Photos That Were Too Good

As much as I enjoyed the awful photos for my spotting scope competition, I also enjoyed the submissions of photos that...weren't that bad. Some of them I could see from a photography point.  Ah yes, as a pro photographer, I can see how you would think that minor bit that's out of focus is an awful photo...but some of them were really cool: Poop was a popular submission.  And the poop shots were often in focus. Here are some of the top money shots:

Too Good Pamela Monaha eagle poop

Pam Monahan got an adult eagle releasing a load.

Janet Kissik Hug has a great show of a family of osprey with junior ruining the photo as kids are want to do.

too good devin couture duck poop

Devin Courture got a cute shot of a shoverler shooting some poop.

Too Good Craig Nash Shite Bird Photograph 11

Craig Nash got a shot of the elusive woodcock squirt, very nice.

Too Good Coot Jen Garland

Dead birds were also a popular subject, but most of them were shot in a very artful way--like this coot by Jen Garland.

Too Good Kim Roberston dead bird

Kim Robertson got this beautiful dead seabird on the Sunshine Coast in Queenland, Australia.

Too Good Bonnie Bowen crow head

Here's another kind of arty photo of a crow head from Bonnie Bowen. I will grant you these photos are unique and perhaps wouldn't make the cover of any birding magazines, but they are intriguing.

too good mantis wayne price

I thought this was a cool photo from Wayne Price.  But here is my question, what the mantis just chilling out...or was it after the goldfinch?  They have been documented going after hummingbirds.

Too Good mark robinson rtha

Mark Robinson sent in this cool and crisply in focus red-tailed hawk.  Not a bad photo..but man, not sure I would want my camera that close to the crap end of the bird.

Too Good redheadwp Liz Stanley

Liz Stanley got a red-head woodpecker to pose with her good luck charm stuffed red-headed woodpecker. Not bad but definitely a fun photo!

Too Good Scott Hawley Pileated in Birdbath

Scott Hawley submitted this strange photo.  He purchased a disc you can put in your heated bird bath that keeps birds from bathing in them in winter.  The black disk is supposed to float on top of the water...unless a female pileated woodpecker decides to land on it and sinks the whole deal. lol.

To see the best of the worst submissions...and well to feel a little better about your own photography skills, be sure to check out the finalists in the Flickr gallery.

 

 

 

 

Still Sorting Contest Entries

I know a lot of you are going to be checking today to find out who won my spotting scope.  There were A LOT of entries--over 500! The winner will be announced to day, but most likely not until the evening.

Still Time To Enter The Scope Contest

Just a quick reminder that you still have time to enter my spotting scope giveaway contest--just a couple of days left. Screen Shot 2013-02-06 at 9.43.17 PM I sent off my scope to Swarovski to get it checked out and make sure it's in all top working condition for whoever wins. Perhaps I wasn't quite ready to let it go. Part of your warranty with optics from Swarovski is that you can send it in every few years to be checked out, maybe they've made an adjustment to the product or maybe your eye relief is a little loose, they will inspect it and clean it up for you. I went to their repair department a few years ago and got to check it out.

 

 

Birdchick Podcast #129: Birds, We Talk About Birds

Stuff that happened while Non Birding Bill and I were out of town: Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Black Swamp Bird Observatory launched a website to try and connect young birders called Young Birders Network.

Ornithologist forced to participate in reality tv show.

Some gruesome but awesome images of a lanner falcon and chanting goshawk...that does not end well for at least one of a flock of turtle doves.

The American Birding Association announced the 2013 Bird of the Year and Robert Mortensen of Birding is Fun fame made a hilarious video.  This man knows how to commit:

Visit the official ABA Bird of the Year website: http://aba.org/boy/

And this video led to this:

Screen Shot 2013-01-14 at 8.55.37 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-14 at 8.55.37 PM

And then this:

Screen Shot 2013-01-14 at 8.55.53 PM
Screen Shot 2013-01-14 at 8.55.53 PM

Sometimes, there are just plain weird projects on Kickstarter and it may be best to quietly navigate away from the page.

The Hitler Hoary Redpoll video...(man, if you're not a birder, that probably sounds weird).

You can use a pigeon to deliver your mail...but not feel guilty about it!

And you think you have a crappy job...

Yes, There Were Birds In That Photo

What Bird I posted this photo earlier asking if there was a bird in this photo.  There are actually two horned larks in this photo. Can't see them? That's because their camouflage is doing its job.

What Bird Horned Larks

I tried circling them so you could see how close you came to finding them...but that bird in the middle is still hard to make out.

Hidden Horned Lark

Here' s a zoom in of the middle bird. It's back is facing my scope, but the head is turned slightly to the right and you can just make out the mask.

Horned Lark

It's incredible how well camouflage works on these ground feeding birds. I'm not sure what all they are finding to eat as they scurry the plowed fields but it must work well for them.

I did have to chuckle.  When I posted this on Twitter, one of the first answers came from @Darth who replied with this:

Screen shot 2013-01-01 at 10.42.48 PM

Well played, @Darth, well played.

