Venting My Bunny

I love my pet rabbit Cinnamon, I really do. I miss her when I travel and she is home with Non Birding Bill.

But she is driving me up a wall!

I'm still catching up from Texas, I still have Rio Grande Valley birds and critters to talk about and I'm also in the middle of National Novel Writing Month (you try to write a novel or 50,000 words in the month of November). Both Birdfreak and I are giving it go...because you know, we don't write enough as it is. I was off to a good start, but lost momentum in Harlingen. I've been trying to catch up and was really on a roll yesterday--I typed 7086 words! I'm still behind for the month for a total of 11,587 but I'll keep going.

Cinnamon is not helping! Here she is right after I have yelled at her for nibbling my Swarovski back back. After a gave her a firm "no" and resumed typing (I have a very certain tone of voice that I use that Cinnamon understands is the I-Mean-Business-Tone). She waited and moment and then she started licking the backpack. You can't tell me rabbits aren't smart.

She has also taken to just sitting on my bag, and trying to root around inside. I think she either can smell that I have had apples in there or that I have some fruity gum (I don't give her chewing gum, but I'm sure that smells edible to her). She seems to go through phases. We have a large closet that we have converted into a "bunny room" with a Cottontail Cottage, toys, food, etc that is blocked by toddler gate when she cannot come out, usually when NBB and I are away. Sometimes she goes through a mellow phase and she sleeps under our bed or hangs out in her little hidey holes around the apartment and I know I can leave and not worry about her getting into mischief while I run errands.

But she also goes through phases of mischief obsession and is hell bent on doing the opposite of whatever we say. Last night, she kept hopping on the futon with me as I was typing, I kept putting her back down. NBB left a box of cookies on the couch and though she was insisting that wasn't her main purpose for hopping up time after time...

...if I did not pay attention, she would open the box to get at the sugary goodness on the inside. She is also going for the kitchen constantly. She's not allowed in there because she gets in the trash and I'm worried that she might find a bottle of cleaner or inappropriate bunny food. But as soon as a door closes in our apartment, she runs right for the kitchen. NBB headed out last night to help his friend Ari with his computer. Door closed, Cinnamon made a mad dash.

"Oy!" I shouted at her in that tone, "Get out of the kitchen."

She hopped out, waited for me to resume typing and went right back in. I yelled again, she did not leave. I set my lap top on the coffee table and she came tearing out of the kitchen (uh-oh, it's serious if mom puts down her laptop). From there it was an endless parade of chasing her out of the kitchen, chasing her away from chewing/licking my backpack, removing her when she hopped on my keyboard, taking her off the futon when she hopped up to steal cookies--BUTThead! I started an auction for one naughty bunny on FaceBook.

By the time NBB returned, Cinnamon was dozing on top of her Cottontail Cottage--the amount of mischief was just exhausting. He didn't believe that this peacefully sleeping bunny could be so naughty.

Disapproving Rabbits At The Science Museum

Last night I was working at the Mississippi River Visitor Center at the Science Museum listening to the cool song stylin's of the Brass Messengers (they were there for a wedding reception held at the museum) when I looked up from the counter and saw two people approaching me with Disapproving Rabbits shirts--the old school brown shirts. Two Cinnamon fans came up from Iowa to visit the Twin Cities and had me on the itinerary. Since they arrived about 45 minutes before I closed and Non Birding Bill was coming to pick me up, I called and asked if he would mind bringing Cinnamon with him. They were happy to hang around the VC and the museum to wait for NBB.

Because of the collections, animals aren't allowed in the Science Museum but Cinnamon frolicked on the front lawn and we got a photo. They even stuck around while we got a fast Sunday Cinnamon photo. She really seemed to enjoy the night air and she always enjoys attention--even at the ripe old age of nine (my Cinnabutt is nine, I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around her mortality).

Thanks so much for visiting us Iowans!

Eagle Nest and Tons on the Horizon

For the readers who don't go to Disapproving Rabbits but would like to hear some of the sounds rabbits can make, check out this video of Cinnamon grunting.

So much to blog and so little time! I got the word from Lorraine that the bees have landed. I was hoping that they would arrive tomorrow or Friday and I would hive them on Friday but they came today. Right now I'm trying to rearrange my schedule to install them on Thursday. I'm hoping Non Birding Bill will come and use his mad video directin' skillz to make a short on how we install our bees. I can't help but giggle and think of two years ago when we first hatched the crazy bee plan. Mr. Neil and I with visions of hexagons and buzzing and Lorraine and NBB heavily protesting. Both saying we were not going into the bee business because Mr. Neil would be out of the country writing and I would be at some bird thing and Lorraine and NBB would be the ones to have to deal with the bees and they under no circumstances would not be helping with the bees...and here was Lorraine dealing with early bee arrival while Mr. Neil was away and I was doing a bird thing.

I stopped by the bald eagle nest at the 5-8 Club to get a last view of it before the trees leaf out. The chicks have hatched and the male and female are stopping by to feed them throughout the day.

Word on the street with the banders is that many eagles are about two weeks behind from last year because of the long winter. Some banding of eagle chicks was supposed to start next week and they are now scheduled to start on May 12. Eagles are usually good with starting early, they don't need water to be open, but osprey do. I know many lakes in northern Minnesota are still frozen, I wonder if they will be late this year too? Speaking of which, the are talking flurries again for the Twin Cities this weekend--for the first weekend in May. If that happens, that means that we will have had a six month winter. Our first snow was last November 5. That's the hardcore Minnesota winter we know and love!

The weather can't put a hold on the rest of migration. We had one intense day of banding at Carpenter Nature Center today, which I will get to tonight. The towhee above is just a hint. Boy, wasn't it just the other day that I blogged about wanting to get a photo of that crazy towhee eye? Sometimes, wishes do come true in the short term.

Here are a couple of other hints: What bird hates black sparkly nail polish more than titmice hate purple nail polish?

And, what bird caused this blood bath? That's not my finger...dodged a bullet with that bird!

Easter Morning With Cinnamon

We tried to get Cinnamon to pose with some peeps this morning, but that seemed to not dignify our girl, however having her own MySpace Page and BunSpace Page is ok. Don't worry, she's not being held down in the above photo, Non Birding Bill is petting her. You can see more photos of her and her Peeps at Disapproving Rabbits and below is a video of her gettin' some bunny lovin' (bonus points to those who can id the two people singing in the duet in the background):

Oops

Cinnamon's face right after I accidentally sneezed on her.

Sorry, bunny.

I Just Bring It Out

I took this photo of Cinnamon during the interview last night. This is the stare down--she does this hoping that if she stares at me long enough, she will have willed me into giving her a treat.

Well, last night's online show (The Rabbit Show) took a weird turn. I guess when you have an online show hosted on Talk Shoe, you can have a forum going where people can ask questions and it's very interactive. And as happens in forums, someone joined and started asking...well let's just say they were questions that Cinnamon would not approve of. The poor host seemed surprised and flustered. My inclination would have been to just giggle quietly and ingore it, but the host was trying to delete them, which I think just made the anonymous posters pose even worse questions. Then, there was an odd sound and I couldn't hear the host. I figured I was on hold or the show was stopped because of the questions. Non Birding Bill was in the other room listening live and shouted, "Hey keeping talking--he's not on, but I can hear you, fill the dead air."

So, I kind of "umed" and "ahed" and "you knowed" my way into getting rabbits from humane societies, it was very strange. And fortunately, there were people asking questions that didn't involve impossible rabbit mating processes (thank you to all those kind folks) and I was able to speak to those.

The host made it back on--he had a power surge from his house and got knocked off the show. An eventful interview to say the least. You can download a podcast version here. I guess I was the first author he had on his show--I hope the experience didn't sour him on future guests on his show. Thanks, Dan, for having me on and for promoting the book.

After it was finished, NBB shook his head and said, "You just bring that out in people, don't ya my little trouble maker."

City Birds Country Birds

"Hey, I'm not in this book at all--I didn't approve that!"

