Cute Overload Again!

I can't believe I got picked up by Cute Overload again! Or I should say my disapproving rabbits got picked up by Cute Overload. I seriously need to think about turning them into mugs or shirts--the images, not the rabbits. Maybe a kid's book with good instructions, "I disapprove of picking your nose!"

I didn't know about it at first until a flurry of email came in from people laughing about all the disapproval. I got an email from Kit Ying Soo's site and it turns out today my favorite photo from the site is up on Cute Overload.

Photo Quiz

Okay, I have Pete Dunne's Essential Field Guide Companion to give away. A book designed to hone shaky bird skills--teach you how to tell the tough to id birds apart. What have I been doing to give them away--having tough birds to id as a photo contest. The person who really needs this book is someone who can't tell thrushes apart. So, based on Non Birding Bill's prudent suggestion I am posting this photo for the quiz:

Best incorrect answer in the comments section wins the book.

Photo Quiz

Ugh, why did I eat so much at the State Fair...my stomach is staging a rebellion, the likes of which haven't been seen since the days of Luke Skywalker.

Here's a photo quiz. All the photos are of the same bird, just at different angles and some with flash and some without. First correct answer in the comment section wins a Pete Dunne's Essential Field Guide Companion.





On another note:

I am wrapping up my time as an employee of Eagle Optics--it was a great job but some parts of the telecommuting weren't working as well as they could have. We kicked around the idea of moving to Madison but Cinnamon just would not approve--she was worried she might lose street cred for being a cheese head bunny and be mistaken as a Packer fan. Plus, it would make KARE 11 and fm107 apprearances way too challenging--and I don't even want to think about how hard it would be to find someone who is as excellent at coloring my hair as Rachel at Studio 411. I still plan on purchasing optics from them in the future and to help and support Eagle Optics in any way that I can.

MN State Fair Report

I don't know what is wrong with me, but I truly love the Minnesota State Fair. Above is a photo Non Birding Bill took of me enjoying a fave fair food--the scotch egg on a stick (for those who don't visit pubs very often, a scotch egg is a hard boiled egg wrapped in sausage and deep fried--mmmmmmm).

Everyone else in Minnesota loves the fair too. We call it the great Minnesota get together, and boy howdy do we get together. I'm pretty sure we have the largest state fair in the nation.

Normally we have the bunnies the first weekend and the following weekend they are replaced with the chickens and ducks. However, some roosters were in early. Look at this fellow feeling like he is the cock of the walk. He is the Shaft of roosters.

There were also some fancy pigeons on display. Some with bell bottomed feathers on their feet and this one with poofy feathers on the head.

This pigeon looked like it was trying awful hard to be a bald eagle. Dude, just accept your prey status.

This pigeon looked like it really had some identity issues. It looked like it's trying to be a Bonaparte's gull. Sounds like it needs to watch some Brady Bunch episodes to learn how to just love being what it truly is: a pigeon, not a gull. Poor, little Jan bird.

When not looking at birds at the State Fair (or eating elephant ears and fried cheese curds) I love to check out the crop art. People take bird seed and get artistic with it. Some of it is pretty amazing, not only for the art, but for the subject matter:

Sister Wendy? Who would have expected her to be immortalized in dried seed? Portraits are pretty par for the course when it comes to crop art. Some of it is quite striking:

A smoking Vincent Price with an ominous bat behind him paying tribute to all those scary movies.

Here we have Desi Arnaz...

...and his former wife Lucille Ball! This was actually one of the winners in the crop art. Even the hair on her head is some type of plant material.

This was a surprise. Someone was inspired by the oddest of comics Fred Bassett--I never got that cartoon. All Fred ever does is state the obvious. Must be British humour.

Every now and then someone tries to make a deep political statement with their crop art. On the surface this looks like an homage to Popeye the Sailor Man...

...but closer inspection reveals that the artist is trying to use this as a metaphore for the country's oil problems.

So, just how progressive is our State Fair? We have a lactation station--sponsored by fm107. This is for all the new moms out there who need a quiet cool place to nurse their babies. NBB and I stopped to say hi to Mary Jo Pehl who is now a co-host on the Cathie Harnett Show. They were doing it live at the fair, always fun to watch. While there we met Amy who has been on with Ian and Margery like myself. I found myself really enjoying Amy's condo purchasing whoas and triumph while checking her blog tonight. This truly is the Great Minnesota Get Together!

