Arriving In Harlingen

The Harlingen Airport is happy to see birders in Texas--look at the size of that banner! I feel so welcomed for the Rio Grande Valley Bird Festival.

We had the opening reception last night, which is a great time to reconnect with friends and eat some fancy foods. There was a new addition to the table--live birds. A small cage full of parakeets was put out by catering company (cause see, we're bird watchers). They startled the dickens out of me, but the budgies seemed to be having a great time preening each other and chirping sweet nothings.

I tried to get a photo of birders using a pair of tongs to get a budgie, but to no avail. I asked Jim from Kowa (above). "No way," he said, "your just going to put it in your blog that Kowa eats birds." He then went the extra mile to put his arm around the birds to prove how much he LOVES birds.

Kevin Karlson walked by and I shouted, "Yo, Kevin, do me a favor, put some tongs to the birds."

He also resisted my request, "No, you'll put it in your blog."

I even offered to say nice things about his books in the blog, but he said that I already do say nice things about his books and he appreciates that.

They're on to me!

So, by the time you are reading this, I'll be a digiscoping fool on the Bentsen-Rio Grande State Park. Then I give my Blogging: The New Nature Journal Program, then do a book signing, and then its Birds and Beers. Such a wild and exciting Thursday.

I've already touched based with several bloggers including Flying Mullet, Round Robin, and one third of 10,000 Birds. Will Mike Bergin sway me to the power of The Nature Blog Network...we shall see...

Oh, and bird banders will get a kick out of this:

Bird bites the cover of the book that identifies, ages and sexes them! And it's a house sparrow too! This sparrow latched on to the corner an would not let go, taking out its frustration on being man handled on poor, poor, hard to read Pyle.

Speaking of the Pyle book, there's a second one out. Yes, the bird id book with no photos, that even uses math equations to id birds, and is the necessary evil of every bander's operation now has a part 2! Here's an earlier post I had about Peter Pyle's Identification Guide To North American Birds and I had to chuckle, Ian Paulsen posted a few months ago: "I think every birder will want Pyle's Identification Guide to North American Birds: part 2!!!"

I hope he was kidding. Pyle is NOT for every birder, it's only for the masochistic Jedi birders that use The Force to identify birds. It's this heavy little book that sits on your back when you're sweating over a flycatcher in your hand and asking yourself if you'll be able to try to identify, let alone age and sex it. Then the book says in a gravelly drag queen voice, "No! Do or do not, there is no try."

Scariest bird book out there, I swear.

Birds, Beers, Bald Eagles, Bees, and Rio Grande Valley Fest

Holy Buckets, I am in love with the boys at the Golden Valley, MN National Camera Exchange. My all-time favorite point and shoot digital camera to use for digiscoping is a Fuji FinePix E900. It's been discontinued and hard to find. They found one for me. I'm takin' that bad boy to Texas. The Canon A570 I'm currently using is okay, but the color quality is just not as good as the Fuji. Thank you National Camera in Golden Valley, you boys are the best!

Hey, here's some cool news from WFRV:

A bird that's believed to be the oldest banded bald eagle on record in the upper Midwest has been returned to the wild. The 31-year-old female was hit by a car on state Highway 47 near Fence Lake last month. After recovering, the eagle was released by wildlife officials in Lac du Flambeau on Friday.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the bird was among 6,000 eagles banded in 1977. The average age of adult eagles is 10-12 years old.

Before this bird, the oldest bald eagle according to the Bird Banding Lab longevity records was 30 years and 9 months.

So, I think I'm kinda grateful for my insanely busy schedule this fall. Mr. Neil wanted to move the Kitty hive so it would be inside the newly installed "bear proof fence" before the winter. This is our least friendly hive and the best time to move a hive is at night. I'm sure you can tell how fun and exciting this is just be rereading that last sentence. I alas could not go this week but you can read all about it over at Lorraine's blog. Of the four of us: Non Birding Bill, Mr. Neil, Me, and Lorraine, only NBB is not the bee sting virgin. Lorraine got her's last night.

Don't forget, we got a couple of Birds and Beers coming up. 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.

Here are the dates and note that the first date is in Harlingen, TX--in conjunction with the Rio Grande Valley Bird Fest!

Thursday, November 6 at 7:45pm (or after the festival keynote speaker is finished that night). It will be held at The Lone Star, they are holding a table for us.

The next will be back in Minnesota:

Tuesday, November 18 at 6pm at Merlin's Rest.

