Just A Show

Hey, if you're not doing anything this Sunday, come to The Raptor Center for an owl class I'm teaching. You'll get to see our ed birds up close--and (keep your fingers crossed) if all goes well with training you might get a glimpse of our new education boreal owl---oooooo, ahhhhhh. Seriously, please come, it will be fun and I can tell you where to see some owls. Afterwards, you could carpool to see the snowy owl hanging out on cargo road at the Minneapolis/St Paul Airport (remember to stay six feet away from the fences).

So, I got Cinnamon to the TV Studio in Burnsville for her segment on Just A Show last night. Above she's sitting in my lap in the audience watching the host Keith King and Sidekick Shawn do their opening dialogue.

She seemed antsy so I set her on the floor--bad idea. She made a bee line for all the expensive camera chords--naughty butthead. We watched the segment about Keith's recent visit to the Virgin Islands and it was very chuckle-worthy. I asked Cinnamon what she thought:

She did not approve and almost looks as if she's saying, "What the heck did you bring me to anyway?" I thought she was fairly relaxed, she was happily nibbling parsley in my lap and under my chair, but during the actual interview, she got nervous. When rabbits get nervous they create a cloud of fur not unlike Pig Pen's cloud of dirt. This typically happens when Cinnamon is at the vet, but apparently tv appearances make her just as nervous. Every time either Keith or I would stroke her a puff of fur irrupted into the air. By the end of the interview we had it everywhere--it was even stuck to my lipstick. Pitooey!

Keith was really nice and I can't wait to see the final edited show on the Internet. We'll be sure and let everyone know when it is available. Keith is rather an attractive guy and it sounds like he's recently single. Any ladies in the Twin Cities looking for a well groomed, quick-witted guy might want to check into getting audience seats to his show.

Before the show I had to stop and try to photograph a bunny for the Disapproving Rabbits book. One of the downsides of taking book photos with the Minnesota Companion Rabbit Society?

Resisting the urge to take home cuties like the guy above. This is Buster who is currently waiting for a home at the Richfield Petco. He's a neutered lion's head rabbit and has this crazy fur on his neck that looks like a lion's mane. I've forgotten what it's like to spend time with an energetic bunny who is under a year old--he is SO active and popcorned (or binkied) like crazy. Cinnamon will be seven this year and I guess her age is showing more than I realized. At three pounds Buster is so tiny compared to Cinnamon. Oh dear, did I just infer that my rabbit is old and fat? Good thing for me she can't read.

I had to laugh at this shot. I inadvertently got a photo of a disapproving manager of the Petco. Seriously, he really is a nice guy and runs a good pet store, don't let that stance fool you. He was very friendly and kind to me.

Embracing Techno Birding

I think I'm almost done talking about Bird Watch America--I've been trying to space the entries out with other bird stuff so it's not all product review. As you can tell by this post I survived the nuclear disapproval of grooming Cinnamon. More on her tv appearance in the next entry.

The most interesting and encouraging trend I noticed at Bird Watch America this year is that some wild bird specialty stores are finally beginning to embrace technology. This year birdJam (that's Denese Van Dyne on the left showing MN nature writer Val Cunningham her software for iPods), National Geo's Handheld Birds and of course WingScapes (the motion sensitive camera the company I’ve been helping out) all had booths.

The camera exceeded my expectations as far as interest from bird stores. Bart had set the booth up very well with a video playing of photos we’ve taken with our test cameras. Bart got a great video at his house of a Carolina wren and a junco. He set a suet cake on the ground next to a seed ball. When you watch the video, watch the seed ball—I love that junco head that pops up and looks around, almost like it has its own little fort--it's not even thirty seconds long, you must watch it. Cracks me up every time.

Let's talk about the iMainGo. It’s cool and of all the speakers I’ve tried so far it’s the best quality speaker for the price (around $69). I tested it out this morning at Carpenter and got some chickadees calling back and even a cardinal flew up over my head. I’m curious to try it with some owls. I might give it a go with the owls at The Raptor Center.

