Birdchick Blog
BirdFair Bound & A Collins App
I'm busy getting all the last minute laundry, packing and travel arrangements finalized as I head to BirdFair in the UK for the first time. I'm so excited because I have always wanted to go this event and I even get to do an iPhone digiscoping presentation on Saturday as well as partake in an improv game called a Question of Stork.
I'm excited to see old and new friends and to make Birds and Beers officially international by having one thanks to the aid of Drunk Birder on Friday night at 7pm at the Three Crowns! I think we will be two peas in a pod. When all the bird fun is over, I get to meet Non Birding Bill in London for some fun.
Also, just in time for my trip across the pond comes the Collins Bird Guide app to all of Europe, based on the best-selling Collins Bird Guide, by Lars Svensson, Killian Mullarney and Dan Zetterström, lucky me! I have to admit, I was leery because BirdFair isn't really about going on field trips, it's about looking at birding products and services. After the fair, I'm going to meet Non Birding Bill in London to visit with friends and not really do that much birding. Would this be more bird info than I would need. Should I just take a little British Guide with me instead?
But, the app lets you tailor your location and list of possible birds. If you are like me and just studying from somewhere in the states, you can tap the map of Europe of where you plan to be (and note the season) to get a list of likely birds. If you are already in Europe, you can use the location services of the app to pinpoint where you are as well as the time of year to generate the likely species.
When you see a bird you can't identify, most apps will allow you to create a list of possible suspects based size, shape, habitat, colors, etc. This app will also let you type in specific types of field marks which is pretty darned cool. One of the reasons I really like the Sibley app is that you can compare two species at once, this app will let you compare up to 6 different plumages at once--which will please the European warbler watchers.
The Collins app is a comprehensive European guide with over 700 species, 750 recordings of songs and calls, over 3500 illustrations and 60 videos of common birds--because sometimes you need to see the wagging tail of a wagtail to make sure that yep, that is like the most common bird over in Europe and the have some variation and that is indeed the bird that I saw. The app is £12.99 which in the grand scheme of field guide apps is par for the course. If you are going to Europe and you don't want to take a book but want to know what birds you will see, it's worth a download on an Apple device.
Tawas Point Bird Festival
Hey...does this website look different? Yep, we did a redesign. I hope it's easier for people to read. It's certainly going to be easier for me to maintain and enter content.
The lighthouse at Tawas Point State Park.
I've run into Shelly Moses-Martinez at the Biggest Week in Ohio a few times. She also has started her own version of Birds and Beers in Michigan called Birds and Brews. She kept telling me that I needed to come to Tawas Point Bird Festival some year and we made it happen this year.
Chestnut-sided warbler digiscoped with an iPhone at Tawas Point.
This small festival was so much fun, it reminded me a lot of being in South Padre Island when the migrants come across the Gulf and warblers and tanagers are just everywhere. The only exception being that place was a bit cooler in temperature. Migrants tend to follow the shores of Lake Huron and many are low and easy to see. It's similar to the amount of warblers you can see at Biggest Week, but not as crowded. I had so many chestnut-sided warbles all around me.
A "slidey-backed gull seen in Tawas, MI.
The birding community is tight-knit and excited to show off this lovely lake town. I loved the gull themed slide near my hotel. You can stick around the point and bird the crap out of the area, but some of the field trips take you to some breath-taking Michigan habitat. One of the trips takes to see Kirtland's warbler, which if you don't have that species, this is the place for you.
View during the AuSuble field trip.
Since I've already seen Kirtland's I opted for the AuSable River Valley field trip which was quiet, and yielded us lots of warblers. We were surrounded by pine trees and a lovely view from atop a bluff. Our guides was very good. He lives in Illinois but spends part of the year in Tawas. He even made a point to hang out with the back of the large group to make sure they were seeing and hearing some of the same birds. I have trouble telling some of my trilling bird species apart and he took the time to explain the differences between pine warbler and chipping sparrow.
False morel aka "beefsteak" mushroom seen on our field trip.
As some of you know, I like to forage for the occasional edible mushroom. I'm a big fan of the saying, "There are old mushroom hunters and there are bold mushroom hunters, but there are no old, bold mushroom hunters." I pretty much stick to the "fool proof four" or the "safe six" like morels, chicken of the woods, hen of the woods--the things you cannot mistake for anything else. I know there are false morels and we found quite few on our trip. I can tell by the fatter, squatter appearance what a false morel is but I always double check when slicing morels because an edible morel will be hollow and a false more will be solid.
I overheard one of the participants talking about eating "the beefsteaks." "You eat that? I never eat false morels because they are supposed to be toxic."