Check it out, it's a mock up of my next book. Remember a long time ago I blogged about a book I wrote called City Birds Country Birds? Well, I think it's actually coming out this spring--which is a total relief because I wrote this way before Disapproving Rabbits and I had dedicated this book to my mom and Disapproving Rabbits to my in-laws. And wouldn't you know it, the book dedicated to my in-laws came out first--AWKWARD! Actually, right after one of the radio interviews I did for Disapproving Rabbits, the hosts started talking the dedication and about people who have better relationships with their in-laws than with their own parents. I cried out, "Noooooooooooooo!" and tried to phone back in to the studio while Non Birding Bill said, "Oh, Sharon, it's just a segue into another segment, don't take it too seriously."

Yeah, easy for him to say because it was his parents not mine. For the record, I love my mom and my in-laws.

So, if you sent a photo and it got used in the book, you are still getting a free copy. Incidentally, anyone have a good photo of a black-capped chickadee nest? Needs to be in focus and needs to be print quality. If you so, email it along with your mailing address to sharon at birdchick dot com.

Sunshine Travel

First and foremost--THANK YOU to everyone who came to the owl talk on Sunday at The Raptor Center! Early in the week we only had 15 people signed up and with the sub zero temps and the Packers game I expected a low turn out, but the room was completely filled! Whoot! Thanks, and the fee went to TRC, a great cause in my book.

Today was an unexpectedly action packed day that started with a bird segment on KARE 11 and then a meeting at Sunshine Travel Co. but the day ended up much more hectic with a slippery snow shower that started at "oh just a dusting" according to local weather reports and then ended up being 3 - 5 inches, which made for very slippery driving. Note the little bits of snow specks on the house sparrow in the above photo. On the upside, the high today was 9 degrees-which honestly felt great. Seriously, if it's above zero degrees--it's a good day in my book.

The funny part with KARE 11 was that I was having all kinds of mic problems and the stage manager was still trying to get me wired up after the segment started. When the camera cut to me, the stage manager was still crouched behind me trying to adjust my mic. It wasn't working properly and the camera cut away and they added another mic. It was hard to concentrate on smiling and talking while having someone run wires in and out of my shirt. Non Birding Bill had today off and actually got to watch the segment, he said that he didn't notice while watching the show, whereas I felt like I had wires appearing all over. Ah well, good times!

This is our friend Dawn who runs Sunshine Travel Co and is helping to create some bird tours to Harlingen, TX this fall and to San Francisco, CA next January. She is in shows around the Twin Cities with NBB and is just an all around hoot. I'm not sure if she really likes me or is just using me to get to Cinnamon. Every time I have a meeting at her office, she insists that I bring the Disapproving Bunny. It's hard for me to concentrate and look her in the eye during meetings because of all the bird activity. Note in the far left corner of the window behind Dawn--there's a junco lurking. I told Dawn up front that my lack of eye contact was not some sign of disrespect, but more my distraction from so much bird activity. She said that she has the coolest office ever and I agreed.

She has lots of suction cup window feeders placed on the windows of the office. The birds are not bothered by humans all that much. I was able to walk right up to the feeder and snap a photo of a chickadee at the window feeder without the aid of a spotting scope. This was a good idea, window feeders will help keep the birds from hitting the windows too hard. They slow down to check out a potential food source.

I had a good time just sitting next to Dawn's windows and watching the birds come right up for some food. I did note that there was some milo on the window and I advised Dawn that since we live in the East without a huge number of pheasants and quail coming to feeders that this seed wasn't the best seed idea. I even snuck out during a break in our meetings and tossed some black oil sunflowers on the milo. The chickadees totally dug that idea.

During the meeting, one of the chickadees grabbed a sunflower and tried to stuff it away for a later date. It kept trying to wedge the sunflower in this overhang above the windows. If you look just to the right in the above photo, you will see a very dark crack. This chickadee would cling to that and try to peck the sunflower into the crack. It didn't succeed, but it was interesting it watch it try.

I did do a minor bit of digiscoping since the birds were so close and I was not too anxious to get back onto the highways with the snow. I can't help but fall in love with juncos in falling snow.

My intent had been to drop Cinnamon off at home after my meeting with Dawn and then go to the grocery store, but the roads were so slick and I had to drive so slow that there wasn't time and I had to take her with me to pick up dinner. Even though she has a fur coat, she is in an indoor rabbit and not used to the outside and it was far too cold to leave her in the car. I decided to risk bringing her in the grocery store with me. I don't like to do this--who knows who is allergic to what animal and I don't want to be an annoying pet owner who assumes her cute pet can go anywhere. But my grocery store offers disinfecting wipes for carts and Cinnamon is litter box trained, so I decided to risk it. I hoped no one would notice because A. I didn't want to get kicked out of my favorite grocery store and B. when people notice an unusual pet, everyone wants to pet her and that can add some time to what would otherwise be a quick errand. When we got there, I put my scarf in the basked around Cinnamon and put in a few bunches of parsley on either side of her. I relied on an old trick from my days of being a magician's assistant and didn't look down at her in the cart--don't look at what you don't want people to notice--they usually won't.

Alas, this plan worked until I dashed down the final aisle when I heard behind me, "Is THAT a BUNNY?!?" and like little old ladies near Sir Andrew Llyod Weber, we were surrounded. Everyone was super nice and I was happy to let them pet Cinnamon--and goodness knows she was lovin' it, but I didn't want to push my luck at my favorite grocery store. We made it to the line, I got checked out without the manager's notice, wiped out the basket she had been riding in and all was right with the world.

Cinnamon really needed a day out. It's hard for her to be cooped up and this morning she was making her rambunctiousness known. After the alarm went off and I walked past the rabbit room, she was hopping in all directions and digging out her litter box. The second time I walked by, she was up on her hind legs, pressed against the toddler gate, her front paws stretched as high as they would go, as if to say, "Mom, I need an adventure NOW!" Dawn's office was a treat since it's carpeted and she could run. But the grocery store is what set her over the edge--what rabbit doesn't love the chance to be with their human to pick out the freshest bits of parsley and carrot tops for the week? Plus, there was the added bonus of several humans massaging her oh so soft fur.

Seven Years, Four Months

Just got a report from Mr. Neil. A mouse has been found in the trap under the beehive. The dead mouse was carefully laid on a stump for consumption by any interested predator.

So, I was reading a story about a barn owl being used as a ring bearer in a wedding in Wales, when I realized, hey, time to schedule the next Birds and Beers--Thursday, January 17, 2008 at Merlin's Rest. I'll be just back from Bird Watch America and have tales of what's on the horizon in birding products. Birds and Beers is a gathering of ANYONE interested in birds to have a beverage, maybe a meal and talk some birds. It's a great way to share birding stories, ideas, and meet fellow birders of all levels. If you lead trips or run a bird store and want to promote yourself, please do. If you are working on some project or research about birds--come on down, if you want to know more places to see birds or ask about how to attract more birds to your yard--come on out.

Cinnamon had an appointment today at the vet. As you can see in the above photo, she was not happy. Check out the name tag on her box, she got that from our friend Dawn, who invited us to her office blessing. Everyone had name tags--including Cinnamon. They are huge fans of Cinnamon had Sunshine Travel--speaking of which, we'll be doing some tours through them, one to Harlingen in Texas this fall and one next January to San Francisco.

Check out that furry little chin! I had to give Cinnamon lots of treats after the vet. She's happier when her nails are freshly trimmed, but like most rabbits doesn't seem to like the indignity of having them trimmed. The weird thing was that I finally got a handle on her age. I don't celebrate pet birthdays, I don't like to think about how much shorter their lives will be compared to mine. I have an idea of how old Cinnamon is, but can't remember the exact year we brought her home of the St. Paul Humane Society. When I was paying for her at the front desk, someone asked how old she was, the receptionist behind the desk said, "You've had her seven years and four months." She had Cinnamon's file in front of her and we had brought Cinnamon in for an exam and to schedule her spay right after we got her, so they would have the records. Wow, her HS file said she was just under a year old when we got her, that makes her eight. My, how the time flies.

