The next Birds and Beers is less than a week away and we trying some place new.  Regulars have asked for a place without a band and plenty of room for our group, so we’re going to try the Wilde Roast Cafe.  I’ve been there to meet with friends and for a play reading last month and thought it might be a good fit.  They have a room just for us (I did have to commit that our group would order at least $100 worth of food and  beverage which for our group isn’t a problem).  Wilde Roast has beer, wine, tasty eats and great atmosphere.  No scotch or whiskey, but I think that’s more my issue than anyone else.

Birds and Beers is an informal gathering of birders of all abilities–if you’re interested in birds, you’re invited. You can meet other birders–maybe find a carpool buddy, ask about where to find target birds, share cool research projects you might be working on, ask a bird feeding question, share life lists, share some digiscoping tips, promote your blog or your bird tour business–the sky is the limit. It’s low key and it’s fun.  I’ll bring my iPad full of Israel photos and birding apps anyone would like to play with and I know several birders have gone to Sax Zim Bog so if you’ve never gone and would like to try it, this would be a great place to get the skinny on birding this awesome winter boreal hotspot.

Visit the Facebook Event Page for directions and to get the latest on when I’m hosting one, fan it on Facebook.  Rumor has it that we’ll have one in Ohio in May…

I came across this photo from my trip to North Dakota with some birding friends last June and it reminded me–Thursday at 6pm is the next Birds and Beers at Merlin’s Rest!

I can neither confirm nor deny that this photo has anything to do with the previous blog entry about my broken camera…

Birds and Beers is a friendly gathering of birders of all abilities to gather, have a beverage and talk some birds.  Looking for volunteers for a birding project? Wanna promote your birding blog or field trip business?  Just want to meet some other birders and maybe find a friend to go birding with?  Have questions about how to attract birds in your yard?  Have you ever noticed a bird at all?  This is the group for you!

The next Birds and Beers is a special screening of The Big Year Movie opening! Showplace Icon is going to offer a special midnight screen Friday morning at MIDNIGHT (so you’ll need to plan to stay up late Thursday, October 13! 

Tickets will go on sale Monday, October 10 and we may even have a few surprises to give away at the screening.  I’ll be there at about 10:30pm to have a drink and socialize–there’s a bar in the Icon below the theater and then carry on the fun above.

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

To get updates on when the next Birds and Beers will be, become a fan of Birds and Beers on Facebook and when a new event it planned, you’ll get a notification.  Or check back here.

The next Birds and Beers is June 29, 2011 (next Wednesday).  This time we’ve been invited to Lift Bridge Beer Company in Stillwater–we can sample some local beers!  Take the afternoon off, do some birding along the St. Croix or just come for the birding company after work.  Make connections, see old friends and welcome new ones!  But wait, there’s more!

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

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

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

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

We head out to Lebanon Hills Regional Park, have some laughs and then 15 minutes after sunset try to watch the woodcock display. The woodcocks start their display about 15 – 20 minutes after sunset, which means they will start around 8:30pm. Since the display area is next to the visitor center at the park, we’ll meet there starting about 6:30pm and have an old fashioned tailgate party–you can come early to mingle or come closer to magic hour.  Bring your own food and beverages and we’ll laugh until it’s Woodcock Time.  The park closes at 10pm, so this gives us plenty of time to get some great birding done.  Last year we had a great horned owl show up and still got great looks at the timberdoodles (aka woodcocks).

Recommended to bring: lawn chair and boots, might be a little muddy.  Dress in layers, it could be warm when the sun is out and gets cool quickly when it’s dark.  Binoculars and a flashlight are a good idea too.

If it rains on Tuesday, April 19, our make up date will be the following Tuesday, April 26, 2011–same bat time, same bat channel.

But when we arrived there, the crow roost was bare!  The roost has moved.  As I let loose a stream of profanity as to how this affects Birds and Beers, NBB said, “You know what happened, they arrived around Thanksgiving and said, ‘Oh, we were here last year, this place is all played out,’ and then another crow said, ‘I know this other little spot that’s much quieter that no one knows about and is so cool.’ See your problem is that you have hipster crows.”

Indeed, the roost has officially moved to Elliot Park, not too far away, but we will not get the same view we had at last year’s Birds and Beers.  We should still see crows fly in but they will most likely not stay at Loring outside of Joe’s Garage.  Perhaps after it gets dark, we can caravan over to Elliot Park to see the sleeping crows?  So Birds and Beers is still on at Joe’s Garage for Saturday at 4:30pm.  Sounds like we’ll have more beer than birds.

The next Birds and Beers is on January 22, 2011 at 4:30pm at Joe’s Garage.  This is the one where we watch the millions of crows fly into Loring Park!

