Hidden Owl

Here's the male owl that's nesting near my apartment.  Look at how well those feathers blend with that bark. I've said it before and I'll say it again, "How many owls do I walk under in a year and never notice?  30?"

 

Eagle Parenting Mistakes

There's an interesting clip of the Decorah Bald Eagle nest live cam.  You get to see a minor parenting mistake made by the male eagle.  The female ends up fixing it, but night right away.  One thing that I find fascinating about the cam--well all the prey items, Monday one of the birds brought in a muskrat.  But you can also see that it takes the pair of eagles awhile to figure out how to solve the problem.  That hamster wheel in their brain doesn't turn very fast. The clip is about six minutes long, but I'll show you some high lights with screen captures:

The male was noodling around in the nest.  He didn't appear to be feeding the chicks, but picking out uneaten food morsels. The newly hatched chicks instinctively go to peck and beg when the adult's head comes down.  This poor eaglet bit into the male eagle's face, looks like right below the eye.

The male jerks his head back and flicks the chick off.

The male then kind of stares at the moved chick for a bit.  I think he realized that the chick is not supposed to be there, but doesn't know how to move it back.  The chick, out on the edge of the nest where it's cooler begins peeping.

Since the chick is peeping and the male doesn't know what else to do, he feeds it.

Then he hunkers down and broods the chick and remaining egg in the nest cup (I don't think that third egg is going to hatch). The moved chick looks rather indignant.  The chick is too small to do much movement on its own and it's still fairly cool, if this chick doesn't get moved back to the middle of the nest to be brooded by the adults, it could die of hypothermia.

The female returned and kind of pushed the male off, who made a hasty retreat. Perhaps he didn't want to be around when the female realized one of the chicks had been moved?

The female soon hunkered down on the chick and egg in the nest cup and it took her a bit to suddenly notice the eaglet outside of it.  Even then, you could see her trying to work out in her head what was wrong and how to fix this.

It took 2 or 3 attempts for her to move the chick.  She has to be careful, her beak is meant to rip open animals for food, so she doesn't want to accidentally injure the chick.  During the final attempt she was able to kind of roll the chick under her.  So, a happy ending...but it did take a long time.  One of the reasons eagles lay 2 or 3 eggs is that the goal is to get one of those to result in a young eagle leaving the nest.  There's the first egg and the others laid after that are a back up plan--insurance in case something happens to the first hatched chick.  So many things can go wrong from not enough food, rough weather and well, parenting mistakes.

Also, something else I noticed in that clip is the bird watchers:

See the 2 vehicles?  You can even see someone behind the vehicle on the right.  Do they know this is the live cam nest or are they random bird watchers?

Here's the YouTube video if you would like to watch the eagle parenting mistake:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ5kPUtqiuw&feature=channel_video_title[/youtube]

 

 

 

Random Robin

"Even I'm impressed with how robust my chest is."

And yes, that is snow in the background of this photo.  Spring is not quite here.

Birdchick Podcast #20: Pranks, Pelicans & Penguins

Non Birding Bill and I are going to experiment with a longer podcast this week.  We are opening a show that is a paroday of The Love Boat at the Bryant Lake Bowl this week and chances are good we will not be able to keep up with doing three shows this week.  Let us know if you would like this to be shorter and more often or once a week and longer. You can follow me on Twitter @Birdchick (ask me bird questions) and you can follow NBB @bstiteler (do NOT ask him bird questions).  You can always email me sharon at birdchick dot com or connect with me via Facebook here.

Non Birding Bill's great horned owl butt he took holding his iPhone up to my Swarovski ELs:

Screen shot 2011-04-03 at 7.03.06 PM
Screen shot 2011-04-03 at 7.03.06 PM

Speaking of Swarovski Optik, have you seen Pete Dunne's review of their new 10x50 and 12x50 ELs.  He loves 'em!

Bird Blogs:

In today's podcast, we talk about some of my favorite online birding pranks for April 1, 2011 as well as one of my all time favorite bird pranks--that still gets traffic today.

This year's top pranks:

I think Non Birding Bill will love this: Discount Bird Calls

American Birding Association Checklist Changes

Earth, Wind and Water Blog announces plans for ESPN8 to host American Birding Big Day tv show (I totally fell for this one)

Win a Free birding trip to Thailand with David Sibley and ABA President Jeff Gordon at 10,000 Birds

A prank I aided in pulling with another blogger who wishes to remain anonymous (but if you buy me a single malt scotch at a Birds and Beers, I'll gladly verbally out this person) about the "rediscovery" of a Carolina Parakeet.

Bird News:

This unfortunately is  not a prank.  An Arkansas Delta flight hit a flock of birds.  They were not identifiable according to the news article, but I think many birders can see from the photos (WARNING GRAPHIC) that they are American white pelicans based on the upper bill, yellow skin in front of the bill and black wing tips.