Bees In The Snow

Thank you to do Stacy Kagiwada for getting this awesome photo of Cinnamon! This is from the Indianapolis book signing, you can see more here--wow, Stacy has really nailed how to get a disapproval out of my bunny. I just love this one below--Cinnamon's totally disapproving of me in the background. Stacy also got a shot of Non Birding Bill and I together--we have so few of us in the same shot, I love it!

Whoa, doggies! Sounds like I'll be signing lots of Disapproving Rabbits books tomorrow. About a month after the book came out, we learned that Harper Collins had run out of the DR book and were going to print more. According to UPS, the packages will be dropped off tomorrow and I'll be signing away so we can mail them out on Friday and get them to people in time for Christmas.

It continues to be super cold here, but very lovely--like this puffed up little downy woodpecker. This morning I woke to 5 degrees but I am assured by the weatherman that it will warm up to twenty degrees before the sun sets at 4:30pm. I went out check on the beehives.

Single digit temperatures are much easier to take in when there is snow. Also, between all of my layers, hand warmers and the marching motion I have to do to maneuver over unplowed paths in the woods, I can work up quite a sweat. It's a strange quiet in the woods, and all you hear is the chip note of a chickadee, the industrious soft tapping of several woodpeckers, and crow caws echoing off of the hillsides. So different from the cacophony of warblers and vireos in spring and the dry humming and buzzing of katydids and grasshoppers in late summer.

I took a very long route to the hives to enjoy the scenery in the snow. The creek on Mr. Neil's property is almost completely frozen, apart from a few pockets that the birds are using for drinking water. I can't believe I've seen some ice fishing houses out already on some of the lakes in town--it's too soon. If there is still some slush on the lake, it's too soon, you crazy fishing people! As I was working my way to the field near our hives, I noticed a strong aroma.

Hoo-wee, you've been warned of yellow snow...how about brown snow? Someone must have run a manure spreader right after our last big snowfall. It was still very pungent--and rock solid.

The path to the hives was dug deep into the snow with splatters of hard poop. I know the kind of enjoyment I get from walking through fresh snow...I wonder if it's the same when one is riding a manure spreader. There's a huge field full of pristine snow and you're gonna cover it with some hot liquid manure. Good times. Actually, I had to chuckle, because the field is part of a network of snow mobile trails...I would wager that there have been some very disappointed snow mobile drivers who were raring to go after our first big snow of the season only to come upon that road block of several acres.

But I made my way to the hives and found Kitty nestled in the snow. I put my ear up to the hive and you could hear all the bees inside buzzing softly keeping the hive warm. Incredible.

You will note that the snow just around the hives is melted away--they keep it that warm! Again--Incredible. And now in French--Incroyable!!

There were some dead bees outside of the hives, here's a little pile in front of Olga. I had closed the entrance reducer, but Mr. Neil read about some Canadian beekeepers, leaving it open a little bit for some air circulation. The bees seemed to have covered the entrance holes with dead bees on the inside, so I'm not sure if they need in ventilation or not. There's a small hole at the top as well, so they can take cleansing flight. I'm not too worried about. After all, our bees have insulation around their hive, in the wild, they don't have anything, but their honey and their little wings to maintain temperature. I put my ear up to Olga and you could hear the humming in there too. Amazing, just amazing to hear them living on the other side of some thin pieced of wood while it's in the single digits outside. Ah, my bees, I miss you. Can't wait to play with you next spring.

Fun With An Indoor Cat

Here is my Mom's following the bouncing Disapproving Rabbit (you might want your computer on mute so you don't have to hear my big ole donkey laugh):



You can also get a low down of the book signing at that we had at Big Hat Books in Indianapolis.

More Odds and Ends

I keep trying to get photos of my mom's Carolina wrens but they are not cooperating...she does have goldfinches that pose endlessly.

So, while checking my bird news this morning, I came across an article about Geobirds. I had been kind of aware of it but haven't checked it, but the article got my attention with: "Geobirds (www.geobirds.com) is a multifaceted site -- part Facebook for bird nerds, part electronic field guide -- that promises to take birdwatching into cyberspace." I was intrigued by the Facebook part (not so much the bird nerd part--so tired of that moniker) but alas I don't appear to be able to do fun things like become different animals and battle friends, send growing gifts, or take quizzes. One feature the site has is a brush and color wheel so if you see a bird you can't id, you can try and figure it out. I tried to do it with the bird in the above photo, and it did come up with goldfinch but only confirmed it with a male in adult plumage.

Cinnamon's tv appearance went well, although here is a photo of Cinnamon disapproving of the morning show producer, Becky. As you can see, the producer took it hard.

Speaking of Cinnamon, Mom's cats have decided to seek out shelter under the guest bed until the reign of terror that is my rabbit leaves the area.

Odds And Ends

This entry is brought to you by the amazing levitating nuthatch--ooooooOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo. Ahhhhhhh.

Well, Non Birding Bill, Cinnamon, Kabuki, and I have all made the long car trip from Minneapolis to Indianapolis without incident. Cinnamon has been here before and is just loving running around Mom's condo--it's carpeted. She popcorned (or binkied) all over the living room. My mom has two cats who are quite afraid of Cinnamon. I don't know why, but here is an example:



See what I mean? What a wuss!

This will be good, Cinnamon will be in a great mood before her tv appearance and signing. If you're in the Indianapolis area Saturday, watch WISH TV between 8:30am - 9am or come say hi and get your own personal disapproval at Big Hat Books at 4pm. You can also see how short my mother is--if you think I'm short, she's even tinier. We'll also have the great folks from the Indiana House Rabbit Society on hand with live bunnies. Live bunnies and books--what could be a better combo?

I'm trying to sift through my email and found the following message from Lorraine:

"uh, I found a frozen bird in a bag in our freezer today. Not the
kind you eat. Did anyone mention this to you or is it yours? Just
curious....."

When I find a freshly killed bird that is still fairly in tact, I will freeze it and take it with me to donate the Bell Museum. Last time I was out her way, a junco had hit the window and I put it in the freezer to take with me when I left...and forgot. Oops. I'm so lucky to have friends who put with my weird ways. NBB still has not gotten used to frozen birds in the freezer.

Speaking of NBB, I forgot to mention that he got one heck of an honor. A couple of months ago, I got an email from the editor of The Albatross, the newsletter for the Santa Cruz Bird Club. She wanted to use an excerpt from my blog in their newsletter. I was honored and excited and then I noticed which entry they wanted to use. It was the Brown Bird entry that my darling husband wrote while guest blogging for me. He's now getting no end of enjoyment lording over my head that he's been published in The Albatross and I have not. Sigh. I am proud of him and I wonder how long he's going to keep being a non birder--I mean, c'mon, he's now been published in a bird publication...what's next, giving a paper at the next American Ornithologists' Union Conference??

Disapproving Rabbits In Indy

This is a photo by John Rubbo, the official photographer of the Minnesota Companion Rabbit Society. He took this at the DreamHaven Book Release party.

Well, we have a whirlwind trip to Indianapolis coming up next week. Cinnamon and I will be on Daybreak Saturday Morning on WISH TV sometime between 8:30am - 9am. That afternoon, we'll be doing a book signing at Big Hat Books at 4pm. Members of the Indiana House Rabbit Society will be on hand with literature about whether or not a rabbit is the right pet for you and have live foster bunnies.

I don't think I can manage a Birds and Beers, we just don't have enough time on this visit--I have a large family so it's hard to squeeze everything in. Speaking of which, my mom will be at the signing. If you think I'm short, wait until you see her. And if anyone is curious, Non Birding Bill will be on hand too on bunny wrangling duty. So, come meet Cinnamon and learn about a great rabbit organization in Indiana.

MSNBC Holy Crap

MSNBC has a story about rabbits on the Internet and it features Cinnamon and Disapproving Rabbits!

Odds and Ends

Okay, this is an on hold post--I just got a call from The Raptor Center, they are going to do a check up on the injured peregrine falcon and said that I can come and watch.

