Ruby-crowned Kinglet Video--With Crown!

My brain is so totally fried from the bird watching trade show and birding industry leaders. So, leave you with two things. Number one, Minnesota BirdNerd explains why the half male/half female cardinal is not a hermaphrodite but a gynandromorph.

And honestly, I am too fried at the Atlanta airport to even begin to think how to pronounce that, let alone spell it.

And how about a cleansing kinglet! Below is a video of a ruby-crowned kinglet not only coming to a bird feed (a window bird feeder at that--how did that happen?!?) but it's also flashing its little ruby crown! Squeeeeeeeeee

Find more videos like this on North Carolina Wildlife Federation

That Is One Crazy Messed Up Cardinal!

The Quad Cities Times is reporting a half male/half female cardinal. You can see even more photos of this crazy bird over at my buddy Minnesota BirdNerd's Blog.

Kabuki

Our normally Interwebs-shy cockatiel tries in vain to help me with my Inbox by chewing up the contents.

Super Downy

The latest edition of I and the Bird is up. If you are new to the world of bird bloggers, this is a great way to sample the buffet of different bloggers out there. You may find someone else you totally enjoy. Perhaps even a blogger who refrains from using "totally."

This shot of a downy woodpecker just cracks me up. He looks like a speeding bullet, a supre downy if you will. If they weren't so dangerous if they flew into you, I kind of like the idea of woodpeckers swooping around, wings in, like little rockets.

I'm on my way to Atlanta for a big bird trade show called Bird Watch America. Hopefully, I'll see some new and innovative product in birding and bird attraction.

And The Pellet Footage Just Won't Stop

As if you can't get enough of bird's barfing, someone just sent (or perhaps resent because they said they sent it before and I didn't link to it) a video of a snowy owl coughing up a pellet in Connecticut.

And for those who have had quite enough of bird barfing, here is a cute cleansing, random white-breasted nuthatch, looking all hoity toity with his bill in the air.

Another Bird Coughing Up A Pellet

Is this a trend on the interwebs that I've just become privy to? Here's another species of bird coughing up a pellet: Snowy owl.

Robins Wearing Out Their Welcom

Those winter robins I blogged about the other day are quickly wearing out their welcome.

Finding your car covered in ice and frozen winter berry bird poop is an unwelcome surprise on a winter morning. Move along, birds, move along.

First Bee Post Of The New Year

We are hardy folk, we northern beekeepers! Mr. Neil and I pose around a snow surrounded Kitty beehive. We came out to make sure that the snow wasn't blocking key ventilation areas in the beehives and to see if they were alive.

Mr. Neil and Non Birding Bill also checked to see if our electric bear-proof (and skunk-proof) fence was still in working order. Not that we need to worry about bears at this exact moment, but better to find out now if there is a problem with the solar panel now than in the spring when a bear has breached the fence and made a mess of the hives.

The Kitty bees are in a smaller hive this winter (an experiment to see if we can overwinter bees in a two hive system instead of three). This time of year, the workers and queen are all clustered together to stay warm. We opened the roof and they were right at the top. A couple even flew out at us! Mr. Neil asked, should we go inside and see what's going on, maybe we could add a frame of honey for them."

NBB quickly said, "No!"

"But do we--"

"No!"

We didn't have a smoker and two of us were dressed in black--the color a bee is most likely to sting. So we didn't go much further. Her humming sounded very healthy. Here's a video I made just to pick up the sound of their buzzing in twenty degree temperatures:

Things over that the Kelli hive were just as happy:

We could hear them inside the hive. The snow had piled up over the bottom entrance and Mr. Neil shoveled the front. As soon as it was clear, a couple of bees came out--one even took out a dead be. Bless our OCD Minnesota Hygienic Bees--"Must be clean, must be clean," they chant in their little buzzy voices.

Both seem content and healthy. They still have a few months to go and we'll check them again. This reminds me that it's getting time for me to order our bees for the spring! I think we'll have a total of six hives this summer! We'll probably divide Kelli and order three new packages of bees.

