Birdchick Blog
Here's a young hawk that was brought in for examination at The Raptor Center today. Any guesses as to what it is? Cinnamon wants to give a hint:
"I really don't approve of these types of birds, must you include them in the blog??"
My friend Marci who I met last year at The Rio Grande Valley Bird Fest has started a new site called BirdBound full of tips for the traveling birder...including a most intriguing section on how to travel with Non Birders. My favorite quote is, "More friendships are tested and found weak in the areas needed when it's too late - in the middle of a trip."
Being married to a non birder, I know that all too well.
Investigators want to know who abused bald eagle in Michigan
State wildlife investigators are trying to solve the mystery of what happened to a mature bald eagle found two weeks ago in a field in the Upper Peninsula with clipped flight and tail feathers. And its characteristic white head had been spray-painted brown, as if to disguise the fact that the bird was an eagle.
When the eagle was found, it was weak and emaciated because it hadn’t eaten in days. It couldn’t fly and could only hop a few feet.
“When we got it, it kind of hung its head like it was depressed," said Randy Bruntjens, who runs the Upper Peninsula Raptor Rehab center from his home. “It was abused. It’s a total disgrace."
Bald eagles are protected by state and federal laws and no one is allowed to possess them without a special permit. The eagle wore a leg band which will eventually tell investigators where its nest was, which might help them figure out who captured the bird.
There is a $1,200 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who captured the bird, and that person could face fines and prison time.
You can read the rest at The Detroit Free Press.
Non Birding Bill just gave me such a cool gift, a 1955 book called Birds Fighting by Stuart Smith and Eric Hosking (with field assistance by George Edwards). I haven't been this excited about an obscure book since he got me the Parasitic Birds and Their Hosts for Valentine's Day!
These British ornithologists went out and did experiments on birds to see what would happen when they came into contact with a predator, parasitic bird or another one of their own species during nesting season. For all of those people who like to think of the sweet nightingale singing high on his perch, you may want to look away. As I have attested to before, every bird has a dark side and this book captures it. Here are some highlight photos from the book:
Here is a stuffed sparrow hawk (the European equivalent to a sharp-shinned hawk). The stuffed bird was put out and then attacked in the top photo by a nightingale and in the bottom photo by a cock whinchat (is that an actual bird name?). The stuffed hawk isn't the best representation and looks a little goofy--kind of adds a whole new level of eerieness.
Isn't this an odd little tableau? In Europe the cuckoo is a parasitic bird like the brown-headed cowbird is here--depositing its eggs in another bird's nest. So, the Brits decided to see what would happen with a stuffed cuckoo near a nest. I love this photo, there's the odd looking stuffed cuckoo looking like he's saying "Huh?" being yelled at by a wood warbler while the warbler's young is begging for food in the background. This kind of reminds me of candid family photos at holidays.
Here we have a tree pipit giving the what for to a stuffed cuckoo--actually ripping out feathers! The cuckoo studies were quite interesting. The chapter was called "Part One: Adventures with a Stuffed Cuckoo". Isn't that a great title? I want to write a buddy picture starring William H. Macy and title it that. Heck, this book makes me want to chuck it all and declare a new life that involves adventures with a stuffed cuckoo. Anyway, check this out:
Some species were stimulated to attack based on the shape of the head. For example, these willow warblers vehemently attacked a cuckoo head as demonstrated in the above photo but were not so aggressive with a cuckoo body without a head. Or this just means that they are just as freaked out as I would be if someone came by with a human head on a stick.
Here's an up close view of the warbler attacking the head. It looks as though it's thinking, "Blood, murder, destroy." Almost enough to make Alfred Hitchcock proud.
And finally I give you this sad little display. Here we have a stuffed redshank being mounted by a live redshank. I've seen this kind of behavior in spruce grouse, but I guess I expected a little better from a redshank. Here is the passage describing the events that led to this photo:
"We placed our stuffed Redshank alongside a nest containing four well-incubated eggs. The hen Redshank returned, saw the dummy from a distance and ran towards it, calling with a melodious 'chew-chew-chew' note. It then rushed the dummy and thrust its bill into the dummy's neck tearing large pieces of feathering away. It then sprang on to the dummy's back and violently attacked its head, crushing it meanwhile to the floor. In this position, the dummy stretched out with its tail somewhat erected, and in a quite different attitude from the upright position in which we had first placed it. The Redshank now sprang on to the dummy's back again, but this time did not attack it, but attempted to mate with it. The crouched posture and raised tail of the dummy now elicited an entirely new reaction from the Redshank."
I'll say!
So, if you're looking for a fun read about three British ornithologists who go out and mess with a bird's head all the while discovering interesting and useful information about aggression and other bird behaviors, this is the book for you.
Boy, they just don't write 'em like this anymore.
After all the whininess of the previous post, now some wackiness.
What's this, Cinnamon wants to help put groceries away? What a helpful little bunny! Alas, this was all a clever ruse to distract me. She was using the bags as a cover for her real plan, to steal a stick of butter off the coffee table.