But, before I go, I got a story from my buddy Amber:

Disregarding a plea from his own Fish and Game Commission, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law Saturday a bill that would ban the use of lead ammunition for hunting big game in the California condor range.

Assembly Bill 821, the Ridley-Tree Condor Preservation Act, written by Assemblyman Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara, requires the use of nonlead centerfire rifle and pistol ammunition when shooting big game or coyotes within specific areas of the state identified as the condor's range.

Who knew that Gov. Ah-nold would do something so right?? You can read more here.

Also, Bird Chaser has an entry up about cats being allowed to roam free in Cape May and asking should birders boycott the birding mecca to serve a lesson to the local government for ignoring all of us tourists who come to the town specifically for the birds. He also lists some other options too. It's a little late in the game for me to boycott--the Bird Blogger Conference is next week, but be sure that there will probably be some bloggin' about this issue. I would recommend that anyone going to this be very vocal with business that you are a birder and you are here for the birds and it would be a shame to lose tourism dollars over feral cats.

And if you need a Cinnamon fix, there's an entry over at Disapproving Rabbits Blog--complete with a video of her snarfing down some canned pumpkin.

How Cinnamon Spent The First Day Of Her Book Release

"Yes, that's it, rub my ears."

"Hey, wait! Who said you were finished? Don't pull that hand away!"
(butts head urgently against my retreating hand)

"That's better, keep rubbing my ears. I almost approve of you."

Workin' On The Books

Woof. I have a lot of signing to do. I bailed on Carpenter banding this morning because I'm behind on some blog posts, I'm going hawk banding this weekend and need to get some work done if I'm gonna sit in a blind for two days, and holy cow you guys are so cool and have ordered a lot of books for me to personalize. My goal is to get them done this weekend and to commence the shipping on Monday. But, really, holy cow, thank you to everyone who has ordered a book, it's an overwhelming and strange sensation that something that started as joke between my and my husband got turned into a book and so many people enjoy it. I am truly grateful and never cease to be amazed by what a strange and delightful trip life can be.

I haven't found an ink I feel safe using on Cinnamon's paw for her to do a "pawtograph" and she would not be happy to have Non Birding Bill and myself hold her down and mark a bunch of books. However, she seems to tolerate running a book across her back (see how thrilled she looks?) so I can get you some Cinnamon DNA on your book (or at the very least bunny fur) and your book will absorb a lot of disapproval. It should be palpable when you open the package.

Last night I picked up NBB from work to go out and do some celebrating of the book's arrival. When we pulled into the liquor store parking lot, I saw Leann and Jon who designed and produce our Disapproving Rabbit shirts (by the way, Carri Ann, they LOVED disapproval gate). I fumbled in the car for a book and went to personalize one for them. I was so flustered because it was the first official autograph, it's illegible, I made up a word, and when I got to the actual signature...well it was sad. They laughed and said they were honored to get the very first autograph. They were being kind. Leann mentioned that the brown women's shirt is being discontinued and Jon says he has a new design he's working on so be prepared for a new disapproval shirt, and if you want to be someone who has one of the original Disapproving Rabbit shirts (you liked Disapproving Rabbits before they were popular), you might want to get one fairly soon.

And don't forget, if you would like to meet Cinnamon in person and learn more about living with a rabbit and meet some foster rabbits looking for a new home, we are having a Disapproving Rabbits Party at DreamHaven Books on November 2, 2007 at 6:30pm.

Okay, now to work on the next blog entry--brace yourself for a super cute junco photo as well as lots of brown birds!

Look What UPS Just Delivered

"What, am I supposed to chew on all these?"

Cinnamon's Big Night

Well, it was a very exciting night last night for Cinnamon. We went to watch Non Birding Bill do his children's theater show at a park near where we live. She was doing well and I was keeping an eye on all the people who were letting their dogs off leash when I noticed a distant Cooper's hawk. The hawk was bombing some smaller birds on the other side of the park. Cinnamon didn't seem to notice (she usually doesn't--when I've taken her to The Raptor Center, she seems oblivious to all the predatory leering). As the crowds of families assembled Cinnamon tested the limits of the leash to check them out and to see if they had any treats for her.

I love this photo. that little boy wants to pet her, but even he senses the disapproval. She did eventually relent and many kids got to pet her. However, once the show got underway, I heard a few warbler alarm calls and right over the crowd, right over my head, barely to the tops of the trees flew a Cooper's hawk!

Cinnamon did what I call her Dirty Dozen walk, where she slinks as low to the ground as she can and made her way to me and then hunkered. I'd like to think it was because she sees me as safe, but perhaps she was trying to camouflage herself with my pink and brown skirt? It's interesting that she sensed the danger this time. Was it because the hawk was so low, is she finally noticing outdoor bird warning calls? Does she notice the difference between the tethered birds at The Raptor Center from a free flying one?

The Cooper's landed in the tree in the above photo at about 11 o'clock towards the back. As soon as it landed we heard a red squirrel give it's angry trill. I never saw it leave and Cinnamon sat glued to that spot next to my leg for most of the performance. Towards the end she relaxed and meandered about again. I don't think the hawk was making a series pass for Cinnamon. There were far too many people about for it to make a serious dive at her. I do think it was taking a look, because all raptors are opportunists. Another reason I'm glad I keep her on her leash.

Blogger Video--Gr

So, Sunday I noticed a new feature on my blog dashboard. I can upload video directly to blogger instead of google video. So, I took a little video of Cinnamon to check it out. I can't upload it and have heard nothing from blogger for three days so I just went to google video myself to load it up. Now, I'm off to one of my MANY state fair shift. I took some bunny photos on Saturday when Non Birding Bill and I went as a date, but Cinnamon insists that I put them in her blog, not mine...



Here's my MN State Fair schedule this week. MOU stands for the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union. If you're at the fair, stop by and ask us about birds.

Tuesday, August 28

9am - 12pm - The Raptor Center
12pm - 3pm - MOU Booth at DNR Building


Wednesday, August 29
9:15am - 11am - KARE 11 Booth (tv segment)


Thursday, August 30
9am - 12pm - MOU Booth at DNR Building


Saturday, September 1
9am - 12pm - MOU Booth at DNR Building

New Form Of Disapproving Rabbits

"Ah! My book is coming out in October?! And I can personally disapprove of each one before we ship them out?"

We've changed the format a bit of Disapproving Rabbits. Don't worry, the original pages are still available, but we've decided to continue it in blog form. New, daily disapproval...can you handle it?

A Little Disapproval Cleansing

After the last twenty-four hours, I thought I might cleanse the blog and give you an online experience of feeding Cinnamon treats and giving her velvety face some scratching--all the while taking in the brunt of her disapproval.

Cinnamon potpurri

In lieu of a post today, I present a series of miscellaneous Cinnamon pictures. The insects done wore me out.


Cinnamon is a Castor Rex, bred for their fur, which is very soft. Wild rabbits have a combination of long and short hair. Cinnamon's is all short.

She's a curious rabbit, and by that, I mean she likes to explore. Sometimes I worry she gets too bored, so we try to take her out to the park when it's not too hot, or into the hallway to let her stretch her legs. Most of the other rabbits we've had were content with the apartment, but Cinnamon likes to explore.


It took us forever to find a treat that she liked. I don't know what her life was like before we got her from the shelter (we were told the previous owners had a baby, which is why they gave her up), but we couldn't get Cinnamon to take any treats at all. It was weird.

Then one day some dried cranberries spilled on the floor and she snarfed them up like a vacuum cleaner. That was when the penny dropped and she realized that HUMANS COULD BE A SOURCE OF FOOD!
Which was all well and good until she also realized that the food came from the kitchen, the one area we don't want her to go into it, since that's where the trash is.
Combined with her naturally curious nature, it's becoming sort of a game for her to see how close she can go into the kitchen before we yell, and--more importantly--get up. When we shout, she'll pause for a moment and look back to see if we're getting up. If we don't, she just keeps on doing what she's doing. But if we get up, then she knows we mean business and she scampers off. Until she thinks we're not paying attention.

