More Ivory-bill Updates

This photo is courtesy of Sharon Stiteler/Cornell Lab of Ornithology. I still chuckle when I type that.

More of my ivory-bill search is up at Eagle Optics Website.

Today's Thoughts

You know a book is going to be great, when it gets an endorsement like this. I can't wait until fall, I want to read it now!! I shouldn't whine too much, after all I did get a sneak peak this past April.

I did my first segment on the new morning show called Showcase Minnesota. I was on with Rob Hudson and he officially has street cred with me. When we were introducing ourselves he said, "I love birds, I used to feed hummingbirds when I lived in San Diego, I loved Costa's hummingbirds."

"Wait, you know what a Costa's is?" I asked, surprised. "I've never worked with a host that knows birds before. You're officially cool in my book."

We clicked well together, although he didn't tell me a dirty joke right before we went on air like Pat used to, but he's a nice easy going guy.

When I was driving home I got a great compliment. I was listening to Kevyn and Colleen in the car and they were talking about a new book about great white sharks that just came out. Neither had a huge interest in sharks but commented that sometimes a book is so good, you get interested in that subject. Kevyn then said, "You know, it like that woman on Ian and Margery's show that's always talking about birds. I've never been interested in birds, but I hear her and I think, wow, that's interesting, I'd like to know more."

Thanks, guys, that made my day!

Now I have to face my apartment. This morning before going to KARE 11, I couldn't find my keys. I knew they had to be in the apartment, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get in the building last night. Poor Non Birding Bill had tidied up the place so I would have a clean home to welcome me. All that was destroyed this morning as I went on a frantic search for my keys. Somehow they fell into the couch and ended up deep in the center. It only took dumping every bag and laundry basket, and moving every piece of furniture to find them in time to leave for the station. NBB took the afternoon off to spend with me. I warned him not to come home, to just maybe go for a nice walk instead.

Moments in North Dakota

During quieter times during the trade show, I let Cinnamon run loose. She kept heading over to a wood carver's table. At first I thought she was just after wood chips that fell on the floor. But after observing her assume this position, I realized she was hoping they would carve a figurine of her. They just smiled and patted her head.

Can I just say how much I heart Eldon Greij? He gave a wonderful presentation at the banquet about birding moments. He shared slides he'd collected from photographers over the years and told about special moments with certain birds he had seen in his lifetime. He's so funny, every time the audience would go "Awwwww" at a cute photo that looked a tad anthropomorphic, he would say, "Stop that!" Yet, at the same time, some of his birding moments were so personal, he himself get a little emotional recounting the stories. He's a wonderful presenter at festivals, not too dry and boring, but not saccharine sweet either. Just the way I like 'em.

Cinnamon and I worked all day Saturday and had a great time at the binocular booth at the Potholes and Prairie Bird Festival. I love the friendliness of the town. Since I had decided to come to this festival at the last moment, I didn't really research what birds to expect in the area. I had heard people say they were seeing lark buntings, Baird's sparrows and Sprague's pipits--three I have never seen before. I mentioned in passing that I would like to see those species and all day Saturday between customers people came up to me to give me directions to find them. BT3 gave directions to a large pile of barbed wire that would guarantee lark buntings. Paulette of Arrowood NWR gave me a PLOTS map with marks on it. Stacey Adolph-Whipp told me of a spot where there would be so many Sprague's pipits singing, that it would be hard to hear the Baird's. A few other people gave directions.

I decided to go look for them before I drove home on Sunday. When I followed Paulette's directions and map, I discovered a huge pile of barbed wire--the pile BT3 must have been talking about--low and behold lark buntings. The area was so beautiful and isolated, I decided to chuck any further directions and just experience the prairie and meander here and there.

I found this dilapidated house right off of 14. I took a walk down the "minimum maintenance road" to take a few photos. Dickcissels, grasshopper sparrows and savannah sparrows surrounded me. As I had the house and landscape in my viewfinder, I noticed some movement.

A doe was walking right towards me. When she was within 20 feet of me, she could sense I was there. The wind blew my scent straight for her. She started raising and lowering her head. It reminds me of something Cinnamon does when she's uncertain. We call it her bunny pushups, as she crouches down and rises up, trying to size up the object. The deer knew I was there, but she couldn't see me because I wasn't moving. I wanted to stick it out and see how close she would get, but my nose had other plans. I sneezed and she took off. It was a beautiful moment until the snot interrupted.

