Birdwatch America

I tried posting this earlier but there are some issues with the internet cafe here in Atlanta...where it's 50 degrees not below zero.

I'm at the big trade show for the bird feeding industry called Birdwatch America in Atlanta. I feel like a kid in a candy store, although there doesn't seem to be much innovation in squirrel proofing, but lots of pretty stuff.

There's a new hand held pishing device or a little maching you can set a few feet away from you that plays crows mobbing, chickadees mobbing or running water that is supposed to bring birds in. The birder part of me says, "Cool!" the birding ethics side of me feels a little uncomfortable with this. Word on the street here is that many at the show are uneasy with it too.

The Stokes are here pimping some new binoculars. They look really good nice field of view and very reasonably priced (I promise I was not paid for any kind of indorsement) I'm going to look at them again and seriously consider trading my Swifts. Brunton has a fun monocular with an 18" focus, perfect for butterfly people and the price isn't bad. There are LOTS of fun new jelly and oriole feeders and a guy who makes UNBELIEVABLE sculptures. I've been drooling over a $3000 adult Cooper's hawk in flight. I'll see if I can link to their site later. They do other birds too and I so wish I was independantly wealthy, I would buy them all and decorate my store with them.

Well, I'm back to geeking out. I just saw Mike Dunn of Duncraft Feeders walk by. Yipeee!

No segment on NBC tonight

Hello, everyone, this is Sharon's husband.

Sharon got a call this morning, and her segment on NBC's Nightly News has been postponed, so that they can do a story about the crazy weather, and how crazy said weather actually is.

In short, Sharon will not be on TV tonight. Please stay in your homes, and do not engage in any rioting.

The segment is being rescheduled, and we will let you know when it will air.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming, already in progress.

NBC Nightly News Date

The segment on the owl invasion is going to air Thursday on NBC Nightly News between 5:30pm - 6pm. I will probably miss the segment as I will be flying into Atlanta for Birdwatch America for the weekend but I'm sure my family will record it.

Whirlwind Weekend

Boy, this weekend was an adventure. My mom and sister Terri came in town to experience the owl invasion. I was so glad my mom could come up and see this. You know how it is, your mom shows you so much when you're little you'd like to show her something when you get older. It was absolutely magical and I'm still processing some of it. We saw 20 great grays and 7 norhtern hawk owls at the bog and then we went to the Inn on Gitche Gumee in Duluth. We got there an hour before sunset so we kidnapped one of the owners (Julie) and drove around North Shore Scenic Drive and some other side streets and racked up another 10 great grays--unbelieveable.

The next day Amber and I had our owl prowl so mom and Terri got to watch the class and come out with us as we took the class to see a northern saw-whet owl. The photo is below. I normally don't like to get this close to a bird, but the homeowner who had the owl has had it in his yard the last few weeks with his children playing right underneath it. Based on the huge pile of owl droppings not much bothered this bird. As his kids were playing beneath the owl, I snuck in and got this shot.

KBJR in Duluth

Based on several emails I got over the last two days, my segment on the NBC station in Duluth aired. For family members wishing to watch it you can visit this site to read it or watch it online at KBJR's website.

Calendars are done!

I'm done, I'm done! I finished up the Michigan and Wisconsin birding calendars last night. Whew. My mother and sister Terri are arriving today to take part in the owl invasion. Reports are pouring in from Duluth and other owls, like Boreal owls and even a snowy owl, were tentatively reported in Proctor yesterday.

Here's a link to the transcripts page for MOU-net that has lots of updates of where all types of owls (and varied thrushes) are being seen.

NBC Owls

Well yesterday was loads of finger and toe numbing fun. The NBC Nightly News Crew was a great team to ride around with. Although, I wasn't prepared for how much we would be outside. When we normally take people up to see owls, we stay in the vehicle, but when you're in a beautiful snow covered bog you need to do the camera shots and interviews outside rather than in a car. It was about 3 degrees outside with the windchill much colder. At one point as they were asking me questions for the interview I just stopped and said, "I have to stop, I'm too cold and can't feel my fingers." They laughed and let me warm up in the vehicle. They got some great shots of the owls--at a respectful distance from the birds, but with their professional cameras they are going to be some spectacular shots and I can't wait to see them.

It was a beautiful sunny day so I figured we wouldn't see too many great grays at first. I took a quick drive through the bog before meeting at Wilbert's Cafe and found two actively hunting northern hawk owls and had a good feeling. As we drove around early in the afternoon we found mostly hawk owls, I was momentarily nervous...did all the great grays go to Duluth? However, just as I suspected, as soon as the sun started to go down the great grays were dripping off the trees again. All in all a great day with fun people and of course, great birds!

