Working My Way To That Holiday Feeling

Oh dear. Our weather forecasters are desperate for any sign of snow. Apparently we are setting a record for the latest point in December with a general lack of snow cover. All week the weather forecasts have been saying, "Folks, we still have a week to go, maybe a flurry on Friday."

Yesterday a rumor started that we might get freezing rain on Friday and this morning the weather forecasters were clinging to that hope for some semblance of a white Christmas. Then the announcement came: freezing rain--it's icy, it's kinda white, we'll take it! Throughout the day they have been adding to the forecast, "First freezing rain and then some snow flurries."

That will make it seem like a white Christmas! Now, it appears that we have a full blown snow storm heading our way. I just read the forecast tonight and we have a 100% chance of snow in the Twin Cities with 3-6 inches predicted.

The birds were fairly calm at my feeders today, but when I went to Woodbury to meet with Mark Martell at Minnesota Audubon to go over the Minnesota River Bird Guide draft, his birds were at a feeding frenzy. Above is a chickadee lurking in a pile of sunflowers I set in front of the WingScapes Camera.

A pack of three male pheasants came out to the feeding station but didn't walk in front of the camera. Above are two of them who were eyeing each other just as fiercely as they were eyeing for predators. They kept wandering into the parking lot. We wondered if they were searching for grit? The birds were quite active at Mark's so I wonder if this means we will get a snow storm? I'm planning on staying in and making cookies tomorrow to take to banding on Friday. I'll be curious to see what happens.

Speaking of cookies, I got my annual gift package from my mother, chock full of home made cookies including chocolate chip, cut outs, and pecan butterballs. Above are cutouts she makes especially for us: a bald eagle (iced with chocolate icing--mmmm) and this year she made disapproving rabbits (also with chocolate icing--mmmm). Thanks, mom! I love the detail she goes for on the eagle--note the texturing to show primary wing weathers--mom knows her bird nut daughter.

More Disapproval

In the post about finding some Holiday Spirit, someone mentioned in the comments section that Cinnamon looked like a vampire. Well, let me lay the photo that we took right after that one on you:

Deep, intense, massive disapproval.

Readers To The Rescue

I was having trouble coming up with something to blog about today and found emails with some fun photos to share.

OH! If you were a person who emailed me recently who was in Mark Martell's ornithology class a couple of years ago and sent me photos to identify, they are of a red-tailed hawk. I can't find the email anywhere in my in box.

Larry Sirvio sent me this photo from banding at Carpenter Nature Center last Friday. Hey, all you parents in the Twin Cities or near the Minnesota border in Wisconsin who have kids home for the Holiday vacation looking for something to do--consider taking a visit to Carpenter on Friday mornings for banding.

That is some major chickadee attitude! Check out the cowlick on the back of its head. I'm trying to get all my errands done during the week and my reward is going banding on Friday.

Meanwhile, Orv Lehman has sent some photos of a poor red-tailed hawk getting the what for from some angry birds. Little birds mobbing a big bird:

Here's the poor guy getting mobbed by a red-winged blackbird. I know how annoying deer flies can be, I can't imagine how irritating a blackbird would be buzzing around your head. Some wonder about the intelligence of a bird so small attacking a predatory bird so large. But the red-wing is much faster and rarely will get nailed by the slower moving red-tail. When defending a nest, a red-winged blackbird will attack almost anything.

Not to be left out, a blue jay gets involved. Many people get angry when blue jays appear at the feeder, but these guys will take one for the team by mobbing and attacking predators. They will do this for Cooper's hawks (more likely to eat the birds at your feeder) as well as red-tails. It's always good to cut a blue jay a little slack.

I think this shot deserves a caption contest. What is the red-tailed hawk thinking in this photo? The best funny answer with a name attached to it in the comments sections wins. Hmmm, what should the prize be? Oh! I just got some veggie suet pellets to try out (a whole case, as a matter of fact). Okay, so the funniest answer gets your choice of a veggie suet pellet flavor to try: fruit, berry or insect...does adding insects to veggie suet still make it vegetarian?

Call Auntie Mame, I Need A Little Christmas!

Last year we didn't have a Christmas Tree because I was gone for two weeks right before Christmas (although Non Birding Bill did improvise with a cool home made paper tree). This year we decided against it because our library of bird/theatre/science fiction/rabbit books is taking over our apartment and we just don't have the space (we are so going to have to find a new place to live in the next year and a half).

However, the lack of snow combined with play rehearsals and deadlines has just left us without the Holiday Spirit. NBB attempted to give himself a booster shot by purchasing some light sabers and Nerf guns for Toys for Tots (he admitted they were violent toys, but argued they were the best toys). That helped.