I love taking time out in these isolated spots. We're fortunate to live in a country where you can find places and pretend to (or in some cases actually) be the only person for miles. I used to think birding in boreal areas was my favorite habitat, but more I spend time on prairies, the more it is my favorite. I was so overwhelmed by the songs.

As I meandered, I found a spot engulfed by the songs of Sprague's pipits--this must be the spot that Stacey told me about. You couldn't hear any other birds, not even the bobolink. Their song reminds me of a canyon wren song, the way it spirals downward. I was so overcome, you couldn't see them, but you could hear them all around you. I decided that I didn't care if I didn't see or hear a Baird's, this moment was more than enough for today. I got back in the car and reconfirmed some birdcalls. I decided to drive around and do some digiscoping with a car window mounted scope. As I drove, the arrangement came loose, and I had to pull over and tighten it up. I absently noticed I was hearing a Baird's sparrow singing. I though I left my laptop playing songs and I turned to shut it off. My laptop was closed. There was an actual Baird's singing near the car. As I stood outside I could hear three different birds singing. I found one teed up on some grass but he flew down before I could take his photo. Three new birds--sweet!

Swainson's hawks were all over the place. It totally seemed like a switch had been flipped when I crossed from Minnesota into North Dakota. As soon as I crossed the border, all the red-tails turned into Swainson's hawks.

Check it out, east meets west in North Dakota:

Here on these rocks we have an eastern kingbird on the left and a western kingbird on the right. I've never seen this before, I don't know if this was just a meeting of the minds or some potential hybridization or what. I wasn't pulled over in the safest spot, so I couldn't stick around to find out.

With the wind blowing, the western kingbirds were kiting quietly over the grass. I wish I could have photographed that, but they were too quick for my digiscope setup. I did enjoy watching them hang in the air silently.

Speaking of kiting, there was an actual kite festival going on in town during the bird festival. When I drove by, I could hear some of the house sparrows in the neighborhood giving warning calls. I wondered if it was over the kites? They're clever fellows, I'm sure they eventually figured out that the giant octopi weren't going to get them.

I did learn that several people at the ND fest will be at the ABA Convention next week. Eeep. I need to prep for that. I leave Saturday for Maine. Part of the time, I'll be working with the Stokes. Whoot! I'm so stoked about the Stokes.

The Lowdown on Chase Lake Pelicans

Remember all the hype about the white pelicans that abandon their eggs and young in 2004 and 2005 on Chase Lake in North Dakota? Well, I've been getting the lowdown from the experts here.

In 2004, pelicans decided to nest on a peninsula on Chase Lake. The birds started to abandon nests in tiers. It was speculated that it may have been predators and now the consensus appears to be that it was a coyote predating the eggs and chicks.

In 2005 the pelicans returned and began nesting in about the same numbers and hopes were high that the year before would not repeat. Coyotes had been removed and a predator barrier had been installed. But when researchers went out to check the nest colony, they found piles of dead young and no adults. This time, the birds had died from exposure. A cold weather system had moved in while the chicks were still young and they just couldn't survive.

The pelicans are back this year and so far so good. However, they are not out of the woods yet. West Nile Virus has taken its toll on the young as well. Many of the carcasses have tested positive for WNV but it's not yet known if the young died from the weather and just tested positive for WNV or if the virus is what did them in.

Cowbirders

The entertainment at the Potholes and Prairies Festival has been unique to say the least. Last night we ate lots of buffalo and watched a gunslinging re-enactment. The crew was kind enough to perform their scene even in the pouring rain. I don't think the cowboys were prepared for how rowdy our group was. We whooped and hollered and just had a general blast. I don't think the bad guy had ever been called a lily-livered-fringe-vested-yella-bellied sapsucker before.

The actors mingled with a crowd for a bit and here we have the town floosy, Ruby flirting with the founding editor of Birder's World, Eldon Greij.

She made the rounds and hit up Bird Watcher's Digest editor Bill Thompson III. Hmmm, she seems to be going for editors of major bird publications. I'm not saying she's a gold digger, but she ain't messin' with no broke birders...I wonder what Miss Ruby would have done if Amy Hooper, the editor of Wild Bird Magazine was here?

