Birds and Beers Woodcock Tailgate Party

Just a reminder that next Tuesday night is the Birds and Beers Woodcock Tailgate Party! We head out to Lebanon Hills Regional Park, have some laughs and then 15 minutes after sunset try to watch the woodcock display. The woodcocks start their display about 15 – 20 minutes after sunset, which means they will start around 8:30pm. Since the display area is next to the visitor center at the park, we’ll meet there starting about 6:30pm and have an old fashioned tailgate party–you can come early to mingle or come closer to magic hour.  Bring your own food and beverages and we’ll laugh until it’s Woodcock Time.  The park closes at 10pm, so this gives us plenty of time to get some great birding done.  Last year we had a great horned owl show up and still got great looks at the timberdoodles (aka woodcocks).

Recommended to bring: lawn chair and boots, might be a little muddy.  Dress in layers, it could be warm when the sun is out and gets cool quickly when it's dark.  Binoculars and a flashlight are a good idea too.

If it rains on Tuesday, April 19, our make up date will be the following Tuesday, April 26, 2011–same bat time, same bat channel.

Owl Chick, Finally!

As I was working my way around my neighborhood the other day on my bike, I made one final stop before heading home to check on the great horned owl net.  I hoped that since it was so warm that the female would be up and out of the nest and maybe I'd get a glimpse of a chick.  She did seem to be up a little higher but I couldn't see any sign of the young.  I tried scanning the trees where I usually see the male perched as a sentry over the territory, but couldn't find him.  I decided to get an establishing shot of the nest.

That's when I noticed him--he was perched right out in the open above the nest!  Do you see where the nest is in relation to the male?  The nest is in the lower right hand corner in the crotch of the tree.  You can see her little tufts stick up out of the nest.

It was interesting to me that even though he was out in the open and I had my scope on him, a few people walked past me and didn't seem to notice.  Yo, people, huge owl up here.  As I took this photo, a Cooper's hawk flew in, circled the tree to buzz the owls and then continued on its way.  It didn't vocalize but it was as if the fly by was letting the owls know, "Yeah, I see you, you're not fooling me."

The male kept a hairy ball in the direction of the Cooper's hawk.  He never looked at me again after that, but watched the fast little hawk. A few other birds came in to mob them as well.

This flicker was my favorite.  She slowly worked the branches for food and then suddenly noticed the owl (that photo is right when she noticed the male) and started giving a warning call.  She even dove at the male a few times.  I wondered if she hadn't seen the nest because all the mobbing in the world by a flicker is not going to get that owl to move.  And let's face it flickers can't even drive out a starling.

The female wasn't too worried.  She seemed to be snoozing in the sun, paying no attention to me or the flicker.

I started to leave and I turned to take one last look and then I saw the female adjust herself.  I aimed the scope and up popped a baby owly head!  So cute and fluffy!  It shook its head a few times and then disappeared under the female again.  Nice to know that there's at least one chick in the nest.

Check out the baby, see the little white dot on the tip of its bill?  That's an egg tooth.  Something birds have in the egg that helps them chip out of the shell.  It usually sheds not long after hatching.  I checked over at Cornell's Birds of North America Online and looked up owl tooth development on great horned owls: "Young show remnants of yolk sac and retain egg tooth for 4–6 days (Turner and McClanahan 1981) or traces of both egg tooth and yolk sac for up to 2 weeks (Hoffmeister and Setzer 1947). Eyes remain closed until 9-11 days of age"

Young owls don't always hatch at the same time, there can be a day or two difference.  I wonder if this is the youngest owlet in the nest?  It's a safe bet that these birds are less than 9 days old or hatched early last week sometime.  Exciting!

Oh and I found this empty wrapper not too far from the nest tree.  I wonder what kind of shenanigans the owls witness at night?

Birding By Bike

Birding got the better of me yesterday--you will note there is no podcast today. I had my day all planned out, serious writing to do, if I got to certain point I would ride my bike for exercise, then tidy up the kitchen, mop the floor, make dinner, record the podcast and then bed.  The siren song of 70 degree weather and spring migration poved to be too much.  I got to a good point on my writing and changed into my bike gear.  I realized that all of the lakes near me iced out the day before so waterfowl would be a good possibility.  I figured out a safe way to strap my spotting scope to my bike...tucked my camera for digiscoping into my backpack and hit the trails.  What only should have been an hour long ride turned into three.

Cool waterfowl were all over Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet.  This is part of a mixed flock of red-breasted mergansers and horned grebes.  I about wiped out on my bike when I saw this flock close to shore.  The trails were so packed with Minnesotans walking and riding that I had a tough time getting a photo without someone jogging in front of my camera.  As I was watching this flock, I heard a guy tell his friend, "Hey the dog wants to run, I'm gonna jump him in the water here."

"Pardon me," I shouted to get his attention.  "I'm actually trying to watch those birds right in front of us, would you mind using a different stretch of the 3 mile trail around the lake?"

He hadn't noticed me or the birds, was very apologetic and gladly jumped his dog further down the trail.  I could understand, I'm oblivious to people around me when I watch birds and the lake trails were so packed, I could see how someone might think a bird watcher would be no where near this place.