The speaker runs on 2 AAA batteries. It has an on/off switch and even an option to use it as an alarm with your iPod. You do need to make sure that the speaker is turned off when not using the iPod so as not to eat up batteries. It comes with a little wrist holder like you would get on a digital camera, but I think I’m going to switch that out with a carabiner. Of the speakers I’ve found, this one is the smallest with the best quality. It can handle great gray owl hoot and grouse drumming almost as well as high pitched warbler.

A few of the birds store owners I spoke with had said that customers are coming in and asking about some of the new software and programs available. Part of what really sells these are people having them in hand and playing with it. During the retail workshop, Mitch Whitten (editor of Birding Business Magazine) showed three or four different birding tech devices available and I had all of them. I still love my Handheld Birds and feel so cool when I whip it out when someone asks what a bird sounds like.

Other software news is that you'll be able to purchase gift subscriptions to Birds of North American Online for family and friends--this is a great gift for students into birds. I'm amazed at how much I use it, it's great for finding quick nesting information and it's updated when necessary. Thayer Birding Software is finally coming out with a Mac version. I've never really played with it since I'm a loyal Apple user so I'm curious.

Bunny-pocalypse

I really don't know what Cinnamon's problem is. Tonight is her big first Disapproving Rabbits interview so we took extra steps of a total home grooming. I love getting my hair done, I just did that last week and had a fabulous time. Not Cinnamon. I had to wrap her in a towel to stifle some displaced aggression

"I'm too angry to even give you a disapproval."

Boy, you can just see the deep hate in those eyes. I think I'm going to pay for this later, perhaps even worse than the boingy boingy santa hat incident.

Here we have her on her back to trim those toe nails. She looks so pathetic, doesn't she know how great a pedicure is?

Hopefully she will get over this in time to make a splash on Just a Show. I'm not sure about when it will air on Twin Cities Cable Access, but as soon as it's up in iTunes, I will link to it for all you Cinnamon fans. We're also going to try and have it here on the site as well.

Currently, Cinnamon is under the bed. When I walk into the bedroom, I can only see her nose sticking out. If I try to get too close, she grunts and retreats out of view. Yeah, I'm totally going to pay for the brushing and nail trimming later.

Finally, More Bird Products For Kids

I've long thought that there just wasn't enough product for kids interested in birds. I can't tell you the number of times customers would come in the bird store asking for a field guide for kids--even little cardboard books on a cardinal for a two year old--get them started young! The closest and certainly most popular book with kids are Stan Tekiela's books, but there is a market for even younger field guides with good, accurate information (Yo authors and publishers: HINT, HINT, HINT).

That is starting to change, every year there is a little more new stuff geared towards kids. Many know Wild Republic from their Audubon singing birds.

Among many things, they offered a set of birds that you can paint into your own species. I saw a finished product and it looks like you can paint a cardinal, hummingbird, chickadee and goldfinch (American, not the European pictured on the box). But really, with enough paint the possibilities are limitless, the cardinal could also be a titmouse, the hummingbird could be anything from a ruby-throat to a green-breasted mango, and the two smaller birds could be painted into warblers, juncos, and dare I say it--a Henslow's sparrow? Hm, I think I would love this gift as much as any kid. I do remember that at some hobby store, someone found a plastic peregrine model for me to paint, I labored over that thing with all sorts of detail. Anyway, these are supposed to be sturdy enough to play with once the kids finish painting them.

Two different bird card games were being shown. Above are cards from Share Nature which looked to me to be a sort of bird baseball card collection. One side is a cool bird photo, the back side is a little natural history info.

The above young man is Chris, who is Vice President of Artistic Creations Limited, but is a natural born networker and eager to help out other booths. Above he is happily being a guinea pig with the Share Nature cards to brush up his western bird identification. The cards are based on Montessori teaching methods and help hone identification skills and give kids a general appreciation of birds. Kids can quiz themselves and read up on general information. Though this is geared towards kids, I could totally see this hooking some adults as well. Especially if they end up being sold like baseball cards. Some species could be rare an hard to find, "Hey, dude, I'll trade you my Baird's sparrow for your northern jacana."

