Rainy Weekend At The Hawk Banding Station

Minnesota was a little on the dry side this summer and autumn appears to be hell bent on making that up.  It is non stop rain and that was certainly the case at Frank Taylor's banding station this weekend.  Not that I mind, last weekend was great and we got in a good number of birds and we got to watch some great hawk flights and dives.  And at the end of the day, a slow and rainy day in the blind beats any day behind a desk (and wearing uncomfortable government pants) so I was just happy to be there.  The camaraderie was great and Frank let Amber and I sleep in his trailer.  There's nothing quite like hearing the patter of rain on the roof to put you right to sleep.

I thought for sure with the rain that we would get a peregrine in the nets--or at least see one, but alas we got skunked on the peregrine front.  We did see a few merlins and one little tiny passage (hatch year) male came right in--and he was literally half the size of the pigeon.  Ah, young males, so impetuous, they think they can take on the world...or at least a ginormous pigeon.

As we were about to let the merlin go, the rain picked up again--you can see it bead up on his head.  He looks like he's screaming, "Okay, you have your darned photos, let's get this show on the road.  Let me go!" And we did.

We did get in a few sharp-shinned hawks like the above adult male.  I think we banded a total of four birds while I was there all day Saturday and for half the day on Sunday.

This sharp-shin is about to get a band on its leg.  Considering how few birds we saw on Saturday, that wasn't a bad average.  The rain kept raptors out of site.  We did have a TON of migrants around us.  The woods were still chock full of red-breasted nuthatches, yellow-rumped warblers, black-capped chickadees, ruby-crowned kinglets and palm warblers.  You can see photos of some of those birds at my buddy Amber's blog.  They were very responsive to pishing.  I stood in the woods behind the blind, pished a little and the whole mixed flock dropped from the trees and eyed my warily.  One red-breasted nuthatch landed briefly on my hat...of course, I did not have my camera with me.  We also had a bunch of lapland longspurs flying around in front of us and it was amazing to watch them disappear into the grass when the flock finally landed.  American pipits called frequently from overhead as they too worked their way south.

Adult sharp-shinned hawks are a thing of beauty with their orange fronts and dark blue backs, accented by a red eye.  Even though we did not get many in, the few adults that landed in the nets were a treat to see up close.  Normally, when we let birds go, I like to lay underneath the releaser and get a shot of the bird in flight from below.  Usually, the releaser opens their hand on a count of three and the bird bolts.

This particular sharp-shinned hawk wasn't ready.  It paused, just for a moment.  I love the way it's looking behind, as if to say, "What now? You thought you wanted me to flap on five?"  Don't worry, true to accipiter form and this bird's folk name of Little Blue Darter, it flapped in plenty of time and dove into the woods.

This was a passage (hatch year) male.  Look at his little chicken legs!  These hawks are so tiny in hand (blue jay sized) and are really skinny--like David Bowie circa Diamond Dogs skinny.

I hope I get to make it up one more time...I did not get a good goshawk fix at the blind.

A Day In Frank Taylor's Blind

A photo of a pair of hatch year sharp-shinned hawks (the female is the larger bird on the left, the male is smaller and on the right) means that it's that special time of year for me.  That special time when I try to cut back on where I travel to so I can have time to help out with some hawk banding.  To those who have ever participated in a well run and a good banding station, it's not only scientific research, but it's part hunting and part sports game.  You scan the skies looking for a hawk that might be in a good position to see your bait, if it comes down, it could at the last minute dart off, if it does hit the net, you have to make sure the bait bird doesn't get nailed, then you have to dash out of the blind before the hawk gets out of the net.  After all of that research, you take notes on the bird and let it go, hoping for it to be recovered again when even more valuable information can be garnered.

Sunday was the first day I was able to go up.  I hit the road dark and early.  Watching the forecast, I wasn't sure what to expect. Websites predicted a 40% chance of rain all day, but the winds would be west in the morning, northwest in the afternoon--promising.  And at the end of the day, a slow day in the blind, is better than any day away from it.  And even to have the chance to watch the hawks on part of their journey is a treat.  No worries, it was not a disappointed day in the least, note the above red-tailed hawk--oh, what a flight to watch come in to the net.

