$50,000 Reward For An Ivory-billed Woodpecker

From The Associated Press:

Last year, Allan Mueller thinks he saw the elusive ivory-billed woodpecker. The wildlife biologist wants to make sure of it this winter.

Mueller plans to head back into the swamps of eastern Arkansas with a scaled-back search team consisting of 26 volunteers and three expert field biologists.

Searchers will begin their work in the Big Woods on Saturday. The campaign will run through the bird's nesting season in March and April when the ivory-bill is most active, Mueller said.

he huge bird was believed to be extinct until a sighting four years ago stirred national experts and federal funding to launch a full-blown campaign to verify the bird's existence and study its habitat.

For want of a clean photograph or audio recordings of the bird's distinctive sounds, searchers have been unable to convince fellow scientists that the bird has survived years of land development and loss of habitat.

Over the last four years, The Nature Conservancy in Arkansas, where Mueller is avian conservation manager, along with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the Arkansas Audubon Society have collaborated to study the ivory-bill in Arkansas and enlist other groups to scout potential habitats in other Southern states.

Besides Arkansas, researchers say the bird has been seen and heard in the swamps of northwestern Florida. A Cornell team will soon begin looking in Florida and travel to Arkansas and elsewhere in the Southeast in hopes of spotting the bird.

Mueller reminds fishermen, hunters and the general public that they can help, too, by calling his office if they have a sighting. An anonymous donor has pledged a $50,000 reward to anyone who leads the team to a live ivory-bill, he said.

The Big Woods swallow up the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge, where kayaker Gene Sparling says he spotted the bird Feb. 11, 2004, and Cornell University experts made subsequent sightings. Since then, searches have been made in about 83,000 of the 550,000-acre woods.

Read the full story here.

Where's The North American Field Guide For iPod & iPod Touch

Yo, field guide authors! Yeah, I'm talking to you, Sibley. And get out from under that table, Kaufman. Yo, you too, Jon Dunn, aka Mr. National Geographic Field Guide...why aren't any of your field guides in a software format for an iTouch and an iPhone?? Huh?

I just got the BirdGuides Catalog in my email inbox this morning and there are British versions of this. Heck, there's even a video field guide. Embrace the technology, boys. Give the birders what they want: a field guide on an iPhone or iTouch--or even one of those new Google Phones.

SkyWatch Friday: Celestial Frownie Face

I just took the following photos moments ago, but think I'm going to have to submit this to SkyWatch Friday!

What happens when you combine Venus, Jupiter, and a sliver of Moon:

You get a Celestial Frownie Face! I was putting nuts out on our apartment window ledge for the nocturnal flying squirrels when I noticed Venus and Jupiter next to the Moon. The Moon was just a sliver and the whole thing looked like an upside down frownie face.

I went outside and as good of photo as I could get with a point and shoot camera, but it didn't turn out too badly. I cropped and rotated it to get that first photo. Perhaps the cause of the frown is too much ambient light interrupting our night sky view in urban areas?

Winter Species Around Mr. Neil's

This morning, Non Birding Bill and I headed out to do some bee stuff at Mr. Neil's. When we were turning onto the final stretch of road, I noticed a lump in the top of a tree and told NBB, "Sorry, if that's what I think it is, I have to get a photo."

Can you guess what it is? It's a raptor...it's a hawk...can't tell? Don't worry, it's hard in that photo. Here it is through the scope:

It's a rough-legged hawk. Something about the lump in the distance just said to me, "Hey, I'm a buteo, but I'm not sitting quite like a red-tailed hawk."

This is the first time I've seen one so close to Mr. Neil's home. We get them in our neck of the woods in winter, but fun to see a rough-leg on patrol so close to his house. Is it me, or does this bird look like it's wearing more eyeliner than Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean?

Meanwhile, pine siskins are still on the rampage at his finch feeders. Between the siskins, the rough-leg and the snow, it's winter!

Friday Banding & Birding

It was jam packed at Carpenter Nature Center banding on Friday. It was the day after Thanksgiving and many people stopped by--including a hilarious 4 year old named Dylan. She kept asking to band a bird herself. I was doing a junco when she came to me and said, "I was going to do that one!"

I asked if she took the banding class. She looked to the side and back at me and said, "Yes." Can't blame a girl for trying. My favorite part was a the end of the morning, she was leaving and we said, "Bye, Dylan, it was nice to meet you," and she replied, "Yes, it was."