Sunday as we were out and about doing errands and re-establishing our pair bond, we brought up the tree issue in that classic passive marital couple conversation style.

BC: I bet Cinnamon misses a tree to hide under.

NBB: We don't have room.

BC: Plus, we'd have to drag out all the decorations, unwrap them, put them up and then take down the tree. We don't have time.

NBB: Yeah, we probably shouldn't get a tree. Boy, Cinnamon's room is kind of stinky.

BC: I bet a tree would help cover that up. I love the smell of a good balsam tree.

NBB: I wonder if we could get a small one--Sharon-sized.

BC: Well, you know how much Cinnamon likes to loaf under a tree.

NBB: Might put us in the Christmas mood.

BC: And according to the Rolling Stones keyboard guy, it's good for the environment. He's a Christmas Tree Farmer

NBB: You're telling me a member of the Rolling Stones is a tree farmer?

BC: Seriously, he was on the radio the other day. I do go birding at a tree farm, that's where I see those clay-colored sparrows and dickcissels--I owe it to those birds.

NBB: We could just drive by and see if the Forestry Club is having their sale again...

Doodly-doodly-doodly-doodly:

We have a tree. Look at that, a forced disapproval as NBB holds Cinnamon up to the tree so she can share in the excitement. We turned on my iPod for my Christmas mixes--boy I have some weird stuff on there such as the Knight Rider Christmas song.

We also have a LOT of bird ornaments too. Some are kind of accurate, some aren't and some are just different. Above is an assortment, the bluebird is part of a series that NBB's mom has been giving me the last few years. This year's bird is a chickadee on mistletoe, which has been strategically placed to guarantee some kissing. The chickadee ornament in the middle in the above photo is part of a Hallmark series that I was given when I was a kid and just getting into birds. The cardinals co-nesting were something I picked up from the bird store. You can tell in the photo, but they are touched with lavender glitter.

Here's a bluebird sticking his head out of a roosting box.

I call this my Liberace cardinal--complete with bells on his toes.

Here's a snowy owl, heavy on the eyeliner.

Speaking of eyeliner, here's a personal favorite. Santa Claus riding on a bald eagle to deliver holiday gifts. What would Rudolph say? This ornament is a little too heavy for the tree so sits on the window ledge.

Here's a reminder of last Christmas. I don't know why, but the idea of an ivory-bill flying on a glittery globe similar to a disco ball just tickles me.

Here's a nuthatch creeping down the tree trunk.

Out of season, but here is a rose-breasted grosbeak searching for safflower in the tree.

Some relatives have even managed to find disapproving rabbits for our tree.

I like this, the rabbit is disapproving and there's even a European robin sitting on the ornament too. I think this is Cinnamon's favorite ornament.

Anyone else out there have some fun bird ornaments?

Tired Chick

H-O-L-Y C-O-W! I completely slept through the Christmas Bird Count!

I was working on a deadline for Minnesota Audubon for Friday. I pretty much just sequestered myself into our apartment last week, avoiding friends and family outings. Even Non Birding Bill was out from underfoot as he was in final rehearsals for a play. I had planned on Saturday being a reward day of some bird counting and going to see his show. I totally slept past the alarm for the CBC was very tired for a good chunk of the day. I'm so embarrassed, I can't believe I did that. It was a strange fatigue too, a bone tired feeling I get when I get some nasty flu virus but I wasn't congested or coughing or achy.

"Cranberries, sewing kit, and travel bag on the couch? This place is a mess, I don't approve!"

I did get a chance to go see NBB in his show. He's playing an assassin in Urban Samurai's production of Protection Program. I snuck the above photo during the performance. There's my actor above in all black wielding a gun on a man about to propose. The play is written by a local playwright and it's okay. The writing is very much predictable sitcom writing and is a fun alternative to the various productions of Nutcrackers and Christmas Carols this time of year. The premise is that a overtly gay man in the witness protection program ends up renting the same apartment as a young woman embarking on a career change. Turns out his FBI agent and her boyfriend have the same name of Allen and both ended up renting the apartment. He's a Felix Unger type and she's more of an Oscar Madison type and "hilarity ensues". You do have to suspend your disbelief a little further than usual to go along with the farce. For example the apartment the two people rent is furnished and happens to come with a full bar--where on Earth do you rent a cheap starter apartment that comes with full bottles of gin, whiskey, cognac?

Okay, I need to go out and get a little Christmas. More later.

T-Shirt Update

Hello, everyone, NBB here.

An update on T-Shirt orders. We're glad the Disapproving Rabbit T-Shirts are a hit. Such a hit, in fact, that they greatly exceeded our initial estimates, and we ran out of several sizes in the first couple of days. As a result of this, some orders were delayed until we could get our second shipment in.