Above is my buddy Frank Taylor posing with a hatch year (passage) red-tailed hawk we got in the nets.  He's also posing with his wounded rabbit call, which I must admit, I was skeptical about it. But it totally worked!  This young red-tail flew up to catch a thermal.  Rick, our master pigeon yanker, pulled the pigeon to flap a few times, and the red-tail showed no interest.  Frank grabbed his wounded rabbit call, blew loud and blew hard and the bird flapped, came out of the thermal and set towards the pigeon--it was beautiful.  It came in from far, set its wings, slowly lowered the talons and flew right into the net!  The call of the wounded rabbit was just enough to get the red-tail's attention to see the bait bird.

After we band the birds and are about to let them go, I like to try and get photos of them taking off.  My favorite way is to lay on the ground.  Normally, the birds are looking to get away.  Not this red-tail, it watched me to the whole time.

It was not interested in anything else.  I even said to Frank, "I really don't like the way this one is looking at me." It was not looking away.

Yet, when the hawk was released, it lost complete interest in me.  Whew.  When I showed this photo to Non Birding Bill, he said the hawk looked like it was auditioning for Fame and trying to light up the sky like a flame.

One of the fun parts of the blind is getting to see the local wildlife come out, not knowing that we are there.  This was a doe who came out to browse.  Although, her interest was piqued when she heard all of the camera clicks.

We had a very ballsy chipmunk come out to gather some of the leftover pigeon food to its winter stores, seemingly oblivious to the potential predators we were trying to draw in.

Blue jays also came in for the spilled food and periodically competed with the chipmunk.  This bird was really loading up on food--look how full the crop is.  Early in the morning when fewer hawks were moving, we had time to watch the chipmunk and the hawk, but by 10am, the hawk faucet was turned on and we were too busy catching hawks and watching others fly over to pay attention to the others.

We got in quite a few haggard (after hatch year) sharp-shins.  Normally, we don't get too many of those until later the season.  It was such a great day of watching hawks of all sizes from far off spot the pigeon and then come in for it.

One particular adult had us wondering about his past.  As soon as my friend Amber took him out of the nets, she noted that he had a Cooper's hawk look about him with his head.  It did look a bit flat, but he was sharpie in size and dainty bill.  As she banded the sharp-shin, he did what many hawks typically do--open its mouth and stick its tongue out.  Only, when this hawk did it, the tongue veered sharply to the right (not unlike someone with a neurologic disorder).  While Amber banded this bird, more hawks came into the nets and Reier held the hawk.  The hawk turned it's head this way and that.  When it would strain too far to the left or right, it would shake.  Reier noted that it was like someone with nerve damage.  Between the flatness of the head and the abnormalities, I wondered if this bird had flown into a window or some other blunt trauma?  It was a chunky bird, so it felt as though it had been eating well, but something happened to it somewhere.

Shorebird Banding At The Midwest Birding Symposium

A birder scans the dawn for migrants.  What a beautiful morning at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge in Ohio!  During the Midwest Birding Symposium, I got the opportunity to observe some shorebird banding last Friday (which was a fun change of pace from the usual songbird banding I do on Fridays).  The banding started at dawn and involved two men named Tom.

The nets were set in areas where the shorebirds were feeding. The banders had to be careful to too keep the bottoms of the nets high, so if too many birds were caught, the nets wouldn't droop down into the water. You had to wear some serious waders in order to put the nets up and to retrieve the birds.

Some birds were not buying it, like the above pectoral sandpiper (that's a yellowlegs blurred in the background). Some birds fed right under the nets, while others flew right above and below.  However, many flew into the nets and we got to see quite a large variety of shorebird species in the hand.

Some of the nets were not easy to get to. Shorebird feed on mudflats and that gets messy.  They had to cross a stream to be able to get at the nets in a fast and easy manner.

Look at this beauty--a pectoral sandpiper.  This is one I can remember, note how far the brown goes down on its body before it meets the white.  The brown goes down much further on this bird than it would on a semipalmated or least--plus it's bigger.  The birds were all smaller in hand than they look in the field, which is what I expected.  According to bird banding guru Peter Pyle, this bird takes a band size of 1A.  You can put a 1A band on a cardinal to give you an idea of size.

The banders took the usual measurement of wings and tail, but also checked weight. This was done swiftly, by quickly inserting the shorebird into a tube and setting it on a scale (the weight of the tube was already calculated on the scale.  I think the banders had all of their measurements taken, banding and then assessment of age and sex in less than 60 seconds. They were quick, with the shorebird's safety and health a primary concern.

Here's a cute little bird! It's the sample size version of the killdeer, a semipalmated plover.  Don't you just love that yellow eyering?  These also take a small 1A band like the pectoral (and cardinal).  After this bird was banded, it flew across the nearby creek and began to forage as though nothing had happened.