The big excitement of the day was getting one of the oodles of pine siskins around the Twin Cities. Tom Bell banded this bird and he noted how fine their bills are--perfect for going into those thin slits on finch feeders.

The yellow is subtle on these little birds, mostly in the edging on the primary wing feathers and the tail feathers. I don't think we were able to determine the sex of this bird, but we did determine that it was a hatch year bird.

Ecobirder was also there, he's going to help Carpenter a bit with their website. When we were finished, I drove over to Douglas Point and found him taking photos. I left him peace, I know how I am when I get in a good groove. The weather was so warm, it was 40 degrees that I decided to go for a bike ride when I came home.

I decided to go over to Lake Calhoun to see if I could get a photo of the long-tailed duck in better light. Plus, I've been curious if I could take my whole digiscoping setup with me on my bike. Non Birding Bill and I were both feeling the effects of eating too much and he also joined me for the ride (as long as I promised not to spend an hour trying to get the perfect photo of a duck).

The light was awesome and waterfowl like Canada geese and hooded mergansers were up close...but not the long-tailed duck, it was WAAAY out on the lake and not worth digiscoping.

The light was so perfect that I hated to waste it and took a few photos of geese. I could hear joggers behind me say, "Why would you want to take photos of those ducks?" I wanted to turn around and point out the scaup and goldeneyes and say there's more out there than just mallards and geese, but did not. And of course, since I was birding in a public place, someone came up to me and said, "Hey, is that bald eagle still over there?"

"I don't know," I said, "I'm not looking for that."

"It was over on the north side, in that tree, the lighter one on the left there." He paused and I could tell by the look in his eye that he was waiting for me to move my scope on it. The eagle was out further than the long-tailed duck. I was not on the clock and I was focusing on a shoveler, I didn't move my scope.

"It's right over there," he pointed. "I saw it when I was jogging over there. It was just sitting there."

"That's awesome," I said, "I'm glad you got to see that." I could see NBB in my peripheral vision over by our bikes. He was grinning that someone was pointing out an eagle yet again when I'm after something else.

I showed him the shoveler in my scope and he showed about as much interest in the northern shoveler as I was in his eagle. I explained about the long-tailed duck and he seemed even less interested in that. Finally, he moved on.

It was fun to squeeze in another bike ride in early winter and it was fun to look at the waterfowl and I was only a tiny bit bummed at missing a good photo of the long-tailed duck. When I checked my email this morning I found this report from yesterday about the long-tailed duck from local birder Terry Brashear:

"The Long-tailed Duck was seen at 2PM close to the west shore, but an adult Bald Eagle came by and the group of Hooded Merganser and Common Goldeneye it was with took flight. It spent the remainder of the day out in the middle of Lake Calhoun till I left at 3:30PM."

Which was about the time NBB and I were biking around the lake. That stupid bald eagle that dude was trying to point out is the one that moved the duck so far to the center of the lake.

I'm shaking my fist at that bald eagle and saying in a tone like a villain at the end of a Scooby Doo cartoon, "I would have gotten that photo too if hadn't been for that meddling eagle."

Birdchick Gift Guide 2008

It's time for some of my picks for gift ideas for the birder in your life. Here is a link to all my other past gift suggestions. The gift ideas range for birders of all ages and all abilities. I'm not paid by anyone to endorse any of these products, although a few you may recognize as sponsors of this site. These are all products that I totally dig.

If you have any birder gift ideas that you don't see listed, please feel free to add them in the comments.

Gifts & A Good Cause

The Duck Stamp (or The Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, ya happy, Paul?) Birders of all levels and is okay to give more than once in a year. I'd be honored if I ended up getting five this Holiday Season.

I've said it before and I'll say it again--this is an EXCELLENT gift for anyone into birds, especially for the birder who appears to have everything. The money from purchase of the stamps is used to acquire habitat for waterfowl but that benefits many species of birds including warblers, sparrows, herons, grebes, and shorebirds. The stamp costs $15 and 98% of that $15 goes to purchase habitat for ducks and other wildlife. People and birds benefit from this purchase.

Burning Hawk Wine (great for birders over 21 years of age)

This company was the hit of the show at the Rio Grande Valley Bird Festival. They hosted the Kiskadee Cordial where festival attendees could sample the wine and socialize. This past May a hawk was electrocuted and caught fire and set a vineyard ablaze. That awful incident sparked several people, like founder Nick Papadopoulos to create a line of wines that are not only tasty but help birds. They company devotes 10% of all sales to bird conservation projects. There's a red and a white and I purchase a red that is very robust, a little bit on the sweet side, but a great wine. Non Birding Bill really enjoyed it. This is a great gift even for the non birding people in you life. You'll note that I have a button ad for this company on my site. If you click on that to order the wine, I get a tiny percentage, but honestly, this company mission is so good, I don't care if you order it through my site or go directly to them from google. It's a great wine and even better cause.