She informed that she eats them all the time. I clearly had to do some googling. Apparently, some people can eat false morels without consequence, while others can experience diarrhea, nausea, dizziness, headaches and in rare cases even death. You never know, it's a crap shoot (ha ha). I don't see myself trying a false morel anytime soon but I did learn something new.
Porcupine found on the AuSable River Valley Trip.
No matter what trips you sign up for, make sure to spend time walking the point. Even if you are doing it after all the afternoon workshops and you don't know your warblers well, lots of people will be there to help you id birds and even make sure that you are seeing the birds too.
Baltimore oriole digiscoped with an iPhone
Make sure to find the fruit feeding station and just zone out for a bit at all the crazy amounts of orioles chowing down on oranges. There are so many and the amount of orange and yellow is bananas.
Orchard oriole digiscoped with an iPhone while carbo loading on some hummingbird nectar.
It's a popular photography spot but if you are new to digiscoping this would be a great place to practice.
One of many scarlet tanagers outside the festival hotel digiscoped with an iPhone.
The birds do drip off the trees. Even right outside the main hotel where all the field trips met, we had quite the warbler and tanager wave...and a group of about 20 birders with scopes watching them forage for insects on the budding trees. But the town seemed to welcome birders with quite a few posting signs welcoming birders and business would ask if you were having a good time if you were wearing binoculars. They may not understand exactly why you animatedly talking about the killer northern parula you just saw in their parking lot, but they are just happy you are enjoying the town.
What happens when a parent asks if their kid can have their photo with me...I just can't take a normal photo.
Shelly was kind enough to host a Birds and Brews and that was a lot of fun. There were even kids (who had root beer). I love having these in other areas, it's an informal way to meet other people and get a pulse on the local birding community. I'm really excited because a lot of the people involved in organizing this small fun event are going to be involved with hosting the 2015 Midwest Birding Symposium. It's been fun in Ohio, but will be cool to try it in a new state.
One final note, I was surprised through some weird occurrence that I was able to get a direct flight from Minneapolis to Alpena which is less than an hour from Tawas Point. Who knew? But the airport was SO tiny. How tiny? Check this out:
Alpena Airport Signage
That's their baggage claim sign. You literally got off the plane and walked inside to this sign. To rent a car, you had to call for an attendant because he works the grounds of the airport. Which was fun and much more relaxed than the usual airport experience.
And you never know what you'll find while you're driving around. Who knew I'd see a Jesus statue and dinosaur cutout so close together?
Digiscoping with Clay and Sharon, Episode 8, Contest Winner
As I sit at my open kitchen window this morning listening to urban bird calls and waiting for YouTube to upload the final episode, I have a mixture of relief and sadness. This series has been so much a part of my life the last six months, that I'm partially grateful to have some freedom in my schedule, but sad to not work on it anymore because it worked all the creative resources of my brain. As much as it was a puzzle for viewers to figure out the series clues and theme, it was a puzzle for me some days to figure out how to organize footage, edit something to make sense when a memory card decided a key scene I filmed was corrupt and choosing which bird footage to use. As my blog is turning 10 years old this year, it's very different than when I started in 2004. I don't just have a Minnesota audience anymore and how many times can I post "Hey, orioles are back" with genuine enthusiasm? Not that I'm not excited when I see the orioles are back, but writing about in the blog is not the same. It's more fun to post the first oriole's picture to Instagram. Speaking of Instagram, there are so many new ways and platforms to share information--sharing and discussing news is better suited to Facebook and Twitter than it is in the blog.
When I have a time consuming project like this series or writing a book, my brain will try to distract me by percolating 100s of great ideas. Ideas that require time, other people and organizations and money--but are still great ideas. One of the hardest things I've learned for me is that ideas are easy, followthrough is hard. I can have the greatest idea in the world (or hear someone else's idea and want to work on it) but if I don't have the time or resources, I have to let it go. Working on this series not only gave me the break of working on "the same old" blog posts I really needed, but has taken enough of my working brain, that new ideas for the blog have been percolating in the back of my head.
I'll be spending the next month implementing them and also I am excited to write again.
Will we do more videos? Yes!
Will we do another series...I hope so, but I'm not sure.
This was an experiment. I was in a reality tv show pilot last year (that has mercifully aired unnoticed) and though creatively it wasn't what I needed, I realized, "Is this all it takes to make a show?" And I used what I learned watching the crew as they filmed us to make Digiscoping with Clay and Sharon with mostly a couple of iPhones. I'd love for it to be a regular show--whether on YouTube or Netflix, or even Nat Geo, but that takes money, planning, writing (yes, reality shows have scripts), a better sound system, a crew and holy cow I could really use a continuity editor (I'm surprised no one ever emailed about my shirt changing colors in Episode 2).