And if you are wondering what the name "semipalmated" is all about, it refers to the slight webbing between the toes.  See?  Again, a bird named back in the day when they were shot first and identified later.  It's something seen easily in hand and up close to the face, but rarely seen when the bird is running around on a mudflat.  And believe it or not, non birders, this is not the only semipalmated bird out there.

We also got a semipalmated sandpiper into the nets too.  Above you can see Tom splaying the toes revealing the partial webbing between the toes.  This bird had a slight deformity on its bill, there was a lump in the middle.  Had it flown into a window at some point? Was it just some sort of odd defect it was hatched with? Who can say?

If you remember the photo from the previous entry, I asked if these were the same birds or different.  Even in hand, up close it can be a challenge.  Normally, I would point out the bill differences, but the semipalmated has that notch in its beak.  Another way I tell the two apart in Minnesota is also covered up.  Semipalm's bill and feet appear to be the same color, least sandpipers feet look lighter in color than the bill (you'll have to take my word on that since the least's feet are covered up in that photo).  You can see some examples here.

The coolest bird of the day for me was a Wilson's snipe that came into the nets.  What a great bird and what a treat to see up close.  Above is bander Tom Bartlett, reminding me a bit of Hannibal of the A-Team, loving it when a shorebird plan comes together.  And for the record, all we had to do to get this snipe was put up banding nets in the morning, no one was out in the middle of the night with a pillowcase making strange noises.

Here are some snipe toes, remarkably clean for a bird that wanders in mud.

Here's a shot of the head and that incredibly long beak it uses to probe in mud.  The bill  of the snipe is so flexible that it can open just the tips without opening the whole bill! Sensory pits at the tip of the bill allow the snipe to feel its prey deep in the mud.  It's bill is also handy for yanking the occasional worm too.

Tom tried to gently reveal the serrations inside the bill.  There are a couple of different theories as to how the snipe gets food and perhaps it uses both.  Some think that they may suck up food when the bill is probed in soil and others think the serrations pointing back towards its mouth in conjunction with its tongue will help move prey found in mud.  Still something we can learn.

Tom does have to bee quick when getting birds out of the nets.  He showed us this photo from just last month when a young peregrine falcon saw shorebirds struggling in the nets and thought it might be easy prey.  Tom got a little messy, but was able to get the falcon before it got the shorebirds.

This was a fun and educational experience and hands down one of my favorite birding moments at the Midwest Birding Symposium.

Banding Wilson's Warbler & Chipping Sparrow Tumor

WARNING!  THERE ARE SOME KIND OF GROSS BIRD TUMOR PHOTOS IN THIS POST. Don't worry, I'll end on a nice cleansing post.

The colors at Carpenter Nature Center are outstanding right now.  This amazing palette will last over the next month or so, so if you need a day to just look at some beautiful late summer flowers, this is the place to be.

Many of the birds in the nets for Friday's banding were pretty too, like this Wilson's warbler.  I wonder if this bird is on his way to Guatemala? It was the most common warbler I remember seeing there last February.  Between the ones I see around MN, Las Vegas, and Guatemala, I think this is the most common warbler I have seen all 2009, I think I have seen more of these than I have yellow-rumped warblers.

Here's an above view of that Wilson's warbler, a hatch year male.  His cap is growing in well and his outer tail feathers are pointed.  McGill Bird Observatory has a good website with photos showing how they age and sex birds in the hand (certainly is easier to read than Pyle).

Hey!  For some crazy shots of a "washed out Wilson's warbler" found during banding, check out Bill Schmoker's blogWil.

Some days when we band birds, it is fairly easy to get them out of the nets, other days it seems as though every bird gets tangled up in some weird way, how will I ever get them out.  This was one of those days.  However, get them out we did.  We did see two birds that appeared to be having some health issues.

One bird was a field sparrow.  I did not get photos of it, but as I took it out of the net, I could see that its head was missing several feathers, almost like a bald cardinal.  Not only that, the exposed skin looked dry and had what looked like sore patches.  The bird also had a bit of bleeding around the neck.  As soon as it was out, it was let go.  This was not a situation where the bird could have been taken to a rehab center and there was no point in furthering any stress.  Whatever this poor field sparrow had going, banding was not going to help.  I had to make sure to wash thoroughly with anti-bacterial soap, so as not to risk spreading whatever the bird had.

We also had a chipping sparrow fly in to the nets with a tumor.

Apart from the tumor, this bird appeared healthy.  The lump looked like it might be a blister, but the tumor was rock solid.

