Using iPhone 7 Plus For Digiscoping

November 5, 2016

Here I am contentedly digiscoping with my iPhone 6s when a new iPhone 7 family debuts. Insert Krusty The Klown ugh here. How many new gadgets to I need to get. Fortunately, Non Birding Bill was due for an upgrade and got a 7 Plus so I can see if it's worth my while.

The dual camera lenses that are getting people hot and bothered with an iPhone 7 Plus.

The big deal that has people all a-twitter is the dual camera system with the iPhone 7 Plus. I'm intrigued by the camera, but at the end of the day, I'm not too interested in a smartphone that is bigger than my 6s--I have small hands. The new iPhone 7 comes with a 12 megapixel camera. The larger 7 Plus comes with the same wide-angle camera but also has a 12 megapixel telephoto camera that zooms with the lens, not digital zoom as in other iPhones. There's also "portrait mode" which is supposed to blur your background while focusing on what's up close...something I already get from digiscoping with an iPhone, so not as interesting to me.

I tried portrait mode--it doesn't work with digiscoping. You keep getting an error that says you're too close to the subject or that there's not enough light to make it work. It's interpreting that the iPhone camera lens is too close to the spotting scope eyepiece.

So, I tried regular digiscoping. Now, I don't have an adapter for an iPhone 7plus yet--I know PhoneSkope is working on one and they will be out soon and I'm very curious to see how it works based on some of the problems I was having. I headed out to some bird feeders on an overcast day with my iPhone 6s and Non Birding Bill's new iPhone 7 (you know your marriage is rock solid when your spouse will give you a couple of hours with their brand new smartphone outdoors).

Here is an image taken with my iPhone 6s, PhoneSkope adapter and Swarovski ATX 65mm spotting scope:

White-breasted nuthatch taken with iPhone 6s and Swarovski spotting scope.

I left the image unzoomed so you could see what you're getting without zooming in the scope or camera on the iPhone. It's not the best nuthatch picture ever, but the image is fairly bright for an overcast day.

Here's the same bird but taken with the iPhone 7 Plus, no adapter and Swarovski ATX 65mm spotting scope:

White-breasted nuthatch photo taken with iPhone 7 Plus and Swarovski spotting scope.

This was harder because I have no adapter here, I'm just hand holding the phone. Here are both images cropped and side by side.

So here are the above images cropped. Both digiscoped with a Swarovski ATX 65mm scope. The nuthatch on the left is the iPhone 7 and the nuthatch on the right is the 6s.

Both images aren't bad for a cloudy day. I'm sure if I had some good sun, I could get better photos. Now I wanted to play with using the telephoto zoom on the 7 plus. When digiscoping first started with point and shoot cameras, you wanted to avoid a point and shoot with more than three power zoom, because then it wouldn't work with the spotting scope lens. I felt pretty good about being able to zoom in with two power and still get a good image from the scope and the phone. You can still digitally zoom with the 7 plus by sliding your fingers, but do to the telephoto zoom, you need to tap the phone where it says "1x" and that will switch to the "2x" telephoto. So I tried that on the feeder birds and here's the majority of the photos I got:

The screen would suddenly go black as I hit the shutter button while in "2x" telephoto mode with the iPhone 7 plus.

Just as I would have the shot lined up, the screen went black--several time. I thought maybe I was having trouble handholding it, but what I suspect was actually happening was that the phone was getting confused about which mode to use, that it would just switch back to the original camera which by the time I have the shot lined up, wouldn't be line up with my scope lens. When I came home, I emailed PhoneSkope and asked if they had experienced anything similar. Here's what I got from Tim Schreckengost, "Yes, that's an issue. Try using the Pro Camera app, which allows you to choose which lens you want to use. Our adapter will allow you to choose the camera you want to use at any given time. It's still being engineered, but should prove to be a very useful digiscoping tool."

I don't have an adapter yet, but I'm very curious to see what happens when I do. I'll also have to check out the Pro Camera app--a $3 third party app.

