The Monks of Brooklyn

Hello all, NBB here. I spent some time in New York City recently, more specifically Brooklyn. Since the weather was so beautiful (especially for February) I took advantage of it to walk around the Greenwood Heights neighborhood, so named because of the historic Green-Wood Cemetery (founded in 1838). I expected to walk along its hills, looking at historical headstones and mausoleums, enjoying a quiet day to myself. I did not expect to encounter a colony of South American monk parakeets.

"Man," I thought, "Brooklyn has some noisy starlings. Weird-sounding ones, too." I walked through the double archway to the cemetery, and the noise got much, much louder. So I did what any sensible person, or even a birdwatcher, would do, and I looked up. Here's the entryway:

If you look below the peak of the tallest spire, you'll notice a very dark brown patch. That's a large, communal stick nest that wraps all the way around the spire. And flying away from it where some light green birds that were very definitely not starlings. I mean, even I noticed that. When Sharon showed up a few days later, we trekked down to the cemetery and she did some digiscoping:

Monk parakeets. And lots of them. Though the birds seemed to be screeching at each other nonstop (another reason why they may have settled in a cemetery: the neighbors won't complain about the noise), they seemed to be perfectly happy to cohabitate in their giant, self-made cavity nests.

So how did they end up there? There are theories, and this blog dedicated to the birds lists several: the most likely being that they were released from a shipping container by thieves who were looking for more valuable things to steal.

One particularly trouble thing was that the cemetery is located across the street from an electrical power station, and the birds were building stick nests on the power structures inside. That can't possible be safe, I thought repeatedly, and indeed it seems that other states power companies are euthanizing the birds to prevent them from shorting out the power lines they nest on. Fortunately for the Brooklyn Parrots, they have admirers. The cemetery itself organizes regular bird walks, a group at Brooklyn College is studying the birds' behavior, and they even have their own Facebook page. If you're in the area and want an unusual bird that super-easy to spot, check 'em out!

Birdchick Podcast #99: Lots of Illegal stuff + Karaoke

Remember last summer when some Minnesota farmer claimed he snapped and destroyed a pelican colony with thousands of chicks? He actually got a large fine for doing it. Across the pond, Matthew Gonshaw who specializes in stealing wild bird eggs for his personal (and highly illegal) collection has been banned from visiting Scotland for 10  years.

FINALLY, the red knot has been put on the Endangered Species List for the State of New Jersey.  It's not perfect, it's needs surrounding states to do the same and it needs to be on the Federal list.  The population for this birds has fallen 90% in the last 2 decades going from 100,000 to 15,000...because of over harvesting of horseshoe crab eggs for fishing bait.

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Artist Enrique Gomez De Molina charged in trafficking highly illegal birds to create his amazing artwork. He is claiming vigorously that he didn't know, but his email would indicate otherwise.  This is the video we reference in the podcast and this is the reason why people LOVE slow loris.

In a similar story, there's a quandary over what to do with a late art collector's piece from Robert Raushenberg which features a VERY illegal bald eagle as part of it. Since it is so illegal to have a stuffed eagle and the sculpture was created after the Migratory Bird Treat and Bald and Golden Eagle Act it was valued at $0 in the estate's tax return. But because the IRS is aware of the artist's fame and that the piece could be sold on the black market illegally for a lot of money, they say it's $65 million.

You can find Sugar Bean Ice Cream on Twitter.

You can find Ken Plume singing on A Site Called Fred!

Not Prepared For An Early Spring

I know I'm usually the first to say that seeing an American robin is NOT a sure sign of spring since they are in the US all winter if you know where to look, but yesterday while scouting locations for some spring programming for the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area we heard robins singing on territory! On top of that, we heard a red-winged blackbird.  Didn't see it, but heard it and in my book, that means spring in Minnesota. Also, look behind the robin's chin in the above photo--that's a full on bud! As much as I've enjoyed a winter without shoveling and snow emergencies, I plan a lot of my work based on the slow birding of March, that usually still winter for us.  How can I keep my deadlines if spring is going to happen and Minnesota is having 50 degree days already?  Blerg.

I usually do not see or hear red-winged blackbirds until late March so yesterday was a surprise. I will get some of my migration fix on.  Rivers and Wildlife will be the first birding festival I'll attend in my rather action packed program schedule in the coming months (I'm giving my Techno Birding program that talks about the latest and greatest in technology and birding. Even if you've seen this program before, it's different.  Technology for birding changes all the time).  I haven't been to Nebraska for a few years and even though this is work, I'm so looking forward to birding this area again.  I'll admit that Israel has totally spoiled me for a crane blind experience, but it's always a delight to see the huge amounts of cranes foraging in the fields and hear the constant call of a few hundred thousand sandhill cranes...oh and I'll hear my first western meadowlarks of the season--love that bird call!

