Weirdest New Year's Eve

I started this on New Year's Eve but waited until the next day to make sure it was still good for posting. Some of the tense is all over the place.

This is by far the most strange New Year's Eve Celebration I've ever had. We had made plans with friends for a quiet New Year's and perhaps even a bonfire but it rained all day Sunday and in late afternoon it turned to snow and the forecast calls for anything from 2 - 7 inches of snow. State Patrol is just recommending people stay in tonight.

I was thinking of doing a great end of year blog entry about what I've learned, how life is different, the great people I've gotten to know but I'm having a heck of a time deciding between all the photos--it's been a fabulous year. While going through them I came across a trend:

From Arkansas...

From Maine...

From New Jersey...

I have pretty much eaten my way across the country in the last year and not the healthiest food at that. I think all the Holiday indulgences have finally caught up and I have decided that I need to eat sensibly for the next few weeks so my pants aren't so tight. I started the day after Christmas and have been documenting everything I eat. It's weird, but I've done it in the past to drop a few pounds. It really makes you rethink those hash browns fried in bacon grease when you have to write them down.

That seems to be the general consensus of the party tonight so we have had a most healthy raw dinner and some fabulous home made veggie and fruit juice. It's quiet and low key, we're all marveling at the strangeness of it.

Cut to New Year's Morning: Non Birding Bill found ourselves to be the only people left awake at midnight. A couple of us feel like we've been fighting off colds so everyone played it safe. At first the 15 year old in me was lamenting that this was way too much of an adult way to spend New Year's Eve but NBB found ourselves quietly bringing in the New Year with a 15 year old bottle of scotch. We talked about our mutual surprise at still being married for so long and having such a great time with each other, what it was like when we first knew each other and our hopes for the future. That finally shut up my inner 15 year old.

We're passing around New Year's salutations now and I've been thinking about one in particular that I have received from a few people: "I hope 2007 is better." For the record, 2006 was a fantastic year for me. I love to travel and I got to spend time in 20 states, meet great people and embark on a whole new career.

I watched a late night bittern rescue in Maine...

I learned that when your vehicle is stuck in snow, white millet works to give you extra traction...

I learned that you can find enormous black swans in Ohio. Run, NBB, run!

We got to meet famous celebrities like Chet Baker...

Cinnamon got a book deal!

I found that Utah is one of the prettiest states I have ever visited. I like to think of the above photo as representing 2007. A road off to the beautiful unknown and adventure just around the corner. As always I am looking forward to a new year but I have give props to 2006 being a sweet year.

The biggest highlight and lesson that I have learned this year is that my friends are wonderful, generous people, and I'm blessed to have them in my life. I'm always so surprised how different my life is at the end of each year. It's rare that my life is where I think it will be and how quickly changes come and become normal in 12 months. Last year I was living the dream as a traveling optics rep and now I'm living a new dream of becoming an author. If all goes as planned I will have two books out this time next year.

And I'm grateful for all of the readers of the blog and commenters. I hope all of you have a great new year ahead of you that is full of great times, love and happiness.

Retrapping at Carpenter

On Friday at Carpenter Nature Center we didn't get in loads of birds and I think all of the ones we got were re traps--birds that have been banded before. But that's important because it gives you an idea of age and territory habits--these birds are year round residents or in the case of juncos the birds are returning to the same spot.

They were passing around a sheet with ages of birds documented through banding. It had both the records for the Bird Banding Lab (BBL) and for Carpenter. According to Carpenter's records, they oldest black-capped chickadee they have documented was 7 years and 4 months. The BBL's oldest black-capped chickadee record was 12 years and 7 months, the sheet didn't say what state the record came from. I went to the BBL website to see if I could find the state the 12 year old chickadee had been banded but it didn't give that info. Interestingly, the website reads that the oldest chickadee is 12 years and 5 months. But I have a feeling that the site hasn't been updated recently and the 12 years and 7 months is a recent record.

So, keep an eye on the chickadees in your backyard. Just think one of the little dudes you are watching right now could be between 7 - 12 years old. Think of that: the storms in your yard, the snows, the cold, the heat, the predators--that tiny bird is capable of surviving well past a decade.

If you are interested in the oldest species on record according to banding records from the BBL, check this link here. I think I need to start eating more fish.

Above is a photo of a cardinal that we banded on September 15 of this year. Because of the black patches on the bill and some of the brown feathers mixed in, we knew this male had been hatched in the spring of 2006. We re trapped him on Friday.