Cornell Lab Of Ornithology Gifts

I was going to post some cool gifts from Cornell Lab or Ornithology, but they have their own gift guide this year. Please check it out. Some of my favorites include the Year Long Membership to Project Feeder Watch (great for backyard birders and kids), Birds of North America Online Membership (perfect for hardcore or intermediate birder--have a question about some bird in North America, you'll find the answer there. Especially with the growing popularity of iPhones and iTouches, this is a great online birding resource.

Books:

The Young Birder's Guide (kids and new birders)

BEST BIRDING BOOK TO COME OUT ALL YEAR. Bill Thompson worked with kids to find out what kind of a birding guide they would like. I have reviewed this book already, but this would be an ideal gift for any kid you'd like to get a little more into birding. It's in an approachable format, has cool birding facts, habitat tips, just about everything. I've even met a few adult birders working on honing their skills appreciate the book. I'd even buy one of these and donate it to Toys For Tots.

City Birds/Country Birds (backyard birder, especially in urban areas)

This is my second and it came out this spring. It's how to attract birds no matter where you live, even if it's in an urban area. The information is based on my 8 years working in a bird feeding retail store and from my personal backyard birding experience. Lots of photos (some from blog readers) and fun to read information. You can get it in a number of places, but if you would like a personalized copy, get it from the Birdchic Boutique.

The New Peterson Field Guide (birders of all levels, although if you know a hardcore birder, chances are good that they already have it).

This is a revamped version of the classic illustrated guide by Roger Tory Peterson. If you have always been a fan of Peterson, you will love this updated version--larger pictures and text, small maps on the species page with larger maps in back, added species, updated maps, and a url to video podcasts. A good classic birder gift. Should be available at most bird stores and book stores.

The Smithsonian Field Guide to Birds (birders of all levels)

This is a more comprehensive take on a photographic field guide. The photos are very good and unlike other photographic guides, there are several photos for each species. This is a newer guide that is not getting the attention it deserves, but would be a welcome addition to most bird watcher's shelves. This might be a bit overwhelming for a new birder or young birder, but for the gung-ho birder, this is a must.

The Boreal Owl Murder (birders of all levels)

This is a cute book. I read it on a flight, and I've loaned my copy to a few other birding friends (some hardcore) and I think one summed it up best: "It was good and it's a book you don't have to be 99% present to read." It's a murder mystery set in Minnesota involving birders. It's cutesy (the main character's name is Bob White--ha ha get it, cause he's a birder) but there all sorts of birding references and Minnesota references--I think she killed off Bill Lane in the book. Again, it's a fun, easy read and just about everything in it bird-wise is accurate (although I disagree with the character who said boreals don't respond to tapes, they sure do). I only found one glaring inaccuracy. She made a Minnesota Ornithologists' Union Board Meeting sound way too friendly and fun.

For The Birds (the backyard birder)

Sisters who own Wild Birds Unlimited franchises combined their birding feeding knowledge and created this book/calendar. It goes through the calendar year and lets you know what birds to expect, what feeds work best for the time of year, kids projects, and personal tips from the authors. The book is good for the entire US, both eastern and western. Available at a Wild Birds Unlimited near you.

Jewelery

Hand Painted Coins (birders of all levels)

I found these when I was at Civic Fest this summer. He paints coins and makes them into pendents for necklaces, cuff links, money clips, etc. I bought a Slovakian coin with a honey bee on it that's absolutely beautiful. He does the US Quarters and coins from other countries, so you can find any manner of birds or wildlife. If you are looking for unique, this is it.

Feather Brain (the flashy birder)

I just thought these were cute headbands.

The Mincing Mockingbird (the birder with a good sense of humor).

Off the wall bird art, what more do you need to know?

Go Go Birding Gadgets

Snapshot Adventures: The Secrets of Bird Island (kids)

This is an awesome little computer game. My only beef is that it is currently only for PCs and not Macs at the moment. But essentially, you use your grandfather's journal to find out where he disappeared to. You meet some of his friends along the way and they ask you to take photos of birds. The birds move and you get points for birds in different poses. Also, if you don't know what a bird is that they want you to find, you have a guide. The birds are fairly accurate and it's a fun way to do some nature photography on a rainy day as well as learn some mad birding skills. Awesome and fun computer game. Heck, some adults will even enjoy this.

