Bone Crunching Good & Birds and Beers

Warning, this might be a tad gross for some.

CORRECTION TO BIRDS AND BEERS:

Hey, we've scheduled another Birds and Beers at Merlin's Rest on Tuesday, September 18, 2007 at 6pm. Last time we had bird banders, new birders, experienced birders and even a few non birders. If you like a nice Irish pub and some talk about birds, meet up with us at Merlin's Rest.

Today, it was time to feed Juneau the peregrine falcon. She's the one I had on with me on KARE 11 last week:

"Food? Who has the food?! Where's the food?!"

Here's a video of Juneau in all her flesh rending glory (she's eating raw chicken, so press play with caution, you may not want to be eating yourself).

My favorite part of feeding a falcon is that its crop starts to fill up, they make a weird grunting/squirting type sound. Here's a five second video where you can really hear it:

What the heck is that all about?

And for those who can't see video:

Here's a photo of her tearing into that big hunk of meat.

As she finishes up, she doesn't care for the larger bones, so she rips what meat she can and then lets the bone fall to the floor.

And Julie was worried that her owl post was a little too gross...

First Birds and Beers Recap

I have to admit, I went into Birds and Beers last night with a little nervousness. I put up a notice on the blog and on the Minnesota listervs and I got a lot of emails from people saying that they want to come, but were either out of town or lived too far away. I wondered if anyone would show up?

But show up they did, and we had about 12 people! Merlin's Rest had promoted it, so some of their regulars also stopped by to see what it was all about. I didn't have much a of a theme planned, my ultimate goal was for people to connect, maybe learn about new places to watch birds, get bird questions answered, or even find a new bird watching partner.

I was really excited that the banders from Lowry Nature Center in Carver Park showed up--they offer banding that is open to the public every third Saturday of the month--as a matter of fact, they will be banding this Saturday. They're fun and knowledgeable guys. Frequent commenter on this blog, HellZiggy came with her hubby. He is not a birder, so Non Birding Bill even had someone to talk to. There were so many other people who showed up, and I fear I will not remember the names: I remember Pat, Bob, Katherine...I'll have to start assigning bird names--that I can remember.

It was a fun and easy going night, John Dingley the general manager, offered a peregrine falcon poster as a prize, local author Bill Watkins read about a wren being the king of the birds from one his books and we gave that away, and I gave away copies of the new Great River Birding Trail and Minnesota River Valley Birding Trail.

I'm going to do this again, probably the next one will be at Merlin's Rest, and as I travel, I will try and organize them on the road. I think Rochester, MN would be good--and Duluth, perhaps even at bird festivals. I also think I might have a theme night. I'm kicking around having people bring their favorite bird related book to the next one.

I had something else going on yesterday too--it was my birthday. When I had scheduled Birds and Beers with Dingley, we pretty much scheduled it as, "Hey, let's do it two weeks from Tuesday." NBB later pointed out, "That's your birthday." We didn't really have anything planned, and what better way for me to spend my birthday than with birders? When I told the group last night, Mark said, "What a wonderful way of having a surprise birthday party, turning the tables and surprising all your guests!"

NBB and I had a little party right before we left for Birds and Beers, and I am now happy to report that I am completely Bent! He got me the one book I am missing from my Arthur Cleveland Bent series, and I finally have a complete set! Whoot. He also had a gift specially crafted for me...

A custom made Birdwatcher Crayon Set. There are four colors: sepia, chestnut, brown, and beaver. I'm not sure how I feel about having a crayon called beaver, I never realized that was its own color.

Birds and Beers

Don't forget, tonight at 6pm is Birds and Beers (a gathering of birders to have a drink and talk some birds) at Merlin's Rest. People of all abilities are encouraged to come, if you're interested in birds, you're invited. Non Birding Bill will also be there too, so if you want to bring a non birding spouse, bring 'em along.

Here's the announcement on Merlin's Rest website:

Tuesday: The Birds and the Beers! Join the Birdchick, our ornithologist publican (John Dingley), our ornithologist bartender Bob, and many others for an informal gathering of birdwatchers and enthusiasts. And did you know that Minnesota has its own ornithologists union? Check ‘em out. Smart folks and great photos in their gallery.

Birds and Beers

The bandwidth is going of the charts again this month. Non Birding Bill just looked into it and found I'm getting quite a bit of traffic from the International Atomic Energy Agency (the agency that promotes safe, secure and peaceful nuclear technologies). Interesting....

I'm organizing an informal get together of birders. There are so many people that are doing interesting things bird wise--research projects, banding, writing, etc. and we don't often find out about it on the listservs. I also notice that some of us only have a chance to meet at a stake out bird. I thought it would be fun to get some of us together, have a drink, and talk some birds.

So, if you aren't doing anything on Tuesday, July 17 at 6 pm and are in the Twin Cities metro area, come on out for Birds and the Beer at Merlin's Rest. This is not any kind of paid thing, or something the restaurant is sponsoring. It's just an informal gathering to talk with fellow birders--beginners, novices, hard-core--whatever you are, come on in. I chose Merlin's Rest because I know the owner (he's helped with peregrine falcon reintroduction in the Midwest) and it's got bird photos on the walls, so it can't be all bad. Even one of the bartenders is an ornithologist.

They do serve food there as well, so if you want to grab a bite feel free. If you can't make it to this one, I'm hoping this is an ongoing thing and I would like to try it when I travel to other areas.

If you're curious about the tufted titmouse photos, I was around yesterday when one hit a window and dazed itself for about five minutes. When I picked it up from the ground to keep it safe from predators, cats, and dogs I realized that I had never held a titmouse before and it's one of my favorite birds.

Upon closer inspection you could see that this bird was fairly fresh from the nest. Notice the yellow along the gape (the corner of its bill), that's the give away. Poor thing must be learning to fly and like a 15 year old with a learner's permit, lost control.

I loved getting a look at all the little whiskery feathers around the bill. The titmouse sat in my hand for a few minutes and then took off like a flash. That was when it found its way to my head. It stayed for another minute and rejoined its begging siblings in a conifer ten feet away.