Interesting Red-tailed Hawk Story

How can I be expected to pay attention to gulls when there are immature red-tailed hawks in the sun. I've been going out and watching gulls when I can. I figured that I know my hawks so well since I watch them constantly--especially in the fall, that maybe if I watch herring and ring-billed gulls enough, I'll find a Thayer's or glaucous gull on my own. But I try to watch gulls and I find a perfectly posed red-tailed hawk in the sun and had to take photos.

Speaking of red-tailed hawks, I got this interesting note from Lori Arent, Clinic Manager for The Raptor Center:

"On Monday, the clinic received a banded red-tailed hawk that was dead on arrival. We checked our database and the bird was here before! It originally came in on 6/1/07 from Lesser Prairie as a brancher that was suffering from a maggot-infested neck wound. Eight days later, the bird was fostered with a new red-tailed hawk family in New Hope, MN. The adoption obviously worked well and the bird survived a year and a half until being struck by a car near the airport (Hwy 5) a few days ago."

It's sad that ultimately the hawk was hit by a car, but interesting to get actual proof that putting young raptors in foster nests when it's no longer possible to put them in their original nests actually works (and proof that raptors can't count).

Want To Band Birds In the Peruvian Amazon?

SPRING 2009 BIRD-BANDING WORKSHOP IN THE PERUVIAN AMAZON (21-31 Mar 2009): Ten days of bird surveying and bird-banding as we continue to document the avifauna of a private reserve on the Tambopata River, Madre de Dios Peru.

The workshop will include training in bird survey and capture techniques (ground and canopy mist nets and bal-chatri traps). It will also offer a rare opportunity to examine plumage variation by species, age and sex up-close on rainforest birds in the hand. Birds will be individually marked for long-term monitoring and research. We plan to work in different habitat types around the reserve and will leave plenty of time for birding and independent explorations of the surroundings. A field trip to the nearby Lago Sandoval is also included.

The workshop will take place at the Centro de Education, Ciencia y Conservacion Tambopata (CECCOT), a young conservation, education and research center dedicated to promote the knowledge and conservation of the region’s natural history with a minimal human footprint. The center is rustic with thatch-covered cabins, a large and comfortable common area, shared cabins, composting toilets and cold water camping showers, limited solar-powered electricity available. Requirements: serious interest in birds, research and conservation (although previous experience not required) and willingness to stay in very rustic/shared conditions in the rainforest. Good mobility. Yellow fever shot, immunizations and your own travel insurance.

Cost: US$2200 includes: Roundtrip air-fare to Lima (either from Los Angeles or Miami), in-country transportation and airport taxes, lodging and meals, field trip costs, materials and instructional fees. Group size 9-14. For detailed information and to determine availability contact us before 1 Feb 2009: DANIEL FROEHLICH (EM: dan AT ceccot.org, PH: 206-595-2305) or URSULA VALDEZ (EM: uvaldez AT ceccot.org, PH: 206-219-9924).

South Padre Island Logo Contest!

South Padre Island's Birding and Nature Center is holding a contest for a new logo:

Those who are talented in art and graphic designs are encouraged to submit their unique, individual creation to the South Padre Island Economic Development Corporation for consideration as the official Logo. The winner will not only receive area-wide recognition for their work, but will receive:

• Certificates for two, 2-nite stays at the La Quinta Beach Resort,
• Certificates for four free Friday night Seafood Buffets from Isla Grande Beach Resort (formerly the Radisson Resort)
• A year’s membership for the winner and his/her family (family membership or a total of four individual memberships) to the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center which allows free entrance into the facility and its boardwalks;
• Free entrance for the winner to all programs sponsored by the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center for one year.

They are looking for that special picture, symbol or graphic that best describes the Birding and Nature Center here on South Padre Island, which may, if approved, be used for signage, business letterhead, business cards, and any/all advertising and promotions for events and programs. The ideal submission will look attractive in color or in black and white; easily ‘fits’ within the uses of letterhead, business cards, etc.; and is easily reproducible, enlarged and/or reduced.

The South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center is one of the nine locations within the World Birding Center (WBC): a collaborative initiative between Texas Parks and Wildlife and area towns, to introduce residents and visitors of the Rio Grande Valley to the plants and animals, especially birds, which make the Valley such an interesting and unique place to be. Each WBC site is located in a particularly unique ecosystem in an effort to provide visitors of each site a new and different glimpse into the wonderful ecology surrounding us here in the Rio Grande Valley. The ultimate goal for each of these sites, besides acting as an economic generator for nature and eco-tourism, is to educate the locals and visitors of the Valley to that which makes this area so unique. By so doing, we hope to instill love and pride of this area, and ultimately the desire to conserve our nature resources.