On our way out to the hives NBB found some feathers scattered on the snow. Above is one of the clumps. We found them in the spot where we have seen a saw-whet owl in the past. We were trying to figure out what kind of bird the feathers came from. The coloring of this clump looked like morning dove.

But then we found these secondaries (with a little blood ), looks too small for mourning dove to me. I think this might be junco. Possible for a saw-whet to take out, but also prey for a sharp-shinned hawk which also hangs out in Mr. Neil's woods in winter. I didn't see any owl poop on the snow, but then again, find white on white is kinda hard. But a fun mystery to chew on.

Nazca Boobie Field Assistant

If I were single, I would so apply for this field assistant position. Anyone in dire need of a change of pace or a month and half to escape your current life and do something really cool in a remote area? Check this out:

GALAPAGOS ISLANDS--NAZCA BOOBIES. Two field assistants needed mid-Mar to early May 2009 for work on breeding biology of Nazca boobies on Espanola Island, Galapagos, Ecuador. The assistants will join a group totaling five continuing a long-term study of this species. Majority of the work will be identifying banded parents at nests and banding nestlings, 8-10 hrs per day of physically taxing and fascinating work in an incredible place. The group will live in tents and a primitive field camp on this uninhabited island, a day's boat ride from the nearest civilization. Requirements: physical fitness, tolerance of heat and sun, cheerful can-do attitude. Previous field experience a strong plus, Spanish desirable. All expenses paid, including travel from your home base. No salary. These positions will be filled as soon as possible. Please send a CV, contact information for three references, and cover letter to DR. DAVE ANDERSON at Wake Forest University ((EM: da AT wfu.edu).

New Year Is Off To A Bang Thanks To The Blog

I'm playing with a host of motion sensitive cameras lately--I'm loving all the pine siskin action this winter.

My favorite photos are the ones where the birds fly a little to fast and the camera speed can't keep up, so they come out a little funky. I'm noticing that quite a few of the birds that Mark and Roger have banded are still sticking around, like the above titmouse. We haven't banded too many of those, perhaps it is the titmouse from this banding session?

So, I'm off to a kind of funky week--funky in a good way. I am Non Birding Bill-deprived. He left Monday for Mac World Expo. I leave Thursday for Bird Watch America. NBB returns on Friday, I return on Sunday. It's unusual for us to travel separately at the same time and of course, it's always strange with the spouse is away. So the week is weird to begin with.

Then, I got a call the other night. It was Guatemala. They wanted to know if I'd like to come on a fam tour (kind of like a press tour) in February.

After I picked up the pieces of my exploded brain, I said, "Can I have 24 hours to make sure I can get the time off from the park service?"

I also needed some time to figure out my passport. Well, thanks to some great advice from well traveled friends, the help of my mom and brother gathering up a certified copy of my birth certificate down in Indiana the process is plugging along. If all goes well, at the end of February, I'll be bringing you some fun entries of the Central American birding experience. Does anyone have anything specific you'd like me to look into in Guatemala--or advice?

I have to thank Mike over at 10,000 Birds for putting the good word in for me in Guatemala. The bonus is that I'll get hang with him while I'm down there. When we end up at bird festivals, we're both so busy, we barely have time to talk. Speaking of Mike, did you hear is weird little explanation of the "12 Days of Christmas" over on the December 24, 2008 podcast of Birdwatch Radio? Check it out if you didn't, it's worth a giggle.

And I got a nice note from Julie Zickefoose in an interview she did for Nature Blog Network. She got started blogging by guest blogging for me when I went on the Ivory-billed Woodpecker search the first two weeks of December 2005. Here's one of my favorite Chet Baker entries that she did. It was strictly selfish. She's one of my favorite writers and I hoped that if she got hooked on blogging she would start her own. She did.

Anyway, it's an interesting interview, check it out.

Okay, now I need to get my stuff together for Atlanta. I'll be heading to Bird Watch America to see the latest and greatest in birding product coming down the pike. Is anyone looking for anything in particular? Let me know, and I'll see what I can find out.