Animal Reviews

The bunny disapproval is raging this morning. Non Birding Bill and I have sat down for breakfast and surfing the net (I just realized that instead of married couples using the newspaper to ignore each other at breakfast, we now use the internet--hm). Anyway, NBB came across Animal Reviews and I'm laughing so hard, I'm about to pee my pants. Cinnamon is most displeased over the rabbit review, but with her general depreciation of well, everything fun, I think we all saw it coming. All the reviews I've read so far have been hilarious, but my personal favorites include ducks and swans.

What Really Happens at Rio Grande Bird Fest

Okay, finally the word on what happened people-wise at the Rio Grande Valley Bird Festival. First of all, there were more kids at this festival than any I had seen before. These two guys were so cute, they came to get outfitted for a field trip. They selected Energy Binoculars, which fit well in kids hands and on kid faces. They were so cute, as Ben (tall guy behind the boys) was taking the binos out of the box and putting the straps on, one of the boys exclaimed, "They come with a case, we get a case?" You know you're getting serious when you binoculars come with a case. Welcome to the fold boys!

On the left we have party animal and Bird Watcher's Digest editor Bill Thompson. On the right is Jeff Gordon who co-wrote Identify Yourself (I'll have to add Jeff to the author sightings list). They were part of a book signing at RGV. Interesting thing, Bill pointed out that Jeff was also selected to go on the Cornell Ivory-bill search. I asked when and he said "First Two Weeks of December." When I asked which team, it turns out we are on the exact same team! I'm so relieved. When you do these things, you never know what kind of mixed bag of people will be involved and if the personalities will be compatible. After meeting Jeff, I will know that there is at least one person on my team who is fairly normal and easy to get along with.

Don't forget, while I'm out searching for "the great cock of the woods", Bill Thompson's talented wife Julie Zickefoose will be guest blogging for me.

There were a number of Bills at the convention--which was nice since I was away from Non Birding Bill. This Bill pictured here is Bill Clark who co-wrote Photographic Guide to North American Raptors with Brian Wheeler. Now I have both autographs in my book. He was offering a trip to band white-tailed hawks during the festival which I had to miss. What would my friends say if they found out I gave up hawk trapping for some birding elsewhere.

This is Dennis Paulson who wrote Shorebirds of North America. Like a dork, I didn't bring my copy of the book to be autographed so I missed out on that. Dennis was supposed to be sitting between Bill Thompson and Bill Clark during the signing, but apparently his talk was running late (or he was mobbed by shorebird groupies, we all know how fanatical those people can get). So I took a break from the Eagle Optics booth between the Bills, and took the seat for Dennis. Wouldn't you know it, but a nice lady came up to have me autograph her book. I was so tempted to continue the charade that a short sassy redhead was the true identity of Dennis Paulson, but I confessed that I was not the desired author. The woman said that she thought it was possible that I could be a "Dennis" since there were other guys with female names at the convention like Kim Eckert. For a moment in someone's eyes I was an authority on shorebirds. Dare to dream.

Tim Gallagher gave a presentation and signing at the RGV Fest too. Watching his footage of the Lunnaeu video was a very different experience than having watched it on the internet or tv news where it's blown up to grainy proportions. Having watched it on a large screen at regular speed, it makes much more sense as to why this is an ivory-billed woodpecker and not an albinistic pileated. Whether or not you believe the bird in the footage is an ivory-bill, I will tell you this, it is for sure not a pileated. It doesn't have the flight pattern a pileated does--this isn't someone speaking from behind a computer, this is someone who has considered a pileated a favorite bird since age seven and has watched it for hours in the field. If anything you could argue that the footage is an albinistic wood duck from the way the wings flap and the speed that the bird in question leaves the tree--it doesn't have the flight pattern of a woodpecker at all. What keeps it from being a wood duck is that you can see the bird clinging to the side of a tree before it takes off.

Oh dear, I just realized that went off on an ivory-bill tangent...sorry, back to the convention happenings.

Anyway, Gallagher was merrily autographing books, I have to say it was a different experience than Bobby Harrison's talk. Ladies weren't lining up to touch Gallagher. Perhaps it was his professorish air (not that that is a bad thing) and Bobby is an incredibly friendly southern gentleman? After I got my book signed I went with Amy Hooper of Wild Bird to Jeff Bouton at Leica and asked what the plan was for the rest of the evening. Jeff wanted to wait for the signing to be over and take Gallagher out for a drink. I looked at our group, even though Amy had a connection with Gallagher through Wild Bird (he used to edit the magazine too), we needed more of a presence. Bill Thompson had gone to Africa with Gallagher so I told Jeff, we should rope him in when we ask Gallagher to add credibility to our offer. Bill informed us that Gallagher would probably be tired from all the speaking engagements, but noted that Gallagher was being shuttled around and would need a ride back to his hotel. The plan was set. We would offer to drive him back to his hotel and perhaps stop for a refreshing beer. We added a few more people to our posse, waited for the signing to be over and ambushed.