If you enjoyed this series a big way to help is to let the sponsors know. For example, if you ever stay at the Alamo Inn, tell Keith that Birdchick sent you or that you enjoyed his cameo in the series. Tweet to Princeton University Press or Swarovski Optik Nature that you liked it (and especially let them know if you bought something). Check out the apps BirdsEye NA or BirdLog from BirdsEyeBirding. Go birding in South Texas either the Rio Grande Valley or Corpus Christi, you won't regret it. I'm half-tempted to run a digiscoping tour there (another great idea percolating in the back of the brain).
Thank you sponsors and friends for making this show possible. And now for the video, there are three winners. The first person our rabbit picked got the Swarovski Spotting Scope, the second person gets their choice of bird book worth up to $40 list price from Princeton University Press and the third person chosen gets a copy of my book 1001 Secrets Every Birder Should Know.
Digiscoping With Clay and Sharon, Episode 7, Fun With SlowMo on the iPhone
Here it is! This is the final clue to the series theme! Have you figured it out yet? I tried to drop some heavy hints in this episode!
Be sure to check out the pages of our generous sponsors for this episode, especially if you saw something in the show you liked:
Swarovski Optik (the optics I've been using for years)
Princeton University Press (my favorite nature publisher and sign up for updates on their cook BirdGenie bird call identifier app that's coming)
South Texas Nature (because birding the Rio Grande Valley is a must do)
Alamo Inn (my favorite place to stay when birding the Rio Grande Valley)
If you are enjoying the series, please consider sharing an episode on your social media outlets. And remember, kids, birds shown in the first seven episodes have all been digiscoped by both Clay and me and are a clue to the series theme! If you correctly guess the series theme, you are entered into a drawing for a Swarovski spotting scope. Please read over the contest rules before entering.
All entries that deviate from the contest rules will be disqualified. The winner will be announced in the eighth episode airing on June 26, 2014. To make sure you do not miss an episode, subscribe to the Birdchick YouTube Channel.
Contest Rules (To make sure you do not miss an episode, subscribe to the Birdchick YouTube Channel. )
1. All entries for the Swarovski STS spotting scope need to be emailed to digiscoping@birdchick.com and must include the answer, your first and last name, mailing address and phone number (in case I need to contact you regarding shipping).
2. You can guess the theme more than once, but only ONE correct entry per person will count in the drawing. (You should probably watch a few episodes before you guess).
3. All entries guessing the series theme must be received no later than 11:59pm Central Time on June 23, 2014.
4. The winner of the Swarovski spotting scope will be chosen at random and the decision of the judges is final.
Digiscoping with Clay and Sharon, Episode 6, Discreet Birding
So...this episode got a little weird but I love that I got to work with some of our good friends and professional actors like Kelvin Hatle, Dawn Krosnowski and Birds and Beers regular Duck Washington! I love that this project allowed me to see some friends...even if I was ordering them around. Alright, we are in the home stretch of the web series...have you guessed the series theme yet? Enter your guess at Digiscopoing@Birdchick.com with your guess ( and please read all the contest rules below).
Be sure to check out the pages of our generous sponsors for this episode, especially if you saw something in the show you liked:
Swarovski Optik (the optics I've been using for years)
Princeton University Press (my favorite nature publisher and sign up for updates on their cook BirdGenie bird call identifier app that's coming)
If you are enjoying the series, please consider sharing an episode on your social media outlets. And remember, kids, birds shown in the first seven episodes have all been digiscoped by both Clay and me and are a clue to the series theme! If you correctly guess the series theme, you are entered into a drawing for a Swarovski spotting scope.
Please read over the contest rules before entering. All entries that deviate from the contest rules will be disqualified. The winner will be announced in the eighth episode airing on June 26, 2014. To make sure you do not miss an episode, subscribe to the Birdchick YouTube Channel.
Contest Rules (To make sure you do not miss an episode, subscribe to the Birdchick YouTube Channel. )
1. All entries for the Swarovski STS spotting scope need to be emailed to digiscoping@birdchick.com and must include the answer, your first and last name, mailing address and phone number (in case I need to contact you regarding shipping).
2. You can guess the theme more than once, but only ONE correct entry per person will count in the drawing. (You should probably watch a few episodes before you guess).
3. All entries guessing the series theme must be received no later than 11:59pm Central Time on June 23, 2014.
4. The winner of the Swarovski spotting scope will be chosen at random and the decision of the judges is final.
Digiscoping with Clay and Sharon, Episode 5 Florida Birding
One of my main goals with this series was to find ways to avoid the Minnesota winter so of course I wrote an episode that takes us to Florida...