I do have to say, the sign in booklet at Wilbert's is a hoot (so to speak) full of people from around the country with little notes of all the owls they have seen. I talked to some of the locals who good naturedly complained of how busy Wilbert's has been and all the crazy people stopped in the middle of the street and they guy they have had to pull out of ditches a few times. They said for the most part, they like having the birders there, even though a couple have blocked traffic but nothing too bad.

That said, we did encounter some hostility. We were pulled well over to film a great gray and got honked at by a snow plow. They had plenty of room to get around us, and none of the other snow plows had given us a hard time like that. On one of the side roads we were trying to get a shot of the reporter walking down the road with a great gray in a tree behind him. As he was walking and talking a teenager in a truck came out on the road, swerved all over, roared up and shouted for us to stay out of his (insert naughty word) out of the street. Ah, the adventure of the bog.

I heard the reporter, Kevin say something I find myself saying quite a bit: "Wow, I can't believe I get paid for this!" He said it in a good excited way, not in a 'take this job and shove it kind of way'

Great Grays are on the move!

I'm so excited I can barely work on any of my writing due at Adventure on Friday. The great gray owls are on the move. There was concern that the ice storm up north last weekend woudl cause the owls to move. This morning there was already a report that there were fewer owls in the bog, but they are heading towards Duluth. There have been quite a few reported on hwy 61 between Duluth and Two Harbors but now they are showing up closer to downtown Duluth. Tonight I got a phone call from Butch and Julie, the great folks who run The Inn on Gitche Gumee. I always stay there when I go up hawk trapping in the fall. They said that today they had a great gray in their front yard and that four more were found within a half mile of their place. Sounds like visiting both the bog and Duluth will get you owls. Also, if you are looking for a great place to stay, I highly recommend The Inn on Gitche Gumee, each room has a theme, the owners are very nice and take excellent care of you. Plus, they have award winning gardens that attract a variety of birdlife.

Sassified

Got my hair reddened today. It's quite sassy, and doesn't look like hair that a birder would typically have, I'm ready for national tv. I did have fun moment as my hair was being colored, I got a call from KBJR the Duluth NBC affiliate, and they wanted to know if I would have time for a quick interview with them before the NBC Nightly News interview, I felt so famous. Alas, though no matter how fabulous my hair or shining my personality, once the stations get footage of these owls, that's what people will remember. I'm just so excited and proud of Minnesota and that birds are getting some much needed attention in the media.

I'm kind of nervous about owl numbers. Early reports from the ice storm suggest that some have left the area and the numbers aren't as great. Now, I need to keep this in perspective, instead of seeing 25 we may only see 11 which isn't bad at all. Owls are already being seen in the central section of the state and more are expected.

Oh! And in case you missed it, The Raptor Center had a great article about great gray owl injuries in The Star Tribune today about the great gray ows and how they made a prosthetic bill for an injured owl. Interesting is that all of the great grays brought in have been injured from car collisions. Amber and I are teaching an owl class this Sunday and on January 23 at TRC. When we do this one, we always car pool out somewhere to see a wild owl, hopefully we'll be able to find one but they all appear to be up north. Although if great grays keep pushing south, we may get to take the gang to see one.

Strange Start to the New Year

Hope your New Year is off to a birdy start. Mine started off a little weird.

We spent New Year's at Neil and Lorraine's. It was low key but loads of fun, including having duck soup while watching "Duck Soup". My first bird of the year was a crow in Neil's yard which I thought appropriate considering he's a horror/fantasy writer. Of course I can't get a new year started without something wacky happening. A cat got a hold of a red-breasted nuthatch. I went out to get the bird away from the cat and inadvertently let the cat into the house. While being scolded for bringing a cat and with a wild bird into a house with more cats I somehow got the nuthatch away from the cat and onto my butt. If I were a hard core listing kind of gal I would immediately start a "Birds on My Butt" list, but there are enough birding weirdos out there, I'll let them have that title to play with. The nuthatch survived unscathed and was witnessed yesterday and today feeding hardily.

This morning I was walking in the woods down by a creek. On a high hill up away from the creek was a very tall pine with a large dark lump draped over one of the top branches. For a second I thought it was a great gray owl sitting at a very odd angle. As I focused my binoculars, the shape leapt into the air and took flight. It was a turkey. I had never seen a turkey that high in a tree, it was at least 150 feet above me and then to see it fly from that perch, over the road was spectacular...and a little silly, it had that little tail looking thing hanging from it's chest which kind of takes away a bird's majesty when it soars overhead.

So, weird new year, but fun new year.