Watching Hummers With Penn Jillette

There are more people interested in casual birding than we realize and you never know who that is. So, last fall I went to Las Vegas with Non Birding Bill, Clay Taylor and WildBird on the Fly to film some digiscoping videos, I think I had my biggest geek out ever--bigger than the time I met Scott Weidensaul. I was a tad inebriated at a bar during an ABA convention and Scott suddenly walked in and all I remember is thinking to myself, "Act sober. Act sober. Act sober."

I must not have been too bad because Scott still welcomes me with a hug when he sees me, rather than darting away in the opposite direction.

But due to some lucky scheduling and total generosity of Penn Jillette, we got to see the Penn and Teller Las Vegas show , hang out backstage (that's Amy and me with Teller), and watch birds at Penn's house--I got a lifer in his yard, a black-throated sparrow.

It was the most surreal moment of my life back stage. For one thing, it was the first time NBB has met some of my closest birding buddies. For another, how weird was it to be back stage with a bunch of magicians, the editor of WildBird Magazine and Swarvoski Optik--and we ended up talking about bees! Penn and Teller told us about a segment where they made thousands of bees appear on stage, you can watch it here (see if you can tell when they get stung).

I said, "Holy crap! How did you do that," meaning how did they work with bees, but they told me how they did it, how the entomologist they consulted backed out because he got freaked out and how many stings they ended up with and how Penn had a rather unusual injury on a rather sensitive area of his anatomy--I'll let you google that one, it's easy enough to find or better yet, if you meet Penn, he will gladly tell you the story much better than I ever could.

Again, Penn had a lot going on that weekend, he was flown to another state to shoots a scene for a movie, had his own Vegas show and still managed to give us some time to talk hummingbirds (I got to make hummingbird nectar in his kitchen). Since we were dealing with brief time and when working with video things like cicadas and air traffic can get in the way it's not perfect, but it's still someone I think is cool showing an interest in birds.

I've also hesitated posting this because I was geeking hardcore on the inside during this segment and tried very hard to keep my geek in check. I think from now on, I'm going to have to just let my geek flag fly because trying to play it cool makes me look like a dork.

So here it is and thank you to Swarovski for making this possible and to Birdorable for making the perfect shirt to wear in Vegas and especially to Penn Jillette and his people for being so nice, so gracious with their time and allowing us a few moments to chat about birds.

You can do some awesome birding in Las Vegas. We still have one more video to go, but here's a link to some of our adventures. Between this, testing Swarovski awesome new digiscoping adaptor in Kazakhstan, and climbing a volcano in Guatemala to see a giant tree chicken I can safely say that 2009 was hands down the craziest (in a good way) year of my life.

Birds Bathing In Puddles

First, if you are in dire need of spring/cute/amazing, there's a live video cam on an Allen's hummingbird nest. The chicks have both just hatched so should be fun to watch beyond the female incubating.

Part of what made my golden eagle survey last Saturday so much fun was that it was that we were getting a much need thaw after several days of sub zero temps. The bright sun and 30 degree temps were so warm, I had to roll my window down to cool off. Puddles formed on the sides of the roads made impromptu bird baths for birds, as seen in the above photo of cedar waxwings and a robin.

Many of the waxwings flew down not only for a drink, but also for a quick bathe. This was on a lonely country road, so they were not in any danger of being interrupted by cars, but I did wonder about the water quality. The road would have had salt and sand treatment and that would be mixed in with the melted snow and ice. The flock did not spend too much time at the puddle. When I see waxwings going for the roof top puddle in the fall, the flock will hang out and bathe for at least a half an hour. Here, a few birds would fly down, sip a little, splash a little and then fly into the trees. Another group would follow, but they did not stay. I wonder if they could taste the difference in the water or if it had more to do with chillier temperatures?