That's not to say that I didn't get any shots. Here's a junco taken with my iPhone 6s:

Dark-eyed junco taken with iPhone 6s, Swarovski spotting scope and PhoneSkope adapter. Minor zoom with the scope, you can see a tad bit of vignetting in the lower corners of the photo.

Same junco with the iPhone 7 plus with 2x telephoto, handheld up to a Swarovski spotting scope. No cropping.

When I could get the camera to work with my scope--I got some full frame shots of the junco. It wasn't as crisp as I'd hoped, but that could have more to do with the zoom picking up minor shakes from me handholding it and it was overcast.

At this point, there are so many smartphones out there with great cameras, any one of those that was made in the last two years will give you some great images when digiscoping if you practice. I really like the size and camera of my iPhone 6s and I'm not sure that I see the benefit yet to upgrade to the 7plus. I don't want a larger phone, portrait mode doesn't fit with my particular style of photography and I'm not sure I need to be any more zoomed in on birds--zooming can be helpful, but on a humid day, not amount of zoom is going to counteract heat shimmer. It may be a different story when I play with an adapter that properly attaches it to my scope.

And remember if you order an adapter from PhoneSkope and use the code Birdchick13 you get a discount on your purchase.

Birdchick Podcast #214 Levi Wants A Goshawk Tattoo

October 31, 2016

Kabuki back when he would chill on the porch with us.

You may have noticed we went on a bit of a hiatus. For those who didn't see on social media, our 18 year old cockatiel Kabuki went blind in September. At first he seemed to adapt but things got worse and...well we had to make the decision that no one likes to make for their pet. Over this period, it was all I could do to just to meet the bare minimum at work, let alone all the other things I enjoy doing.

When I finally felt ready to return to normal life, I thought it might be fun to revamp the podcast. We're bringing in special guests. Not just birders but people who have an interesting relationship with birds. Our first guest Levi Weinhagen a non-birder who wants a northern goshawk tattoo!

Sponsors this week: Holbrook Travel--want to come with me to Cuba next April?

Things we talk about in the podcast:

Common swifts break the record for nonstop flight.

Sibley has a coloring book!

Who got Murphy Brown pregnant.

Pluggers...I'm sorry. Here's a bird related one.

Things we recommended:

Learn more about Levi at his Pratfalls Podcast and his newest venture the Not About You Podcast. Levi recommended Breaking the Jump a book about the history of Parkour.

Non Birding Bill recommended Civilization 6.

And I recommended Beautiful Anonymous Podcast.

The rocky coast of Acadia National Park.

The Ultimate Goshawk Experience In Maine

October 23, 2016

This June I had the opportunity to go to the Acadia Bird Festival in Maine which is a gorgeous place to get Barry Manilow's Weekend In New England stuck in your head. Maine is a fantastic state to visit and Acadia National Park is one of the coolest federal parks you can check out. Blue and gray seemed to be the overwhelming colors while I was there.

Periwnkle snail shells and what I think are blue mussel shells. Feel free to correct me, I'm not BivalveChick...but what a fun name to say out loud for whomever is.

A pair of black ducks on a pond inside Acadia National Park.

And since we are keeping with a blue theme, one must devour some blueberry pancakes while in Maine. I highly recommend Sips in Southwest Harbor. A delightful restaurant with great coffee and lovely atmosphere.

Acadia is especially cool if you're into weird ass water birds like the common eider, Atlantic puffins, black guillemots and warblers like northern parula and black-throated green warblers. Colorful warblers really pop in that somber pallet. If you go to Acadia, either for the festival or on your own, make sure to schedule a boat trip. I didn't do it this time--, but I have before and it's your best bet for seeing puffins and other seabirds. It's also a unique view of this particular national park. Pelagics are fun but they are also exhausting (at least for me) and this trip came at a point when I needed to listen to my body and take things a bit easy.