Be sure to check out the pages of our generous sponsors for this episode, especially if you saw something in the show you liked:
Swarovski Optik (the optics I've been using for years)
Princeton University Press (my favorite nature publisher and sign up for updates on their cook BirdGenie bird call identifier app that's coming)
BirdsEye Birding (the most useful bird finding apps available)
If you are enjoying the series, please consider sharing an episode on your social media outlets. And remember, kids, birds shown in the first seven episodes have all been digiscoped by both Clay and me and are a clue to the series theme! If you correctly guess the series theme, you are entered into a drawing for a Swarovski spotting scope.
Please read over the contest rules before entering. All entries that deviate from the contest rules will be disqualified. The winner will be announced in the eighth episode airing on June 26, 2014.
To make sure you do not miss an episode, subscribe to the Birdchick YouTube Channel.
Contest Rules (To make sure you do not miss an episode, subscribe to the Birdchick YouTube Channel. )
1. All entries for the Swarovski STS spotting scope need to be emailed to digiscoping@birdchick.com and must include the answer, your first and last name, mailing address and phone number (in case I need to contact you regarding shipping).
2. You can guess the theme more than once, but only ONE correct entry per person will count in the drawing. (You should probably watch a few episodes before you guess).
3. All entries guessing the series theme must be received no later than 11:59pm Central Time on June 23, 2014.
4. The winner of the Swarovski spotting scope will be chosen at random and the decision of the judges is final.
Digiscoping With Clay & Sharon, Episode 4 Light and Photography
This is a fun episode, there are two cameos: our pet rabbit Dougal and Greg Miller (aka Jack Black's character in The Big Year). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3i3L_gwdgtQ
Please visit the pages of our generous sponsors if you see something you like in the series:
Swarovski Optik (the optics I've been using for years)
Princeton University Press (my favorite nature publisher and sign up for updates on their cook BirdGenie bird call identifier app that's coming)
Alamo Inn Bed & Breakfast (the best place to stay for birding in the Rio Grande Valley, TX)
South Texas Nature (information for birding south Texas, including the Rio Grande Valley)
If you are enjoying the series, please consider sharing an episode on your social media outlets. And remember, kids, birds shown in the first seven episodes have all been digiscoped by both Clay and me and are a clue to the series theme! If you correctly guess the series theme, you are entered into a drawing for a Swarovski spotting scope.
Please read over the contest rules before entering. All entries that deviate from the contest rules will be disqualified. The winner will be announced in the eighth episode airing on June 26, 2014.
To make sure you do not miss an episode, subscribe to the Birdchick YouTube Channel.
Contest Rules (To make sure you do not miss an episode, subscribe to the Birdchick YouTube Channel. )
1. All entries for the Swarovski STS spotting scope need to be emailed to digiscoping@birdchick.com and must include the answer, your first and last name, mailing address and phone number (in case I need to contact you regarding shipping).
2. You can guess the theme more than once, but only ONE correct entry per person will count in the drawing. (You should probably watch a few episodes before you guess).
3. All entries guessing the series theme must be received no later than 11:59pm Central Time on June 23, 2014.
4. The winner of the Swarovski spotting scope will be chosen at random and the decision of the judges is final.
Episode 3 - Digiscoping Techniques
And here is episode three which includes a last minute cameo addition of a Lawrence's Warbler! How many bird shows do you know have one of those in an episode?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQDKYi3fhKY&feature=youtu.be
Clay and I also talk some photography techniques in this episode and remember, kids, birds shown in the first seven episodes have all been digiscoped by both Clay and me and are a clue to the series theme! If you correctly guess the series theme, you are entered into a drawing for a Swarovski spotting scope.
Be sure to check out the pages of our generous sponsors for this episode, especially if you saw something in the show you liked:
Swarovski Optik (the optics I've been using for years)
Princeton University Press (my favorite nature publisher and sign up for updates on their cook BirdGenie bird call identifier app that's coming)
BirdsEye Birding (the most useful bird finding apps available)
Please read over the contest rules before entering. All entries that deviate from the contest rules will be disqualified. The winner will be announced in the eighth episode airing on June 26, 2014.
To make sure you do not miss an episode, subscribe to the Birdchick YouTube Channel.
Contest Rules (To make sure you do not miss an episode, subscribe to the Birdchick YouTube Channel. )
1. All entries for the Swarovski STS spotting scope need to be emailed to digiscoping@birdchick.com and must include the answer, your first and last name, mailing address and phone number (in case I need to contact you regarding shipping).