And she would have gotten away with it too...if it hadn't been for all the globs of buttery evidence on her nose. Naughty, naughty, willful rabbit. For once, I disapprove of you. Foot's on the other shoe now isn't it, bunny butthead--how do you like them apples?
WARNING! Severe whininess ahead. If you wish to ignore it (and I don't blame you), skip ahead about nine paragraphs. Yes, that's right, nine paragraphs of whining--wanna make something of it?
Technology-wise this weekend bit the big one. The cowbird of life laid a big fat egg in my unknowing warbler nest.
Every time I could see hope, the rug was quickly pulled away. First, there was the initial powerbook wipe out. Then Non Birding Bill seemed well on his way to recovering things. Almost all photos from 2002 until April 2006 were spared.
I did find this this photo from last week. That's Mark holding an unhatched osprey egg and Amber holding a five week old osrey. Imagine going from the size of that egg to the size of that chick in just five weeks! I thought this wasn't so bad, until I started reviewing the blog and discovered all the banding photos missing--all my precious Harris's sparrow photos--gone! What was odd was that some photos were found, but the really super cool ones are just gone. The only photo I have left as a souvenir of Maine is the open mouth of a dead sooty shearwater. The upside is that my best photos I put in the blog, but they are not print quality. So, I can visit them in the blog, but I won't be printing them out any time soon.
NBB is doing his very best to find anything that may be archived. He found half of my calendar. However, all appointments and meetings I've made are gone--festivals and conventions are still in. I know I have three meetings this coming week, but I'm unclear on the times...If anyone reading this has an appointment with me in the next couple of months, I'd email to clarify the time.
I thought my music was spared, because of the new replacement iPod had a full backup of my music. Saturday night while driving to a friend's outdoor wedding (in 100 degree heat), the iPod froze--FROZE! When we got home, NBB was able to load all the music onto the USB drive but the playlists appear to be gone. I'm not sure what will happen with the iPod, it's barely used. I hope my warranty will let me get a replacement iPod for the replacement iPod.
Did I mention that we discovered a mouse in the home this weekend?
Sunday, I woke up to our neighbor who decided to rev and ride his motorcycle at 5am--even his own house mates yelled at him for that one.
I started to doze off again, only to be woken by the young blue jay (above) that has been driving us nuts as he learns to fly and learns to convert his begging calls into the raucous jay calls his species is known for, thereby setting off the cockatiel alarm. This morning even his parents were avoiding him. He's so loud and obvious, I'm really surprised that he hasn't been eaten by the area Cooper's hawk yet.
NBB and I were going to film some video for online segments today. We are on a timeline because we have to return the camera to Sam Crowe so he can use it to film puffins. NBB made me a fantastic breakfast of pancakes and we set out on our way. We stopped to gas up and when I went to put the key in the ignition, it would not go in. We tried my key, we tried NBB's key--it just wouldn't go in. I check the Saturn handbook--nothing. I called the Saturn roadside service. Since it was Sunday, no mechanic was available and the person answering the phone had no idea. Our Saturn dealership was closed, so the only option was to call AAA. We had it towed to our mechanic (who was closed). Our tow truck driver said that it was a Saturn--this happens all the time and all we needed was a locksmith.
It was iffy as to whether or not AAA would cover this because we are only allowed one call per car problem, but if they are going to diagnose it as something they take care of and it's in our coverage, we should get that coverage--shouldn't we? AAA agreed and the first thing the locksmith said when he pulled up was, "Yeah, you're going to need a new ignition." He squirted something called "true flow" (not WD40--it doesn't do the job as well) to lubricate the ignition. Apparently, this is a common problem for Saturns, the ignition plates get stuck and you can't get your key into your Saturn, call a locksmith and then make an appointment to get your ignition replaced.
Ugh.
We finally got on our way and were able to get to our filming. Part of the filming included working with a couple of The Raptor Center birds. When we were finished filming them, I had to feed them.
And you know, I can have the worst day possible and things can be just going completely wrong and then I get to feed a peregrine falcon on the fist. I felt all the stress of the weekend disappear. Haaaaaaaaaaa. There really is nothing quite as soothing as the rending of flesh.
I have gotten some really great emails over the weekend from friends. Susan Gets Native sent me this note:
Sharon, Wanted to write to someone who understands the horror that is vulture vomit: I have been training to be the new education director for RAPTOR, Inc and yesterday I got to hold Earl, the resident program education vulture. And she( yes, she's a she) barfed on me. I didn't even care, really. I must be smitten.
You can see her account in this entry--congratulations Susan! Take a look at that albino red-tailed hawk. We have a Krider's red-tail and a dark morph red-tail but not an albino like that.
Amber sent me photos she got of our osprey adventure last week:
This coming week is going to be great--I know it. It has to be.
Any guesses as to who built this nest? This is really a tough question. I wouldn't have any idea if I had not taken the photo. It will be identified at the end of this post.
I think the powerbook problem is almost resolved--my volume structure is no longer corrupt and there are some losses, but not as many as there could have been. I think Non Birding Bill has been able to recover almost all of my photos, I don't know if I will get back the osprey photos from yesterday, but we'll see.