While I was at the festival I heard a rumor about a northern goshawk nest that had been located thanks to a high school cross country team that was running on the paths in a woods next to the school. They were dive bombed relentlessly by the female. I've worked with goshawks both in captivity and bird banding. I love the northern goshawk, it is my favorite raptor. As an adult it's gorgeous with it's soft gray feathers and maniacal red eyes. It acts before it thinks--something I can relate to. And they take no shit. I once watched a northern goshawk fly through Sax Zim bog and it noticed a red-tailed hawk perched in the top of a tree. The goshawk changed direction, snuck up behind the beefier red-tail and popped it on the head as it kept flying. The red-tail was clearly startled and watched the goshawk power away, seemingly knowing there was no point in chasing it, it would be too fast and not worth the effort.

Most of my northern goshawk experience has been in bird banding. What a beauty to behold and have the honor of holding in your hands...and it is a loud ass bird.

Goshawks are also fierce defenders of their nest and territory. I've heard from more than one wildlife biologist of how the female will dive right at you if she feels you've gotten too close to her nest. I've always wanted to experience that. And it's not like other hawks that might fly at you. This isn't a mere game of chicken, this bird will hit you if need be. I was envious of the cross country team that got the goshawk experience and wanted it as well.

Throughout the festival as I would chill between field trips and workshops at headquarters I noticed certain bird listers sneaking off to see the nest. Those in the know were trying to keep the nest location under wraps but if someone needs a goshawk for their list and had a reputation for being respectful, word would spread. At the end of the festival, I mentioned casually that I'd like to see the nest and maybe digiscope it. Michael J Goode of Down East Nature Tours knew where the nest was and offered to take me in to get a glimpse. It was the end of the last day of the festival, it was cloudy and threatening to rain. We didn't have a lot of time but it seemed worth it. So with another guest we headed over to the school and the surrounding woods.

Oyster mushrooms abound in the woods on the way to goshawk.

We crept into the pine woods. I was glad to have a guide, the trails were meandering and there would have been ample opportunity for me to take a wrong turn and question whether or not I'd find the nest. Also, temptation was everywhere in the woods--so many edible mushrooms like this large patch of oyster mushrooms. If I had means to cook in my bed and breakfast room, that would have been my dinner.

Michael warned me when we were near the general area of the nest. We wanted to be as silent as possible so as not to stress the goshawk and have a chance to see one perched. Oh how naive we were. Before we got to the nest I heard the familiar loud call and a goshawk circled us, periodically landing at the top of the tree, sounding the alarm. We soon found the nest while the bird circled.

The bird finally perched and called incessantly from the top of a pine with branches so thick, there was really only one spot to stand to get a glimpse of him. I got a few hasty documentation shots but that was it. I was so happy to see a goshawk in the wild--any day with a goshawk can NEVER be a bad day. But I did have a pang of disappointment...this was not the goshawk experience I'd heard about--of birds diving at us. I realized this was the male and he would simply call in alarm. The female must have been out on a hunt and I wouldn't get the dive bomb experience.

After I got my shots we decided to turn around and head out. We wouldn't get better photos, we saw the goshawk and we didn't want to stress them out anymore than necessary. Then, something tucked in the woods answered the male's rapid higher pitched cry. This was slower and deeper. The female had arrived. I just happened to have my iPhone out and on slo mo video and held up my phone and pressed play. Before I knew what was happening she was flying right at me! I got the following video within a few seconds of her arrival. The first few seconds are real time. The second half is her coming at us at half speed. WOW. Warning...I swore...justifiably.

This is what happens if you ever find yourself anywhere near a northern goshawk nest...the female will drive you out!

THAT was the ultimate goshawk experience I always wanted to have! After she bombed us a second time, she passed a third, this time so low, she almost kneecapped Michael. She perched above us, daring us to go any direction but out. I wanted to digiscope her, but I knew as soon as my objective lens was aimed at her she would dive right for it. And I'm not sure the Swarovski warranty covers talon lens damage.

We hightailed it out of the woods with her in close pursuit and the male circling us above the tree tops. All in all I think we were there less than five minutes but what an exhilarating five minutes of life that was! One of many nature related dreams checked off my list this year.