If anyone is on a Texas birding listserv and wants to post the Harlingen Birds and Beers there, please do. It's open to anyone, even if you are not part of the bird festival.

Speaking of the RGV bird fest, if you are a bird blogger and are going to be there, we're going to have a formal Bird Blogger Meeting in the Alcove at 4:30pm on Friday. This is your chance to meet other bloggers, ask questions, share ideas and network. We're a fun group and we're happy to see you be successful. Please come!

AND if you are someone who has no clue what bird blogging is all about or even what the heck a blog is, I'll be giving a program called Blogging: The New Nature Journal on what bird blogging is all about, how to start one, ideas for what you can blog about, highlights of my blog and other great birding blogs you can find on the Internet. The program is on Thursday at 2pm.

If you're in Texas, I look forward to meeting you. It's gonna be a great time!

Audubon Ohio Assembly 2008

FYI, things my get a little more PG-13 than usual later on in this entry, for parents reading with your kids, you might want to read alone first. Yeah, that's right, Jim, I'm goin' there!

Man, I ate a lot of pie this weekend. I think this was the most pie offerin' bird event I've been too. We had pie with lunch, pie for afternoon break, pie with dinner. Pie, pie, pie! And good pie too, not that pumpkin pie which the best piece you've ever had isn't much different than the worst piece of pumpkin pie you've ever had.

I came to Bellville, Oh for the Audubon State Assembly and gave a presentation on Blogging, The New Nature Journal. I had some geek out moments on this trip: Jim McCormac, Kenn & Kim Kaufman sat in on my workshop (people I very much admire). I also got to meet Greg Miller (if you read The Big Year, he was the guy that put it on credit card). A totally nice guy with a great sense of humor, wish I had more time to go birding with him.

On frosty Sunday morning, I went out birding with Jim to look for sparrows at Funk WMA. The trip was wonderful--a frost blazing in the sun, fall leaf colors, a good variety of birds, and Amish buggies clip-clopping in the background...periodically interrupted by trumpeting sandhill cranes.

Song sparrows (like the bird above) as were swamp sparrows. The target birds of the morning were Nelson's sharp-tailed sparrow or LeConte's sparrow. We did not get the LeConte's but with some good effort of both Jim and fellow trip leader Ethan Kistler our group got a pretty darned good look at a Nelson's. It sat long enough that everyone got a good look in the scope. I didn't get a chance to digiscope it, but another bird for another day.

We had a small flock of white-crowned sparrows around us to. Jim said that this was the handsomest sparrow. I argued that is was the Harris's sparrow and other sparrows like the Nelson's were included and the white-throated and well we all agreed this was in fact a great looking bird, but no consensus was reached as to what is the handsomest sparrow.

Funk was a glorious place for birding and the variety of birds was just right and we even had a little mini hawk migration with some Cooper's hawks and red-tails moving through.

We even found something a little curious while going down the path. I wasn't sure what this was exactly...I know what I think it looks like, but really have no idea what this is. I tried to digiscope it to see if that would give me an answer.

Not a serious answer. I really have no clue. Non Birding Bill thinks it has something to do with being a gas marker.

This was a bumper on one of the vehicles in the parking lot at Funk WMA--which reminds me, some Ohio birders told me this morning that I sound like Sarah Palin when I talk. I was asked to say "donut" and "Ohio" and "Oh no." Hmmmm. I'm sure it's my Minnesota accent and the fact that she sounds Minnesotan (at least in cadence). I always thought that my Minnesota accent was an improvement over my original Hoosier accent, but now I'm not so sure.

More coming soon, I have to read up on some downy woodpecker behavior first.

Hey! It's a Honduras Bird Festival!

This February, the Central American country of Honduras will host the first annual Mesoamerican Birdwatching Festival, organized by the Mesoamerican Ecotourism Alliance (MEA).

The event will feature three program segments: a guide training/certification course (February 13-20), a Birdwatching Festival (February 21-26), and a post tour for birdwatching company representatives and nature writers (February 27-March 5).

Honduras is located in the heart of Central America, allowing for a rich diversity of species from the northern and southern countries of the region. While only 740 species (and counting) have been registered in Honduras, along with one endemic, many are very desirable and easy to observe. In the Mosquitia region nearly 500 species have been recorded, the north coast more than 400, the Lake Yojoa basin over 400, and 400 within the department of Copan.