Rethinking Golden Eagles

  

I can't remember if I blogged this already, but I'm fairly certain that the above is a photo of Golden Eagle 42 that I took last fall. Mark Martell posted updates on Audubon Minnesota's website weekly about this birds fall whereabouts, but kept almost daily track of the bird's movements. I told him that when the bird was close to the Twin Cities to send me as many updates as possible because I'd to see if I could get a photo of him--a sort of bird geocaching project. Imagine my surprise when he sent over a map and I recognized the area immediately: Golden Eagle 42 roosted less than a quarter mile from our bee yard! I went out and spent the day looking at every eagle near our bees and found one adult golden soaring in late afternoon. It was cloudy but I managed to get my digiscoping equipment on the it and got this photo. There's a fairly faint line behind the bird which looks suspiciously like the antennae on 42's transmitter. It's a crap photo and regardless if this is Golden Eagle 42 or not--it's exciting. Either it's our boy (which is totally cool to find a specific bird) or this is a separate golden eagle meaning a few might be spending the winter nearby!

The National Eagle Center has created a survey several winters ago to document the wintering population of golden eagles along the upper Mississippi River. I thought that since Golden Eagle 42 was hanging around the bee yard that I might make that area my survey route. We have bluffs not unlike where I saw golden eagles last winter near the Eagle Center. When I started in the morning, I did not see many eagles--saw tons of red-tailed hawks, but not eagle (not even very many bald eagles, but much of the water in this area is frozen so that is to be expected. I followed the bluffs north of my chosen area, figuring that most of the survey was south.

I got to this bluff and was enjoying the winter colors when I saw an adult bald eagle circling over my car. I scanned the skies and saw an immature bald eagle flying towards the bald. I made it a point to get every immature bald eagle in my binoculars or scope to ensure that I was seeing an immature bald eagle and not a golden.

It was a golden, my jaw dropped. I hustled to get my digiscoping equipment on the bird and this was the most identifiable photo I could get. I really wasn't expecting to get a golden eagle on the survey, I figured Golden Eagle 42 just happened to pass over our bee yard on migration but wow, here was one. I was a good 20 miles from the bee yard at this point but I was still excited to see this bird. Energized, I drove along to scan more of the bluffs.

Son of a gun, a little further north, I found a second one! I was stunned. As I watched this bird, I heard the cray of a red-tail and within seconds one was pumping its wings hard trying to catch up to the golden.

The red-tail flew above the golden and dove down on it several times, screaming. This hawk did not want this eagle in its territory. I've never seen a red-tail dive down like that at a bald eagle, but this bird was seriously driving the golden out of its portion of the sky.

I had a third sighting of a golden eagle, but looking at my craptacular photos, I'm sure it was the same bird i saw the first time, and I was in roughly the same area of the first observation.

I spent the rest of the survey navigating somewhat icy back country roads and avoiding deer. I realized as I went along that I have to change my thinking on all eagles I see in the air and not just dismiss them as bald eagles. How exciting that we have this wintering flock, that we don't know exactly how large that wintering population is or how wide the wintering territory is. Scott Mehus of the National Eagle Center sent out pointers on what to watch for. One thing he suggested was watching for panicked flocks of turkeys running from fields into the safety and cover of the woods. Goldens have been observed preying on turkeys--I wonder if the exploding turkey population has anything to do with this population of goldens? Here's a link to some pointers on watching for golden eagles. I think I'll be watching the bluffs and coulees around the Twin Cities a little harder for the remaining winter months.

I had to throw this in. While I was out searching for golden eagles, I came across what I think might be my dream house: an old silo with a gazebo on top. I wonder if I can talk Non Birding Bill into it?

Blue Jay Eating Sumac

Yesterday while out and about on a Golden Eagle Survey for The National Eagle Center, I came across a blue jay hanging out on some sumac bushes. I wondered if the bird was perching or if it was actually going to eat the berries.

Sure enough, the blue jay started eating the berries. Sumac is supposed to be one of those native shrubs (at least to us here in Minnesota) that we can plant and it will be food for birds--and it looks pretty. It gets those fabulous burgundy leaves in the fall and those furry red berries that stick around through winter. Seeing those berries all winter has made me wonder on more than one occasion if birds will in fact eat those berries. I once observed a cardinal feeding on them in late winter, but that's about it.

If you google "birds eating sumac" several photos come up--so they do eat it. My buddy Carrol Henderson says that some berries are left alone by birds at the beginning of the winter so they can lose some of their moisture content and be a bit more edible later in winter--when they really need it as all the tastier foods have already been eaten. Has anyone else seen blue jays on sumac?