Here are few highlights from the Acadia Bird Festival. This is definitely one to check out...if for the fresh lobster alone. Make sure to get either a National Park Pass or a weekly pass at Acadia. Some of the field trip locations require meeting in the park without going through a gate and if a ranger catches your car without a pass you could potentially get a ticket.

What a delight to come upon fields of wild lupine as I drove around.

Below is a red-breasted nuthatch nest we found right on a trail. Another really cool nest that we found was a junco nest. I knew they nested on the ground, but I'd never seen that. Alas, it was so well hidden that there was no way to get a photo, but how cool to watch a female junco with a beak-ful of food disappear into a clump of vegetation on the ground!

Red-breasted nuthatch nest seen during a field trip at the Acadia Bird Festival in Maine. Male brings in a spider to feed the young and the female takes away a fecal sack (bird diaper). What goes in must come out. Birds digiscoped with Swarovski ATX 65mm scope, iPhone 6s and PhoneSkope adapter.

Pink lady slipper or as I like to call it: testicle flower.

Acadia where you can hear wood thrushes, hermit thrushes, black-throated green warblers, northern parulas echoing through the trees. I found a log tucked in there where I just laid down, turned off my phone and absorbed the world around me.

Black guillemot. Alas, I was not able to get a good shot of a puffin.

I don't know my geology that well but the patterns in the rocks along the Maine coast are fascinating.

This could be you at next year's Acadia Bird Festival.

Would you like to travel with me? Check out my trip to Cuba in 2017 through Holbrook Travel!

Storm approaches on the Kazakh Steppes. One of the many places I've been thanks to my college degree.

Ode to Dr. Strange

September 12, 2016

I just found out Dr. Paul Strange died this week. He was a close friend of my mother’s as well as the man for whom she worked for several years.

My mother is a Christian Scientist who worked as a nurse for Dr. Strange. We can unpack that dichotomy at another time, but when I asked her about how someone who doesn’t believe in medicine could work as a nurse, she simply said, “Lots of people have jobs they don’t believe in.”

My parents both worked hard at full time jobs that they didn’t love. My dad was clearly miserable and I remember thinking that I had to do whatever I could to avoid spending 40 hours of my week doing something I hated. My mother could make any job fun, she blooms wherever she’s planted. I never thought we were poor, but I knew that we didn’t have money like some of the other girls at school who had tanning beds in their homes or routinely went to Florida or Mexico during school vacations. Though my family didn’t have that kind of money, we sometimes went out to eat, had a VCR, a house with a big yard and many of the other comforts of middle class.

It was expected that I’d go to college and get a job I enjoy. I had absolutely no clue about money as a kid, other than my dad poured over spreadsheets and bills on weekends and played the lottery a lot. All my other friends had parents paying for college or scholarships. I figured that’s what would happen to me.

When I started applying to colleges, I got a rude awakening for how much tuition was going to cost. And as much as the travel but bug inside me wanted to go several states away, out of state tuition was out of the question. Indiana State University had reasonable prices and was far enough away that I’d have to stay there and not live at home. I’d been part of a summer theater program at ISU as a high school student so had a reasonable chance of getting some scholarship money.

I applied, I got in.

I figured finances would figure themselves out, either with scholarships, a part time job or this mythical thing called financial aid. My family didn’t qualify for financial aid. I got scholarships but not nearly enough. I didn’t realize at the time how much credit card debt my parents were in—a situation that would come to a head at the end of my college years and subsequently end their marriage.

My mom, not knowing what else to do, did the only thing she could. She prayed. Part of being a Christian Scientist is your daily “lesson” where you read assigned texts of The Bible and also Science and Health by the founder, Mary Baker Eddy. This is done as a daily meditation, you read the assigned passages from the two books and think about how they apply to your life and whatever healing you may need. My mom didn’t just read in the morning, but she took to going to a nearby Christian Science Reading Room on her lunch breaks.