Tim Gallagher came out with us. Although, Jeff did have an idea of sneaking him across the Mexican border and demand the exact location of ivory-bill sightings in Florida before returning him. It was a great time and it turns out that Gallagher is even cooler than I thought--he's a falconer. As soon as Jeff and I discovered that, the conversation quickly left talk of ivory-bills and on to the exciting flights of peregrines and Cooper's hawks.

One interesting note: Gallagher has only seen the ivory-billed woodpecker the one time--the famous time. No matter how you slice it, this is not an easy bird to see. But in a way, isn't that the nature of woodpeckers. You don't find them, they find you.

We tried to find a place for karaoke while in Harlingen and if you can believe it, there wasn't a karaoke bar big enough to fit our large group. I think at future bird festivals we are just going to have to make it an official event and hold it at the convention center. We did have a "danceteria" as a festival staff member's home. That's Katie, my coworker at Eagle Optics doing the fish in the middle. She and I are two peas in a pod and are working on an official dance when someone buys binoculars at our booth. It was a good time, especially when Katie, Bill and I did an interpretive dance to Shaft. We're bad mother birders. Right on.

I can't wait to go back next year: November 8 - 12, 2006.

Condor Video Online

Photos in this entry are courtesy of The Raptor Center. Note, the patagial tag and radio transmitter on the wing. All wild condors have that so scientists can monitor them in the wild. Nero, the TRC education Turkey Vulture (who was hatched the same year I was, 1974) was used in a early study on patagial tags. I think the idea was that if smaller Turkey Vultures could get around without problems wearing a tag, California Condors could as well.

If you missed seeing the California Condor from The Raptor Center on tv last night, you can see a video of it at the KARE 11 website. This morning when I came in for my segment, the crew was teasing me that they "saw me somewhere". Were there party photos of Rio Grande Valley bird fest that I wasn't aware of that started circulating on the internet? No, they were referring to the condor segment. I missed it myself last night and watched it online today. Sure enough, I am all over the background taking photos. I look like some cheeseball trying to get on camera, but I was just trying to take as many photos as possible of the condor.

By the way, if you watched the segment and are curious about the bird id question that stumped me, I got a couple of emails from viewers with suggestions and it seems that the caller was seeing a flicker. I think that the bird being described as six inches totally threw me. Also, I tend to think of flickers as tan and spotty, not gray. Ah well, all part of the fun of trying to id birds in 30 seconds.

Okay, I promise that the next entry will be an ornithotabloid report on the Rio Grande Fest. It will include what the other blogs aren't telling you about the festival...mwa ha ha ha ha.

KARE 11 Segment

If you are interested in any of the heated bird baths that I talked about on KARE 11 today, I got them from the All Seasons Wild Bird Store in Wayzata. Call 952-473-4283 with questions or stop into any of their stores to see their selection.

Rumor has it that they are going to be having some fun holiday specials starting after Thanksgiving next week.

Rio Grande Valley Report on Birds

Yesterday 87 degrees, today sloppy drizzle that has just turned to snow. Wow. I'm not feeling sorry for myself, I love cold wet weather. Yeah snow!

At left is a photo of a Great Kiskadee that coworker Ben Lizdas digiscoped with my camera and Kate's Swarovski scope.

The Rio Grande Valley Bird Fest was a great time. If you have never birded south Texas this is a great way to get an idea of how to bird it. You may not see every target species while there, but that's okay you will want to return. These are places I birded:

Bentsen Rio Grande State Park where some of the highlights for me were Plain Chachalacas (pictured below), Green Jays, Great Kiskadees, Olive Sparrow, Least Grebe, Common Moorhen, Glossy Ibis, Altimira Oriole, White-tipped Dove, Javelina and Black-crested Titmouse. There was so much more, but that's all I can remember at the moment. The park has a really cool hawk tower where you can look down on the Olive Sparrows and ducks, grebes and herons on the water. As it gets later in the morning, raptors come up on the thermals. I so want to go back and watch for Gray Hawks.

Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge was my favorite I think. Lots of birding by car, especially for raptors. Katie, my cohort at Eagle Optics pulled over to some water to look for kingfishers and pointed out an alligator. I thought she was just messing with me, but for sure it was an alligator--sweet! Bird highlights for me included - 20,000 coots, White-tailed Hawk, Crested Caracara, Green Jays, Northern Harriers, Osprey, Loggerhead Shrikes, Merlin, Osprey, Roseate Spoonbills, Reddish Egrets, Sandwich Terns and Snow Geese. I missed seeing the Aplomado Falcons that are possible there, but that just means another bird for another day.

Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge was small but chock full of birds. Hook-billed Kites are possible, but I missed them--again, another bird for another day. Bird highlights here for me were Green Jays (sensing a pattern here-they were EVERYWHERE), Red-shouldered Hawk, Harris Hawk (pictured left), Couch's Kingbird, Ground Dove, Black-necked Stilt, American Bittern, Great Kiskadee, Common Moorhen, Mottled Duck, Olive Sparrow, Altimira Oriole and Golden-fronted Woodpecker.

Frontera Audubon Preserve was a quick little stop but is one of those magical urban oases where you can get a good fallout. Here the highlights were Black and White Warbler, Summer Tanager, Buff-bellied Hummingbirds, Inca Doves, Great Kiskadees, Plain Chachalacas and lots of mosquitoes--still scratching.

California Condor at The Raptor Center

Okay, today was supposed to be an entry of the doins that transpired at the Rio Grande Valley Bird Fest but is pre-empted for some exciting news at The Raptor Center--they are caring for an injured California Condor! This is the first time one has been at TRC and more than likely the first time a California Condor has been in the state of Minnesota.

The bird is a wild hatch 18 month old (still an immature) condor from Arizona. It has a wrist injury from ten days ago that is healing nicely and the chanced of the bird returning to the wild and its family group are very good at the moment. It is believed the injury is from a "forced landing". The bird was in the air and lost a thermal or another possibility is that it was forced from the sky by a golden eagle. It was brought to TRC because it is the premier facility for this type of bone injury in birds and Dr. Pat Redig (one of the founders of TRC) is involved with the Peregrine Fund which is helping to reintroduce California Condors to the wild.

Never in my life did I think I would get within six inches of a California Condor! I even got to smell it--the bird had that good vulture smell. You wouldn't believe the paparazzi there for this bird: KSTP, KARE 11, and the Pioneer Press--as well as dozens of TRC volunteers hoping to get a peek. I took over 130 photos myself. All the volunteers at TRC are on very strict rules regarding our 20 pound patient. Because condors are so impressionable at this age, extra precautions are being taken to keep it from habituating to people. We are not allowed down the corridor where the bird is resting and when it is brought out for check ups and meds, lights are down and the condor's head is covered until it is under anesthesia.

If you would like to see this bird, you can head to The Raptor Center and watch the Condor Cam set up in the lobby. A camera has been placed insides the room housing the bird so its progress can be monitored. NO ONE IS ALLOWED DOWN TO SEE THE CONDOR IN THE CLINIC--not even me. So please feel free to drop by and view the camera but don't expect the bird in clinic. We had fun watching the bird on camera this morning, playing with its toys and preening. It's so cool to know that you are in the same room as one of these dinosaur looking bird celebrities.

As always, this bird came in with no health insurance and its care is costing about $100 per day. Donations are always welcome and needed at The Raptor Center.

Getting to start my Tuesday morning up close and personal with a California Condor totally makes up for my luggage getting lost yesterday! Below are some gratuitous condor photos. If the bird looks weird it's because it was under anesthesia the whole time during the examination.

Young condors have black heads not the reddish pink you see on adult condors. It so looks like a dinosaur in the face.

Condor Paparazzi! We never allow this many people in clinic when we are working on a bird. However, since the condor was asleep the whole time and several vets were on hand, media and volunteers got a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the condor up close. One of the may reasons why I love volunteering with TRC, you never know what bird will be on hand to help.
This is Dr. Juli Ponder. I got to know her when I managed the Minnetonka All Seasons Wild Bird Store and she was a customer. She's now the associate director at TRC. In this photo she is helping to exercise the condor's wing. The bird will not be test flown while in Minnesota so its important to keep the muscles in use to prevent atrophy.

