I saw this video on the Digiscoping Facebook Page on how to make your own digiscoping adaptor with items you might find at home:
Fishing American Robin aka Holy Crap!
One of my favorite parts about this blog is that people email me questions about birds or photos to try and identify something. Every now and then, someone sends in some insanely interesting bird behavior and it knocks my socks off.
I got an email from JJ Golden who was out taking photos of ducks not too far from where I live. There are still a few patches of open water and JJ was at a Twit Cities Golf course when something strange happened. Golden reports, "As I walked around the pond I saw this Robin so I stopped and watched it for a moment. It flew down to the pond, I assumed to get a drink by a small open/slushy spot. At this point I tripped over my own snowshoes, dropped down to my knees and dropped my point and shoot camera (with lens uncovered) into the snow. I was only a few feet from the Robin who paid no attention to my blundering self."
Golden goes on to report, "As I got up I could see the Robin had pulled a small fish out of the water and dropped it on the ice. It flip flopped around for a minute or so as the Robin seemed to be studying how to get it down. It then ate the fish in what looked like one gulp. The open area was very slushy so I'm amazed that the Robin could see a tiny fish from as far away as it was. The fish had a slightly pinkish tinge which made me wonder if it looked like a worm to the Robin."
I know robins will go for some not traditional foods in winter--some will eat seeds out of the shell like sunflower hearts or even go for suet. When I worked at the wild bird store in Wayzata, MN we had a bait shop in our strip mall. They would always toss out dead bait behind the store and we would see flocks of winter robins flying down for tiny dead fish but this is the first time that I have seen someone document an American Robin (Turdus migratorious) actively fishing for food!
So, now I wonder if this is a robin that has grabbed bait fish and somehow put two and two together and figured out how to get slow moving fish from slushy water? Did the robin figure it out by seeing a resemblance between the fish and a worm that it would normally go for?
Has anyone else ever seen a robin active fish for food?
Why Not Use RADAR To Prevent Bird Strikes
As more editorials come out about the concern over bird strikes in airplanes, I had kind of a duh moment yesterday on Twitter. BirdDiva posted a link to the Merlin RADAR system as a means to track birds around airports.
Well, duh!
She brought up a good point--we can track bird and even insect migration with RADAR, so why not translate that technology to airports? It seems to be a better solution that just shooting any bird willy nilly whether it's an endangered species or not?
Is it possible that the solution could be this simple?
Hello all, NBB here. Sharon's still catching up from her trip to Atlanta (where TSA confiscated her deodorant for some reason) so you and I are stuck together. Deal with it. First off, a reminder that Birds and Beers is at the end of the month, and it takes place at a bar where you can watch thousands of crows come to roost in Loring Park. I've made my affection for crows public knowledge, and even if you're on the fence, the sheer number is a spectacle. If you go to Birds and Beers this month and are not impressed, you can punch me*.
* Restrictions:
- You must present a receipt from Joe's Garage on the date and time in question.
- You must specifically be attending Birds and Beers.
- You cannot punch me in the face or neck.
- You must allow me to brace myself.
- If you kill me a lá Harry Houdini, I will haunt you and all your descendants.
Second... well, I didn't really think this out. I'm supposed to be writing a script for the next show for Theatre Arlo, Macbeth: the Video Game Remix, but we're too busy enjoying the Minnesota weather that's in the positive integers. And by "enjoying" I mean "drinking and watching Arrested Development."
I honestly don't have anything else to share with you. My wacky story of an eagle-spotting gone wrong was ruined by the fact that while taking a joke photo of a squirrel I accidentally took a photo of the actual squirrel who had been mortally wounded by a raptor was something of a bring down. I made the mistake of mentioning this to Neil who mentioned it to Sharon and turned the whole thing into a colosal bring down, which is my essential problem with birds, birdwatching, and nature in general. I prefer to live in a world where animals spend their time delivering your mail and helping you with wacky bank heists.
So.
Sharon says I should mention something actually related to birding here, so I'll just post this video, and we can all go about our business, okay?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLgPjwbdYDw[/youtube]
West Bound and Down!