Cornell also had a curriculum called Bird Sleuth. You know with all the ivory-bill craziness, I think we sometimes forget all the other cool projects that Cornell has going down. The front of the card has full color photos and the back has cool facts, sounds, size, etc. There are even questions that can be asked to help aid in the id. In the case of the killdeer card above the questions are:

Q: If a person comes near my nest, I might try to do this to lure them away?
A: Act like I have a broken wing and walk away from nest.

Q: True or False. If a cow or horse comes near my nest, I fluff myself up, put my tail over my head, and run at it to try and make it change its path.
A: True--(I didn't even know they did that--that's so cool, I must get to a cow pasture this spring).

Q: How did I get my name?
A: My call sounds like "kill-deer!"

Part of the curriculum is that kids learn about bird identification using the cards, field guides, and a bird identification CD-ROM. They learn to observe and count birds and to share that info on eBird.

I'm not sure if the two card games are going to be showing up at bird stores or are only available to teachers, but it certainly doesn't hurt to ask your local bird specialty store if they plan on carrying these items. Otherwise, I would contact Share Nature or Cornell directly.

New Feeders for 2007

I'm impressed with how well all of you blog readers were able to id Lillian Stokes from the back. You guys are good. I'm sure she and Bobby Harrison were talking all things ivory-bill, but I did like the suggestion by one commenter that they were actually discussing Cinnamon.

Okay, I think I have figured out a way to divide up all the fun stuff I saw at Bird Watch America. I'm still getting emails with photos and information so some reviews are waiting in the wings. I just want to say for the record that products I talk about are ones that tickle my personal fancy. I'm not paid to talk about items. I have been hired by companies to consult on marketing and product development but I'm fortunate to be in a position that I only work with a product (and people) I genuinely like and one that I personally would use.

I'm tough on bird feeders and squirrel proofing from my years working at a bird store. I can spot a loophole for squirrels and raccoons at first glance. It's hard to impress me with feeders. I try to avoid talking about products that don't appeal to my personal sense of style or that I think will not work well--unless it's potentially harmful to birds. But just because I don't care for something, doesn't mean that it won't work well for someone else, so it's just best I keep my mouth shut.

There weren't too many bird feeders that really bowled me over in innovation. One that really sticks out is the Squirrel-Off, the solar powered bird feeder. There have been solar powered squirrel proof feeders in the past, but they were very expensive. I believe this one will retail between $150 - $180--which isn't bad for what this feeder does and how much food it holds. It has a solar panel on top and when a squirrel touches either the two bottom perch bars or the roof and one of the perches it gets a zap--nothing lethal, about like licking a 9-volt battery (yes, I've done it). Birds will not get zapped by the feeder due to their biological make up in their feet.

It has many of the features I look for--comes apart for easy cleaning, holds lots of seed and can see if the feeder is full or empty, can be hung or pole mounted, has an attractive design that allows for several types of birds to feed. The company has been making solar powered feeders for years, I carried one when I was at the Minnetonka Wild Bird Store but I want to say that it was about $500. It's nice to see it has come down to a more affordable price. The electronics have a one year warranty which is pretty standard with that type of feeder, but I know people who have purchased solar feeders in the past and they last a long time.

The other feeders that caught my eye were the Happy Hour Hummingbird Feeders at the Woodlink booth. I have to hand it to Woodlink, they are working their hardest to come up with interesting and different designs in feeder. The designs don't always appeal to me, but it's nice to see someone getting away from the traditional design and working hard to be creative. This year, their new hummingbird feeders really struck my eye--they are designed to look like martinis and daiquiris!

Here I am with Dalia Hussein of Wild Republic (more on their stuff in a later entry) sharing a couple of hummingbird feeders at the Woodlink Tiki Bar. I love these things, I can see them showing up at Urban Outfitters and what's nice is that Woodlink has been making feeders for years so they have a good idea of how to make a decent feeder that looks very unique.