She's lost a lot of weight in the last year, which has made her even more active.

When Sharon wanted to put up a section of rabbit photos on her (then) new website, I thought it was a dumb idea. This was a site about wildlife after all; why put up pictures of domestic rabbits? Who'd wanna look at that?

"Disapproving rabbits" was the last thing I put up, and grudgingly. Joke's on me! Especially when the book comes out in October.

Okay, I'm off to read some Gene Wolfe and veg. We will hopefully have a more coherent post tomorrow.

Not Bad For a Quadruped

Don't drive angry.

For Teageeare

Who tells me that I don't put enough Kabuki in the blog:
Here is my cranky little cockatiel, eyeing my inbox, hoping I will not notice if he pulls out and chews some paper. He and Cinnamon are about to go an a small adventure. We're going to dog sit for the next few days and we're bringing the pets with us.

I can't believe blogging escaped from me for a couple of days--it turned much busier here than I had anticipated. Next weekend should be about the same. I took Cinnamon with me to Carpenter Nature Center on Friday. I got an email a few weeks ago from some blog readers who said they might join us for banding. They asked if Cinnamon would be there and originally I had said no, but Thursday night and Friday morning, she was doing all those things that say, "Hey, mom, I need some stimulation." ie - digging in her litter box and sneaking into the kitchen. So, on went her leash and she went with me to Carpenter and found a whole slew of new things to disapprove of.

Even though we can still get her to put on the leash and harness without too much of a fuss doesn't mean she tries to chew and whip it off when she thinks I'm not looking.

We're getting in quite a few of the summer residence. Above is a male robin we have had in the nets twice this summer. You can tell he is male by the dark head and the darker rusty breast. Boy, he really looks unhappy in this photo.

We also got in this hairy woodpecker. Notice anything strange about him? Check out his red patch--it's on the front of his head and not the back--a way you can tell if the bird just hatched this year when it is at your feeder.

Cinnamon was not as impressed with all the banding going on and was way more interested in exploring all the prairie grasses. Just by hopping in a few feet, she would completely disappear.

Apart from the leash, the only other way you could tell she was in there was by watching a tall piece of grass waver for a moment and then fall over as she had chewed its stalk. She was almost on sensory overload with the abundance of chewables at her feet.

To a blade of grass, she's kind of a scary looking monster. Afterwards, she kept me company as i scouted for a field trip that I was leading on Saturday. Which I will blog about later tonight. Right now, I have to go out and check on the bee situation...have I prevented a swarm...will the Olga hive be ready for a queen excluder...what wonderful bee adventures will I encounter this week?

Warning: Intense Bunny Nose At The End of This Post

I have a backlog of blog entries.

I was going to do some catch up today but found out that I'm actually supposed to be in North Dakota Wednesday instead of Thursday. The downside is that means I have less time to get work done at home this week, but on the upside I have a whole extra day of prairie birding--WHOOT! On top of that I get to hang with Bill of the Birds and Julie Zickefoose--Double Whoot!!

I've had some private emails asking how Cinnamon was after our scare last week and let me tell ya', she is A Okay. She's been getting extra ear strokes and nuzzling. She has even worn her harness again with no ill affects.

She tries to act like she doesn't approve of all the petting, but she's enjoying it.

And for proof, I offer a truly rare photo: intense contented bunny nose. Go ahead, beep that nose through the computer screen. You know you want to. Plus, it's the only safe way to do it.

On to uploading the cool kingbird video for the next entry.

Disapproving Rabbits Band Aid

Okay, Disapproving Rabbit fans, I know the disapproval entries have been slow this spring--but hey, that's how the bird readers of the blog feel in winter when the birding is slow and I load up on Cinnamon entries. So, here's a little Cinnamon report:

I took Cinnamon with us this weekend--she did not go with us out to the bee hives but did get some quality time with Non Birding Bill and myself--whether she wanted it or not. We brought along her leash and did a good job of keeping her away from Cabal the Wonder Dog. I was sitting outside with her and had her on her extra long leash. We attached her leash to the legs of a trampoline and I sat with her, just in case she got tangled. Someone who had never met Cinnamon came down to experience the disapproval and when Cinnamon had had enough of people stroking her velvety soft fur, she hopped away.

As she hopped away, I noticed the leash was loosely wrapped around her back paw. Not wanting her to get tangled, I crawled over to move the leash. Cinnamon must have thought I was going to grab her and take her in, because she ran the other direction and sure enough, the loop acted as a noose on her back paw. When a rabbit is scared, they panic and try to get away in any way possible--this can help save them by making a last minute jump away from a golden eagle, or in the case of Cinnamon--tangle her up further.

Cinnamon then tried to jump in every direction and squirm out of her harness, which somehow wedged the whole front section of her body into the harness, binding her front paws...that's when I heard the sound no rabbit owner ever wants to hear--the rabbit scream. I tried to twist around and grab Cinnamon but she kept going around behind me and hopping up my back--she was slippery and I couldn't grab her. The screaming and the idea that Cinnamon could be breaking bones tangled in the leash boiled panic in my mind. I forced myself to try to keep calm and just take time to do it right. I finally grabbed hold of Cinnamon (still screaming) and asked for a knife to cut her out of the harness. But before anyone could move, I found the quick release and she was out and the screaming ceased. It felt like it took ten minutes to get her out, but Non Birding Bill assured me that it was barely a minute and was surprised at how fast I moved and got her out of the leash.

I sat with her for several minutes snuggled in close next to my chest--her breathing was raspy from all the screaming. NBB forced me into the house so we could look her over and see where she was hurt--I kind of didn't want to, imagining the worst possible damage. We set her on some carpet and she hopped normally, no limping, no favoring of any paws. She flopped onto the floor and I laid down next to her to pet and stroke her ears and apologize for not getting her out of the leash sooner. After a few minutes, she got up, shook her ears and nudged me hard as if to say, "Hey, I'm over it, now you get over it. It was far more embarrassing for me."

That night when I finally went to bed in the guest room, Cinnamon was sleeping on my side of the bed with NBB (that big pile of sheet behind Cinnamon is NBB). She seems to be saying in this photo, "Want to make it up to me? Then YOU sleep on the towel on the floor."

I don't think she hurt herself too badly. I think she just got bound up and couldn't get free and that freaked her out, causing her to panic and scream. It's so strange, I've heard the rabbit scream many times before in the wild--I've even mimicked it to call in hawks, owls, coyotes, and foxes. But, man o man, is it different when it's your very own disapproving rabbit.

But all is well and she's snoozing in her little Fortress of Solitude at home.

Friday Birds

A quiet day of banding at Carpenter Friday morning--I keep hoping for a big warbler wave in the nets but the timing has been off when we are banding. Some birders are mentioning that they aren't seeing warblers like they normally do this spring, but I think they are there. We had one heck of a leaf out in early May and most the warblers have been hidden. Much my warbler enjoyment this spring has been by ear.

We did get a ruby-throated hummingbird stuck in the nets. We don't have any equipment for banding hummers so when they are in the nets, someone takes them out and we let them go. This girl needed a few minutes for recovery and we got to get a good look at her feathers.

As Jim was getting her out of the net, we noticed that her throat was tinged a light golden yellow. I wondered if this was a plumage variation--the older the female she gets some coloration on her throat? We looked it up in the Pyle book and on BNA Online but could find not mention of gold throats on males or females. The only explanation we could think of was pollen dusted onto her throat from foraging on flowers. Has anyone else seen anything like this before?

The peony garden at Carpenter was loaded with pollen. The gardens are gorgeous right now in various reds, whites and pinks. If you are a fan of the Hoosier state flower and live near Carpenter Nature Center, I'd stop by this weekend.

I did get a chuckle when I found one of Carpenter's honeybees gathering pollen in the peonies. Who knew I'd be paying attention to bees in flowers? Am I losing my birding edge?