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.

In North Dakota

I and the Bird is up!

First, thanks to Ian who kept playing Harry Nilsson's Without You this morning, it's stuck in my head. I downloaded if from iTunes. I'm so sick, I can't stop listening to it. Do you hear that Non Birding Bill?

"I can't Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive, if livin is without you..."

"Not only do I disapprove of your singing, but I disapprove of how you pack! Stop the insanity!"

It was a different world as soon as I crossed over into North Dakota from Minnesota. First the speed limit went up to 75mph and then instead of seeing red-tailed hawks every few miles, I saw Swainson's hawks. Instead of watching red-winged blackbirds dart across the road, they were yellow-headed black birds. And there are willets! What are willets doing here?

Hopefully, I'll get some photos tomorrow. In the meantime, you can check out Bill of the Birds for some ND photos. Boy is it chilly here! I was sweating up a storm packing up the car this morning, but it's oh so breezy now. I went out and bought some socks for tomorrow, I hadn't packed any.

Peregrines Peregrines Peregrines!

I love this shot. In the lower right hand corner is the female in the nest box at the Colonnade on hwy 394 & hwy 100. In the upper left hand corner, you can see the Minneapolis skyline. The tall building on the left is the Multifoods tower where another pair nests. You know the birds at the Colonnade can see that, and want that nest box.

It's practically been non stop peregrine for me for the last two or three days. I went to the Colonnade for the banding of the chicks and this time was a different for me, the banding happened indoors (it was too hot to have it outside--yes out of state readers, it does get too hot in Minnesota). They had the banding on the 15th floor, and we went in the room where the nest box is located. We got great views of the chicks. The best part being that I got some Sweet video of the banders being buzzed when they come down to get the chicks. You see them in the well with hard hats and then you see this big dark thing sweet behind them.

I was a tad bummed, no real interesting leftovers in the boxes to examine. While the chicks were indoors being banded, the male flew into the next box with a freshly killed killdeer. The chicks weren't there and the female was angry so he flew away with it--presumably to eat the killdeer since no chicks were around to eat it. Nests in the metro area are doing VERY well. Many nests having four eggs and all four eggs hatched. That means peregrines are finding lots of good birds to eat.

Last night I went to the Space Tower on the Fair Grounds and again the nest was a bust. Someone in that pair is shooting blanks. The first year there were just eggs (I don't know if they were fertile or not). The next year nothing. The third year, the birds put on quite a show of mating and hanging out and when the banders ascended, defended the nest valiantly--however, no eggs, not even a scrape. Last year, there were fertile eggs, but they weren't incubated. This year--three eggs. I don't know if they are fertile. Jackie Fallon, the woman in charge of the banding will go back in a month just to make sure the eggs aren't just a late clutch but my personal theory based on the last five years is that they will not hatch. But, Jackie wouldn't be doing her job if she didn't give the eggs the benefit of the doubt. I hope I'm wrong.

Meanwhile, there has been LOTS of news from the St. Cloud Times about a certain female peregrine at the Sartell Bridge. In the first story, it tells of a man attacked by the female on the nest box. On a funny note, if you look at that link, the bird pictured with the story is a young Cooper's hawk, not a peregrine. Birders were talking about the story--both about the buzzing female (who wants to go to Sartell and get buzzed by a peregrine?) and the misidentified bird hawk.

Then, a second story came out--this time with a peregrine photo from The Raptor Center--whew. This story said that the bird was going to be removed. It's no secret among the banders that this female will aggressively defend the nest and there have been about 4 known "encounters" by the public with this bird. For whatever reason, after the attack on Sunday, it sounded like what was safest for this female was to remove her, keep her in captivity so she wouldn’t return and potentially hit more people. Captivity may seem a bit much for some readers, but trust me, in a situation like this, that could be the only chance for the bird's survival. You never know if someone will decide to settle the matter with a gun. What was interesting was that I did get a few emails from people who went to the bridge and didn't get attacked by the female (and they sounded a little disappointed).