I found it interesting that this blue jay was foraging on the sumac alone, most of the blue jays are in small flocks--especially when they visit the feeder. I wonder if this bird is trying to keep this stash of food on the down lo?

Build Your Own Digiscoping Adaptor

I saw this video on the Digiscoping Facebook Page on how to make your own digiscoping adaptor with items you might find at home:

Fishing American Robin aka Holy Crap!

One of my favorite parts about this blog is that people email me questions about birds or photos to try and identify something. Every now and then, someone sends in some insanely interesting bird behavior and it knocks my socks off.

I got an email from JJ Golden who was out taking photos of ducks not too far from where I live. There are still a few patches of open water and JJ was at a Twit Cities Golf course when something strange happened. Golden reports, "As I walked around the pond I saw this Robin so I stopped and watched it for a moment. It flew down to the pond, I assumed to get a drink by a small open/slushy spot. At this point I tripped over my own snowshoes, dropped down to my knees and dropped my point and shoot camera (with lens uncovered) into the snow. I was only a few feet from the Robin who paid no attention to my blundering self."

Golden goes on to report, "As I got up I could see the Robin had pulled a small fish out of the water and dropped it on the ice. It flip flopped around for a minute or so as the Robin seemed to be studying how to get it down. It then ate the fish in what looked like one gulp. The open area was very slushy so I'm amazed that the Robin could see a tiny fish from as far away as it was. The fish had a slightly pinkish tinge which made me wonder if it looked like a worm to the Robin."

I know robins will go for some not traditional foods in winter--some will eat seeds out of the shell like sunflower hearts or even go for suet. When I worked at the wild bird store in Wayzata, MN we had a bait shop in our strip mall. They would always toss out dead bait behind the store and we would see flocks of winter robins flying down for tiny dead fish but this is the first time that I have seen someone document an American Robin (Turdus migratorious) actively fishing for food!

So, now I wonder if this is a robin that has grabbed bait fish and somehow put two and two together and figured out how to get slow moving fish from slushy water? Did the robin figure it out by seeing a resemblance between the fish and a worm that it would normally go for?

Has anyone else ever seen a robin active fish for food?

Why Not Use RADAR To Prevent Bird Strikes

As more editorials come out about the concern over bird strikes in airplanes, I had kind of a duh moment yesterday on Twitter. BirdDiva posted a link to the Merlin RADAR system as a means to track birds around airports.

Well, duh!

She brought up a good point--we can track bird and even insect migration with RADAR, so why not translate that technology to airports? It seems to be a better solution that just shooting any bird willy nilly whether it's an endangered species or not?

Is it possible that the solution could be this simple?

Hello all, NBB here. Sharon's still catching up from her trip to Atlanta (where TSA confiscated her deodorant for some reason) so you and I are stuck together. Deal with it. First off, a reminder that Birds and Beers is at the end of the month, and it takes place at a bar where you can watch thousands of crows come to roost in Loring Park. I've made my affection for crows public knowledge, and even if you're on the fence, the sheer number is a spectacle. If you go to Birds and Beers this month and are not impressed, you can punch me*.

* Restrictions:

1. You must present a receipt from Joe's Garage on the date and time in question.
2. You must specifically be attending Birds and Beers.
3. You cannot punch me in the face or neck.
4. You must allow me to brace myself.
5. If you kill me a lá Harry Houdini, I will haunt you and all your descendants.

Second... well, I didn't really think this out. I'm supposed to be writing a script for the next show for Theatre Arlo, Macbeth: the Video Game Remix, but we're too busy enjoying the Minnesota weather that's in the positive integers. And by "enjoying" I mean "drinking and watching Arrested Development."

I honestly don't have anything else to share with you. My wacky story of an eagle-spotting gone wrong was ruined by the fact that while taking a joke photo of a squirrel I accidentally took a photo of the actual squirrel who had been mortally wounded by a raptor was something of a bring down. I made the mistake of mentioning this to Neil who mentioned it to Sharon and turned the whole thing into a colosal bring down, which is my essential problem with birds, birdwatching, and nature in general. I prefer to live in a world where animals spend their time delivering your mail and helping you with wacky bank heists.

So.

Sharon says I should mention something actually related to birding here, so I'll just post this video, and we can all go about our business, okay?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLgPjwbdYDw[/youtube]

West Bound and Down!