He was now completely red, with just a hint of black on the tip. I tried to take a photo outside and the first one was without a flash. You can see how red he is but he is out of focus. I decided to try the flash.

Ack! Total washout! I am so not a nature photographer. Although, it's interesting that the flash made some of the feathers yellow. I almost need to take a class to figure out all the bells and whistles with this new Fuji Camera.

Incidentally, the oldest cardinal that Carpenter has documented was 9 years and 9 months. BBL's was 15 years and and 9 months.

Gassy Bunny

Poor Cinnabunny is not feeling well tonight. Her stomach is growling very loudly. She has turned her nose up at baby carrots--that was a concern. But she did eat some parsley, broccoli, half a strawberry, a little hay and a nutriberry--that's a good sign. I remember long ago early in our marriage (when we just had a mattress on the floor, no bed frame--the bohemian days) and we used to let our pet rabbits roam around at night unsupervised. I woke up to a strange sound. I looked over and on the floor next to the mattress was Hazel--her stomach was growling. She was fine but I just remember how surprisingly loud it was.

I woke up another night to a strange noise and discovered Hazel eating my hair and that put an end to unsupervised bunny outings.

Though spending the night mostly loafing and urging me to pet her, she did find time to chew up my Northwoods Limited catalogue. I can't imagine why she doesn't like it.

No More Treasure Island Eagle Nest

Back when I used to lead eagle and swan trips for the bird store we would always make a stop to a really huge bald eagle nest near Treasure Island Casino. It was so big we would just tell people that we weren't going to point out the nest and just wait for them to notice it. Eyes would furtively move around and then you would hear "WOW! There it is!!"

Every year, my friend Amber and I would marvel that the dead tree was still able to support the additions the eagles made to it. This photo was taken three years ago. It was larger still last spring.

Today after banding at Carpenter Nature Center I drove over to Treasure Island to see how it lasted the summer and it was gone, the tree and all. You can't see it in this photo, but an eagle is sitting in a tree near where the old nest was.

I wonder when it fell? Hopefully either before eggs hatched or after young fledged. I'm bummed that such a large and easily accessible nest is gone, but I know the eagles will rebuild. They started this last nest after an old nearby nest fell, eagles are used to this routine. This happens in the wild, a storm knocks a nest down and the birds build a new one before the next season.

That's what kind of irked my about the whole Pale Male fiasco. Yes, it was a shame that people removed the red-tailed hawk nest and what a shame to lose a fun tourist attraction, but it was no different than if a storm had knocked the nest down. The birds are hard wired to deal with that type of thing and would have rebuilt another nest nearby.

It will be interesting to see where the eagles rebuild the Treasure Island nest.

Suet Marketing

One of my favorite flavors of suet to offer birds is Woodpecker Treat put out by C and S. It's getting harder to find, the bird stores don't always have it so sometimes I have to go to some place like Home Depot (every now and then those big box stores get it right). It's a nice mixture of mixed nut chuncks and suet and isn't overloaded with millet and corn like other flavors.

On the last suet cake I bought, I was struck by the advertising on the package (note above). Best Wild Bird Acceptance? That was the best marketing could come up with? Acceptance? I'm going to start telling that to Non Birding Bill. "Honey, you are so acceptable. You are best wife acceptance." Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I've seen that translation in a Stephen Chow movie subtitle.

Comparitavely, the birding industry is very young, but sometimes marketing like that just makes me shake my head. What were you guys thinking?

Other possibilities:

Feeder tested, woodpecker approved!
Hot pick for peckers!
Birds find this super tastey!

Or how about a cheesy retooling of Fergilicious:

Woodpecker Treat is Birdilicious:

It's birdalicious (so delicious)
My feeders stay vicious
I be up in the vats just working on my mixtures
He's my witness (fee bee)
I put yo' birds on rock rock
And they be lining down the block just to chirp at what I got (four, tres, two, uno)

Birdilicious

Come Fly With Me

I was going over all my scheduled appearances for early 2007 and boy howdy am I all over the place! If you want to come on some trips with me or even see Cinnamon, check the list below. This will be added to the appearances page soon:

January 12 - 14, 2007 Bird Watch America
This is only open to people who either work for a wild bird specialty store or who sell birding related merchandise. On Friday, January 12 is a Retail Workshop and I am the lunch speaker/entertainment. Saturday I will be working the WingScapes booth and scoping out new and exciting bird related products.