Since the banding was slow, I thought I would take some time to try and digiscope some kingbirds with Larry around the property. While walking, I noticed some monarch eggs. Above is a monarch egg on the bottom side of the milkweed--that's my big ole honkin' thumb next to the egg for size comparison. Ah, it's getting to be monarch ranching time. If you would like to learn more about raising native monarchs indoors for release, I'll be teaching a Monarch Ranchin' workshop at Staring Lake Outdoor Center July 7, 2007. Contact Staring Lake for details.

We did find some kingbirds on our walk. Not the best photo ever, but you get the idea. It was so cute, while I was away at Detroit Lakes last week, I could tell Non Birding Bill missed me--he was noticing birds. He sent me a text message on my phone that he had seen a kingbird in Loring Park on his way to work--I didn't even know he knew what a kingbird was.

On my way back to my car, I found myself being spied on by a thirteen-lined ground squirrel. Sometimes they snarf up the spilled seed under the bird feeders.

Larry had posted on the listservs this week that he'd seen dickcissels in Dakota County already. I usually don't see those guys until June. So I drove over to my favorite spots for dickcissel in Dakota County at the Empire Substation on 210th St. There's a small tree farm, power station and Buddhist temple surrounded by farm fields which is great for sparrows and meadowlarks. I didn't find the dickcissels but I did find chipping sparrows singing on territory (above) and lots of singing clay-colored sparrows.

As I was driving home, a sparrow popped up on a tree on the side of the road--a grasshopper sparrow. I pulled over and set my scope on my window mount tripod--which isn't easy to use for short people, but fortunately for me, the Swarovski eye piece rotates around so I can kind of use it with the window mount--it still takes some contorting on my part.

The grasshopper sparrow was incredibly accommodating. It stayed perched in the open even though it took me a few minutes to get the scope up and on it. Maybe this sparrow is ignored so much, it was happy that someone wanted to digiscope it?

Boy, you can tell this has been a good birding month, not many entries on the antics of Cinnamon. She disapproves of her lack of exposure in the blog. Okay, now Non Birding Bill and I are off to celebrate the Holiday Weekend, enjoy the outdoors, irritate a disapproving bunny, grill up some meat, bake some rhubarb pies, and I have to finish up a couple of deadlines. The rain is supposed to ease up tomorrow and I'll try to get out to the beehives and take some photos--our first batch of new workers should be hatched--whoot.

Hope you guys have a good time and enjoy birds where ever you are.

Belated Bee Report: Unregulated Comb Construction

QUICK NOTE: As of the posting of this entry, no one has correctly guessed the id of the bird in this entry...although the guesses are getting VERY close.

"I disapprove of being any part of your mad pollination schemes!"

I can't believe it! I got Non Birding Bill out to the hives! There he is standing next to the Olga hive, right before he opened up her entrance reducer. I have to say, he looks mighty cute in the bee suit. The suits were built for men and the guys look kinda sexy in them. Lorraine and I tend to look more like Oompa Loompas with the suits on. Sigh. But, I'd rather risk looking like a chocolate factory worker than getting stung.

Here's a big pile of Kitty bees. Saturday, was about checking comb construction and adding another brood box. The Olga bees had filled 80% of the frames with drawn out comb, which meant it was time to add another box for them to build even more comb. I would say that Olga is a full frame ahead of Kitty, but Kitty has some of her own weirdness going on that may in fact put her ahead of Olga.

Olga continues her odd comb construction. This particular frame appeared to have waves of comb built across it as opposed to a flat layer of comb across the frame. I didn't want to kill any more brood than I needed to, so left this odd construction. I'm sure this is going to bite me on the butt later this summer, but the girls are working on hatching the first brood and I think that's more important to let the odd comb go as opposed to killing off brood. Besides, this is a learning summer for me.

We found Queen Olga with very little effort this time. She was on one of the outer frames with fresh honey in it, looking for cells to lay her eggs.

Kitty has gone from being a textbook hive, to making some funky comb like Olga. As soon as we opened the top, we could see the workers placing comb on the tops of the frames. I hate to discourage creativity, but we scarped it off since there weren't any eggs or larvae inside it.

The Kitty bees weren't doing the waves of comb like Olga, but have made their comb in layers. Instead of drawing up the comb from the frame's wax base, they appear to have made a layer on top of the frame and are tunneling between the frame and newly made comb. We weren't able to find the queen, but I'm sure she was running around between the layers and we couldn't see her. We did see several eggs which implied that she was alive and healthy. Even though Olga has filled out more frames, I wonder if Kitty is actually ahead, since she appears to be doubling up each frame?

If anyone has experience with this or advice, I sure would love to hear it.

As we were checking the Kitty hive, the oddest thing happened--a plane crashed. Seriously! We heard a crashing in the trees right overhead, we all looked up and saw what at first looked like a large branch falling to the ground.

It turned out to be a radio controlled plane falling to the ground. We didn't hear it fly overhead, but heard it landing in the trees. At first we weren't sure if it had been in the tree for a few days and finally fell or if it flew over and crashed in the tops of the trees while we were working. After about 10 minutes, the plane's owners arrived. I chuckled at the idea of them coming to look for the plane if we had not been there, only to find it behind two beehives.

As if the plane crash weren't weird enough, check out the name on the plane: Yellow Bee. Ooooooo. We're getting an exorcist and this time I mean it (NBB at least will get that reference).

As we were adding another brood box to Kitty, we couldn't help but notice all the foragers coming back loaded up with pollen. It's interesting to see the distinct colors based on the type of flower they were gathering from. Some have orange colored pollen baskets, some bright yellow.

Here is a worker that I affectionately refer to as thunder thighs--she's an over achiever when it comes to gathering pollen. How did she fly back with that much weight? I don't know, but I sure am proud of this little Kitty bee.

So, now we leave our bees alone to create more worker bees, fill in the frames of the second brood box and to gather nectar and pollen. It will be at least another week until I check on them again. I hope they do well.

Per Request--Disapproval

Some people are begging for disapproval--you people are sick. We're working on another page of disapproval and should be up within the next 48 hours.

There's been nonstop disapproval since returning from Ohio. It's my own fault, I scheduled a nail trim and a yearly exam for Cinnamon the morning we left town. Above is a photo of some massive disapproval while waiting in the vet's office. You can see that realization has just kicked in--that this time the leash didn't mean a fun romp in the park, but poking, prodding, and clipping. The good news: she's very healty for a six year old rabbit.

We're trying to bond to with Cinnamon again, but she is having nothing to do with us. Five days with a pet sitter after a vet visit is just too much. She has holed up in her little bunny fortress of solitude.

Whew, that's bordering on most intense disapproval territory...I backed away from the box slowly and let her stew in peace.

Disapproving Rabbits Book Is Coming!

My niece Laura offered to be a model for my website--she's so cute, I wish that we had more shirts for her to model. Nice to know that she is spreading the Disapproving Rabbits culture around the Indiana University Campus!

Right before I left for Indiana, we got a proof of the Disapproving Rabbits book so we could check captions and photos--this book is barreling ahead at great speed. I think it really is going to come out this fall. We gave it to Cinnamon for her approval, but she's dismayed that she is not the only rabbit in the book--she has the most photos, but it's not all about her.

Wow, I'm officially a kept woman--kept by her pet bunny.

Friday's Aventures Part 1

Holy Cow! A big thanks to Leanne for nominating me for a Blogger's Choice Award! I'm up for best Animal Blog--I have two votes already--whoot! Although I wonder if I should say Cinnamon is up for best animal--she has a very loyal fan base. We're celebrating with some parsley. If you enjoy the blog, please consider voting. That would be pretty cool to get recognition for birding...and disapproving rabbits.

Friday was an action packed day, I'm to have to divide the entries up. We started at Carpenter, which at first seemed like it was going to be a morning of nothing but juncos but then some excitement came in with a sharp-shinned hawk (above). We were watching a fox sparrow hop and kick around one of the traps and I was trying to use my mind power to get it to go into one of the traps, when all of a sudden all the birds flew towards the window, missing it and ducked for cover. One of the staff announced: "Hawk!"