I'm happy to say that we that second batch in earlier this week, and as of 2:00 pm CST today, are completely caught up on our orders. Orders placed earlier than this week went out on Tuesday or Wednesday, other orders were sent out the day after they were received.

If you don't see your order in the next few days, or if you have any questions about your order, please feel free to contact me by emailing the Birdchick Store, and we'll get you taken care of.

Thanks,
Bill

Fish Emergency at WRC

This showed up on the Minnesota bird listservs from the Minnesota Wildlife Rehabilitation Center:

We'd like to extend a huge thank-you to Kent and Susan Brunell who have spent the past two days rescuing pelicans off Pelican Lake. So far, they've brought us seven live birds and two dead birds, which we've sent out for testing. There are an additional 7-12 birds left on the ice who may be joining their friends here at WRC in the next few days.

A couple birds have fractures in their wings, all are thin or emaciated. We'll be providing care for the birds for quite a while, and then we'll need to fly the surviving birds to the Texas or Florida coast to join up with other migratory pelicans. We're in desperate need of fish, live preferably, and are working with zoos across the nation to determine the best source since we'll be purchasing large amounts. One pelican eats 1-2 pounds of fish per day in captivity!

We're looking at a cost of care of hundreds of dollars each day for these birds. If you can assist us by contributing toward their care or if you have a bait shop contact that you'd be willing to share with us (who may be willing to donate or sell us fish at a reduced cost) we'd certainly appreciate hearing from you. We are a registered 501(c)3 and donations of fish or money are tax-deductible.

There are photos on the home page of our Web site, too, if you'd like to take a look.

Thanks again to Kent and Susan, and everyone else who cares so much for our Minnesota wildlife.

*Birdchick Note: These guys eat 1 - 3 pounds of fish a day per bird, so anything you can give the WRC --even just five dollars, really will help. It's tax deductible too.

Don’t Ask A Bunny To Help Make Cookies

"No, I didn't rip open the bag of flour. Why do you ask?"

It was my own fault, I should have put the groceries away quicker.

"Here, you better let me test one more spoonful of pumpkin before it goes into the cookie dough."

The recipe only called for half a can of pumpkin so I spoon fed the leftover to Cinnamon. It's odd, she doesn't care for squash when I'm cutting it up before I cook it, but as soon as it's soft and mushy, she cannot get enough.

"I love pumpkin, I demand more!"

Her little bunny lips are orange from eating so much pumpkin! She was a little taken aback when I took this photo, I had just taken the can and spoon away.

"Oh, Mom, why did I eat so much? Urp."

And, there is a new page of disapproval up.

Colors on a Cloudy Day

"Hello. I am a male cardinal. You may admire me now."

In Minneapolis, we have a 72% chance of having a white Christmas (at least an inch of snow). This year is pretty darned gray and brown. When we had those few days of subzero temperatures last week I was a little bitter. It's hard to take serious cold without the clean look of snow and feeling it crunch beneath your toes. Yesterday it just drizzled a good portion of the day and was blah. That's when I'm grateful for the birds. Here are some more images that I captured with the WingScapes camera:

Here's a female cardinal that doesn't look as cantankerous as the one from yesterday. She does have some rich autumn tones.

Rock pigeons may not be most glamorous birds on the planet, but they put on an impressive display of purple on a gloomy day.

And the obvious showy male cardinal, always a crowd pleaser.

The Bitter Irony Of Disapproving Rabbits

So, my editor at Harper Collins wanted us to work on getting a photo of Cinnamon for the cover of the Disapproving Rabbits book. While he agrees that Cinnamon is generally awesome (smart man and quite possibly a masochist) the cover photo needs to have a light background and no clutter--it's a design issue.

We don't have much in the way of light walls in the apartment: our living room is red, the bedroom is purple, the kitchen is white-ish but full of appliances and Cinnamon isn't allowed in there anyway. So, we took the back of a comforter and set up a mini studio in the living room. Cinnamon wanted none of it. She kept hopping away and after the third time we picked her up and set her in front of it she grunted--a big sign of bunny annoyance. I thought, okay Cinnamon is really annoyed and we'll get some fantastic disapproval shots...

Okay, we were going for the most intense bunny disapproval but she almost looks like she's grinning.

We wanted anger and to be properly put in our place and she looks like she's serenely imagining her happy place on a beach.

Okay, here she just looks down right jovial! Apparently when a rabbit is really irritated, they tense up their little faces making it look like the are happy and content. When we finally gave up and let her hop away to her play area, we got this:

Relaxation leads to proper disapproval.