Before she retired, my mom was the office cut up. She was a fun pal to make you laugh with over lunches and cigarette breaks. She was a prankster. She was not above wearing glasses with a penis nose at the office. When she started disappearing over lunch and being evasive about where she was going, it was assumed that my mother was probably having an affair until one day a coworker noticed mom’s car in the parking lot of the Christian Science Reading Room. The car was distinctive, a rusting Mercury Cougar that had gone from dark blue to purple from constant exposure to the sun.

Not long after that, Dr. Strange sat mom down and asked why was she spending her lunches at her church. Mom spilled everything. She confessed her stress about how to send me to college and that she was praying for a miracle.

The next day the doctor called her into his office again and said that he and his wife Judy thought that I could do a lot with a college degree and that I’d be something special. He said that they’d pay the difference in tuition that I didn’t get covered with scholarships. The one stipulation was that I could never be told that the Stranges were behind it.

Of course I was told after I graduated that the full ride scholarship I’d received was actually from the Stranges and I was overwhelmed with gratitude and the idea that two people who mostly knew me through stories from my mother believed in me so much, they’d make it possible for me to go to college. I didn’t have to pay them back other than to live a happy and productive life.

My friends Amy and Jody went with me to Terre Haute for a professor's retirement and we stood on the old New Theatre state where we honed our performance, directing and writing skills.

There’s so much I wouldn’t have had it not been for them. I’m sure I would have found another way to get a degree, it may have been at a much slower pace and with huge amounts of debt. Who knows where I’d be living and if I would have gotten the same tremendous job opportunities I’ve had here. Thanks to them, I got my degree in four years, I met many life long friends I still see today, I met my husband of 18 years and that’s also where I met the person who encouraged me to move to Minnesota. Though my degree is in theater, my performance and writing skills are a large part of my career as a interpretive naturalist and writer.

I’m forever grateful to Dr. and Mrs. Paul and Judy Strange. I wouldn’t have the weird little life that I cherish so much if they hadn’t stepped in. I sent them a letter after college. I acknowledge them in every book I get published. I try to be helpful to other people when they ask. But how can you ever repay people who step in at a crucial time in your life and open a world of possibilities so selflessly?

Dr. Strange is gone today. And the world for me is a little less than it was before.

"I will beak your car when you turn your back."--Black Vulture.

Florida Is For Vulture Lovers

September 2, 2016

I spent some time in southern Florida this year. I was there for work, but one of the upsides of Florida is that there is a large supply of lovely birds to practice your photography on. If you are someone who really digs vultures, then Florida should be your vacation destination. You have ample opportunity to soak them in.

My work was at Everglades National Park and Biscayne National Park. I stayed in Homestead, FL and when I woke up my first morning there, I found dozens of turkey vultures already in the air, kiting on the breezes. It was one of the eeriest albeit coolest things I'd seen in awhile. The birds hung in the sky, which seemed weird to me to see large soaring birds at it so early in the morning. Where I live, they don't get thermals until about 10am so you really don't see soaring at dawn, but when you're along the coast, oceans change things. But so many birds in the air, so silent, while wind rustled leaves and palms contrasting with the watercolor pallet of dawn make for a fantastic site.

I soon discovered why there were so many vultures passing Biscayne at all hours--there was a landfill nearby. Here's some video I got with my scope and iPhone:

Those aren't just vultures, the birds swirling closed to the machinery are gulls, but man oh man that's a big ass pile of biomass in the air.

If you haven't been, Everglades is a gigantic beast of a national park. There are many units and varieties of habitat to check out. I was warned by a colleague that since I was driving a government vehicle, it was imperative while visiting Royal Palm that I should do everything I can to protect the car. The vultures are such an issue, the park has a page dedicated just to them.

Vehicle displaying proper vulture damage prevention technique at Royal Palm in Everglades National Park. Note the black vulture soaring overhead.

Apparently it's a thing that black vultures like to chew a car and do thousands of dollars worth of damage. When I pulled into the parking lot for Royal Palm I could see that something was a afoot. Many vehicles were covered in tarps, or at least all the chewy parts were like tires, windshield wipers and the parts around windows. And if you passed all the cars and thought people were just being weird, there was this right outside the visitor center:

Signage at Royal Palm explains the whys and the hows of vulture protection in the parking lot.