News from the Readers

Christine writes: "Thought you'd be interested in this recent article that's hit a lot of the news shows this week in Chicago -- especially in light of your recent posts about Starlings as pets. (Ugh!) This one is known for whistling the Chicago Bears Fight Song, which is especially timely due to the Bears upcoming big game. This link should also have video and audio so you can hear Twinkle "in action." "

Mr. Neil sends us this link from the Committeee for Skeptical Inquiry about Joe Nickell investigating a 1955 Kelly, Kentucky incident when "little green men" made an attack on a farm family and his conclusion is that it was actually nesting great horned owls.

And my sister Monica sent this story from the Indianapolis Star about an influx of bald eagles drawn to a buffet of fish at Starve Hollow Lake.

It's So Great to Have Norbert Back

I'm at a meeting for some new educational displays that are going up at The Raptor Center.

I love having Norbert back so I can do quick blog entries on the sly...

While looking for some photos of great gray owls for one of the education panels, I came across the Flickr account of Mariah Tigger. It looks like she used to be a vet in the TRC clinic, I recognize the treatment room:

Here is a great gray owl in the TRC treatment room. Notice how big and puffy the head is. You can also see the puffy head of a great gray in my profile shot on the blog.

Now, here is a photo of a great gray owl in the anesthesia cone on its head before it's examined. They really are just giant balls of fluff.

Back in Minnesohta

Mental note: A batter fried lobster tail, bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich may not be the best idea on the planet.

Good Grief, I am soooo tired. I came home this afternoon to a fresh layer of snow, single digit temps, news that Norbert was out of the ICU, the hard drive transplant was a success and ready for pickup! Whoot! So happy. Non Birding Bill is reloading everything at the moment. The cold temps come just in time, we're going to a scotch tasting class tonight at Surdyk's--nothing goes better with scotch than cold temps.

Here is Jeff Bouton modeling a smiling lady bug pith helmet available soon at your wild bird specialty store!

Here's my bud, Amy Hooper holding up an advanced reader's copy of Good Birders Don't Wear White--50 Tips from North America's Top Birders. She has it open to her essay, Think Like A Migrating Bird. Note the cartoon that goes along with it. I believe that is the most inaccurate rendering of an Amy Hooper I have ever seen. As much as she loves rubber ducks, I've never seen them follow her. I can't wait to read the essays.

It's weird, she and I shared a room, but between my working the WingScapes booth and her hours at her WildBird Magazine booth, we barely saw each other.

I'm going to do some in depth descriptions of product in the next few days--including an iMainGo that I brought home to play with--initial tests with it--very cool. It appears to handle the transition from great gray owls hoot to black and white warbler call very well.

In the meantime I offer a contest:

Who is Bobby Harrison talking to in this photo? Bonus points if you can name the subject. The prize: An Advanced Birding Peterson Guide by Kenn Kaufman and two original plays on cassette by Mr. Neil: Snow Glass Apples starring Bebe Neuwirth and Murder Mysteries starring Brian Dennehy.

First correct answer with a name attached to it in the comments section wins.

Bird Watch America

I dedicate the following photo to my mother:

Look, ma, it's your boyfriend Gordon (one of the owners of Adventure Publications), telling these two potential store buyers about my upcoming book:

Can I say how much I love the red-bellied woodpecker on the cover? It's exciting to see this early copy. Word from Adventure is that it will be out in April--whoot!

A quick note on a fairly exciting new feeder is the above. It's a solar powered electrified bird feeder. When I worked at the bird store in the past we carried a solar powered feeder that I believe was closer to $500. This one retails for about $150 - $160. It can be hung or pole mounted and has the shocking equivalent to sticking your tongue to a 9 volt battery. It looks very promising for the latest in squirrel proofing. I like the solar idea.

I wish I could put in more photos and updates but trying to load photos on the hotel computer is more daunting than I realized. I will say this, many bird store owners here are opening up to the idea of bringing in technology to the store. Many bird stores are looking into carrying the Handheld Guide to birds, iPod software, and even the Wingscapes camera. It's nice to see some owners willing to try new things.