Well, now a third update has come out. The bird will not be removed. Now, I wonder if more people will go out for the chance to be buzzed? I would advise against this, the female doesn't need to waste extra energy for someone looking for a cheap thrill. Plus, it is near traffic and though peregrines are better at fast sharps and turns than Cooper's hawks, anything can happen. Here are some helpful tips for people who must cross the bridge with the peregrines:

* Do not provoke the falcon if you see it while crossing the bridge.

* If a falcon is heading toward you, try waving your arms to distract it. Yelling at it will not help.

* If it attacks, run toward the nearest end of the bridge.

Sources: Dr. Patrick Redig, director of the University of Minnesota’s Raptor Center, and Sartell Police Chief Jim Hughes.

Of course, I always recommend ducking too. Alright, I have to finish packing and drive to North Dakota. Woot!

Updates To Previous Posts

A week ago today I posted that a squirrel had built a nest on our bathroom window ledge. A day after that post, the whole nest was knocked down. I figured Non Birding Bill did that to encourage our guest to room elsewhere. When I asked him about it, he said that he thought I took it down. We both figured the squirrel got tired of us and our showering and scrapped the idea.

Tonight while vegging on the couch and watching an old movie we heard chewing. NBB shouted, "Oy, bunny butthead, knock it off." I realized the sound didn't come from Cinnamon's direction. We looked in the bathroom and sure enough a squirrel is back. Is the same one as last week? Is it a new guy who watched the squirrel last week and is deciding to give the ledge a go? What are we going to do about it? The answer to all three questions is "Who knows?" Anyway, that's him pictured above rennovating tonight.

Also, in same post, I mentioned that I was going to use the female merlin at The Raptor Center for program and she had just taken a bath. Well, it happened again this week (note drenched merlin at left)! This time I got a photo while she was uber wet.

Kinda hard to take that seriously as nature's perfect killing machine, huh? This is what a dry merlin should look like. Maybe they should try hunting this way. I don't think prey would take them seriously.

Last week I also mentioned that I was drying out a black-crowned night-heron foot at my office for use as an educational tool. I was led to believe that this would be a fairly painless process...I was led astray. The foot has been getting stinkier by the day. I figured I should get some kind of odor absorber so as not to offend my office mates at TRC. I picked up some mango/orange gel thingie and stuck that into the same cabinet as I have the foot. Today, they guy who has a desk next to mine asked, "What is that smell in your office?"

"Here it comes," I thought, "he can smell that nasty foot."

"It smells great!" He exclaimed.

Apparently the mango/orange thingie is a hit. People keep walking by asking, "Oh! what smells so good?"

Little do they know the aromatic evil that lies beneath.

Speaking of evil, can you id the bird that is stalking me in this photo on the left?

I don't know if I would hire this great horned owl for undercover work.

I Don't Know Caterpillars

I know a lot of birders are really jumping on to the butterfly bandwagon. I'm trying, but am having just a tough time. For one things butterflies are most active when I don't want to be out, high noon, when it's really hot. I've been getting into it a little bit, I've kept a monarch ranch and there are a couple of other butterflies I really enjoy--one being the mourning cloak. I've always wanted to find mourning cloak caterpillars but had no idea what they looked like.

I think one reason I get frustrated with the whole butterfly thing is that I find caterpillars more often than I do butterflies and I always wonder what those caterpillars turn into and for years there was no complete caterpillar guide. Last fall, all that changed I got this super cool book Caterpillars of Eastern North America. Since I got it the fall, I didn't really have a chance to put it into practice.

I didn't really see this as a sign of me getting into butterflies, I saw this as practical. You see birds eating caterpillars all the time, it would be good to know what they are after.

Sunday, Non Birding Bill and I were walking around (one of the best birding spots in Minnesota) the Old Cedar Avenue Bridge and there were tons of one type caterpillars all over the place (pictured above). I had no idea what they were, but I did notice some webbing on a nearby shrub and assumed they must have been some type of webworm moth. I took a photo and thought I would put my new field guide to the test. And for the rest of the walk we watched birds swooping down and eating them.

We got home and I searched the webworm section--nothing. So then I just started flipping through the book, and I found it: they were mourning cloaks! Doh! I had one in my hand. We had them all over. We watched a couple of robins fight over one. They were all on the move and must have been looking for a place to make a chrysalis, and I missed them. Why, oh why didn't I take one home? From now on, the caterpillar guide is coming with me in the car like Sibley.