If you look at it from the front, it appears as though it starts right at the gape.  It's hard when these come in.  As a human, you would like to do something to help, to make a bird's life easier.  However, would wildlife rehab really help a bird like this?  Would it be better to let it live out what life it has in the wild than to have spend a few days terrified in a clinic where it most likely will be put down?  Birds with illnesses and injuries are eaten by predators, it's a valuable source of food for migrating hawks, wouldn't it be better to let that be the ultimate end, where it continues to the cycle of life, rather than die quietly indoors?  And we certainly were seeing hawks passover--especially sharp-shinned hawks.

It's never an easy call, but something that banders are faced with from time to time.

I end with a photo of goldenrod surrounded by some of the other flowers and leaves.  If you are looking for a place to visit with some great color, Carpenter is it at least for the next month.

Friday At Carpenter Nature Center

Not that I could deny before, but migration is totally on.  We got in our first fall white-throated sparrow in the banding nets at Carpenter Nature Center on Friday.  I think this is the earliest we've ever had one.  I'm very curious about this fall's migration.  Will our cold summer cause changes?  It's been too cool for backyard gardeners to get their tomatoes to ripen...what effects has there been on seeds and insects birds use to fatten up for the journey south?

Signs of summer are still around, check out this apparently well fed green frog that was lurking in Carpenter's new pond.  It was hiding in the grasses waiting for some unsuspecting insects to land nearby.  I love these frogs, they make a sound kind of like a banjo string being plucked.  Here's a link to a great video of green frogs calling.  At first I worried that this was a young bullfrog ( a non native frog that could cause problems in the pond) and so Jen and I looked up how to tell green frog from bullfrog.  Green frogs have a dorsolateral fold from their eye to their hips.  This frog had that fold, so that made it a green frog--whew.  You can read more about the differences over at the Hilton Pond site. 

Incidentally this is the best time of year to visit Carpenter Nature Center, the scenery is outstanding with the blooming goldenrod and asters.  It gets even better as the leaves begin to change color.  They have some great programs this fall from The Raptor Release to even a watercolor class in October (I might sign up for that). Note that swallowtail butterfly in the above photo?  Take a closer look at it below:

Some will look at this butterfly and think "Aw, poor thing!"  I look at it and think, "Man, that is one badass butterfly!"  How long has it survived to have such a ragged look.  That chunk missing out of its wing looks like the telltale patter of a bird beak.  Has it evaded numerous attempts to be eaten by flycatchers and swallows? Perhaps this is the oldest swallowtail of the summer.  It even bullied the honeybees and bumblebees trying to nectar along with it.

Birding Private Property While In Las Vegas

Again, when I said I was going to Las Vegas to see birds, many thought I was a bit crazy.  A few thought that I would just see the birds at the casinos like the flamingos above who reside at...The Flamingo.  There were also hooded mergansers, shovelers, pochards (which I've actually seen in their native Asia), wood ducks and sacred ibis.  But I was into more.

Rita, our contact with Red Rock Audubon said that she knew a great place for hummingbirds, but it was on private property and she needed to get permission to escort us there.  It was a lovely yard with a feeding station for hummingbirds and many seed eating species.  The home was in the mountains, about 50 miles from downtown Vegas and so worth the trip, it wasn't too far from Spring Mountains National Recreation Area.  The morning temperatures were lovely.  The only downside was one REALLY pesky honeybee.  That bothered all of us and was very interested in my scope and some of my camera equipment.  I must have some honey/wax/propolis residue from my hives and this girl was looking to rob.

This was one busy place for hummingbirds.  I'm only going to id the in focus rufous hummingbird, those western hummers are a bit tricky for me where I live in the land of mono-species hummingbird.  The birds were zipping all over the place, Amy Hooper almost got totally beaned by one and another flew right between the legs of my tripod.

I had to get some help from hummingbird maven Sheri Williamson for this bird's id.  She called it a juvenile black-chinned male hummingbird.  Speaking of Sheri and black-chinned hummers, she had quite the big news this summer.  Some hummingbird banders got a recapture in their nets this summer, only the bird was not orginally banded by them, but was banded by Sheri...in 2000! Nine years ago!  That's geriatric by hummingbird standards which are believed to have an average lifespan of three years.  You can read the full story here.

Sheri also helped me id this little dude, a broad-tailed hummingbird.  How fun to have three different species flying around.  Depending on what you read about Nevada, more species are possible.