Hellziggy took the above photo. A junco had already come into a trap further away from us and an adult sharp-shinned hawk was trying to get it in the trap. I wonder if this is the same sharp-shin that nailed a junco in a trap from last December? The hawk spent quite a bit of time flying and clamping down on the trap--it did not seem to understand that it was not going to be able to get the junco out. Jim Fitzpatrick dug around for a balchatri trap (works well for raptors), bated it and set it outside. When he went out, the hawk flew up in the tree, but as soon as the bated trap was out, it went right back down for the balchatri.

After about fifteen minutes, but the hawk finally got caught on the trap and we brought it in for banding. Before it got its toes caught in the nooses on the trap was on the trap, I digiscoped a few photos.

The bird was an adult male. Isn't he beautiful. It's kind of strange, I'm sued to seeing these guys up close when we band them in the fall, not in the spring. He did not have a full crop, but he did have some meat on this chest, he'd been eating well this winter.

Hellziggy made it to banding and we ended up going to lunch and birding in a few other areas. I was glad she made it today, she got to be the one to release the sharp-shinned hawk. New people at banding always seem to bring good luck and cool birds into the traps!

Incidentally, the junco that had been in the trap that brought the sharp-shin in was let go--it had been through enough that morning, it didn't need the added stress of human handling and banding. Although, when he gets to his mating territory, he will pretty fierce thinking, "Yeah, I did a round or two with a sharp-shin, I can take on any male junco in a territory battle." Although, banding must not be too stressful, the above junco we trapped yesterday has been re caught NINE times since it's original trapping in December of 2004. Nine times and it still goes into the the potters traps and hangs out around Carpenter in the winter. It's not like the traps are the only places on the property with food and seed, there are plenty of feeders and spilled seed for juncos to get to without being trapped.

After banding I thought we would check open water for ducks. We stopped at the St Croix and the wind was brutal. It's been below freezing the last for days and today the wind was twenty - thirty miles an hour at least. The river was covered with hundreds of tree swallows (above) trying to glean what little food they can from just above the water. This is the weather that separates the strong from the weak. Usually tree swallows are already nesting, but this cold has put a stop to that. This report came in yesterday from Wisconsin by Patrick Ready:

Today while monitoring my state park trail boxes I opened a box I was concerned had a house sparrow nest in it. Instead of house sparrows about 12 Tree Swallows came bursting out of the nest box.

These birds are under severe stress with this frigid weather and are bunching up in nest boxes to stay warm to survive. The magnitude of this behavior is very unusual due to the fact that so many tree swallows returned very early this year.

Kent Hall in Stevens Point reported finding 17 in one of his boxes this afternoon and promptly quit monitoring. Anyone needing to check nest boxes during this cold spell should stop and look into the entrance hole to see if any tree swallows can be seen before proceeding. Even this is risky as some boxes may only have 3-4 birds and may not be visible until the box is open and the they'd take flight. Better to hold off monitoring until temperatures return to normal. When night time temps drop below freezing avoid checking boxes until later in the morning in case swallows have gathered inside to stay warm.

I don't know if anyone saw Julie's post last month about dead bluebirds in her box, but I think this is a good warning to readers who have bluebird trails. One of the risks that birds take when arriving back in early spring is dealing with low food supplies and harsh temperatures--this helps ensure the strongest survive, but it hard for us to watch. If you would like to help a little, now is an excellent time to stock up on mealworms at your local bird store and attach cups full of worms to your bird houses or just mix some in with your tray feeder. I also scatter suet into my tray feeders to for migrants.

More on Friday's birding adventures later.

What Is My Bunny Singing?

"I disapproved myyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy way!"

Gyrfalcon and the Family

Whoo Hoo, our earliest migrant is back in Minnesota, the horned lark! I actually took this photo on Monday in Connecticut but yesterday while toodling around Dakota County I flushed quite a few flocks along the road.

I was trying to go see the gyrfalcon that has been hanging around south of the metro area. There are a couple of fields where thousands of mallards and Canada geese come in to feed late in the afternoon and the falcon likes to hunt them. There are some great videos of the gyr at the MOU website. One in particular is of the falcon eating a mallard while surrounded by thousands of live mallards. Periodically the gyr will lunge towards the flock, spooking them into the air. I wondered why it would do that, but after watching this noisy flock of geese and ducks yesterday I could see how they gyr might long for some silence while it ate. Incidentally, notice the dark line behind the geese in ducks in the above photo? That's thousands more waterfowl.

I did find the gyr but was not able to photograph it. I saw it high on a power pole off of a busy county road. I pulled over and it kept flinching as ducks flew in--it was hungry and trying to decide on which mallard to take. The gyr had it's wings outstretched and almost looked like a weathervane with an eagle on top of it. Finally, they gyr descended on the ducks, but none would flush, seemingly knowing that if one of them did, they would be falcon food for sure. The gyr flew over the grounded flock, banked towards my car and then flew just on the other side of the road, right at eye level! It was SWEET! That's the closest I've ever been to a wild gyr--well worth the drive down and back during rush hour traffic.

Ah, it's good to be home. Here is my family: Non Birding Bill, Cinnamon, and Kabuki piled on top of the Love Sac watching a Douglas Sirk movie. Good times.

Well, Cinnamon has finally disapproved of the fake bunnies. She has resumed digging in her litter box and ignoring the fake bunnies altogether. If I try to pet them, she lunges and grunts at me, and then hops away with even more grunts. It's as if she's irritated that I'm paying attention to the fake bunnies--don't I know that they aren't real? If I try to pet her after petting the fake bunnies she grunts and spins around. I don't want to irritate her, but I have to admit that I love the sound of her grunting. She's like a cute, little, furry piggy. Grunt grunt.

This weekend is another bunny adoption event at Minnesota Valley Humane Society in Burnsville from 12pm - 4pm both Saturday and Sunday. I'm going to try and get more photos for the book but we have narrow it down to 160 and have all the photos and captions decided and turned in By March 1--ack! Harper Collins moved up the deadline which I'm willing to do since I know that it will take time to get this together and really want the book to be out this fall.

Looking at what is going on with the two different publishers, it looks like the Disapproving Rabbits book is going to come out sooner than my City Birds/Country Birds book. It's very weird to me, the bird related book has been in the works almost a year and a half and the rabbit book was started four months ago and the rabbit book will probably be printed first. Different publishers have different styles I suppose.

Cinnamon the Disapproving Rabbit Streaming on the Internet!

Just a Show has just put up Episode 30 with the big Cinnamon interview. You can watch it from their site or go to iTunes and download it under podcasts. Look for Just A Show Episode 30. We're about 13 - 14 minutes into the show and you do need to watch the Virgin Islands sketch to understand the question that I ask a the end of the segment.

You can't see it, but there is a big billowy cloud of bunny fur around the host Keith King and myself while we are talking. Poor Cinnamon was too nervous to eat parsley but she did well for her first interview.

Thanks, so much, Keith, for having us on. We had a great time and totally enjoyed the popcorn you gave us. Keith sent us a DVD, so Non Birding Bill and I are going to see if we can get just the Cinnamon part on the website.

Hard-core Bunny Naughtiness

Some time ago Cinnamon had started working on a hole on the toddler gate to the rabbit room. This is where we keep Cinnamon at night or when we are not home to make sure she stays out of the kitchen and doesn't chew on chords. It's a large closet with two doors, that we ventilate. She has plenty of room to hop around and there's even a second Cottontail Cottage for her to hide out in.

But that is never enough.

We placed a wooden board in front of the hole along with a storage tin to block her efforts. The other day I heard a shuffling sound and some scratching as if she were trying to dig her way out of the room. I realized she was scratching on the wooden board, something she does when she wants out or attention. I was busy working on a deadline and didn't have time to keep a close eye on her, so I left her in the rabbit room until I was finished. The shuffling became more insistent and I peered around the couch to find this scene:

Yes, she had pushed away the board and the tin just enough to squeeze through. As I grabbed my camera to catch this craftiness (I shouldn't be proud, but I just can't help it) she defiantly bit a power chord as if to say, "Nanny nanny boo boo, look what I can do."

