I think today goes into the top five of one of the weirdest-yet-oh-so-cool days of my life!Who recognizes this guy? C'mon, you know you know him and he's married to that girl (just that girl, not that girl in the photo with him above, that's just me, not that girl...that he's married to--confusing enough?). I'll just let you chew on that awhile.

So, I'm in Connecticut for a Bald Eagle Festival, a very last minute decision and I find myself in the same space as a film crew for the Colbert Report! Where is BirderBlog when you need her?

One of these things is not like the other. Can you tell which one of the people in this photo is in fact NOT a birder but a member of the Colbert Report crew? I'm not sure what the segment is going to be about, but the crew was there ALL day filming all sorts of different segments. Being a ham, I tried to insert myself in the background of some shots, so we'll see if I'm there or on the cutting room floor. The producers said it should air sometime in the next two weeks. We exchanged cards and she said she would try to give me a head's up when it was about to air. The guy in the funky stripy hat is on the Colbert crew. At one point I saw the camera crew filming him in a port-a-potty and he would pop his head out with binoculars to watch for eagles.

Here was another one of the guys that was part of the filming, he was trying to "shoot an eagle" with a gun at the eagle festival. We were all asked to not laugh at whatever he did and to try and look angry, bewildered, confused--anything but laugh. It was hard not to laugh at his antics though, he was funny and weird. Since his bit was about shooting birds, I wonder if there is some chance that this is tied into the whole granny killing a cardinal essay in Newsweek?

Speaking of cardinals, check out the size of this dude I met at the festival along with an eagle. Imagine what it would be like to have this guy fighting his reflection in your windows--yikes! I've read that cardinals get larger the further they are from the Equator--but this is out of control.

I made huge strides in my digiscoping today:

The area geese were not as impressed with the Eagle Festival and slept most of the morning. I was trying to turn the white one into a snow goose, but it was a garden variety domestic.

There were lots of little ice chunks floating along the Connecticut River and check out who is mixed in with these ring-billed gulls--rock pigeons! I've never seen those guys willingly land on ice flows before. They kept creeping to the edge to gulp down some water.

Check out the ring-billed gull photo above! For me this photo was a triumph of the human spirit! Did I really take that? Okay, I know the feet are missing but I was just too close to get the whole body in, but look at that detail. I took this with my Fuji FinePix E900 and Swarovski 80 ATS 80 HD. I know I still have lots to learn, but I feel I had a true break through today. Maybe I'll enter this in the WildBird Photo Contest.

Okay, back to the dude at the beginning of this entry. Do ya' know who he is? If you guessed Phil Donahue, pat yourself on the back for a recognition well done! Gotta love a guy who helps organize and gives lots of generous support for a festival about our national symbol. Hat's off to Phil! He's being interview in the above photo by the Colbert crew.

Now to put an end to this disjointed entry and get to bed.