WARNING! SOMEWHAT GROSS PHOTO AT THE END OF THIS POST!
I'm wrapping up my time in Atlanta and I wait for my flight home to Minneapolis. I have to say that the trade show that I went to was smaller than usual and one had to really search to find something innovative and not just a bird feeder that's been around for over a decade (or in at least one case, close to 50 years) and call it new. But I did find a few gems that I'll post later.
In the meantime, I see that Non Birding Bill took my advice and blogged a birding even he and Mr. Neil witnessed yesterday at the feeders. I love it, I'm in the middle of a trade show, busy looking for article ideas and potential new products for the OpenSky Store and NBB calls, "Okay, don't get mad."
Knowing that he and Mr. Neil were free-wheeling boys while each one's special lady friend was out of town I was a tad concerned when the phone call starts with that. I immediately inhaled a calming breath bracing myself for something like:
"We decided to move the beehives to a sunnier spot...and ended up with a broken spleen."
or
"We thought of a new bird food recipe involving chocolate a millet and the birds are eating it like mad!"
or
"Neil and I decided to shave our initials into our hair and now we look totally rad!"
or
"We chipped in and bought a boat to sail the Mississippi when the ice is out this spring, it's shaped like a coffin!"
You know, the typical shenanigans men can get into when sensible feminine counterpoint is no longer available. But no, it was that they saw some sort of raptor try to take a squirrel and they didn't know what it was or get photos. Bill wrote an epic blog entry to the harrowing tale.
Between you and me, the story during the phone call from the two shifted a bit (I used clever questioning techniques learned from watching Adam-12 all last week). It started that they saw a bald eagle take a squirrel, well maybe not a bald eagle, but way bigger than a hawk, possibly and owl, and well the squirrel did get away and we're trying to find it and it could have been a golden eagle or just a really big ass red-tailed hawk.
Golden eagle would not be out of the realm of possibility. When Golden Eagle 42 was working his way south from the Arctic Circle this fall, he actually flew over Mr. Neil's. He actually roosted within a quarter mile of our beehives one night. I even got a terrible photo of him flying--holy cow, did I ever post that photo? I need to dig that up, that was a cool tale.
However, this morning as I wait for my flight back to the Twin Cities I see Mr. Neil has sent me further (somewhat gruesome evidence of their raptor adventure yesterday).
Here is the squirrel that suffered the apparent attack. Mr. Neil writes, "This was the only squirrel around after the eagle left and we came out with cameras. I wasn't sure if it was the one attacked or not, as I thought the atacked one was a short-tailed guy who had been hanging around that feeder all morning. But looking at the photo, I think it was this one after all..."
Mr. Neil also sent a closer image of the squirrel's head:
I'm not sure that this squirrel is long for this world and I wonder if the raptor in question will be back for it soon? Now I think I have answer to how some squirrels lose their eyes.
Well done, boys, well done.
Where Eagles Aren't
"Hey honey, you got a second?" "Sure."
"Okay. Don't get mad."
(sigh) "What happened?"
"Neil thinks he saw an eagle come down and try to get a squirrel in his yard."
"Why would I be mad about that?"
"Because you get mad when we think we see birds."
"Well, why don't you two boys go out and try and find it, then write it up in the blog while I'm busy in Atlanta."
"Okay."
Vicious Eagle-on-Squirrel Assault Leaves Local Man Scared, Shaken.
The terrified man, shown here protected by his faithful hound, was "simply glad to have survived the encounter."
Here he indicates where the savage attack took place... right outside his own window!
Your faithful reporter thought he meant here. Turns out that was your faithful reporter's own bootprint.
Turns out he meant here. Imagine the event, if you will. In fact, you sorta have to.
Here the witness looks at the tree into which the bird flew, following the attack.
Pictured: the tree into which the Eagle may have flown. Not pictured: the Eagle.
Your faithful reporter scans the skies for sight of the fell beast. What's that? Has the eagle returned, red in tooth and claw?