The principal objective of this annual festival is to elevate interest in bird watching in Mesoamerica on a national and international level in an effort to increase sustainable tourism. This will then create employment, and most importantly, help preserve the ecosystems where the birds live and nest. The festival will subsequently be held in a different Central American country each year.

Guide Training / Certification Course (February 13-20):

The guide training course in the Lake Yojoa basin will last five days and be field intensive. Sessions will be conducted by trainers with extensive field experience in guiding, habitat and bird biology. Identification of birds by sight and sound will be emphasized, as well as their names in English. Students will also attend technical seminars and complete an exam (in English) at the end, with the results appearing on their diplomas. The guide training courses is limited to 30 people.

Bird Watching Festival (February 22-27):

The Bird Watching Festival will last four full days, and each will be filled with field trips to a number of different sites in the Lake Yojoa basin accompanied by qualified guides. Attendees will also have the privilege to bird with Robert Ridgely, author of various bird guides in Central and South America, and considered by many as the leading Neotropical ornithologist. Each evening, there will be presentations and seminars touching on various bird topics. The Bird Watching Festival is limited to 100 people.

Post Tour (February 27-March 5):

The post tour will include visits to Copan Ruinas, the Lancetilla Botanical Gardens in Tela, the Lodge at Pico Bonito near La Ceiba, and the Aguan Valley. The objective is to show the richness that Honduras has to offer along the north coast. The tour will be limited to ten international bird watching company representatives and nature writers.

Visit Birding Honduras for registration info.

Upcoming Events

Some fun stuff is coming up. I'm doing a Showcase Minnesota segment Wednesday Morning sometime between 10 am - 11 am for City Birds/Country Birds. We'll talk about the book release event at both Cardinal Corner locations August 23, 2008. Don't forget, Cinnamon will be coming too.

Book Signing Times:

August 23, 2008:
Cardinal Corner in West St. Paul Store (651-455-6556) 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Cardinal Corner in Newport (651-459-3880) 1 p.m. - 3 p.m.

I've had a couple of bird bloggers contact me regarding the 2nd Annual Bird Blogging Conference at the Rio Grande Valley Bird Fest. Should be a great time. Even if you are not a blogger, this is a great bird festival with green jays, kiskadees, chachalacas--you gotta come! Some bloggers I know will be there include Born Again Bird Watcher, WildBird on the Fly, Jeff Bouton, and JeffGyr. Plus, check out the spanky list of field trip leaders.

If you can't travel in November of 2008, I got a note from the organizers of the Space Coast Birding and Nature Festival has quite the list of guests: photographer Arthur Morris (if you don't know the name, you should I can guarantee you've seen one of his photos at some point in your life). Pete Dunne (you can see him out of Cape May), Bill of the Birds, and Connie Toops. C'mon, birding in Florida in January. Don't say you don't want to, you know it isn't true...

2nd Annual Bird Blogger Conference

Rio Grande Valley Bird Festival November 5 - 9, 2008 is the site of the Second Annual Bird Blogger Conference.

What does this mean? Well, a lot of bird bloggers in one place at one time to meet face to face, share ideas, watch some birds, and maybe even meet some potential advertisers and sponsors for your birding blog! Bird bloggers are eligible for a 10% discount and Born Again Bird Watcher and I would like to organize a sit down where we can meet, ask questions and share ideas for better bird blogging--the rest of the time is up to you to go out and enjoy the oh so cool birding!

This is one of the top birding festivals in the country and south Texas is a relatively inexpensive area when it comes to food and lodging. Even if you are not a bird blogger, this is a GREAT festival to attend--here are some of my past entries. Think of it--warm temperatures, green jays, authentic Mexican food, chachalacas, kiskadees, butterflies, javelinas...

Here are the qualifications for the discount:

1. Your blog must have been started sometime before January 31, 2008.
2. Your blog must have regular updates at a minimum of five times a month.
3. If your blog has been inactive for more than 30 days, it will not qualify for the discount.
4. You must promote the Rio Grande Valley Bird Fest periodically in your blog--not every day or every week, but periodically remind your readers that you are going and that it would be great if they came along too--seriously, it really is a great thing to come to. I've been going there for the last three years because it's SO fun.

Speaking of readers, this is a great chance for all of you to come and meet some bird bloggers out there. So, start signing up for some south Texas birding now.

Bloggers who would like more info on the discount rate, please email me at Sharon at Birdchick dot com and I'll help get you set up.

