Documenting Bad Behavior Of Birders & Photographers

There's an interesting and odd trend this winter. Owls generally do not bring out the warm cozy camaraderie in the birding community. If anything it brings out the soapboxes and the worst behavior. You have people on both ends of the spectrum: some people say to not report owl sitings ever because the owls will be disturbed. Then you have people who are excited about seeing an owl and want to share it with everybody and then you have the people who know there's an owl, what to get an awesome photo no matter the cost to the fellow observers or the birds themselves. This winter there have been a whole host of arguments on various listservs but what is different is that people are now filming it and putting it on YouTube. Here's one from Boundary Bay, British Columbia, Canada:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0_gzY2k7P0

Here's another at Breezy Point, NY:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-f8AzNn-F8&feature=youtu.be

Non Birding Bill and I even took a video and photos of a jerk last winter with a huge lens who was among several people watching a saw-whet owl and decided he needed to be all up in that, not only walking in front of everyone but getting to the point of almost flushing the owl.

I don't want to pin this behavior to just photographers, there are jerk birders too.  But is this how we are going to deal with the behavior? Is this the best way?

PowerPoint Karaoke

If you've ever wondered what Non Birding Bill looks like, you can see him in this demo video for PowerPoint Karaoke: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c7saFlTD6s

I'll be hosting the next one Tuesday, February 7 at the Bryan Lake Bowl. Frequent Birds and Beers attendee Duck Washington will be a contestant as will Bill Corbett.  Judges will be Ian Punnett and Kevin Murphy.  Come for some easy laughs and stay for a beer and the mock duck rolls!

Drive By Cooting

During my South Texas break, we stopped at Santa Ana NWR for a bit.  It ended up being too mosquito-ish for my taste and we didn't last long there but got some great looks at least grebe.  These always look like they just heard the most shocking news ever...or that they are swimming around with some juicy gossip.  Saw-whet owls have the same look to them.

Suddenly, an American coot just took off full bear towards the least grebe I was watching.  Note the other grebe up in the left hand corner watching with excitment.

BOOM! The coot nailed the grebe!

I'm guessing the grebe managed to dodge the coot with a quick submerge but I was surprised it resurfaced so quickly.

I love it.  The least grebe looks as if it's thinking, "WTF was that all about?"

Bentsen Rio Grande State Park Birds via iPhone

South Texas, as always was SO much fun.  Even if you choose to do some casual birding you can still hit all the specialties.  I took a mini break down there over the weekend to hang with a girlfriend and since we had both been there, each day we slept in and let our bodies wake us rather than our alarm clocks and enjoyed the local Mexican restaurants and headed to our favorite parks.

I always have a soft spot for Bentsen Rio Grande State Park. It's the first south Texas park I ever visited in the Rio Grande Valley and where I got most of my Texas specialties like the above green jay (you can get them at most of the parks, but like actors who portray The Doctor, you never forget your first).  Sitting in the balmy 60 - 70 degree weather with my scope and bins really made the tension melt from my bones.

Though walking and biking are fantastic ways to enjoy this Texas park, the bird feeders really deliver. The birds went crazy for this log filled with peanut butter. There was even a clay-colored thrush (or clay-colored robin as some field guides call it). These sometimes zip over the border from Mexico but I haven't seen one since Panama.  Not that I really note that, but I guess I got a new bird for my US list without even trying.

I really clicked with using my iPhone 4s for digiscoping rather than my Nikon D40.  I'm hopeful that by the time spring arrives, I will no longer go out with that camera and only go out with my iPhone...we'll see.  Hand holding has been okay but not as nice as having an adapter.  But since I was having such luck in Texas, I tried taking video at the feeders...I was hand holding but it turned out okay.  Ignore what the people are saying during the oriole part.  They were sitting next to us and talking about a different bird than what you see in the video.

http://youtu.be/A1j4Rvcz0pE

I loved those great kiskadees.  They were "peanut butter catching" at the feeder like they would for aerial insects.  As a matter of fact, because the kiskadees were so fast, they people next to us thought they were grabbing flies attracted to the feeder.  But check out these stills I grabbed from the video:

That's a beakful of peanut butter!

Even the plain chachalacas got in on the peanut butter action...I don't think I saw a single woodpecker come to that feeder.

Besides all of these there were warblers checking it out as well (warblers in January, what a gift to this Minnesota girl). We didn't see them, but many reported that bobcats come to hunt around the feeders too...needless to say, we didn't see squirrels.

Thank you, Bentsen State Park, for a lovely afternoon.

Flat Stanley In Texas

So, I was checking out photos of Flat Stanley other people have put in at the Flat Stanley Project and people totally photoshopped him in on some photos.  That's cheating.  I could have done that with my nephew's Flatty S--he could have been in Israel and birding with me in a minefield but I didn't have him when I went there and that is so not the point of a Flat Stanley.