We mentioned the oil spill threatening rockhopper penguins on an island chain located halfway between Africa and Argentina in the podcast a couple of weeks ago and in more hopeful news, there are at least 5000 penguins that have been gathered for rescue. The death toll so far appears to be 300 penguins but it sounds like state officials and local volunteers are working as hard as they can to help this breeding colony.  Here's a great video of one of the first people on the scene...it's sad to note that the penguins are not the only ones affected by the spill.  If you want to help, send money to International Bird Rescue Research Center.

Dacorah Live Bald Eagle Cam gets so much traffic with chick hatching that it crashes the site.  Here are highlights of the hatching.  Early on  you can see the beaks "pipping" out of the eggs and by the end there's a floofy eaglet.  You can try and watch the live cam here...if it's not too overloaded with traffic.  It is nice to have on as background to your work day--it's excellent video quality and the sounds of surrounding birds is awesome.  Here's a screen shot from Sunday night and you can see quite the buffet: rabbit feet, crow and a fish:

Screen shot 2011-04-03 at 6.31.13 PM
Screen shot 2011-04-03 at 6.31.13 PM

Who knew bald eagles were fast enough to catch a crow?  Thanks to BosqueBill for pointing it out on Twitter.

Spring Migration is seriously on! Check out this animated RADAR from BadBirdz from Saturday night.  Get the latest updates here.  Did you see any new birds on Sunday or Monday?

Feathers are in the news twice:

Using chicken feathers as a basis for plastics?

Pigeons with darker feathers are healthier than pigeons with light feathers.

Upcoming Birding Event:

American Birding Association young birder camps.  One in Colorado and one in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas.  They seriously need to offer these to adults.

You can subscribe to the Birdchick podcast on iTunes

Black Ducks Wear Dog Masks Too!

The Mississippi River has been flooding a bit in downtown St. Paul, MN.  It's an exciting time for us park rangers at Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.  I've been out taking photos for the park's Facebook Page of the progessing river levels and can't help but get in some spring birding when I'm out and about.  See the tangle of trees on the right behind the rail?  There were a pair of song sparrows lurking in there.

There was no singing on territory but anxious chips from the pair.  I think they were looking for food and I wondered if they had nested in this spot last year when the river was lower.  Now they arrived and were perplexed at the dramatic change in water level.  Normally, the river is about 9 feet and when I digiscoped the above image it was over 18 feet.  Soon the river will recede and the birds can go along with their nesting plans.

There's plenty around for the song sparrows to eat.  I saw this early spring insect near the trees (that white stuff in the back of the photo is unmelted snow--yes, we still have some).  There were bird feeders nearby by too, chock full of millet so the song sparrows should be fine.

Ducks have been enjoying the high water, foraging in the grass right off the river.  Above you can see 2 mallards and an American black duck.  Remember the whole meme of Ducks Wear Dog Masks?

Apparently black ducks have do too, it's not just mallards.  Their dog mask is a bit more subdued.

Birdchick Podcast #19

Hey!  It's Non Birding Bill's zombie video.  Warning: there are zombies, some parts may make the queasy unhappy: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81qIUuExQmQ[/youtube]

Petrels migrating long distance...leads to the question: if a radio tagged bird flies over your state and no one sees it but he telemetry says that it was there...does it count?

Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Big Day for Conservation!

Michigan wildlife rehabbers may not be able to treat injured non native/invasive/habitat destroying mute swans.

Charlie Moores is now at Birding Blogs!

Looking for fun birding times?  Check out the Acadia Birding Festival!  You'll get all the Pete Dunne and Kevin Karlson you can handle.  I haven't been to Maine since 2006, but here are some past blog entries.

You can subscribe to the Birdchick podcast on iTunes.

Minnesota Parks Need Help

Birders and Hunters in Minnesota.  We need to work together.  We have some problems that are coming up and we need to voice our dismay: Potential Closing Of Many Minnesota State Parks

According to the Star Tribune, "the Republican-controlled House would cut deepest, but both houses would limit spending for the environment and natural resources during the next two years to about $200 million, a trim of about $40 million from projected spending. The House and Senate proposed more cuts than DFL Gov. Mark Dayton recommended, but he makes up much of the gap with outdoor and environmental fee increases.

DNR officials said the cuts could force a "mothballing" of up to 10 parks until state finances improve. Under the plan, the parks would remain open, but campgrounds and buildings would probably be closed and unstaffed."

This is so short sided.  I can't think of one single person I know who hasn't been affected by the economy in the last few years.  Non Birding Bill and I included.  I don't blog about my financial woes, but like many people out there--we have them, it's inevitable if you earn a portion of your living as a free lancer.  The one thing that sustains me when cash flow is short is going outdoors, taking in the natural world at our local parks.  It's one of the affordable things a family can do.  We need to fight, to find out what we would give to help keep these parks open.  Minnesota State Parks are not just recreation, but classrooms and what makes this state a special place to live.