Connecticut Audubon Bald Eagle Fest Report

Photo by Clay Taylor

Yesterday, I woke up to 50 degrees and heavy rain. Today, I woke up to -4, but at least it was sunny.

Photo by Clay Taylor

This entry is going to have a combination of photo from both Clay Taylor and myself. Clay is playing with some mad new digiscopin' skillz. For example, he took the above photo using a Pentax K100 attached to a straight angled Swarovski scope and he hand held the whole system!

Photo by Clay Taylor

Clay even tried this technique while leading one of the river boat tours at the Connecticut Audubon Bald Eagle Fest and got the above photo of a rough-legged hawk.

Photo by Clay Taylor

I love this shot of the rough-legged hawk while it's in mid-hover, intently searching the ground for some unsuspecting small mammal. What a cool looking hawk. There were three hanging around on the Connecticut River--two light ones like the birds in these photos--and one dark morph.

Photo by Clay Taylor

Here are some great cormorants that Clay got on the boat--note how birds are still roosting despite the Nixalite placed on the rails? Birds always find away around that stuff.

So, I was haning out at the Swarovski booth for the festival, but the added bonus for me was being next to one of my favorite bird photographers--Jim Zipp (the dude with the beard on the left--that's Clay in the back in the green coat and hat). If you have any bird magazine subscriptions, you have more than likely seen some of Jim's work. As a matter of act, his blackpoll warbler is on the cover of the current issue of WildBird Magazine.

The temps Saturday and Sunday were in the twenties and thirties in Connecticut and if you combine that with being right on the river and standing in one spot all day--it gets chilly. But I get spoiled rotten with Swarovski. Clay and his wife Debbie have a heater that keeps the booth (and our feet toasty). This year there was even power in the booth, so we brought a hot pot and had hot tea and hot chocolate (I had some powdered miso soup and sipped on that). Combine that with the fresh waffles Clay make in the morning and the spaghetti dinner Debbie made at night, I was a well fed booth worker.

There are no shortage of characters at the eagle festival, here's a lady sporting a moose hat--I bet her head was nice and warm. She was tame compared to the woman who walked by wearing a fur coat dyed bright neon yellow toting a tiny dog with a light green fur trimmed dress. Another highight at the festival was getting to meet MsGeek--a blog reader and commenter--it's always fun to meet a blog reader face to face.

Taking photos of this ring-billed gull, I was reminded of my Dunkin Donut heartbreak of last year--none of the DDs in Connecticut make the creme filled donut that I used to get when I was a kid. We tried another DD and no, the vanilla creme donut was not available. Sigh.

I did see one interesting ring-billed gull feeding along the Connecticut River. It was a juvenile bird and had red patagial tags (I wasn't able to get a photo). The bird was far out and I thought I could read the number 41 on the tags. I can't find any info on tagged ring-bills apart from a study on gulls in Chicago--they may have to start sort of population control of the gulls. However, those birds don't have numbers on their tags. I emailed the Bird Banding Lab and am still waiting to hear if they know of anyone tagging gulls.

Photo by Clay Taylor

Speaking of tagged birds, when I was going through Clay's photos, I noticed one of the adult eagles had bands on both feet. Here's a closer photo:

Photo by Clay Taylor

See the tags?

We may not have see great numbers of eagles at this festival, but there were a couple of nests across from where the optics booths were set up. The nest in the upper right corner is the original nest--the male flew up at one point to feed. The nest in the lower left corner is the newer active nest. If you look close at the above photo, you can see a small speck of white--that's the female incubating some eggs.

Right next to the booths was the Connecticut River Museum. We ended up purchasing a day pass to the museum so we could use the restroom. There were port a potties in the parking lot, but when you're working out in the cold all day, that's really the last thing you want. The museum had volunteers stationed all over and were very strict about non paying members using the restroom. And at $4, it was worth it to have an all day pass for a warm restroom. I took a few moments to check out the actual museum and they had a cool HO train set on display on the top floor.

The best part of the display was the camera train. One of the cars had a remote live feed video camera that would transmit its signal to a tv, so you could see the minature town from the toy train's perspective--it was really, really cool. I could have spent hours watching this. Alas, I could see myself really getting into this hobby if I didn't have twenty million other things occupying my time at the moment. Life is just too full of fascinating projects and places to go.

Photo by Clay Taylor

And I wrap up this entry with one final photo of the really cool rough-legged hawk. Thanks, Clay, for the use of your images.