birds and maybe win some beer.  Everybody wins!

Thanks to Lift Bridge Beer Company in Stillwater for coordinating this event for birders and birds!

To get the latest updates on Birds and Beers, "Like" it on Facebook.  Here's the official Facebook Event.  I can't be in every state drinking every day and if you would like to host your own Birds and Beers in your community, that is okay by me.  Here's how.

Birds and Beers is an informal gathering of birders of all abilities–if you’re interested in birds, you’re invited. You can meet other birders–maybe find a carpool buddy, ask about where to find target birds, share cool research projects you might be working on, ask a bird feeding question, share life lists, share some digiscoping tips, promote your blog–the sky is the limit. It’s low key and it’s fun.

Sharon on the Heron Rookery for MPR

Hello all, NBB here. This is a quick note to let you know that Sharon has an article up about the response to the destruction of the Heron Rookery on the MPR website. Check it out.

American Woodcock Not Hiding So Well

While on one of the birding trips for the Detroit Lakes Festival of Birds, we visited Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge.  There had been a woodcock nesting right off a trail near the Nature Center.  As we walked towards it, the female appeared to have moved to right on the trail.  The refuge staff suspected that her eggs had hatched.  They are precocial when hatched meaning they can run around.  She was probably moving them from the nest, heard us coming and froze tucking the young beneath her.  Can you make her out in the above photo?

There she lurks, most likely thinking, "Haha, humans, you can't see me, I am invisible!"  We didn't get too close and after everyone had a chance to see her, we went back the way we came from.  I always wonder how may owls I walk past, now I have to wonder how many woodcocks and their chicks escape my notice.

Here's the first photo with an arrow pointing to the woodcock:

Heron Rookery Visible From Marshall Terrace Park

When I last posted about the great blue herons renesting on the Mississippi River, I said that the rookery was not easily viewable from shore.  Tony Hertzel from the Minnesota Ornithologists Union sent a not mentioning Marshall Terrace Park.  I had driven by there and also viewed it from the river and it didn't look viewable. However, I drove back to the park and explored it.  There's a paved trail behind the baseball diamond that takes you to a stairway down to the river and gives you an eye level view of one of the islands on the rookery:

I didn't have my scope with me and took this with my point and shoot camera.  If you look in the bare branches, you can see one of the nests at the top.  This island also has a little colony of nesting spotted sandpipers, so if you go watch for these little shorebirds bobbing their butts along the shore of the island.

Maria Baca from the Star Tribune wrote a really nice follow up about the rookery and there's even a photo of a heron on a nest!

One note about this park.  They have some badass ground hogs:

I found a family of them living in a hole dug out of asphalt...I would give them a wide berth if you encounter them on the trail.