ARE THERE RESTRICTIONS ABOUT WHO CAN PROVIDE A SUBMISSION?
No. We are sending this request out to the public in general, young and older alike; to schools, universities, trade shows, etc. We have no age requirements or restrictions and will not limit the number of submissions anyone would like to provide.

SUBMISSION
If your unique and original submission embodies these visions, missions and/or goals, we’d like to see them. Please submit the original (if a work of art) as well as a digital version of the piece that can be reproduced, reduced and/or enlarged. Send your digital work via e-mail to: spiedc@aol.com; or via postal carrier (in paper and on CD) to: South Padre Island EDC, 600 Padre Boulevard, South Padre Island, TX 78597 Attn: Cate Ball, Manager Birding & Nature Center. Please don’t forget to provide us your name, phone number and mailing address so we can contact you.

DEADLINE:
December 30, 2008 at 5 pm.

You can read the full contest rules here.

Rusty Blackbird Blitz

From The Birding Community E-Bulletin:

Vounteers are needed to look for and count wintering rusty blackbirds (not grackles or starlings):

Rusty Blackbird has been a species in serious decline over the past four decades. Some estimates put the drop at over 80 percent during this period, but the precise figure is not known. Neither are the causes for decline known, although winter habitat loss and degradation are likely candidates. These blackbirds are becoming scarce and patchy in their winter distribution, making it difficult to focus the research and management efforts needed to save them.

Volunteers are being sought to help locate wintering concentrations of Rusty Blackbirds in order to hopefully get more accurate population numbers. The intent is to have an all out "blitz" to locate Rusty Blackbirds and in order to create a map of wintering Rusty Blackbird "hot spots" that will help focus future research, monitoring, and conservation attention.

During a nine-day period in February, volunteers are being asked to search in any locations and habitats deemed as potentially suitable for wintering Rusty Blackbirds, particularly for sizable flocks or concentrations of birds (i.e., dozens or even hundreds of birds).

Areas of note will be revisited in the future to determine if they are indeed Rusty Blackbird hot spots. Search efforts will be concentrated in the east-central United States, from eastern Nebraska to eastern Texas, and from southern New Jersey to Florida.

The dates for these searches are to be February 7 -15 -, the period when Rusty Blackbirds are expected to be easiest to find (i.e., males are singing) and the population is relatively sedentary.

The search effort is being led by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center along with assistance from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, all of which will be using eBird as the vehicle for data collection.

Click here for instructions and information on the identification, habitat preferences, range map, and general protocols for the Rusty Blackbird Count.

December Birds & Beers

It's time for another Birds and Beers!

Thursday, December 11 at 6pm at Merlin's Rest!

I don't know if it will be the rip roarin' scotch tasting it was last time, but I can guarantee that it will be fun and we'll talk some birds. We can talk about the MOU Paper Session, the Minnesota Breeding Bird Atlas, owls, crossbills, upcoming bird festivals, bird feeding, Christmas Bird Counts, banding, the topics are limitless. And unlike all the other holiday parties out there--you don't need to bring a gift or baked good! We'll get it all from Merlin's Rest!

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--the sky is the limit. It's low key and it's fun.

That Darn Kitty Hive

I just got the current issue of WildBird Magazine in the mail and there's a photo of me at the beehives! I'm so proud, part of our award winning Kelli Hive is pictured in a birding magazine. I feel like I'm crossing some sort of border by getting bees in a birding magazine. Now sure what that border is exactly, but it's cool in my little brain. Incidentally, you can send in your own photo of yourself reading WildBird, you just need to make sure to take it someplace where you do a lot of birding. Which for me happens to be around my beehives. Check out this killer titmouse photo I got near the hives on Sunday:

Nothing like mixed nuts and brush pile to make a titmouse come in and give you his sexy side.

We went out to our two remaining beehives to prep them for winter (the lovely lady above is the Kitty namesake). We are running a couple of experiments. There are beekeepers of two camps: 1 is to insulate your hives in the winter and the other is to not insulate. In our neck of the woods where subzero is the norm in January and February, insulating your hive makes sense. However, some beekeepers feel that a strong hive can stay warm without the insulation and that the insulation gives the hive a false sense of how cold it really is outside. Foragers come out too soon and die, weakening the hive.