January 18, 2007 Just A Show
Disapproving Rabbits Interview
Well, it had finally happened: I'm going to my first tv interview for Disapproving Rabbits. This is a variety program on cable in Minnesota and is avialable to watch on the show's website and as a video podcast on iTunes. Cinnamon of course will be on and it will be interesting to see how she reacts to tv. Years ago when I first had her, I took her and Latte on KARE 11 for a "Don't Buy A Bunny For Easter Segment" and it was touch and go. We had just gotten her though, now she is quite used to me. I'm sure she will steal the show. As more details come available I will post them in the blog.

January 28, 2007 The Raptor Center Owl Prowl
1pm - 2:30pm
This is a one hour-ish presentation on Minnesota owls that will use both a PowerPoint and The Raptor Center's Education birds. Bring your camera and be prepared to learn a little natural history about owls, cool facts, how to find them and some of the most reliable place for finding owls in Minnesota. Contact The Raptor Center for details and pricing. Contact The Raptor Center for pricing and details (this event almost always sells out, I would strongly recommend making reservations).

February 10, 2007 Staring Lake Sax Zim Trip
7am - 5pm
I'm so excited, Stan Tekiela of Staring Lake Nature Center asked if I would help out on this day trip to look for great gray owls, magpies, gray jays, boreal chickadees, eagles, rough-legged hawks and other boreal specialties. I believe we are going up in two vans so the group will be small and you'll get lots of individual attention and a great time. Stan is knowledgeable about trees, wildflowers, mammals, photography, astronomy so chances are good that you will go home having learned something new and having seen some super cool birds. Contact Staring Lake for more details and to make reservations.

March 22 - 25, Cranes in Nebraska
4 Day Trip
Again, I'm heading out for Starling Lake Nature Center this time to one of my favorite bird destinations: Nebraska! This is a great trip to see thousands of sandhill cranes, prairie chickens, western meadowlarks, and some great ducks like pintails and teal, greater-white fronted geese, snow geese, eagles, harriers, red-tails and maybe even a ferruginous hawk (not a guarantee but I have seen them there in the past hanging around the prairie dog towns). It's a spiritual experience watching the cranes take off at dawn to feed or to come in to roost at dusk. I'm not sure if Stan is coming on this one, but everyone I've taken to Nebraska in the past has had a blast--even Cinnamon. Contact Staring Lake for pricing and details.

I have more coming in April. One is a trip to go watch woodcocks display and then Cleveland Metroparks just booked me for an event as well. More details on those as they are solidified.

1940 - Birds imprisoned by a snowstorm.

The first president of the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union died. I never met him or even knew him but some birders are sharing stories and memories of George Rysgaard. Tony Hertzel posted this article by Mr. Rysgaard and boy is this an interesting account:

An unusually severe and unseasonal snowstorm swept across the north-central States on November 11, 1940, to terminate a mild fall season. The storm commenced with a drizzling rain which changed in turn to sleet and snow with the falling temperature which reached a minimum of 10 degrees F. during the night. The 42-mile wind accompanying the snow produced a blinding blizzard. Wildlife in general suffered a heavy mortality in many sections of the State.

Near the town of St. Peter, Nicollet County, Minnesota, there are seven caves excavated in the sandstone bluffs along the Minnesota River. To escape the storm, many birds of different species resorted to one of these caves for shelter. During the course of the storm, the cave entrance was blocked by drifting snow, imprisoning the birds. Immediately following the storm, Mr. Charles Meyer, who operates the caves as a tourist attraction, removed the snow barrier; and, upon entering the cave was confronted by these many birds flying about excitedly in their confine. He stepped out and to one side of the cave and allowed the birds to escape, attempting to identify and count them as they left. He noted thirteen Ring-necked Pheasants, nearly two dozen Bob-white, three Cardinals, two Robins, a number of Chickadees, several Downy Woodpeckers, and what he called "small woodpeckers" which may well have been White-breasted Nuthatches which were common in the vicinity.

The aggregate of different species in one cave would lead one to believe that the birds were thoroughly familiar with the cave and its protective potentialities.

-- GEORGE N. RYSGAARD, Minnesota Museum of Natural History, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

From The Auk, October-December, 1941, Vol. 58, No. 4, pp 588.