And I'm going to go to Kearney SLR free--even if I don't have an adapter, I'm very pleased with the photos I get hand holding the iPhone to my scope (both the robin photos are iPhone scoped).  I'm going to use this as a spring board to only digiscope with my iPhone.  I did it in New York but we didn't really do that much in the way of birding. My goal is to be able to post photos real time to Twitter and maybe Facebook.  If it works as well as I think it will, it's going to be a really fun way to report on warblers in real time when I go to The Biggest Week In North American Birding and Point Pelee in May.  Both of these are legendary warbler areas in spring and I'm so excited that I'll get a chance to experience them this year.

Murmuration + Peregrine Falcon + 10th Doctor = AWESOME!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-mCuFYfJdI This is from a documentary called Earthflight from BBC One and it's narrated by David Tennant (aka the 10th Doctor on Doctor Who).  This clip is really cool and explains why raptors don't have an easy time grabbing a starling in a large flock (aka murmuration).

It looks pretty awesome and not nearly as cheesy as that Mississippi River of Death I got from Nat Geo.

Birds and Beers In Minneapolis Tonight @WildRoastCafe

Just a reminder that there is a Birds and Beers tonight at Wilde Roast Cafe starting at 6pm! 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–the sky is the limit. It’s low key and it’s fun.

Birding By New York Subway

I've used my time in New York for some odd birding. I love all the artwork that can be found around the city and I had a few things on my list to find: a Bansky, an Edvard Munch.  Like birding, I had to follow a series of directions and when I finally got to the Munch:some dude was standing in front of it...3 inches in front of it (and was he too close, stressing the Munch out?).  The Banksy was covered, not unlike a blackburnian warbler in the top of the fully leafed out tree canopy.  The city had painted over it, but there were a few places with loose chips and you could see miniscule pieces of it underneath.

But the subway has all kinds of art and a surprising amount with identifiable birds. This is a mosaic at the Jay Street station by Ben Snead called "Departures and Arrivals."

The birds depicted in it are all non native and invasive species. Above is a starling and house sparrows.  But I love how the artist used the tiles to capture the irridescence of the starling feathers.

The other bird is the monk parakeet which have quite the strong hold in Brooklyn.  We've rented an apartment there that has a view of the Statue of Liberty.  It's an odd sensation to be standing there in the morning, clutching a cup of coffee and taking in that symbol of American freedom and promise...and then have noisy streaks of green fly between you and statue.  Then I have to think about these released cage birds establishing a colony like so many people who have passed by Lady Liberty (though, I'm not sure the parakeets had too much choice to choose to live here).  All the brown stones on a cloudy winter day in Brooklyn broken up by noisy, flashy green parrots is so strange tho.

I'm not sure about the insect and fish depicted in the mosaic but I wonder if they are non natives too?  What is that, a lion fish?  It's a colorful mural and worth a peak if you are ever in New York.  A real treat can be found at the Museum of Natural History Station:

Check out the whooping crane!  Actually, when we hit this stop, I grabbed my camera and said aloud but to myself, "I need photo of that crane and dodo."  Non Birding Bill immediately walked over.  I said, "I didn't mean you, there's a dodo outline behind the crane!"  But he does make a good representation for the scale of the mosaics.

There are all sorts of animals all over the station and it's worth taking the time to explore and see what's there.  It's an evolutionary chain from the Big Bang to the plethora of fauna seen on this planet.  I love the random birds on there. It's not all cardinals and eagles, it's cool birds that perhaps the average person may not be aware are out there like the above black-bellied whistling ducks.

I think this was my favorite--a pileated woodpecker in the subway!  Who knew?

Here's a break down of all that can be found at that station.  The large work is called "For Want Of A Nail." It's interesting to note that some species have a tiny question mark made of really tiny tiles mixed in them.  I think it's supposed to represent a question of whether or not these species will remain with us in the future.  But there didn't appear to be one on the whooping crane so NBB wondered if there was some street artist inserting mosaic tags.

Here are some of the other birds:

Laughing gull.

Kiwi.

Killdeer.

Okay, not birds but still cool--monarchs!

Love that monarch caterpillar!

Ruby-throated hummingbird.

New York Birds & Beers & The Central Park Effect

Just a quick reminder that a New York, New York version of Birds and Beers is happening THIS WEDNESDAY at the Houndstooth Pub from 6pm - 9pm...and rumor has it that even Non Birding Bill might come along.  For the most up to date information on Birds and Beers check the Facebook Page. And speaking of New York, I got a heads up from Birdspot that a documentary about Central Park birding called The Central Park Effect is about to premiere at SXSW.  Check out the trailer and warning, there is at least one word in it that those with toddlers may not want them to hear, but I love it because that's how I talk to myself when not leading and official field trip:

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

Scope Eyepieces For Digiscoping

I haven't thought about scope eyepieces all that much. Swarovski Optik has three different eyepieces you can choose for your scope a 20-60 zoom, a 25-50 zoom and a 30 fixed. For newer people to the blog, those numbers give you an idea of the scope's magnification or of how close the image is brought to you.  A 20-60 eyepiece can bring the bird 20 to 60 times closer (as opposed to your 8x42 binocular which will only bring the image 8 times closer). I've always been a fan of the zooms, because they can make a real difference in ID when that bird is far away (I got a great look at my lifer saker falcon thanks to my scope's ability to go to 60 power when I was in Israel.  I don't digiscope when I zoom in to 60 unless I really, really need to document something because the photo will be crap.  You lose clarity and brightness when you zoom in and the photos aren't worth it unless you are documenting your state's first record of a hooded crane.  When digiscoping, I always keep it on the lowest magnification.