No. Just some bees. Strangely out and about in sub-zero weather, they quickly proved more than a match for this humble correspondent, who beat cheeks after rescuing one or two from a snowy grave.
THE END.
Sharon will return tomorrow. I know, I know. We're all glad.
Birder Arrest
The news buzzing around on the interwebs is that a birder in Massachusetts has been arrested while he was birding. The email recounting the birder's plight can be found on the New Jersey birding listserv.
The birder claims he was birding in Rumney Marsh and someone from one of the houses next to the marsh called police because they thought the guy with binoculars was looking at their house. The birder then claims that after he left the marsh, police arrested him despite his claims of birding because the police said that there are no birds around in winter. The birder's binoculars were confiscated as evidence and the birder also has charges of resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer.
I wasn't there, I have no idea if this is an example or police brutality or a lippy birder but it does make me think of all the times birders risk being mistaken for some sort of peeping tom or potential thief. Non Birding Bill and I have had an interesting week of tv watching the old Adam-12 series (pictured above) followed by a few episodes of The Wire. Two radically different police shows. Are the police all Reed and Malloys or are they all Bunk and McNultys? Somewhere in the middle would guess.
I think this story is a good reminder that as a birder, we can't just bound onto property or aim our scopes and binoculars in someone's yard and hope that when you reveal yourself as a bird watcher everyone will roll their eyes, call out, "Nerd Alert," and let you be.
I think this story is a good reminder that if we want to keep enjoying our hobby and passion--especially in any area where there is a house, we have to be diplomats whether we like it or not. We have to understand that there are going to be police who have no clue about Christmas Bird Counts, robins who spend the winter with us, Project Feeder Watch, airport snowy owls and all the other activities that we love.
Some Winter Bird Feeding
I'll be heading to Atlanta for the birding trade show called Bird Watch America tomorrow looking for the latest and greatest in new birding products. I'll also dip my toe into the ginormous AmericasMart because I suspect quite a few birding vendors are hiding there. I'll probably do quite a bit of preview photos through Twitter if you would like to follow or check that out between blog posts.
My buddy Kirk who is behind the blog Twin Cities Naturalist and I were talking bird feeders last night. I was out getting photos of some of the feeders in my OpenSky store. We started talking about the Yankee Whipper, a feeder I've had great success with that he said had a design flaw. Surprised, I asked what he meant and he sent me this video he aptly titled: Squirrel Abs of Steel.
I think if that's how I had to eat, my abs would rival Shakira's. Yikes.
I had a meeting yesterday morning and while I was out and about, I stopped at Elm Creek Park for a few minutes just to soak up some birds. I won't have time to do much of any birding in Atlanta--it's all about the bird product. The tree sparrows were the largest numbers I've seen all winter.
And boy were they feisty with each other. The nature center does a good job of putting food out, but with our sub zero temperatures freezing the snow solid, easily available food is rare and birds will fight for the best access to the food source.
Speaking of winter survival, Cornell's Celebrate Urban Birds is hosting a contest. They are asking for people to send in photos, drawings, sculpture, video, story, poem--or anything creative to show how birds survive winter in urban environments.
What are you seeing in your neighborhoods?
This Hawk Is So Tiny!
How tiny is it?
How about this: it preys on hummingbirds! Below is a video from the FatBirder Channel on YouTube. It's a bird called a Tiny Hawk (Accipiter superciliosus) and it is about 8 inches long. To give you an idea, a robin that you would see in your backyard in North America averages about ten inches. Cardinal average about 8.75 inches. To give you an even bigger idea, the hawk in the video below is eating a hummingbird called a white-necked jacobin!
Don't worry, the video is not that gross and is very cool. Be sure to check out the other videos at FatBirders's YouTube Channel.
CUTE! Owl Goes For Shuttlecocks!
Here is a link to a story of an adorable owl called a brown hawk owl (which looks like a cross between a boreal owl and a sharp-shinned hawk) that was photographed going after the shuttlecock from a badminton game.
I especially love the photo of the owl trying to eat the shuttlecock--I'm sure after that non taste sensation, it won't be trying that again.