But hummingbirds weren't the only attraction, there were also Stellar's jays--I love these guys, they almost make the blue jays I see down right drab (almost). The appeared to be a younger jay going through a bit of a molt, but check out the snazzy white eyebrow.  You might also notice the white stripe going up from the bill.  This is a variation in plumage known as the "interior west."  Like many jays, the Stellar's were all happy to hop down and grab a peanut in the shell.

This is a young black-headed grosbeak that flew in for black-oil sunflower seeds and suet.

There were also oodles of finches.  Above is a pine siskin on the left.  The larger obscured bird in the back is a Cassin's finch.  I saw those in Utah, but did not grasp how large they were for a finch.  Especially compared to the siskins and goldfinches around.

There were quite a few lesser goldfinches (note the dude with the cap on the right).  They were eating black-oil sunflower seed, Nyjer and some sort of finch mix.  They were almost as abundant as the hummingbirds.

The lesser goldfinches also ate some of the leaves on the trees too.  I wonder if that's a tactic to get moisture?

A big unexpected surprise and probably the best new bird I got on this trip was the finch in the above photo in the middle with the yellow on the wings--a Lawrence's goldfinch!  I told Non Birding Bill that for a non birder, he was getting some amazing birds on this trip. He simply gave a non committal, "Oh."

This bird is on Audubon's "watch list" and according to their website its breeding range "is confined to the Central Valley and coastal foothills of California, as well as the northern portion of Baja California."  Was excited to get one in Vegas.  Rita our guide said that there is usually one that will show up in Nevada when they disperse after breeding season, but did not expect that morning.  What a treat!

We were also treated to the uber cute mountain chickadee coming in for sunflower.  There was a pygmy nuthatch that popped in and out around the chickadee, but it refused to be digiscoped.

This a GREAT spot and you have to contact Red Rock Audubon to see if you can get permission to visit this yard.  The home owners are gracious to allow birders to look at their great feeding station but it's best to make sure to keep the neighbors happy.  If you do get the chance to visit, you might consider bringing either a bag of table sugar (for hummingbird nectar) or a back of black-oil sunflower or Nyjer as a thank you for the hosts' birding hospitality.

Waxwings and Bird Handling

I have been making so many changes this summer. Some have been evident with the blog and will be more evident in the coming weeks. Some have been in my day to day routine. For example, I've been learning how to band birds at Carpenter Nature Center and usually spend my Fridays (when I'm in town) there.

Check out this cedar waxwing that came in to the nets today at Carpenter. It's an adult (not tell tale streaking on the breast that would make it a juvenile).

What a gorgeous bird this is and beautiful study of powerful highlights--love that yellow tail tip.  Oh, and get this, I was reading Cornell's All About Birds website (which makes a handy online field guide) and it says that waxwings with orange instead of yellow tail tips began appearing in the northeastern U.S. and southeastern Canada in the 1960s. The orange color is the result of a red pigment picked up from the berries of an introduced species of honeysuckle--crazy.  Non-native plants can cause a slight color change in our native birds.

Check out the little wax tips on the secondary wing feathers of this birds. What a treat to see them up close!  These are the reason this bird is called a waxwing.  To the best of my knowledge, researchers have not figured out the purpose or function of them, but much like the yellow tail tip, if a waxwing eats enough of the above mentioned honeysuckle berries while it is growing a tail feather, the tip of the feather will be orange too.

However, recently I haven't been doing as much with the banding end of things are Carpenter. That's because I started volunteering my time with their education birds. I have volunteered at the University of Minnesota's Raptor Center since 1997, mostly working with their educational birds. However, with the economy, Carpenter has had to lose some of their staffing and asked for volunteers with bird handling skills to help them out.  The Raptor Center is very well known, has over 400 volunteers and is a great place for a person to learn how to handle birds.  Since Carpenter is in need and (much like Liam Neeson) I have a certain set of skills that can be of use, I took a leave of absence from TRC to help out Carpenter.

They have three education birds at Carpenter: a great horned owl, a red-tailed hawk, and a peregrine falcon who is still being trained in. Today, I got to help with that a little bit. He's getting used to being perched on a gloved hand (thanks to some great trainers volunteering their time), but he's still uncertain about people coming into his mew (falconry term for his cage) and gets frightened easily.  He has an injured wing and cannot fly, so all of his perches have to be low enough for him to reach by a good leap.

