Owl Attacks Heron On Live Cam

I love all the live nest cams that are available for us to watch online but knowing all the things that can go wrong with nesting, I keep waiting for the day when a nest cam witnesses something violent.  Sure, we've had epic peregrine battles, but when we are we going to see something pick off nestlings...we might get that this year with the Cornell Live Heron Cam. Recently, a great horned owl tried to go all Hunger Games on the incubating heron.  Check out the video and the heron gets angry and loud, so keep that in mind if you are watching this at work or if you have headphones on (don't worry, it's not bloody):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RBGYPQKt3wA

The birds have just started incubating, but if that great horned is that brazen now...will it return when the chicks hatch?  I don't think this is a matter of the owl desiring a nest, I've seen great horneds take a nest in a heron rookery--it was interesting to note that the herons didn't take any of the nests next to the owl nest but seemed to get along fine with a red-tailed hawk nesting among them.

Will the herons be able to protect their young from an owl? A few years ago there was a raccoon that was systematically climbing up trees at a heron rookery in MN and eating the young one by one.  The MN DNR got video footage of it and in some cases the parents watched from a nearby branch without attacking the raccoon that was eating the chicks alive.

How will this nest cam end? Happily with all five chicks flying off or brutally with some being eaten by an owl? It certainly has my attention.

Birdchick Podcast: #105 Weird Juncoes, Vulture Cam & Oprah

On a quick non birding note, if you or someone you know is considering getting a kid a rabbit for Easter, please, don't.  They are a lot of work and are often surrendered to shelters.  Also, MSNBC noticed Disapproving Rabbits. There's a photo of an octopus eating a gull (Thayer's?).  The problem is that with one photo, some are calling fake.  However, there is a series of photos and for whatever reason the photog isn't sharing on the Internet.  But when you see the full series, it doesn't look fake.

Oprah.com selected Julie Zickefoose's The Bluebird Effect as Oprah's Book of the Week.  Awesome! You can order it here.

There's a turkey vulture cam! OMG! It's new and vultures have been seen there grunting (a mating thing) but you may have to check back a few times as it gets going.

10000 Birds has an interesting bird.  Is it a junco? Is it a hybrid?  Who knows?

Birdchick Photo Contest Winner!

I just did the random drawing for the winner for the Birdchick Photo Contest: Congratulations to Linda Munson, you win the $250 gift certificate form Eagle Optics (they will mail it to you). Linda submitted several photos and one of my favorites was this shot of a great horned owl that took over an osprey nest in Florida:

Thank you to everyone who entered.  If your photo appears in the book, you will receive a free copy when it's released in 2013 and a photo credit.

Several people emailed in and very generously offered their photos and didn't want the gift certificate.  If anyone else would like to submit photos, please feel free--I especially need photos of African and Australian species but I'm always on the look out of cool bird behavior from any wild species.

Thank you again for everyone's participation, there were some fantastic submissions and I'm excited and honored that you shared them with me and they will make this birding primer book very special.

Birdchick Podcast #104: Hard To Find Non Prank News

"I no longer feel so alone in the world." -JONATHAN FRANZEN "As a major birder the film seemed accu-"-JANE ALEXANDER (might've been cut off) .............................ALSO: www.opposablechums.com............................

But the best part of this video is the reaction some birders had.

 

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.

 

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

 

 

Wild Mississippi--Pretty To Watch, Inaccuracies Abound

Nat Geo Wild sent me 3 preview discs of their documentary Wild Mississippi. It's pretty to look at and about as accurate as a Wikipedia article. Filmmakers supposedly followed the Mississippi for a year to see what it does and how it interacts with wildlife and people.  I was excited about this because I work for the Mississippi National River and Recreation area and I knew that producers had called our park for info and that the film crew went up with the pilot we use for duck surveys.  I was hoping that viewers would get to see the Upper Mississippi the way we do when we do our fall duck surveys.

I was disappointed.

I will say there is some great footage in there.  The underwater footage of mussels, the shots of eagles, the wild animals and...the great gray owls.  Wait...what?  Great gray owls in a documentary about the Mississippi River?  Who the what with huh?

Above is a screen shot from the review of Wild Mississippi from the New York Times of the filmmakers getting footage of the owls.  Let me say again, that the footage is awesome but saying this is what happens along the Mississippi River in winter is inaccurate. I would expect more from National Geographic.  Also I have to wonder if that owl was baited for that shot?  And this was taken up at Sax Zim Bog, this was posted on the Friends of Sax Zim Bog Facebook Page today:

"This episode will feature some Great Gray footage shot in Sax-Zim Bog last winter...Filmmakers Neil & Laura Rettig shot on the coldest day of the year in Sax-Zim... Minus 36 degrees! They spent about a week filming.

Some of their Great Gray footage shot along McDavitt Road and CR133 will be included tonight.

Their super slow motion footage shot on Creek Road of another Great Gray Owl will be shown next year in another production...I will keep you posted!"

Point A on the above Google Map is Sax Zim Bog.  Point B is the Mississippi water...about 50 miles straight over...well, if you look at the Mississippi watershed, yeah great grays can be found that but the narrator actually states, "Great gray owls hunt the frozen Mississippi all winter long."

I would recommend watching this documentary on mute.  It would save you on some of the over dramatic narration...although maybe with a beer it will give you good laugh.  Like when the narrator talks about eagle gathering on the river to eat the migrating coots (which magically turn in to ring-neck ducks in some shots) and says, "The Mississippi becomes a river of BLOOD!"

Here's a sample (the guy sounds like he's trying awful hard to be Sam Elliot):  See what I mean--super cool footage, super cheesy narration.

I also had to question a scene in particular during one of the other episodes titled "Raging Waters."  A camera is in a wood duck nest box and the ducklings hatch and begin their jump to the ground to the music of Ride of Valkyries.  Boy that seemed familiar, where have I seen that before, oh yeah, that's right the 2005 film by Steve Furman Ride of the Mergansers.

I think several crews went out to grab great footage of the Mississippi in a year and then the writers and producers changed several hands and screwed up royally.  It's not coherent, it's not accurate and it doesn't mention my park but it is pretty to watch but boy is the footage amazing to watch.

Oh and for those interested, I also got an email that the footage of wolves and coyotes were staged with the animals at The Wildlife Science Center.  The filmmakers did something I totally would have done, they stuck one of their cameras inside a deer carcass to get some up close crunching sounds of wolves.  Best part is one of the wolves tries to eat the camera.

Documenting Bad Behavior Of Birders & Photographers

There's an interesting and odd trend this winter. Owls generally do not bring out the warm cozy camaraderie in the birding community. If anything it brings out the soapboxes and the worst behavior. You have people on both ends of the spectrum: some people say to not report owl sitings ever because the owls will be disturbed. Then you have people who are excited about seeing an owl and want to share it with everybody and then you have the people who know there's an owl, what to get an awesome photo no matter the cost to the fellow observers or the birds themselves. This winter there have been a whole host of arguments on various listservs but what is different is that people are now filming it and putting it on YouTube. Here's one from Boundary Bay, British Columbia, Canada:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0_gzY2k7P0

Here's another at Breezy Point, NY:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-f8AzNn-F8&feature=youtu.be

Non Birding Bill and I even took a video and photos of a jerk last winter with a huge lens who was among several people watching a saw-whet owl and decided he needed to be all up in that, not only walking in front of everyone but getting to the point of almost flushing the owl.

I don't want to pin this behavior to just photographers, there are jerk birders too.  But is this how we are going to deal with the behavior? Is this the best way?