Remembird (intermediate to hardcore birders)

This is an awesome little device! It's a digital audio recorder that you can either wear on your neck or attach to your binoculars. When it's on your binos, the buttons for recording fall where your fingers fall and it's very intuitive to use. It's great for taking audio notes of birds. Your looking at the bird and the card takes in all you info. You then can listen later and compare in your field guide. The microphone has 2 settings, one for up close recording for taking notes and one that will grab audio from further away. Can't id that bird song? Grab it on your Remembird and compare it to your birdJam when you get home. Remembird also comes with software and it will keep track of all your audio recordings and you can even make your own list of birds recorded. Very sweet and a useful tool for taking notes and learning your bird calls.

birdJam (great for birders of all levels)

This is as always a great gift idea, one I've mentioned several times. Also, I just noticed that they currently are having bundled special of an iPod Touch, iMaingo portable speaker, software, & songs. It's a really great deal.

The Gift Of Time

Another thing to consider is that if you want to give someone a really nice gift, maybe chip in with other family members, why not buy someone a registration to a bird festival? I go to a lot of bird festivals and they are fun, but the cost can add up between registering, flight, and hotel. If you can help a birder ease some of that travel burden, registration to a bird festival is a great way to go. Some festivals coming up in the near future that would be idea include The Space Coast Birding and Nature Festival (Florida in January) or the San Diego Bird Festival (southern California in March).

Again, these are some ideas that have caught my eye this year. Please feel free to add suggestions and links in the comments (although, I will delete things I find unsuitable for this list like World of Warcraft, Viagra, and Botox).

We Interrupt Naked Thanksgiving For A Long-tailed Duck!

I unsubscribed from a local birding listserv awhile ago. For some reason, I started receiving emails again and took it as a sign when someone reported seeing a long-tailed duck about six blocks from my home. I'd seen one before, but it was years ago in a Wisconsin sewage pond. As a matter of fact, it was so long ago, I think the bird was called by its old name: the oldsquaw.

Non Birding Bill and I have a low-key attitude towards the holiday. We do Naked Thanksgiving: no dressing, pie for breakfast, and showing our gratitude. I read the email that someone had spotted the long-tailed duck this morning at Lake Calhoun--within walking distance of our home and a periodic bike ride for us.

So, we broke tradition, put on some clothes and headed over--I made sure to take along a flask of scotch, partially for Bill and partially for a toast if we saw the bird. We went to the northeast side of the lake. That was where it was last reported. We found lots of ducks, but no long-tailed duck. I scanned the lake and noticed lots of birders scattered about the shore. I then noticed a flock of hooded mergansers and goldeneyes on the south side. We headed over. I scanned a bit and then NBB went back to the car. I ran into local birder Jim Ryan (who is a regular of Birds and Beers) and he was with another local birder named Dave (can't remember his last name). We scanned and admired the waterfowl but found no long-tail. Jim mentioned he saw an odd duck earlier but it took off. He mentioned that he thought it might go to nearby Lake Harriet and he was going to head over. I wondered if I had enough scotch for NBB, so I could pursue the duck.

Just as Jim and I were about to enter our vehicles, Dave called us over--weird duck flew in with some other waterfowl. Jim and I hustled over and sure enough...

There it was. On the left is a hooded merganser, on the right is the long-tailed duck. The long-tailed duck breeds in up in the arctic. After breeding, the ducks migrate to either coast or even to the great lakes. This bird is far from either coast and far south of Lake Superior, not sure how it got here or how long it will stay, but it was treat so close to home.

It didn't stay near us long. There was a lot of traffic on Lake Calhoun--sail boats, kayakers, fishermen. The long-tailed duck appeared to be nervous and soon flew off, perhaps searching for a less boat heavy part of the lake. There were also quite a few walkers, joggers and rollerbladers around the lake. One woman stopped to see what we were looking at and I showed her. She asked if the ducks were here because the lake was heated. Apparently, someone told her that lakes in Minneapolis stay open because the city heats them. We laughed and told her that someone fed her quite a line.

I sent NBB a text that we had the bird (he decided to wait in the car where it was heated while I searched for the long-tailed duck). He came down with the flask and all of us, including the woman who asked what we were doing had a celebratory sip of 18 year old scotch for such a great bird on Thanksgiving Day!

NBB and I returned home and resumed our gratitude.