I’m looking forward to this one, the crows at Loring Park are a spectacular sight and last year’s gathering was the biggest Birds and Beers we’ve ever had!  The only downside is that we have to pay for parking for this event but we get a spectacular show in exchange. Birds and Beers is an informal gathering of birders of all abilities–if you’re interested in birds, you’re invited. You can meet other birders–maybe find a carpool buddy, ask about where to find target birds, share cool research projects you might be working on, ask a bird feeding question, share life lists, share some digiscoping tips, promote your blog–the sky is the limit. It’s low key and it’s fun.

Non Birding Bill and I stopped by Joe’s Garage the day after Thanksgiving to check out the crow roost and even took a moment to walk beneath the crows in the dark.  Loring is a busy city park, these birds are used to a bit of pedestrian traffic.  As we walked through, one of the flocks abandon their tree.  For a second I was worried that we startled them but then NBB said, “That doesn’t look like a crow…”

Sure enough, it was a great horned owl passing through the roost, no doubt looking for a vulnerable crow for a meal.  Hope you can make it and again this is a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon and meet some new birding friends, promote your bird club or group.

Also, I booked the next Birds and Beers on Tuesday, August 17 at 6pm at Merlin’s Rest.

What is Birds and Beers?  It’s an informal gathering of birders of ALL abilities to meet outside of the Internet and connect.  Are you a hardcore lister–you’re invited. Are you a researcher working on a cool project and want to recruit volunteers or just talk about your study–you’re invited. Are you someone who just enjoys the birds you see out of your kitchen window–you’re invited. Are you a birding guide and want to promote your tours and business–you’re invited. Are you someone who has heard of this whole bird watching thing and want to see what it’s all about–you’re invited!  Looking for birders to volunteer at a booth for the State Fair–you’re invited!

It’s low key and it’s fun.  Maybe you’ll find a new friend to enjoy birds in the field?  Maybe you’ll learn that secret spot to finally see a Henslow’s sparrow?  Maybe you’ll learn some tips on thwarting grackles from your feeder?

I have just come home from the biggest Birds and Beers I have ever hosted. It was a blast and everything that I hoped Birds and Beers would become. Birds and Beers is an informal gathering of people of all interests in birds. From the hardcore lister to the beginner. It’s a way for people interested in birds to get together, have a beverage, maybe some food and talk some birds. If people have a birding activity to promote–like a banding study, a bird store, a blog, a tour business–they are welcome to share. If someone is interested in finding a bird partner locally or for a day trip–this is a great way to get to know someone face to face.

We had 52 people show up! I was stunned. We took up the whole loft of Joe’s Garage, some of the second tier and a large table at the bottom of the stairs. It was almost too much for me, I barely had a chance to meet everyone who came. It was a lively mix of Birds and Beers regulars and many new people.  The regulars did a great job of mixing in with the new people at all the tables and I think many friends were made.  As I paused a moment and looked around the room at all the birders sharing tales and laughing, I was so happy: this is what I had always imagined for Birds and Beers: a great big birder party.  The best part was that there was a great mix of people of all ages.  Not just a single twenty-something–several.  We even had our youngest member: Micah who I think was eight.  It was amazing!

We had all sorts of people with projects to share, including some people from the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center looking for volunteers for the avian nursery, a man who I met years ago in Kearney, NE while watching blackbirds with deformed bills–he leads tours to Nebraska and was looking for people to come watch the crane migration with him. We also had people looking for birding partners in various parts of Minnesota–it was a lively and crowded party of birders.

And then the crows started to stream into Loring Park. I joked that we should start a drinking game–every time you see a crow–Drink! However, no one would ever have been able to leave Joe’s Garage had we kept that up. Some went outside, others watched with binoculars from the inside–rivers of noisy crows practically poured into the tops of the trees–it was quite the show.

As I was leaving, the moon was rising behind the roost, I had fun getting photos of the crows silhouetted against the beautiful celestial body. That’s a digiscoped image of the crows and moon at the top of this blog entry.

Joe’s Garage was fantastic. If you would like to enjoy the roost–try booking a table at dusk before the end of February. I have to give some major props to the wait staff. I said that we typically get 10 – 15 people at Birds and Beers and our poor but intrepid server Ashley took on our huge group and never let us see her get too frazzled. The food was fantastic–how can you not love a place that has a mashed potato bar?

We may have to do this again next winter.

Thanks again to everyone who showed up. The next Birds and Beers will be at the end of February. I’ll try to schedule it before I leave for Panama but make no promises.

And the next Birds and Beers is scheduled for this Sunday at 4pm at Joe’s Garage to try and watch the winter crow roost. Now, the crows have shifted the roost a little bit to the west but we’ll still have some crow action.

I got a certificate yesterday from the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center regarding the history of the above trumpeter swan with the neck collar 2M7 at Point Douglas:

This is a male trumpeter swan hatched in 2006 in Ruthven, Iowa by Mr. Guy Zenner.

Still no word on the Canada goose with the tight band, I’ll be curious to see if I hear about the origin of that goose.