Look at those tootsies!! Even though condors are not a raptor and do not use their feet to kill their food, the talons are pretty impressive. Why does TRC care for condors if they are not raptors? We will work on all types of birds with bone injuries, it's what the center is best known for. Some of the non-raptors that TRC has cared for include parrots, trumpeter swans and flamingoes.

Another wing shot. This birds wing span is eleven feet, the length of the primary feathers are the same length as my arm!

A TRC vet holds the condor's head up as it gradually comes out of the anesthesia. The bird is held upright to keep the air passages open and to be prepared when it comes to and begins to struggle. As soon as the eyes opened, the condor's head was covered and it was swiftly returned to its recovery room.

Chiggers and MEAT

I love all the little Mexican cafes in Harlingen, unbelievably tasty food. I know, I know you're looking at that pile of meat in the photo and thinking, "Is she nuts?" Well, yes I am, but that is beside the point, the food in these places was abundant and cheap.

I'm sitting in Dallas waiting for my connecting flight home. When I left Harlingen it was 87 degrees and a quick check of Twin Cities weather says that a winter storm watch is underway. Whoo Hoo.

I'm am oh so itchy at the moment from chigger bites and mosquitoes. I don't know why I didn't think to bring insect repellent. I even had a couple of opportunities to purchase it during the festival and I kept getting distracted--too many lifers. Ah, well it's really not a good birding trip unless you leave with a souvenir like chiggers, rashes or a bot fly.

I've never kept a bird list before, but I think I'm going to start. I'm kind of afraid to do it, since I'll be traveling more with my Eagle Optics cohorts, I think I'll be okay. I was talking with Terry Moore from Leica, word on the street is that he's going for a 700 birds seen in North America goal. He only has ten birds left to get...no easy ones at that, we're talking about things like Mangrove cuckoos and he just doesn't want to hear the birds, he wants to see them. He told me that for years, he was like me, he didn't keep a list but had a vague idea. When people would ask, he would speculate 500. When he decided for 700 and sat down and started the count, he was only at 350. If he can start out like that, I can go ahead and count and not worry about how skimpy my list will be.

Doh, they are boarding my plane! Gotta go, but stay tuned, in the next day or two will be gossip, incriminating photos and Highlights of the Rio Grande Bird Festival.

Get Birds and Techno Glitches

Well, I took some great photos of birds yesterday but had some issues with my photocard and lost all but the people photos. I will post those later, perhaps in another expose at what happens at bird conventions. We are going for more birding so more photos soon.

One interesting thing about some of the restaurants is that asked if they serve beer a common answer is, "We do not sell alcohol but we serve free beer on Friday and Saturday." Apparently, to avoid getting a licquor liscence, they just serve free beer on select nights to keep the customers flowing. Oh so tasty spicy food and free beer, I'm happier than an olive-sided flycatcher in breeding season...okay, if you got that pun you are a hard core maxi geek birder.

Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley

This morning before work Katie and Maren Phillips took me to Bentsen- Rio Grande Valley State Park. It was pretty much sensory overload for me because life birds were literally dripping off of the trees. Birds that I had seen in field guides with outlandish names were all over. I finally got to see in person things like a plain chachalaca and a great kiskadee. Of course green jays (above) were everywhere, apparently they are "trash birds" down here - nickname for birds we see in our own yards all the time like grackles and cowbirds.

Okay, for all you people who think squirrels are a pain at the feeder, imagine having javelinas (right) show up? These wild pigs were all over the place. We watched a line of ten cautiously leave the woods and walk across the road in a very orderly fashion.

I just love being in another state, it was so weird to be in Minnesota yesterday with our 29 degree windchill and to be sweating it up in Texas the next day. There was a nice spicy desert smell in the air too. We ran into one of the festival tour groups down while birding. The trip was being led by Bill Thompson and Minnesota's own Kim Eckert. Thanks to both I got an unbelievably good look at an olive sparrow. This is typically a bird you hear more than see and here we were on this great look out tower watching the greenish brown bird sing on branches and scurry around in the grass looking for food. Yes, Non Birding Bill, I was watching a brown bird and loving every minute of it.

Tonight's festivities were low key. We found a karaoke bar, but they were completely filled up so we had to head down the street for some quiet evening chat at Chuck's Ice House--no singing. Even though we didn't sing, I still had a great time and a totally weird coincidence. I met a guy who is also going on the ivory-bill search, but is also going at the same time and is on the same team. He seems like a nice guy so I'm relieved to know that there will be at least one sane person down there. Part of me worries that with all those people staying in a small research station it might become like an Animal Planet version of the Real World tv show.