I stepped into his mew with some fresh quail and he started running around all over. You train birds with positive reinforcement, so I crouched in a corner, did not make eye contact, watched in my peripheral vision and waited for him to settle.  Unfortunately, that was on the ground on the other side of his mew. I waited until his posture relaxed a bit, and slowly set a piece of quail on one of his perches. He slowly made his way over to the perch. I made sure it was a dark red and juicy piece. He couldn't resist. He hopped up and began eating.  I slowly moved my gloved hand with another piece of quail to the perch.  He paused and stared at it, then continued to munch what he had. When he finished, he hopped up to my gloved hand.

I secured his jesses (the leather straps on his feet that are usually tied to leash) and stood up.  I fed him the rest of the quail and he at ravenously. I had another quail for him in the kitchen, so when he finished, I put him back to the perch, stepped out of his mew and went to get it.  This time when I returned, I approached slowly, he remained on his perch and stepped up beautifully.  He's gradually learning that stepping up to the glove is a safe thing and he might even get some tasty food out of it.  It was honor to be part of his training process and it felt good to know that I have the skills to help out with it (and a relief that I didn't undo any of the training he has received thus far).

So, in this tough economic time when so many organizations are hurting for funds (as are some of us) don't forget that your time can always be just as valuable.

Speaking of hurting for funds, did you hear about the nasty deal going down with Sportsman's Warehouse?  According to a report at a Wall Street Journal blog, they have filed for Chapter 11. They have been selling the Duck Stamp which can be used as a waterfowl hunting license but more importantly, 98% of the $15 paid to get a stamp goes to habitat acquisition--it's a great purchase for hunters and non-hunters.

Sportsman's Warehouse is now refusing to turn over $629,415 it raised through the sale of federal duck hunting licenses and want to use it to pay back their creditors. As a result, the Department of the Interior is objecting to the company’s plan of reorganization, urging a judge to reject the plan until it makes it clear that the money will end up where it belongs with the Migratory Bird Fund and not the company or its creditors.

I'm sorry that a business is in trouble and trying to stay afloat, but using money from a fundraiser to bail your sorry butt out is wrong, wrong, wrong.  Certainly will make me be a bit more choosy when I'm purchasing my outdoor gear.

Bioblitz Buntings and Prothonotary Warblers

Watch out! It's the world's angriest indigo bunting!

Last weekend's MN Bioblitz was great fun--if you don't know, a Bioblitz is an event where people try to document as many living species in a 24 hour period as they can: birds, fish, mammals, insects, plants, fungus, reptile--everything that is alive. I was sorry that I didn't get a chance to see some of the other non birding events, but the banding station ended up getting quite busy. I was so happy that Mark Newstrom volunteered his time to set up his nets so banding could be part o the day's activities.

We started with a morning bird walk around Crosby Park where we saw a ton of great birds, in particular, the above cedar waxwing (who is scratching his neck). Our small, but dedicated group on the walk was hoping for a prothonotary warbler...and we found a few. At first we heard what sounded to be two singing. I was anxious to try and get a photo since my only photo was the sad blue I got at the World Series of Bird last year. We listened to try and determine where the bird was, we were in a high traffic area and kept looking in the bushes. There were several birds perched and singin on the wire, one looked like a really bright goldfinch and then I realized...that was where the song was coming from. I aimed my scope and...

...Holy Crap! There's a male prothonotary warbler singing...out in the open...in perfect sun! Apparently, this guy did not get the memo that warblers are to skulk and hide and unlike children, they should be heard and most certainly not seen. He was so accommodating, I was able to get a video:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUqJOKEj_-M[/youtube]

He's just one of the coolest warblers ever! Bright gold in front, delicate sky blue wings in the back! Did you notice that in the video he was kind enough to show both sides? Again, he must not be part of the official warbler union.

And the beauty did not end there, we ended up getting three male indigo buntings in the nets! Crosby Park is just loaded with buntings, they like to nest on the edge of woodlands and their active song is noticeable. I'm quite certain that one of the tree birds we got in was the bird that I digiscoped the other day at Crosby. One of the nets was near his territory and after we captured the buntings, we didn't hear him sing for awhile. He had to preen that greasy human touch off of his feathers.

What a treat to be able to show a kid an indigo bunting up close. My favorite part is when it's time to let the bird go. If a kid is nearby, I look down and ask, "You want to release it?"

Most kids say yes and all get a combination of glee and anxiousness in their face. When I placed the above male in that little girl's hands she gasped, "Oh! He's so soft!"

Take that, nature deficit disorder!

Another thing that is fun to do with kids (and frankly, adults) is when a larger bird comes in (like the above female cowbird) and put them up to their ears so they can hear the bird's heartbeat--it sounds like a cat purring. What a great way to open the conversation up to talk about a bird's metabolism and how much they eat and how they can survive in various temperatures.