No one seems to know why vultures like to chew on all the rubbery pieces on a car. Is it because they're prone to ripping putrid flesh and they need to keep in shape for when that big road kill deer appears? Or is there some flavor or nutrient that attracts them? No one has the definite answer yet, but one thing is clear, black vultures seem to be the main culprit. Turkey vultures seem content to keep their distance from cars and trucks.

As I meandered the trails around Royal Palm I could see that they had a huge population of black vultures and those vultures gave no fucks about people. Before I took the above black vulture selfie, a group of about 20 people on a tour had walked past. Some paused to take photos and the vultures eyed them, but they were in no hurry to get away. We don't have black vultures where I live in Minnesota, but when I've encountered them in other states they prefer to keep a healthy distance between themselves and the average human. Not so in Florida.

I'm relieved to say that the tarps kept my government vehicle safe from the prying beaks of black vultures and mental note to you, don't trust your vehicle to vultures in south Florida. I'd love to see how rental car companies handle that kind of damage.

Turkey vulture with daisies, they practically pose for you at Everglades.

Meanwhile, the much more well behaved turkey vultures are a delight to experience at Everglades. Not only do they have less of an interest in chewing on your car than black vultures, they'll obligingly pose for you in good light when not soaring around looking for food.

You can see right through this turkey vulture's nose.

This guy was part of a small group of turkey vultures hanging out near Flamingo at Everglades. I was out there because high tide had brought in a bunch of shorebirds and I was delightedly sitting at a picnic table loving the chance to study dunlins and western sandpipers in non-breeding plumage when a few turkey vultures landed and posed in front some daisies. I know they're not traditionally pretty, but I love the texture of the wrinkles and warts. I love that their nostrils are essentially a hole through their head, layered with sensitive tissue that can detect delicious carrion from a distance and in an appetizing way I'll never comprehend. I love the contrast of the off-white beak, the bright red head and slightly iridescent feathers. And just when I thought this bird couldn't make me love it more, it gave me this:

And then this:

So if vultures are your jam, make South Florida a priority to visit.

Birdchick Podcast #213 Duck Stamp Documentary and ABA Contest

August 15, 2016

The American Birding Association is having several contests this year in an effort to get new members and get former members to renew. We are also having a contest for people to join the American Birding Association. If you join the ABA and in the comments on the application say you joined because of Birdchick or Non Birding Bill, then send us the confirmation with your mailing address you could win one of three prizes:

An Advanced Guide to Birding autographed by Kenn Kaufmann (we'll put in a personal message too if you want).

An autographed postcard from Neil Gaiman thanking you for joining the ABA.

An autographed copy of Disapproving Rabbits (Sharon's first book).

Send confirmations to sharon@birdchick.com with your preferred prize and mailing address.

Autographs from Kenn Kaufman, Neil Gaiman and us are prizes.

Other things we talked about include the documentary about the Duck Stamp art contest called Million Dollar Duck. We highly recommend it.

PokemonGo players help injured pelican.

Some jerk got a worthwhile fine for killing hawks that were hunting the quail he wanted to kill.

Birdchick Podcast #212 Poaching, Parrots and Pokemon

July 28, 2016

I love that not only have I received official federal guidance about Pokemon for my job but that a hook and bullet publication put my post about Pokemon Go out there. If you think Pokemon Go is the beginning of the end of society...read this.

JOIN THE AMERICAN BIRDING ASSOCIATION Send us proof that you joined or renewed and you could win one of the Kaufman field guide. Specify which one you want to sharon@birdchick.com. First come, first serve.

You won't believe how high some birds can fly.

Weird, it's legal to release rehabbed starlings and house sparrows in the United States but not parrots...

Poaching caught live on an internet eagle cam in Israel.

Birdchick Podcast #211 Pokemon Go vs Birding

July 13, 2016

So there's this think called PokemonGo...

Frigatebirds can fly a long time!

Army vet shoots down branch to help young eagle tangled with rope.

Loons raising a goldeneye.