But I did take him to Texas and to the happiest birding place on Earth--Estero Llano Grande. Here I had Flatty S ( I couldn't help but give him a good rap name) looking through my scope.

He enjoyed all the different ducks including shovelers, green-winged teal and cinnamon teal. But we weren't the only ones interested in the waterfowl at Estero.

We found a Cooper's hawk very interested in the ducks--see Flat Stanley is pointing to it.  This was one relaxed hawk, I can't believe how close it was to the trail and that it let us walk past without getting spooked.  I tried digiscoping it with my phone.

The Cooper's hawk looked and Flat Stanley as though it was thinking, "Can I eat that?"  But the hawk did not eat Flatty S.  It stuck around for quite some time, even others walked past without phasing the bird.

The hawk sat there for so long even a pigeon flew into bathe...then suddenly had that awkward moment when you realize that a predator has joined you in the bath.

These were awesome birds but I wanted to show Flat Stanley a real Texas specialty, something he couldn't see anywhere else so we went to look for for the common pauraque.

Here my buddy Flatty S is pointing the mysterious nightjar the common pauraque.  Can you make it out at the trunk of the tree?  No worries, I took a photo with my iPhone through my scope:

Here's the hiding pauraque up close.  I had to chuckle, as I was taking photos with Flat Stanley on of Estero's volunteers said, "I have to ask...what's with the little guy?" I explained Flat Stanley and what I was doing, then he gave me a hard look..."You're not going to put it up against the pauraques are you?"

Feeling a little sassy I said, "I'm not THAT stupid." I know he meant well and he had no idea what kind of birder I was.  The pauraques were close to the path and though their defense is to stay still and hidden, some people would take advantage of that and might try to get closer than they should.

So, I've sent Flatty S back home.  Wonder if my nephew will catch the birding bug?

Digiscoping with an iPhone vs SLR

I digiscoped the following photos using both my Nikon D40 and my iPhone 4s with my Swarovski Scope.  Can you tell which ones are the iPhone 4s and which ones are the Nikon D40 photos? 1. Green-winged Teal

2. Northern Pintail

3. Red-eared Slider and Gadwall

4. Red-eared Slider and Gadwall

Flat Stanley Misadventures

One of my nephews has sent me a Flat Stanley.  Having the mind of a 13 year old, I'm tempted mostly to take inappropriate photos of him:

I mean, come on, if you have a friend who has a zombie arm and tombstone in their backyard, of course you are going to put Flat Stanley in it and send a letter home that he was lost in a freak snow zombie attack.  But most of my photos have involved Flat Stanley and compromising photos with bottles of Jameson and I can't really send those back to his school so I've tried to take Flat Stanley birding:

I set him out at a bird feeder with some seed and immediately he had fun with juncos.  I think he'll be fine so long as a Cooper's hawk doesn't shows up.

Boreal Birding & Digiscoping with an iPhone

I think I had the most fun at Sax Zim Bog last weekend since the great owl irruption of 2004/2005. An informal gathering of birders headed up and we started at Hasty Brook. I've known Lynne for some time and I've always wanted to visit. What a treat to start it off with her deck full of common redpolls. I wish we could have spent more time there, she's so lucky to have such a beautiful view to watch birds and animals go by--and incredibly sweet.  Our group birded the crap out of the little daylight we have up here in winter and when we went back to her place, her husband was heating up a huge kettle of wild rice soup.

As much as I miss the birds who sing in the summer, I truly do appreciate living in Minnesota where a few hours drive north gives me a different set of habitat and birds. Redpolls are in abundance this winter in northern MN, which was actually predicted in the Winter Finch Forecast.

Huge flocks of redpolls would descend onto the roads to chow down on either spilled grain or salt mixed with snow. When they would take off, you could actually hear their woosh of wings.

We had a bonus in the car with us when we went, a guide for the bog by the name of Erik Bruhnke came along with us--for fun. He's a young kid trying to earn a living in birding--it was fun to go out in the field with someone so young and excited about birds. There are a lot of great guides up at the bog but the area is so popular they book up quickly, so if you're ever looking for one, Erik is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide. Some in our group had been to the bog several times before and had an idea of where to go, but having someone along who birds the area on a regular basis really helped get all the bog specialties that are being seen.

I used the day to compare digiscoping with my iPhone 4s vs my Nikon D40.  I don't have an adapter yet for the phone so photos like the one above of evening and pine grosbeaks are taken by hand holding the iPhone up to my scope.  Not bad at all!  I've been playing with the camera app that comes with the phone but there's the Camera+ app, I like it because it has image stabilization and the ability to go into burst mode and take a crap ton of pictures all at once.  It's handy if you are doing this without an adapter.

One thing I did learn about my iPhone is that it's not ideal for cold weather digiscoping.  My fingers got so cold that the touch screen function ceased recognizing when something had been touched (it was about 10 degrees Fahrenheit when I took the above photo).  I do have a pair of gloves that is supposed to work with the touch screen, but I have a screen protector and it doesn't work with the gloves.  Also cold fingers can lead to shivering which also doesn't help image stabilization.