This cowbird hit the net the same time a female common yellowthroat did. I wondered if the cowbird had been about to make her move to the yellowthroat nest and deposit an egg. Mark blew on her feathers near her vent:

You could see the area was swollen and an egg beneath her transparent skin. Normally, when banding birds during nesting season, we release them near where they were trapped so they can go right back to the nest, but in the cowbird's case, we let her go in the opposite direction.

As we were about to wind up our banding station, we had three redstarts hit the nets. At first, we though we had two males (that's a male above) and one female. Males are kind of like mini orioles--small and orange black. Females are more grey and yellow.

The bird that I took out of the net and thought was female, ended up being a second year male. It takes redstarts two years to get their black and orange plumage. This bird was in transition. Still mostly in his immature plumage, but his tail feathers were already showing black. It was fun to show kids how you can sometimes get a very good idea of how old a bird is in hand.

I have to say that I have new respect for Crosby Park--even though it's in a very urban area, lots of great birds are there. We also heard both yellow-billed and black-billed cuckoos, broad-winged hawks, saw a beaver, someone else reported a river otter. It's a great place that I'll have to visit more often.

Breeding Birds & Eagle Banding

If you're looking for links of what I talked about on KARE 11's Showcase Minnesota today, here they are: Sign up for the Minnesota Breeding Bird Atlas (a monumental project run by Bonnie Sample whom I've known from banding birds at Carpenter Nature Center) that needs volunteers and reports of birds breeding all over the state of Minnesota.  This is a huge project that no one birding organization has been able to organize before.  It's spearheaded by Minnesota Audubon, but will involve several state and national organizations.

The other item I talked about was Woodworking for Wildlife, my buddy Carrol Henderson's book  on building nesting houses and platforms for just about any bird that will use them.

Last week, I was privleged to join my buddy Mark Martell out on the St Croix River to band young bald eagles.  Above is a 5 week old bald eagle wondering what the heck is going on.  Hard to take them seriously as a top predator on the food chain when their beaks look like giant schnozzes.

We had a map with notes marking where eagle nests had been spotted in the spring.  We took the boat out to have a look--some were easy to find like the above nest.  It's huge because the eagles have been adding to it a little every year. The birds will do this year after year until the tree can no longer support the weight of the nest or wind knocks it down.

Speaking of wind, we were banding on Wednesday--the day it was super windy in Minnesota.  Normally, the tree climber who goes up to get the chicks, uses a bow and arrow, shoots and arrow with a rope over a strong branch above the nest to rappel up, but the wind was just too strong and took the arrow anyplace but where the climber needed it.

He eventually decided to climb the tree the old fashioned way.  It took longer, but was the only option.  Above is a photo of Dan the climber next to the eagle nest...did I mention that Dan is six feet tall?  Keep that in mind as he stands next to the nest--it has to be eight feet long at least.

Speaking of Dan Kraus our climber, he has an AWESOME website called Cat In A Tree Rescue.  It's a directory of tree climbers all over the country who help cats stuck in trees.  If your cat is stuck in a tree, you can find a climber near you to get it down.  There's a gallery on the site of cats he's rescued, if you'd like to so see some indignant kitties, check it out.  My personal favorite is poor Kit Kat.

When the birds are out of the nest, we determine the age--above is a 5 week old eaglet which is ideal.  Their feet are as big as they are going to get, but their flight feathers are not developed, so the bird won't fly from the nest too soon when the climber goes up the tree.  Mark Martell banded the bird, took a blood sample and a couple of down feathers for DNA samples.  With the type of testing they are able to do now, the climber can even bring down adult eagle feathers from the nest and if they have been banded by Mark, they can tell which bird it is based on the DNA.

Mark told me that earlier in the week when they had been banding eaglets, they had an interesting banding return.  As the group approached the nest, an adult eagle flew in carrying prey and dropped it off.  As the climber when up the tree, the adult took off.  When he got up, he saw the prey item--it was a blue-winged teal and it was banded!  He took down the band numbers and gave it to the banders when he brought down the chicks.  It's rare enough to get a banding return, but to get a banding return while you are banding a different species is as rare as it gets.  I'll be curious to hear about the teal's history.