I almost always use my 20-60 eyepiece.  I like having the option of such a wide range of magnification.  The 20 power magnification gives me a fairly wide field of view but it also helps me a bit with the problem of having the bird too close.  My buddy Clay Taylor kept nudging me to play with the 25-50 zoom eyepiece and the other day, I decided to head out to the feeders at Minnesota Valley NWR.  Their feeding station is always active and I figured I could get some good comparison shots.  When I got there, the feeders were bare.  And I saw the reason why before I could complete the sentence, "That's odd."

A sharp-shinned hawk was perched outside and was so darned cooperative, I got all the footage I needed to compare both eyepieces in less than 15 minutes.

So, here we go and I have to say, I was surprised at my results.  All the video and photos were taken using my iPhone 4s.  Here's a video tutorial followed by photo samples:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z5yprCMYrA

I was very happy about the lack of vignetting with the 25-50  zoom when taking video!  Here are some photo comparisons of the sharp-shinned hawk without zooming in with the phone.  This is what it looks like as soon as  you train the iPhone to your scope's eyepiece without zooming in with the phone using the 20-60 zoom eyepiece:

There it is at 20 power and you get a full vignette (the black circle framing the image).  That could be edited out in iPhoto or Photoshop or whatever photo app you use to crop images.

Now, here is the same sharpie on the same perch with the 25-50 zoom eyepiece:

There it is at 25 power and with that eyepiece there's less vignetting.  Again vignetting can be cropped out later, but you get a bigger and better image if you zoom in on the iPhone when you take the photo.  And you do that the same way you enlarge images on your phone with your index finger and thumb.

Now, here are images of the same sharpie with the two different eyepieces and zooming in with the phone:

A pretty good image of a sharp-shinned hawk (especially with it being an overcast day).

Not a lot of difference when you zoom in with the iPhone.  If you want to take video, I highly recommend the 25-50 zoom, it will save you a lot of headaches post production of cropping out the vignetting.  But if you only want to do photos, both eyepieces work really well.

And this was all done by hand holding the iPhone up to the scope--no adapter.

When I think back to what bird photography used to be I marvel at the quality of photos I can get with a phone.

Birdchick Podcast #98: Shorebird Mud, Goose Frame Up

A snowy owl found its way into the Jefferson North Assembly Plant on the lower east side of Detroit. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources tries to lay some of the blame on geese for keeping lakes open and snow mobile riders falling into lakes...rather than say, "You know, there were warnings and common sense with this year's weather should have told you to stay off of lakes."

Shorebirds use their hairy tongues to slurp up tasty, tasty biofilm.

Digiscoping With An iPhone Tutorial

By popular request I created a video of how I take photos using my iPhone and my Swarovski spotting scope (I use the ATM 80mm with 2- - 60 zoom eyepiece)--also known as iPhonescoping. A couple of things to keep in mind: I'm currently hand holding the phone, there is no adapter for this yet like their are for digital cameras. Meopta is supposed to have their adapter out for iPhones soon but I haven't seen it yet (they told me they would send me one early this year).  But you can still get some pretty good photos hand holding your phone.  Video is going to be a little shaky but without an adapter to hold the camera still--what can you do.

Note that I'm using a Mophie Case with my phone which gives a little "eye relief" to it. FYI Mophie cases are AWESOME!  It's a heavy duty case that will charge your iPhone's battery.  It has tripled the life of my crappy iPhone 4s battery.  I'm a little bitter that I had to pay about $70 to correct an Apple issue, but I'm so happy to use my phone all day in the field that I've soon gotten over that expense.  I can actually use my phone all day long without plugging it in. This includes taking photos, texting, sending photos to Twitter, surfing the net, Words with Friends (Scramble with Friends), Fruit Ninja--the works!

Also, note in the above photo that I have the eye cup twisted out halfway.  I find this reduces the vignette (the black circle around your photos).  Also, it prevents you from scratching your scope's lens with your iPhone or case--which is a heartbreaking thing to have happen and one of the reasons I hover like crazy when someone puts their digital camera up to my lens without an adapter.  This also gives you a way to reduce some of the hand shake that comes with holding the iPhone rather than attaching it with an adapter.

Here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FSYKBbg69c