Can I say what a treat it was to get some quality time with evening grosbeaks (the above photo was taken with the D40, not the iPhone).  I haven't been around a good sized flock for a few years so it was fun to spend time with these birds who look like like a goldfinch on steroids...though Non Birding Bill thinks they look more like Ed Asner.  We're so lucky that the people who live on Blue Spruce Road just north of 133 in Meadowlands place feeders at the end of their driveway so people can enjoy a bunch of boreal feeder birds.

It's a great little spot to practice digiscoping.  Lots of great colorful winter birds to get shots of like the pine grosbeak.  They seem very used to the traffic.

White-winged crossbills were all over around the bog too.  This one was part of a flock that was in the road.  As we watched it, we picked up a tail of other cars. It's kind of a strange thing to bird around the bog.  You want to get all the specialties and there are plenty of maps to be found of it on the Internet describing where to go, but at the same time if you see someone pulled over, you tend to pull over too to see if they have something you don't.

This is especially true when it's dusk and close to great gray owl time.  One road had a recent report of great grays and around dusk there were almost 2 dozen vehicles slowly cruising back and forth, creeping along and watching, waiting for the elusive giant.  I watched but I'm so spoiled when it comes to great gray owls.  I remember driving and finding 50 in a day.

Fortunately a great gray owl was spotted and the birding paparazzi excitedly moved in to watch it.

It was far, lightly snowing and dusk but thanks to the timer on my Nikon D40 I was able to get an ok shot of it in the low light conditions.

All in all it was a great day of seeing some northern specialties (like the above rough-legged hawk).  If you haven't birded the bog and live within driving distance, grab some friends and head on up.  It's a doable day trip from the Twin Cities.  We left the the northern suburbs at 5:30am and stayed til dusk then stopped for dinner.  I got back to NBB by 9:30pm.

If you'd like to learn more, come to Birds and Beers on Monday.  Lots of people will be happy to share tips (and maybe you'll find a birding buddy to go up).  Also there is a Sax Zim Bog Bird Festival in Feburary which I haven't been to but I know lots of people who have gone and had a great time.  Bird festivals a great way to get to know an area you haven't birded before.

Birds & Beers @WildRoastCafe January 23

The next Birds and Beers is less than a week away and we trying some place new.  Regulars have asked for a place without a band and plenty of room for our group, so we're going to try the Wilde Roast Cafe.  I've been there to meet with friends and for a play reading last month and thought it might be a good fit.  They have a room just for us (I did have to commit that our group would order at least $100 worth of food and  beverage which for our group isn't a problem).  Wilde Roast has beer, wine, tasty eats and great atmosphere.  No scotch or whiskey, but I think that's more my issue than anyone else.

Birds and Beers is an informal gathering of birders of all abilities–if you’re interested in birds, you’re invited. You can meet other birders–maybe find a carpool buddy, ask about where to find target birds, share cool research projects you might be working on, ask a bird feeding question, share life lists, share some digiscoping tips, promote your blog or your bird tour business–the sky is the limit. It’s low key and it’s fun.  I'll bring my iPad full of Israel photos and birding apps anyone would like to play with and I know several birders have gone to Sax Zim Bog so if you've never gone and would like to try it, this would be a great place to get the skinny on birding this awesome winter boreal hotspot.

Visit the Facebook Event Page for directions and to get the latest on when I'm hosting one, fan it on Facebook.  Rumor has it that we'll have one in Ohio in May...

Sometimes eBird Is A Little Nuts

Over the weekend I took a trip with some friends to Sax Zim Bog, Minnesota. This is a great spot to get boreal species and perk up your winter birding. Thanks to social media, I had a good idea of where specialty birds were being seen but thought I would use the BirdsEye app (the app that tells you what people are reporting to eBird).

Most of the time I find this to be a very useful app, especially when I'm visiting an unfamiliar city or looking for a new place to watch birds. The app has a "Birding Hotspots" tab that lets you see via Google Maps where the best birding spots are. These are highlighted by red dots that you can click on and shows you a name and a list of birds that have been reported there. Generally, it's different parks.

This is what I found when I looked at hot spots for Sax Zim Bog:

What the frickity frack?? Okay, I know that the county roads can have redpolls, crossbills, hawk owls and what not at any point...but...um, really? Do we really need to mark every 25 feet as a birding hotspot?

I have a resolution this year to use eBird and contribute sightings on a regular basis, but that is a bit insane. I will not be adding in sitings from this weekend's trip. It's overwhelming and really, I thought there was the option to say that you went up to five miles on a trail? Unless eBird is going to let me enter in my sightings real time with my phone, I don't see people who are new to eBird being eager to look at this and figure it out.

I know we want birds to be easier to find but they don't always need to be an X marks the spot type of hunt. There is something to be said for the thrill of the chase.