Here we have a giant Red Wing Shoes boot...ooohh...ahhhhhh. I don't like to stay too late at the fair, so I watch for signs when it is time for us to head home.

My first sign is when I can start to smell beer as we are walking along--then it's time to go.

All in all the State Fair was a good time. I'll be back again on Labor Day to do a segment live at the KARE 11 booth.

MN State Fair Bunny Disapproval

We visted the Bunny Barn at the Minnesota State Fair today and there was a whole lotta disapproval goin' on.

"I don't approve of how bored life has made me."

"I disapprove of only being admired for my overwhelming cuteness. I gotta brain too, y'know."

"I disapprove of being compared to an Ewok."

"I don't approve. Period."

"I disapprove of the Oedipus complex."

"I don't approve of your assertion that I resemble Winston Churchill."

"I don't approve of how this place smells."

"I disapprove of your need for my approval."

"I disapprove of being told I look like Cinnamon."

"I don't have time to disapprove of you."

What does Cinnamon have to say?

"I think I'm too overwhelmed with pride in my species to disapprove of you going out and looking at other bunnies."

Friday Activities

Yesterday the nets were hopping at Carpenter. I took my friend Amber along and it seemed we were constantly checking the nets. The nets by the orchard were especially busy, every time I walked by there were at least six new birds in them. As I would be trying to get a vireo or flycatcher I could hear a large flock of robins, chirping as they watched our activity. Robins just seem a little scary this time of year as they lurk in bushes and trees quietly chirping to each other. They sound like they're planning something.

Of course the bird in the previous post was the back of a red-breasted nuthatch. Good call. I was just mentioning that it's August and we should start seeing red-breasteds in the Twin Cities.

Last December in Arkansas, one of the men on my search team did studies on mixed flocks of birds for his graduate project. His research showed that in a mixed flock of downy woodpeckers, black-capped chickadees, white-breasted nuthatches and red-breasted nuthaches, the the red-breasted were the most aggressive and the Sam Jacksons of the flock. Nobody messed with them. So tiny, so cute, so aggressive.

Here's a male downy woodpecker that we got in. You just don't see them head on like this, since they're normally facing a tree. We also got in a couple of other interesting birds, which I am saving for a photo quiz later.

I survived KTIS and was on very good behavior. Last night I had a message on my cell phone from the guest host Steve Moore that the producers at the station were a little wary about a bird watcher filling a whole hour on the show. Is birding really that exciting? How could they have thought that? Of course birding is exciting and I apparently surprised them and they may have me back on again. That would be fun.

Last night we were having dinner and a drink with a friend at Herkimer in Uptown. Outdoor seating is a premium in the Twin Cities--enjoy the outdoors while we can. As we were sitting outside, we could see nighthawks kettling up for migration. I would excitedly point them out and at first the surrounding people thought I'd had too much to drink but would look up and see the flocks. The second kettle quickly headed south but a third formed and then got so high you could barely see the specks in formation...the third one looked to be heading north instead of south like the first two kettles, but I'm sure the nighthawks figured it out.

When it Rains it Pours

I was well on my way to going to the State Fair for my segment on KFAN Outdoors, when a nasty storm showed up. We already had a pretty hefty storm in the Twin Cities this morning so the sewers were not prepared for this downpour. Here's an intersection behind our building:

This intersection is infamous for flash flooding, which we learned the first year we were here and discovered our little Dodge Shadow flooded after a night of rain. Ah, we were so young then, we laughed our butts off when water flushed out of the tail pipe when we started the car...little did we know about all the problems that accompany a car with water damage--ah, the learning curve during that first year of marriage. We now avoid this intersection like the plague for parking. It doesn't flood every year, but it's always a distinct possibility.

I ended up doing the segment at over the phone and then made some Quesadillas. Cinnamon hopped in my lap:

"I don't know if I approve of that, let me taste it to be sure."

Don't worry all you veterinary types that read the blog, I did not give my rabbit a beef and cheese filled bite. She ended up getting a fresh strawberry instead.