Don't Judge A Book By It's Cover

I found this at Barnes and Noble:

This book was first published in 1967 and I have a feeling the publisher decided to put it out again in 2005. Alas, no one bothered to edit the cover.

More on Golden Eagle vs. Fox

Remember that photo we were debating about before Christmas of the golden eagle attacking a fox? I know goldens will go for foxes--no debate from me on that one. But this has the signs of an internet hoax since no one is claiming (with a first and last name) to have taken the photo. I found someone on BirdForum with a "raptor" username, but no photograper saying, "Yes, that is me. My name is ...."

Also, the photos are said to come from a variety of places like a hunter in Montana, a hunter in Colorado, a photographer in Canada--again, no name. I'm also bothered by the lack of back story. Was this actually filmed on a deer carcass? Was this staged with a falconry bird on a game farm? What is the story?

Well, now there is a series of photos on Tarisger.com and it's said that the photos were taken in Finland by Pekka Komi. Still no back story but at least we have a name to go along with the photos.

Bunny Aftermath

Christmas Eve, Non Birding Bill and I headed out to Carlso Avery WMA to watch the short-eared owls. There were at least eight owls that we saw (and about a dozen birders--almost an informal Holiday party). The owls came very close to the car and two even flew right in front of us. I thought NBB had a great time, but I should have known better. I found this entry in his blog. We really did see the owls a lot better than that.

Thank you so much to everyone who sent notes and comments on the Disapproving Rabbits shirts and calendars. I'm so glad people enjoyed them as gifts. We have already had to do two new orders for the DR shirts since we started selling them and maybe a third. We're still on our first order of bird shirts. Note to self: rabbits outsell birds.

We survived posting a photo of Cinnamon in a Boingy Boingy Santa Hat, but it was not easy. She went on sort of a rampage after that: sneaking into the kitchen, chewing a hole in a pair of pants, ripping open presents, etc. It's a wonder she didn't get a lump of coal for Christmas.

She was a bit helpful before hand. Above I was wrapping a present for Non Birding Bill and she disapproved of my use of blue ribbon and didn't hesitate to let me know.

After all the gifts were wrapped, we left space open under the tree so Cinnamon could have a place to hang out. She seemed more interested in the packages though and a bunny fortress was made out off all the colorful boxes.

When the unwrapping of the gifts started on Christmas morning Cinnamon was right there to enjoy the party and the ripping of paper. I think she was a tad confused after having been told not to do it all week.

"Wait, if we rip open all the stuff under the tree, do I lose my fort? I don't approve, put them back!"

The gift the pets were excited about was a giant container of Nutri-berries loved by cockatiels and especially bunnies. Cinnamon was so excited, she never noticed the bow placed on her backside.

NBB also gave Cinnamon a carrot that was about as large as she is. It took her almost all day to eat the whole thing. When she finally had it whittled down into three chunks, she picked up each chunk, one at a time and placed them under the tree for safe keeping. Before the night was finished though, she had eaten her entire, carrot cache.

I did get some lovely bird books and NBB got me a plug in travel mug to keep my coffee warm when I'm on the road. He also got me a portable wet/dry vacuum for the car. Trying to tell me something, pet? Do I keep the trusty Saturn a little too unkempt?

Christmas night we were tired of having been in the house and a little sad being far from family so NBB took me for a drive. We went to Carver Park to look at the stars--yes, how romantic. We pulled over onto the darkest spot of a side road we could find and looked up. It was beautiful and we tried to remember which constellations were what. I suddenly began to hear faint, rhythmic booming noises. The were deep, heavy thuds--not unlike the T-Rex approaching sounds from Jurassic Park.

"Do you hear something?" I asked NBB.

"Um, kinda." he replied.

We turned around and in the distance down the road we could see bright red lights in an odd pattern. Was this the park police to nail us for being here after hours? What was that rhythmic thumping sound? An AT-AT Walker? We started to quickly hightail it back to the car. I turned around to see the status of the mysterious vehicle making its way towards us. The lights suddenly disappeared. Then reappeared. Then disappeared...

Wait a minute, this wasn't some dinosaur-esque creature coming to kill us, the sounds and lights were distant fireworks! We stopped and watched them, wondering who would have such a large firework display on Christmas night. These weren't the usual backyard fireworks, these were large mortars. So, there we stood with our arms around each other in the cold dark, numerous constellations overhead (we could even make out the Milky Way) and fireworks...Does it get any more romantic than that? Well, yes it does and that is where this blog entry ends.