This eagle is trying to land, it's not trying to take off with the boy.

Experiments With Eagles

June 22, 2016

I went to the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival in Homer, Alaska--which is a delightful festival, I highly recommend it. I met a ton of people who were originally from Minnesota and for one reason or another had moved to Alaska. I can see why, it's beautiful and great for people who enjoy the outdoors. Homer actually reminded me quite a bit of northern Minnesota--only with glaciers and mountains.

I got a kick out of this sign--it reads "gulls" and not "seagulls."

As I was birding along Homer Spit, I saw the above sign and suddenly remembered this was where you used find Jean Keene the Eagle Lady (another former Minnesotan). She lived along the spit and collected fish from various sources as well as roadkill moose to feed 200 - 300 bald eagles a day in the winter. That's a lot of bald eagles. Many enjoyed it--especially tourists and wildlife photographers (if you Google search "bald eagle flock" the first several photos are from the Eagle Lady feeding spot). Local hotel owners also appreciated a boom in business in winter. But some residents were not so thrilled to have eagles perched on their cars or homes and pooping all day. So the town of Homer has banned the feeding of predatory and scavenging birds, grandfathering her in so she could continue. But when she died, the eagle feeding stopped.

Me with Lynne Schoenborn, Sue Keator and Flat Michelle.

Two friends from Minnesota, Lynne and Sue came up to the fest and we got to spend some time together. Sue brought along a couple of photos of another friend named Michelle. I love Michelle, she takes photobombing to another level, knows lots about native plants and is always a good time at Birds and Beers...but there's one way we differ: she hates travel. She hates it so much she has said that her goal is to never have a passport.

So we brought along her avatar in the form of Flat Michelle and began posting photos of her on Facebook. Michelle says it's her favorite form of travel.

Flat Michelle kicking on back with an obliging sandhill crane in the background.

Here's Flat Michelle with an obligatory Alaska bald eagle photo.

One of the places Lynne, Sue and I birded was Anchor Point--which is great for sea ducks, shorebirds and sparrows. There were a gazillion eagles and unlike Homer, people are allowed leave piles of unwanted fish on the beach. You could get quite close to the them, they really are used to people. I suggested that we put Flat Michelle in one of the fish piles and step away. We could then digiscope her with some bald eagles right next to her face.

Flat Michelle posed with some halibut carcasses.

We had two different Flat Michelles. One kicking it with a beer bottle and one looking freaked out. We thought with a close proximity to eagles it would be funnier to start out with freaked out Michelle--you'd look freaked if an eagle was eating a dead fish next to your head, right? We placed it in front of a pile of fish that some eagles had been chowing on. We walked back, I set up my scope and we waited...

And waited...

Eventually an eagle flew over, but it flared up when it saw Flat Michelle and circled a few more times. It landed nearby and just stared at her. A few more eagles flew in but like the first, just lingered along the periphery, occasionally squeaking in apparenty disapproval. The majestic eagles, all reluctant to land near the picture. Gulls and crows flew in but like the eagles, everyone kept their distance.

The first to let down their guard were the northwestern crows. As soon as one got some food, the others flew in and gobbled up all the fish they could before the eagles and gulls moved in.

A bald eagle walked behind Flat Michelle and the feasting crows.

Several more bald eagles flew over and around the fish pile, but none would get near it with Flat Michelle. I thought once the crows showed that it was safe the eagles would join, but they were having none of it.

A glaucous-winged gull yells at Flat Michelle while a northwestern crow gets a morsel.

After awhile I thought it would be fun to get a time lapse video of Flat Michelle. Here it is:

Soon, another fisherman dumped a pile of halibut on the beach. And not just fish carcasses that have been filleted already but a few completely intact specimens. The eagles immediately flew over and completely ignored our mostly picked over fish pile. I suggested to Sue that we try that tastier pile and maybe use the beer version of Michelle. I wondered if her wide-eyed expression and both hands up was a threatening site to an eagle? So we placed the relaxed, chill beer drinking picture with the pile and stepped way back.