We decided to insulate the Kelli hive and this year, Non Birding Bill made sure the insulation was not going to come off like it did last year. He duct taped the crap out of it.

We decided to not insulate the Kitty hive and to take her down to two boxes instead of three. Mr. Neil has read that this will work in our neck of the woods and I was skeptical but he brought me around to his way of thinking. The idea is that the cluster of bees does not have to travel as far to get to the food storage. Last winter, the Kitty hive died because the cluster got stuck were there was no food and starved to death. So with lack of insulation and a small space to keep warm, she should be good to go.

Note how Mr. Neil and NBB are a good distance from the hive? We foolishly went out to the hives with no beesuits or smokers. As we checked inside the Kitty Hive (and true to her cranky nature) some bees flew out and one stung me through my winter glove. Everyone took a step back. Interestingly enough--the sting did not hurt nearly as much as my first sting. It is true, the more you get stung, the less painful the sting--although it has been rather itchy the last two days.

We were a tad worried about Kitty when we came out, her buzz was not as loud as Kelli's and when the hive was opened, I thought I heard that kind of dissonant buzz that you get when your hive has gone queenless. It may just be the winter low-key buzz. I'm not going to worry about it. Requeening just does not work out for us and I refuse to intervene on that any more.

We will check on our girls a bit in the winter. Mr. Neil suggested we go out with a spray bottle of sugar water to spray the cells if they look low on food. We are also trying to use some newspaper in the tops of the hive to absorb moisture and that will need to be replaced.

This bee season went by too fast.

$50,000 Reward For An Ivory-billed Woodpecker

From The Associated Press:

Last year, Allan Mueller thinks he saw the elusive ivory-billed woodpecker. The wildlife biologist wants to make sure of it this winter.

Mueller plans to head back into the swamps of eastern Arkansas with a scaled-back search team consisting of 26 volunteers and three expert field biologists.

Searchers will begin their work in the Big Woods on Saturday. The campaign will run through the bird's nesting season in March and April when the ivory-bill is most active, Mueller said.

he huge bird was believed to be extinct until a sighting four years ago stirred national experts and federal funding to launch a full-blown campaign to verify the bird's existence and study its habitat.

For want of a clean photograph or audio recordings of the bird's distinctive sounds, searchers have been unable to convince fellow scientists that the bird has survived years of land development and loss of habitat.

Over the last four years, The Nature Conservancy in Arkansas, where Mueller is avian conservation manager, along with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the Arkansas Audubon Society have collaborated to study the ivory-bill in Arkansas and enlist other groups to scout potential habitats in other Southern states.

Besides Arkansas, researchers say the bird has been seen and heard in the swamps of northwestern Florida. A Cornell team will soon begin looking in Florida and travel to Arkansas and elsewhere in the Southeast in hopes of spotting the bird.

Mueller reminds fishermen, hunters and the general public that they can help, too, by calling his office if they have a sighting. An anonymous donor has pledged a $50,000 reward to anyone who leads the team to a live ivory-bill, he said.

The Big Woods swallow up the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge, where kayaker Gene Sparling says he spotted the bird Feb. 11, 2004, and Cornell University experts made subsequent sightings. Since then, searches have been made in about 83,000 of the 550,000-acre woods.

Read the full story here.

Where's The North American Field Guide For iPod & iPod Touch

Yo, field guide authors! Yeah, I'm talking to you, Sibley. And get out from under that table, Kaufman. Yo, you too, Jon Dunn, aka Mr. National Geographic Field Guide...why aren't any of your field guides in a software format for an iTouch and an iPhone?? Huh?

I just got the BirdGuides Catalog in my email inbox this morning and there are British versions of this. Heck, there's even a video field guide. Embrace the technology, boys. Give the birders what they want: a field guide on an iPhone or iTouch--or even one of those new Google Phones.

SkyWatch Friday: Celestial Frownie Face

I just took the following photos moments ago, but think I'm going to have to submit this to SkyWatch Friday!

What happens when you combine Venus, Jupiter, and a sliver of Moon:

You get a Celestial Frownie Face! I was putting nuts out on our apartment window ledge for the nocturnal flying squirrels when I noticed Venus and Jupiter next to the Moon. The Moon was just a sliver and the whole thing looked like an upside down frownie face.

I went outside and as good of photo as I could get with a point and shoot camera, but it didn't turn out too badly. I cropped and rotated it to get that first photo. Perhaps the cause of the frown is too much ambient light interrupting our night sky view in urban areas?