WARNING! SOMEWHAT GROSS PHOTO AT THE END OF THIS POST!

I'm wrapping up my time in Atlanta and I wait for my flight home to Minneapolis. I have to say that the trade show that I went to was smaller than usual and one had to really search to find something innovative and not just a bird feeder that's been around for over a decade (or in at least one case, close to 50 years) and call it new. But I did find a few gems that I'll post later.

In the meantime, I see that Non Birding Bill took my advice and blogged a birding even he and Mr. Neil witnessed yesterday at the feeders. I love it, I'm in the middle of a trade show, busy looking for article ideas and potential new products for the OpenSky Store and NBB calls, "Okay, don't get mad."

Knowing that he and Mr. Neil were free-wheeling boys while each one's special lady friend was out of town I was a tad concerned when the phone call starts with that. I immediately inhaled a calming breath bracing myself for something like:

"We decided to move the beehives to a sunnier spot...and ended up with a broken spleen."

or

"We thought of a new bird food recipe involving chocolate a millet and the birds are eating it like mad!"

or

"Neil and I decided to shave our initials into our hair and now we look totally rad!"

or

"We chipped in and bought a boat to sail the Mississippi when the ice is out this spring, it's shaped like a coffin!"

You know, the typical shenanigans men can get into when sensible feminine counterpoint is no longer available. But no, it was that they saw some sort of raptor try to take a squirrel and they didn't know what it was or get photos. Bill wrote an epic blog entry to the harrowing tale.

Between you and me, the story during the phone call from the two shifted a bit (I used clever questioning techniques learned from watching Adam-12 all last week). It started that they saw a bald eagle take a squirrel, well maybe not a bald eagle, but way bigger than a hawk, possibly and owl, and well the squirrel did get away and we're trying to find it and it could have been a golden eagle or just a really big ass red-tailed hawk.

Golden eagle would not be out of the realm of possibility. When Golden Eagle 42 was working his way south from the Arctic Circle this fall, he actually flew over Mr. Neil's. He actually roosted within a quarter mile of our beehives one night. I even got a terrible photo of him flying--holy cow, did I ever post that photo? I need to dig that up, that was a cool tale.

However, this morning as I wait for my flight back to the Twin Cities I see Mr. Neil has sent me further (somewhat gruesome evidence of their raptor adventure yesterday).

Here is the squirrel that suffered the apparent attack. Mr. Neil writes, "This was the only squirrel around after the eagle left and we came out with cameras. I wasn't sure if it was the one attacked or not, as I thought the atacked one was a short-tailed guy who had been hanging around that feeder all morning. But looking at the photo, I think it was this one after all..."

Mr. Neil also sent a closer image of the squirrel's head:

I'm not sure that this squirrel is long for this world and I wonder if the raptor in question will be back for it soon? Now I think I have answer to how some squirrels lose their eyes.

Well done, boys, well done.

Where Eagles Aren't

"Hey honey, you got a second?" "Sure."

"Okay. Don't get mad."

(sigh) "What happened?"

"Neil thinks he saw an eagle come down and try to get a squirrel in his yard."

"Why would I be mad about that?"

"Because you get mad when we think we see birds."

"Well, why don't you two boys go out and try and find it, then write it up in the blog while I'm busy in Atlanta."

"Okay."

Vicious Eagle-on-Squirrel Assault Leaves Local Man Scared, Shaken.

The terrified man, shown here protected by his faithful hound, was "simply glad to have survived the encounter."

Here he indicates where the savage attack took place... right outside his own window!

Your faithful reporter thought he meant here. Turns out that was your faithful reporter's own bootprint.

Turns out he meant here. Imagine the event, if you will. In fact, you sorta have to.

Here the witness looks at the tree into which the bird flew, following the attack.

Pictured: the tree into which the Eagle may have flown. Not pictured: the Eagle.

Your faithful reporter scans the skies for sight of the fell beast. What's that? Has the eagle returned, red in tooth and claw?

No. Just some bees. Strangely out and about in sub-zero weather, they quickly proved more than a match for this humble correspondent, who beat cheeks after rescuing one or two from a snowy grave.

THE END.

Sharon will return tomorrow. I know, I know. We're all glad.