Logging Proposed In Minnesota State Parks

This also according to the Star Tribune, "A bill requiring the Department of Natural Resources to commercially log trees in two southeastern Minnesota state parks, which officials say would be unprecedented, has sparked the debate and galvanized park supporters. The bill will be voted on next week in the full Minnesota House.

It orders the DNR to harvest black walnut and "timber resources suitable for harvest'' in Frontenac and Whitewater state parks, and use profits to help fund the park system. Bill supporters say the state can't afford to let valuable trees rot in the woods. Opponents say the measure is shortsighted and would open up state parks to commercialization. The DNR opposes the bill.

But Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, who added the logging amendment to a large environmental finance bill, said it makes sense.

"The alarmists say you're going to clear-cut the whole thing, but that's not what the amendment is,'' he said. "It's simply to harvest the merchantable timber. It would leave 99 percent of trees intact. This is something we have to consider in the economic times we are in. We can't afford to watch our state assets rot.''"

Yikes!  I think Rep. Drazkowski is an example of someone who never spent time in the woods and didn't pay attention in science class.  Those trees are not just rotting, but are a huge resource for the many people who enjoy watching birds.  All the birds that feed on insects found in "rotting" trees: pileated woodpeckers, brown creepers, black and white warblers, prothonotary warblers, red-breasted nuthatches, eastern screech-owls, barred owls, flickers...that's just scratching the surface.

This cannot pass.

Legislative-Citizens Commission on Minnesota Resources Poised To 25 Programs

This from Minnesota Public Radio, "The LCCMR -- the Legislative-Citizens Commission on Minnesota Resources -- decided to stick with the package it approved in December, even though the legislature is expected to make major changes.

But since the November election, Republicans are in control at the Legislature, and the new chairmen of the House and Senate environment committees say there are new priorities. The two chairmen presented the group with a list of 25 projects they said had no chance of passing this year. Many were research efforts; others addressed global warming and environmental education.

Rep. Denny McNamara, R-Hastings, chair of the House Environment Committee, handed out a new list that represented a compromise. It would drop 27 projects and add five new ones -- all in a category he calls "emerging issues."

The emerging issues McNamara wants to address include chronic wasting disease in deer, aquatic invasive species, and the Coon Rapids dam.

And now there are even talks of changing the the lottery funds law."

The Coon Rapids Dam pisses me off on so many levels.  The proposal is to invest 17 million into repairing the dam and making it an effective barrier to the upstream migration of Asian carp and other unwanted fish.

If this would actually work to stop the Asian carp, I would be so on board with this.  Alas, it will not.  It's simply an over priced band-aid.  And lack of science and nature based education must be playing a roll with the law makers thinking.

In the article, it quotes Paul Labovitz, the superindentent of the park I work for:

"We are not convinced that the Coon Rapids dam is an effective barrier and that refurbishing the dam will only delay, not prevent, the spread of Asian carp," said Paul Labovitz, superintendent of the 72-mile Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.

He said it would be more effective to simply close the locks at Lock and Dam No. 1, a 38-foot structure below the Ford Parkway bridge between Minneapolis and St. Paul, or the Upper St. Anthony Lock and Dam, a 49-foot drop near downtown Minneapolis' Stone Arch Bridge.

"If the state relies on the Coon Rapids dam as the first and best place to stop Asian carp and ignores the river below, we believe the Mississippi River through the whole corridor could suffer," Labovitz said.

This blog post is a rant, but we need to stop this madness.  People move to Minnesota and visit it for the culture and the outdoors.  We've had so much success!  We can't throw it out now, we can't undo all the great work we've done up to this point.

Eastern Screech-Owl At MN History Center

While working at the park service today, I noticed a Tweet from my friend Sara asking if I knew that the Minnesota History Center had an owl stuck inside.  She referenced a photo at @MNHS has posted on their Twitter Feed:

An eastern screech-owl (gray phase).  The History Center is in downtown St. Paul, only a few blocks away from where my visitor center is located for the National Park Service.  The History Center also tweeted that the University of Minnesota's Raptor Center was coming to capture the owl.

By the time I arrived, the small owl had already been captured by the TRC experts.  They took it back to the clinic to give it an exam, but I expect the bird will be released quite soon.  As I entered the building, I could hear people on the roof doing repairs.  A few quick questions at the box office confirmed my suspicion: the owl mostly likely entered the fourth floor via the roof repair area sometime in the night.

As I left, I noticed a stand of pines and thought, "Wow, that would be a nice place for an urban screech owl to roost.  I wonder if I can find any owl sign?

Yep, I found a spot with poop consistent with with small owl fecal material.  I can't say for certain that this is THE screech-owl that was captured, but most likely it is.

Glad the story had a quick ending and TRC was able to get the owl out of the gigantic History Center.  Here's a video from the St. Paul Pioneer Press about the wayward owl:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=a6v9L7QxgiM#at=16[/youtube]