Here's a photo of a pair of male red-breasted mergansers.  I have to say, that when my single female friends lament about having trouble meeting someone, I always try to suggest birding.  If you want to attract attention, go to a crowded lake with a bike and a spotting scope--guys come of out of the woodwork to talk to you...although I have to wonder, is my butt in the biking pants or my Swarovski that really gets their attention?  Most of the people who came up to me wanted to know if I was watching the loons.  I'd seen the loons, but they were further out and the mergansers were closer.  One guy kept trying to get me to move my scope to watch the loons (which is a refreshing change, normally people want me to look at that bald eagle on the other side of the lake).  I kept insisting that I was really into seeing the red-breasted mergansers which have a more Dr. Seuss look than the loons.

I did find a pair of loons very close to shore on Lake Calhoun.  I planted myself on the ground to snapped away. Nothing like watching the elegant and deadly fish killing machine in bright sun.

As I took photos, one of the birds yodeled loudly and everyone on the trails stopped moving and stopped talking momentarily.  Everyone had to pay attention to that haunting sound.  It was cool to hear it and even cooler to see everyone around me to pause and take notice.  How strange and wonderful it was to hear it with the Minneapolis skyline in the background, this bird so associated with the remote northern woods and lakes.  I overheard a nearby jogger say to her companion, "That really did sound like a loon, that must be what those birds are out there.  Wow!"

I'm so grateful when I find loons in the metro area, especially biking distance from my home.  When I first moved up here, I expected the state bird of Minnesota to be as easy to find as the state bird of Indiana was.  It was actually a year or so before I got to experience a wild loon.  There seems to be a pair that hangs out all summer bouncing between the Chain of Lakes in Minneapolis.  Maybe one summer they will successfully nest and fledge a young loon?

I don't know that I got much in the way of exercise since I stopped to watch birds so many times, but it was totally worth going out.  I don't regret my dirty kitchen one bit (I made Non Birding Bill fire up the grill for dinner instead).

Next podcast will be Friday for sure...it's supposed to get nastier weather later this week so no migratory distractions.

Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel Says...

"Pbbbbbbbbbbbt!"

Heron Rookery

The great blue heron rookery is easily visible now in North Mississippi Regional Park.  I had to give a program there on Saturday afternoon and the nest building birds were a treat to watch. The trees haven't leafed out yet and so you can make out which nests are still under construction and which already contained incubating females.

I was very interested to note a great egret perched among the great blue herons (wasn't able to digiscope a photo)--will this colony diversify to other species?   Speaking of which, not everyone is happy to have a heron rookery in their neighborhood.  There's a news story from Kentucky of some residents who have gone so far as to cut down trees to keep nesting black-crowned night-herons from nesting over their homes.

Goldfinches Shifting To Breeding Plumage

No Shutdown

Well, good news for birding this weekend.  The government shutdown has been averted...just barely.  That means my heron program is still on today at North Miss.

Birding and the Government Shutdown

I was out at Mr. Neil's the other day doing some final inspecting of bee equipment (they should be here in a week and a half).  We're getting seven new hives this spring and poor Hans (the groundskeeper) was trying to finish removing our dead hives in time for the new bees.  I had a hard time focusing because migration has hit hard.  A big flock of purple finches were chowing down around the feeders.  Above is a purple finch perched on a red-osier dogwood (I love the way the feathers of the male compliment the branches).  This is a purple finch and not a house finch because there is no streaking on the flanks and he's an overall beefier bird.

It's interesting to note the change in juncos (the bird behind the purple finch).  Their breeding hormones are kicking in and they are chasing each other singing like crazy.  Here's what a singing junco sounds like--have you heard that in your neighborhood?

You may have heard some talk in the news this week about a possible government shutdown.  It's been brewing for awhile and I must admit, up until yesterday I thought it was nothing more than bluffing you would find on a prairie chicken lek.  As of yesterday, I think it may happen.  I find it amusing that one of the reasons I have my part time Park Ranger job is so I can have a safety net with my unpredictable freelance work and in a strange turn of events, it has suddenly become the unpredictable job.

I have a program on Saturday and at the time that I'm typing this, I have no idea if it will happen (and no official idea until midnight eastern time Friday night).  A friend invited me to go birding on Saturday if I don't have to work and I'm not sure where we will be going.  Some of the places I love to visit will be closed off during the shutdown like Minnesota Valley NWR.  Here's a list of all National Wildlife Refuges in Minnesota.  You might want to click on your state's link and see what refuges could be closed near you.  Keep in mind that National Parks, National Historic Sites, National Forests and Bureau of Land Management areas.  Think of where you plan to watch birds this weekend.  If "National" is in the title of the park...you will not get in if there is a shut down.

Let's hope it doesn't happen and if it does that it is brief.

And let's keep politics of the shutdown out of the comment section.  I'm not happy with anyone involved that this is happening and this post is more a head's up to birders about where they plan to watch birds this weekend.

Young Birder Of The Year

That beautiful face is Rachel Butek, the American Birding Association's Young Birder of the Year.  Ms. Butek is not too far from me, she hails from western Wisconsin (chances are good we've birded the same areas) is a home schooler who is hoping to start college soon.  She competed in the seven-month contest in which 10- to 18-year-old birders submit up to 52 pieces of work to be judged in four different modules: writing, photography, illustration, and field notebook.  Even though contestants only needed to do 3...she did all 4!  Go, Rachel!  And bonus points for wearing a cute hat (as opposed to the dreadful Tilley Hat birders seem so attached to).

You can read more about Rachel over at the ABA blog.

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?"