2. You can guess the theme more than once, but only ONE correct entry per person will count in the drawing. (You should probably watch a few episodes before you guess).
3. All entries guessing the series theme must be received no later than 11:59pm Central Time on June 23, 2014.
4. The winner of the Swarovski spotting scope will be chosen at random and the decision of the judges is final.
Overly Dramatic Painted Bunting
As cool as it is to do work in south Texas during spring migration, things like worm-eating warblers are really distracting when one has serious deadlines looming.
Things have been quiet on the blog and a little bit on the podcast front because I have been knee deep in a fun project with several partners including Swarovski Optik, Princeton University Press, South Texas Nature, Alamo Inn Bed and Breakfast and Birds Eye Birding and well, even poor Non Birding Bill. Here's snippet of some footage I'm putting together for a program Clay and I going to do about it at this week's ABA Convention (it looks better if you watch it in HD):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS6hbwtaBwU
So what's been occupying my brain? A web series which will premiere May 8, 2014 on my YouTube Channel. It will air once a week for 8 weeks. All the bird footage in each episode was digiscoped by Clay Taylor and me. And on top of that, all the birds in each episode are a clue to the series theme. If you correctly guess what the theme is, you will be entered into a drawing for a Swarovski Spotting Scope (and a few other prizes).
Each episode is only 5-10 minutes long and features a digiscoping and birding tip and a little bit of info about some of our favorite places for birding and designed to be something you could watch on a break at work--so safe for work viewing for sure.
One of the challenges that Clay and I have filming this is that most if it is outdoors and "pretending" to be digiscoping in great places like South Padre Island during migration. That's when we had the above scarlet tanager fly in front of us. Of course you're going to digiscope that...but do I have an episode that it will fit in based on time of year and the series theme? And aren't we supposed to film some dialog? Ah well.
Despite all of the challenges, this project has incorporated all of my favorite things: birds, travel, working with good friends and colleagues and stretching all of my creative muscles. Here's a preview if you haven't seen it yet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLj80lDyA_RDBE5og8dgz_UGqugm_8yxvj&v=Mm0OE0aSoV8
If you could share the trailer on your various social medias, I'd appreciate it. I'm hoping this opens the door for other bird series (whether by me or others) to show up on YouTube or other venues. If you want to make sure to not miss one of the 8 episodes, subscribe to the YouTube Channel.
The drawing for the scope winner happens in the 8th episode.
I have to give some major props to poor Non Birding Bill, he's had to travel along with me for help. He even travelled with me to the Rio Grande Valley...during spring migration.
It's weird that so much of my life is on the road and I have a passel of good friends he's never met in person and with this project, he's had a chance. It was also fun to run into the likes of Greg Miller (aka Jack Black's character in the The Big Year movie). Here's Greg trying to wow NBB with birds as Estero Llano Grande State Park. Bill did concede that the pauraques were cool.
Oh and speaking of pauraques, you know how they're always a possibility at Estero near Alligator Lake? They're currently tucked further back and there are babies! How many birds can you make out in the above photo?
Clay and I had been warned that the birds were tucked a bit. We were trying to find them when one just kind of ambled out and was stretching wings. The bird suddenly noticed Clay and I staring at it in awe and then it scurried behind a yucca--I had no idea those things could scurry. We grabbed our scopes to try and digiscope it, making sure to stay on the trail. We had to practically hand to be on all fours to see her from the trail, but Clay found her lurking way back. With the naked eye, she looked really puffed out. I wondered aloud, "Is she incubating eggs since she's puffed out like that?"
Clay got the scope on her and said, "She's not puffed out, those are chicks!"
Sure enough, she had two chicks snuggling out from her breast--how cool to see that!
Alas, pauraques do not fit into the series theme for the show...maybe this show will be good enough that I can get another series commissioned?
Web Series Teaser
I'm just back from some epic US travel. I've been in California, Oregon and south Texas. Some was bird festival work and the rest was filming for the web series Clay Taylor and I working on for this spring. Here's a little clip of some of the fantastic footage we got while at Bentsen Rio Grande State Park:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42Wfr_gr0jg&feature=youtu.be
This clip is crazy on several levels: the fact I can get slow motion video with my iPhone and you can see how fast the kiskadee zips in and out of the shot and then watch it hover in slow motion to get the peanut butter out of the suet log is just nuts.
If you haven't seen the trailer for our series, check it out. It's not just a nature show, the birds in each episode will be a clue to the series theme. Guess correctly and you will be entered into a drawing for a free Swarovksi spotting scope!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm0OE0aSoV8
Digiscoped Images
Fresh Tweets
Would you like to hire me as a speaker for your event?
Email sharon@birdchick.com