I think I had the most fun at Sax Zim Bog last weekend since the great owl irruption of 2004/2005. An informal gathering of birders headed up and we started at…
A large part of my trip to Israel was spent at the Agamon Hula in northern part of the country. The story of the cranes in the valley is quite…
One of the big highlights visiting the Hula Valley in Israel was all the kingfisher action. This is a pied kingfisher, about the size and shape of belted kingfishers but…
Non Birding Bill and I were over at Mr. Neil's to do some fall beehive prep (for those who follow, the bees seemed to take my Ned Stark speech well…
Well the big theme story in the blog this summer was the tornado ravaged great blue herons. Their rookery was blown away in May and some birds attempted to re-nest…
If you've been following this blog this summer, you are aware of the tornado that hit Minneapolis in May and destroyed a heron rookery and the recovery and rebuilding.
I got…
On Monday, a bird call woke me from my sleep. Half asleep I thought, "Why is a robin singing with a cardinal type whistle note?"
Something didn't add up. I rolled…
Not long after the North Mississipppi heron rookery was destroyed, there was talk of building an artificial rookery to get them to come back. Now that the herons seemed to…
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 [ Read More ]
The last several days have included links to a rather amusing video of a hooded crow that looks like it’s tubing. Info has included “smart crows” to “crow tubing” to my personal favorite headline: “Science Can Neither Explain Nor Deny The Awesomeness Of This Sledding Crow.” Psst, Alexis Madrigal, yes science can. Here’s the video: [ Read More ]
Over the weekend I took a trip with some friends to Sax Zim Bog, Minnesota. This is a great spot to get boreal species and perk up your winter birding. Thanks to social media, I had a good idea of where specialty birds were being seen but thought I would use the BirdsEye app (the [ Read More ]
There’s a meme surrounding actor Ryan Gosling which sort of centers on him being the best boyfriend ever. It started as a general thing and then each hobby took the Hey Girl theme…and so it has come to birding. Here is the Tumblr blog and of course, you can like it on Facebook. Here’s a [ Read More ]
This lovely little sparrow is an American tree sparrow, one of the few birds who come to the US in the winter. Easy to miss in the sea of brown non native house sparrows, but these natives are noticeable with their central breast spot. I was digiscoping this little quy when I noticed him glance [ Read More ]
I had a meeting at The Raptor Center yesterday. At the end, we got a brief tour, which despite having given hundreds in the past, I was excited to do because it’s been about 3 years since I volunteered there and things change quickly. Many of the birds I worked with are still there…as in [ Read More ]
I saw on Facebook today that the FAA has decided to allow the Operation Migration Whooping Cranes to continue their southward migration: “The FAA has granted an exemption to Operation Migration that will allow pilots to continue to aid the whooping crane migration. Normally, the FAA limits light sport aircraft and pilots to personal flights [ Read More ]
These were all over the place in Israel. I love birds with a crest.
The news EXPLODED this week! We talked about the minor birdmaggedon in the last podcast and how local police tried to put a ban on fireworks. Turns out someone may have been trying to intentionally kill them. Jerks. Another whooping crane has been shot in Indiana. It is as though the state government is working [ Read More ]