Mad Year Of 2012

I think this is one of the strangest years I've lived through. In my brain I referred to it as Mad 2012.  Just about all of it has been wonderful and the parts that were not wonderful eventually worked themselves out to, "well I guess that really was for the best." spotted owl

I'm grateful for quite a bit of it: getting time with friends, getting NBB set up doing what he loves for a living, getting the chance to finally see a spotted owl (above). But so much of it was strange and unexpected.

Some of the strange things: I was denied entry to Canada, a public radio DJ got me plowed at a science fiction convention, I went full on blond, I got to hug Dave Foley, Non Birding Bill left me alone in a sushi bar and Chris Kluwe sat next to me and we discussed cock monsters, and Jeff Gordon, the president of the American Birding Association introduced me to someone who enjoys this blog and it turned out to be one of my favorite actors, Lili Taylor--and we went birding together.

The true weirdness of the year was work. I wrote another book that's coming in 2013 and one of my freelance clients hired me full time but then a few months later laid me off, but turned right around and hired me on a contract basis.  That really could have been interpreted as a crap moment, but it really worked out for the best and part of what eased that was meeting this woman:

Outdoor Afro

This is Rue Mapp of Outdoor Afro and we were part of an outdoors "think tank" this summer. Right about the time it happened, I was settling into my full time job and putting the Birdchick stuff as secondary and she had just quit her full time job to make Outdoor Afro her full time gig. As she described taking that leap, I felt a pang of envy. I loved the security of a full time job (and the benefits) but I found myself turning down projects and opportunities because I didn't have the time to leave my job. Between the job and the book, I certainly wasn't blogging as much. Rue is a fascinating woman with a clear vision and goal and you can't help but be inspired when you talk with her.

A couple of months later I was laid off.  It was a huge relief. In the same meeting I was laid off, I was contracted in for some part time bird work. After a quick phone call I learned that there were still some opportunities for me at The National Park Service, so in October, I found myself doing all the fun things that I enjoyed most about being a blogger with a flexible schedule.  I'm still glad I had a full time job for a few months, it allowed us to set up operations for NBB to start his freelance career as a writer and video producer. Now, we are both in our freelance groove and our biggest worry is how do we not kill each other on days when both of us are working from home (or on  the road, he's going to at least 1 birding festival with me--yikes).

It's taken a few weeks to get my groove settled, but taking a cue from Rue, I've set some goals for the blog in 2013 to keep it interesting.  This blog is over eight years old now and I sometimes wonder how many times I can post about an awesome chickadee eating sunflower seed or crow roosts or hawk trapping. But I've signed up for some projects that will keep it fun for me to write about and hopefully be fun to read.

Thank you to everyone who checks in to the blog, Twitter and or Facebook. I hope your 2013 is fantastic. 2012, you have been a very, very weird year, but all the same, I've had a lovely time.

Why I Love Social Media

I love Bill Oddie.  I got to go birding with him last year in Israel, great birder and loads of fun.  People in the US generally aren't familiar with him unless they were fans of watching the original Doctor Who on late night public television and caught The Goodies, or are professional comedians (again, The Goodies). How awesome are The Goodies? Someone literally died laughing while watching the infamous Ecky Thump episode. You can find quite a few episodes on YouTube, I recommend Ecky Thump, Goodies The Movies AKA The British Film Industry (the ending montage is comedy gold) or Kitten Kong.  Though my friend Max would feel I was remiss if I didn't include Punky Business. It's a little Monty Python, a little Monkees with a touch of Benny Hill.  If any of that appeals to you, start Googling. Mr. Oddie is known over in the UK for not only his mad comedic skills, but as a writer, birder, naturalist and nature program host.  (That's right, he's the total package and my second favorite Bill on the planet).

Well, as fate would have it, my partner in beekeeping Mr. Neil once interviewed him in the early 1980s (and Neil is the one who introduced me to Mr. Oddie years ago, by loaning me one of his books thinking that we would be kindred spirits). And we are.  I am unbelievably honored that Mr. Oddie wrote the foreword to my book coming in 2013, 1001 Things Every Birder Should Know.

I was out with Neil today as we put some insulation around our beehives for the winter. Bill Tweeted a photo to us waving a hello:

Bill Oddie

Isn't he adorable? What a sweetheart of a guy.  So, we tweeted back:

Birdchick Neil Gaiman

That's me looking wacky, there's Neil looking debonaire. Also, note the distinct habitat difference between the two photos.

Neil mentioned that he wrote an article about Bill in 1984 for a magazine I wasn't familiar with called Knave.  With the help of his personal assistant Lorraine, I went to look it up in his vast archives so I could scan the article and email it to Bill...and discovered that it was a bird magazine, but in the British sense. There were a lot of naked ladies in there! Apparently it's the equivalent of Playboy. Wow.  Hair was a lot different in the early to mid 1980s (wink wink, nudge nudge). Non Birding Bill was happy to take it and scan the article for me...thanks, NBB.

So, a fun, if not educational day for me.