As soon as I took three photos she was off hopping around the apartment exploring it as if for the first time. Guess it's time to invest in a new toddler gate.

Butthead.

Presenting: Cinnamon Eating Parsley

I took this video with my new camera:



This is what makes all the chewed up wires worthwhile. In other news, Non Birding Bill has added another page of disapproval.

Gigantic Disapproving News!

We interrupt the coverage of the Rio Grande Valley Bird Fest for a special announcement.

First, remember the Disapproving Rabbits Shirt idea? You can view the graphic here. The caption will read "Nope. No, sir, I don't approve." and the back will have www.disapprovingrabbits.com on it.

The shirts are brown Hanes Beefy T-shirts and available in mens or womens sizes and will retail for $15 plus shipping and handling. Before I order, I need to get an idea of what people will want. Can you either leave the number of shirts you plan to order in the comments section or email me privately at sharon at birdchick dot com. Please note sizes. I don't want to go crazy Broadway-style when I order but I don't want to run out of shirts for people who are planning to give them as holiday gifts. I plan on placing the order over the coming weekend. I will order some extras.

And since Lynne brought it up as a suggestion in the comments section, I have other very super exciting news. Harper Collins has offered to turn Disapproving Rabbits into a book that hopefully will be out next fall. It will not be just Cinnamon...which she is not happy about:

"What do you mean I'm not the only one in the book?"

I am on a quest to photograph 200 some odd bunnies disapproving of various things over the next few months. What a way to make a living! Who knew this would happen when I started this site? I sure didn't know. I can remember when Non Birding Bill and I were kicking around ideas for this site and I said that I wanted a page of Disapproving Rabbits. He said I was crazy and no one would get it, especially since it was a bird site. I said that I didn't care as long as one person just happened to find it on a lunch break and got a chuckle out of it, that was enough for me. Who knew this would happen.

The poor editor at Harper Collins got an earful when he made the offer. I was so excited and disbelieving I unleashed a huge amount of profanity uncontrollably. Looking back, I'm a tad embarrassed by my lack of decorum, good thing Cinnamon wasn't there. I'm not sure I would have survived that disapproval.

Speaking of disapproving, NBB has added another page of disapproval.

Anyone out there have a gaggle of bunnies for me to photograph?

What Goes Around My Home During the Day

I am so amazed at my body's ability to sleep with whatever virus has taken hold. I can take a couple of DayQuils and a giant mug of coffee and still fall fast asleep on the couch! How is this happening?

And maybe this is the DayQuil speaking but Chris Eccleston is hot, hot, HOT! Non Birding Bill has introduced me to the Dr. Who series (the old series), so being sick at home I thought I would turn on the tv and I discovered a Dr. Who marathon (the new series) on the Sci Fi channel today. Oh, gone are the days of the lanky man with bushy hair and a long scarf--hallo sexy, dark, broody, well dressed (and did I mention sexy?) Chris Eccleston. Unfortunately, Mr. Eccleston didn't continue the series and ended up regenerating himself at the end of season one (something time lords do to evade death) and the Dr. is now played by David Tennant--a little cheekier, not as broody, but he'll have to do.

Meanwhile when not watching daleks run amok, I watched the warblers that still have the trees in my neighborhood under siege. I assumed my chair at the window and watched the parade of kinglets, palm warblers, butter butts, Nashvilles and Tennessees. Some of them even flew over towards my window and hopped about in my flower boxes. However, I am so slow on the uptake that I couldn't get a photo. Then, an odd looking squirrel caught my attention. My apartment faces the ally and it is common to see squirrels raiding the dumpsters. Then it occurred to me that this squirrel was moving strangely and the tail wasn't bushy, then horrid realization set in:

A rat! In broad daylight, a rat checking out all the dumpsters! I know rats are everywhere and they are not new to me. I've seen them in New York, I dealt with them when I managed a bird store and goodness knows I have hacked up my fair share as hawk chow at The Raptor Center, but it still threw me for a loop seeing it right down below.

"Rats! I don't approve of rats! Keep them away from my food."

Yeah, Cinnamon, I don't care for them myself. It was interesting watching the rat systematically test out the building across the way for openings to get inside. It really didn't seem to be too distressed at being out and about in broad daylight. For some reason I always thought of them as being nocturnal.

The rat then made its way around the corner to a stick pile in my noisy neighbor's yard. I went to the bathroom window to watch and it came face to face with a squirrel. Look at the rat in relation to the gray squirrel in the above photo--I mean really, apart from the bushy tail, it's about the same size! The squirrel kept a healthy distance from the rat. It didn't leave but worked to keep the brush pile between it and the rat. The rat on the other hand just seemed to try and get as close to the squirrel as it could perhaps out of curiosity or maybe just trying to show that it wasn't going to be intimidated. The rat eventually moved on to another area of the noisy neighbor's yard. I was surprised that it didn't make a beeline for the area under my bird feeders, but there's probably tastier pickins in the dumpsters.

I think we need something cleansing after a rat. Happily, a warbler delivered. I could hear some warblers outside my bathroom window, so I quietly pished and low and behold:

This is not digiscoped, as if on cue this yellow-rumped warbler just popped down to check out the pishing coming from the bathroom window. So cute!

Adventures on Prairies and in Potholes

For me, field trips come in two categories. The first type is characterized by fantastic weather that makes me feel great to be alive accompanied by fantastic birds, especially life birds. I come home with stories of the chestnut-collared longspur I finally saw for the first time. The second category is the field trip that is just an adventure. The weather is uncooperative and you come home with harrowing stories of survival. Field trips are so weather dependent. You cannot blame a festival if the weather doesn't cooperate; you just make the best of it and muddle through.

I went out with the Chase Lake group today. Here is a view from the bus window early on. I'm not out of focus, that's just me trying to take a photo through a drenched bus window. Part of our gang had not seen sharp-tailed grouse and decided to brave the wind and rain to see it flush (thankfully, I already had seen that grouse). This has been some of the worst weather for birding I have ever experienced! Not only is the weather bad for birding in general, it's bad for the particular types of birds that are specialties like prairie birds. You try listenin' for a Baird's sparrow in high winds and driving rain--you'd have an easier time trying to find a deer tick on fishnet pantyhose.

As we kicked up dust and more rain fell, our windows became impossible to observe birds. One of the guides sitting at the front of the bus said, "There goes a snowy on the right side of the bus." We said that we would take her word for it.

The weather did not stop the intrepid guides. Here we have Stacey and Bill rubbing down the window and squgeeing them off. Way to go guys! Boy this festival really makes their bird guides work.

Look! Now we can see one of those cattle egrets through the window! Thanks Bill and Stacey!

Our bus driver was jus a boy who couldn't say no. He went wherever the leaders advised him to go. Some these roads were so less traveled that Robert Frost would have been oh so proud. Above you can see the minimum maintenance road we were on. That's our driver being reflected in the mirror. Doesn't he look like he's having the time of his life?

We did have a harrowing moment when the bus slid off the gravel road and down towards a ditch. The driver had all of us pile to one side while he worked to get us back on the road. He succeeded! I love the uncertainty behind some of the smiles in that above photo.

It was not a great day for digiscoping, which is too bad because we got some great birds like a Nelson’s sharp-tailed sparrow. Above is a nest that we found while out looking for Baird's sparrows. See the nest? It's right there in front of you. Here's a closer look:

Here it is. Notice anything weird? Take a look at those eggs. Note how the top two are a little larger, spottier and browner. Those are cowbird eggs. We think the other three are savannah sparrow eggs. There was one singing very nearby that circled around us. I won't know for sure until I get home and check my egg book. The cowbird eggs did not remain in the nest after this photo was taken.

Here is BT3's entry for the trip too.

Here is Cinnamon working the booth. She disapproves of the weather and of me being out in it. Saturday we will be at the booth all day long. We might check out Chase Lake again on Sunday morning or Long Lake. The weather is promising to be better than today and we'd like to get a lark bunting before we drive back to the Twin Cities on Sunday.

A big upside to the weather is a general lack of mosquitoes and relatively few ticks.