Recent events have helped a great deal with this situation. Right before I went to Maine, my iPod went kerflooey. I got a replacement from the warranty last week and I had just hooked it up and synchronized it to iTunes so all of my music is backed up--whew.
My important files of articles, calendars and books were mostly backed up. I think some articles and MANY emails are totally lost. I'm a pack rat by nature and I think these periodic losses due to my not backing up files is necessary for me. Sometimes to generate new ideas, slates need to be wiped clean and force me to start from square one. If the idea had been that great in the first place, I would have gone to a greater effort to back it up.
We have been dealing with this problem since yesterday afternoon and were up well past Midnight trying to get it figured out. 1am is the worst time to hear--"I think everything is gone." Needless to say, it was a restless night of little to no sleep. Banding ended up being cancelled this morning so I took a small sidetrack to Dakota County to refocus.
I went to the substation on 210th Street to just take in the meadowlarks and dickcissels. I have to say we are having quite the dickcissel explosion in Minnesota this year--they are everywhere, even in the metro area. Kestrels were fledging and awkward juveniles were on just about every powerline.
At the substation I took walk and found lots of suspicious acting clay-colored sparrows. There are several small conifer trees for sparrows to nest in. I was following one sparrow and he led me right to the nest below. Can you tell what bird this is based on the naked chicks?
Okay, this one is a toughie too--it's a goldfinch. It was kind of funny, I watched the clay-colored be bopping around the bottom of a spruce tree, so I thought I would peek for a nest. I searched and search and then stood up, only to be face to face with a female goldfinch sitting on the nest. I don't know who was more surprised, her or me. She had to have known I was on hands and knees under the tree. After five seconds she gave one of her sad little warning chips and took off. Two males moved in--it's hard to take goldfinches seriously when they are scolding you with that sad sounding chip they make. Since she flew, I aimed my camera for inside the nest and found the four naked chicks. Well done little finch, well done.
On my way out, I did find a clay-colored sparrow nest--that is the photo at the top of the blog. It's not a very well woven nest, it was surprisingly loose. I aimed my camera and found...
...a cowbird! Blah.
I stuck my finger underneath it and found one unhatched egg. Poor clay-coloreds, all that work for a cowbird.
Back to more powerbook recovery. Thanks to everyone who kept their fingers crossed, it worked.
If you have sent me an email in the last week and I haven't responded, please resend it today.
I'm having some issues with my powerbook and it's probably going to spend a good portion of today at the Apple Store. I can check email via my webmail account and will do that when I can today but I don't have my address book or remember everyone I need to respond to.
Keep fingers crossed. My system volume was corrupt and we tried to fix that last night. As a result, on the surface it looks like everything is erased, however we did a back up recently so even if there has been major erasing, we didn't lose everything.
I can't believe how reliant I have become on such a tiny machine! If all goes well today, I will post photos of yesterdays banding. If all goes unwell, I figure out a plan b.
We played a valiant game of lawn bowling today at Brit's on behalf of The Raptor Center and alas we lost, the Eagle Optics team came in 17th--okay that sounds bad, but one team came in 27th. But the important thing is lots of money was raised to help injured birds and lawn bolwing is a fun way to do it. That's Denny Martin in the above photo, rolling our ball. Go, Denny!
Here we have one of the celebrity judges, former pro wrestler Stan "Krusher" Kowalski.
I was excited to see my friend Rover, one of the KARE 11 videographers show up and cover the event. Here Rover is trying to get a shot of Non Birding Bill bowling his ball. He almost knocked Rover over--man, I can tell the heat really got to me today. I'm so tired, "Rover over" is making me giggle like crazy."
Of course, being the kind of girl I am, I had my binos on the whole time. I gave them to Rover to check out--he really liked them. They binos came in handy, one of the adult peregrines flew over the lawn a few times. The first time I started shouting "Peregrine, peregrine!" and jumping up and down while pointing to the sky. NBB cautioned me to cool it as I looked like a crazy drunk. Others saw the bird fly over--I was really excited, because one of the employees at Brit's had no idea you could see such cool birds down town and she got to see it.
The lawn on the roof of Brit's in down town is a great place, maybe I'll do a big sit there this fall?
I love blue jays, I really do. Honest! When I worked at the bird store I did my best to sway the most avid blue jay hater, but today I cannot be their fan. It's not because of their ability to locate and eat eggs and nestlings--so many bird species do that anyway, blue jays are just the most flamboyant about it.
No, today they are inadvertently setting off my cockatiel alarm. Blue jays have always set Kabuki off to warn the household of their presence. I don't know what it is about their calls, but whether our beloved bird hears them on tv, plush toy or right outside, they cause a rash of loud cockatiel alert calls. Today, the blue jays have brought a young bird to the feeder to teach it to feed. Normally, I enjoy watching young jays figure out how to eat on their own from the suet log, but the young jay's urgent begging cries are causing Kabuki to deliver alerts that are loud, fast and hard on the ear drums. Oh, my ears. Ah, this is the reason why birds don't make good pets.
"I'm a helper!"Yes, my little Eraserhead bird, you are. Now, for the love of pete, please shush!