Dan the climber was gracious enough to take my camera up with him when we returned the chicks and get a photo from their nest.  What a view of the St. Croix River!  Note how the chick's foot is sticking way out--that's normal, eaglets at 5 weeks haven't quite figured out what formidable weapons and tools those toes can be.  Check out this video of Mark putting an eaglet in a bag to be taken up to the nest (keeping them in a dark cloth bag keeps them from flailing and keeps them from injuring their growing feathers).  But watch how the eaglet starts to flex those talons, it's a little awkward, but foreshadowing what they can do when they grow up:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3USA2Fk0eiw[/youtube]

While we were banding eagles, we had other species checking us out.

A common yellowthroat flitted around us--it got within 10 feet, giving chip notes.  After about three minutes, it seemed to realize that we had no interest in it and only the giant birds, it started singing territory song in the open.  I took a few photos before we boarded the boat to check the next test.

There was also a pair of tree swallows nesting in an old tree riddled with woodpecker holes. This one kept peering out like a nosy neighbor.  "Abner, what are they up to out there?  You  should come see this! You won't believe it!"

There were also a TON of prothonotary warblers around us.  The eagles' nests are in perfect prothonoray habitat--sloughs with over-turned trees.  However, they are a bit more shy and we're moving too much.  Being constantly on the move and working with eagles does not make for the best conditions to get a photo of a prothonotary warbler.

We went to check a couple of other nests and were not as successful.  This nest was used last summer, but had shrank considerably.

You could see half the nest had ended up on the ground.  Either a branch supporting the nest had broke or a late summer storm blew it down.

There was evidence that the remaining nest had been used--check out all of this poop.  I suppected owl poop and had my suspicions confirmed when...

...we found pellets with bones and feather shafts.  Owl pellets will have bone fragments because they tend to swallow prey whole or in large chunks.  Also, there digestive acids are not as strong as a hawk or eagle.  This one looked to have been eating a good-sized bird.  I even found some rusty colored breast feathers.  I wondered if the owl had eaten a duck and wondered what species.

Searching through more pellets revealed more bones...and the tip of a duck beak.  The tip appeared to have a bump, so based on that, the breast feathers in the pellet, the size of bones, I suspect that the owl ate a wood duck.  Great horned owls would have already left the nest by now.  My guess is that part of this eagle nest fell last fall, a great horned nested in the remains in January, and the young were already hunting somewhere in the woods around us.

The third nest we checked was almost gone, so we did not get to band any birds there.  However, we did get to do some work at the first nest and a slow day on the river is better than a good day at a desk.  It was a treat to be out with the eagle banding crew to see the work that that they do.

Prepping For The Bio Blitz 2009

Friday was a fun and active day--between the weather, the birds and friends it was just a day where you look around and think, "Isn't great to be alive?"  It's been wonderful to come home to spring birds and many of the Minnesota migrants have returned--even the common nighthawk, I heard one outside of the apartment my first night home.

We did some banding at Carpenter Nature Center and though we didn't get huge amounts of birds, we got a good variety--especially woodpeckers.  Above is a downy woodpecker male, we got in two of those, plus a hairy and a red-bellied woodpecker.   I completely missed the red-bellied because...

... fellow bander Larry showed me shots of a scarlet tanager that was singing along the oak savanna trail at Carpenter.  Since it was slow, I took off after it.  The tanager was singing on territory and moving around like crazy.  It was a challenge getting him in decent light (the best I could do was the above photo) and then I just gave up to watch him...that red is practically impossible to recreate and sometimes it just fun to watch a bird with your eyes, not with your camera's viewfinder.

After banding, I met up with a group who are helping to plan the Minnesota BioBlitz.  It's going to happen in the National Park that I work in: The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area--specifically in Crosby Park.

Here is one of the many indigo bunting males staking claim on some territory along one of the trails--they should still be around for the BioBlitz June 12 - 13, 2009.  We're going to catalog all the wildife we can find from bugs to plants to birds to mammals to reptiles to fungus and everything in between.  We'll have walks, rides on a river boat, bird banding, and a whole host of stuff.

While walking the trails, a fellow ranger said, "I haven't seen a pileated woodpecker in a long time. I'd like to see one again." Within 2 minutes of her saying that, a male showed up.  He stuck his head in a hole right off the trail...I'm about 90% certain he was feeding something inside the hole.  He then flew off to another tree and did some territorial drumming.  Here's a video:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZlEnq2LZPM[/youtube]

It never ceases to amaze me how effortless woodpeckers look when they make that loud drumming sound. Incredible creatures.

Crosby is going to be a great spot for the BioBlitz--it's in the metro area, so it's easy to get to. Since it's right on the Mississippi River, there's going to be some great wildlife to see.  If you are in the area, you should check it out, it's free and open to the public.