Home and Garden Show

I've spent the last few days at the Minneapolis Home and Garden Show working the All Seasons Wild Bird Store booth. I did get to meet Dick Enrico of 2nd Wind Exercise Equipment.

Dick Enrico and the birdchick. Not a bird, but an interesting sighting nonetheless.

The booth is loads of fun, I learned that a couple in Dakota Country has three ring-necked doves in their backyard and a couple from Blooming had a snowy owl in their yard last week. I gave them my cell number so they could call if they see it again. I always wonder what unusual birds show up that never get documented because people are either didn't know to tell the MOU or are afraid if they do tell they will end up with 400 MOU members in their backyard.

Traffic seemed to be kind of down from previous years at the show, and I had time to check out some other booths while there. One of them being the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum booth. They are promoting their Wild About Birds festivities they will be holding this summer. The had a giant nest and eggs in their display. You could crawl in the eggs and get your photo taken. These are some random children who had parents crazy enough to let a strange woman sit in an egg with them and get their picture taken. They are cuties though.

Pretend you're a hatching bird at the Home and Garden Show!

I'm very excited because the bird store is going to be a huge part of that this summer by having feeder demonstrations and a host of other projects. It should be a good time. The Arboretum is a fairly under birded area so it will be fun to see what comes of it.

Owls are still being reported in huge numbers especially around the Hinckley area. I would have thought they would have moved out by now...are they going to stay and if so that should bring many more birders to the state.

Dead Redpoll and Pine Siskin Answer

I just got a call from Carrol Henderson. The early tests on the redpoll carcasses had suggested that the redpolls and siskins were dying of something viral not fungal, however the tests have concluded that the redpolls died of Salmonella E.

This outbreak of salmonella is widespread with reports of dead birds from several areas including Minnesota, Vermont, Virginia, Michigan and Quebec just to name a few.

One of the ways birds are probably spreading it is through fecal material built up around feeding areas. The best thing to do when this occurs is remove finch feeders and thoroughly clean them. It is also a good idea to keep the feeders in for a week to encourage the redpolls and siskins to move on to other areas and cut back on the chance of it spreading at your feeder. Also, it is important to clean up the area under the feeders as well.

One one other note is that salmonella is transmittable to cats so if you have a problem with a neighbor's cat at your feeder, you might want to warn them to keep their cat indoors for a week (or preferably the rest of the cat's life).

For more information go here.

More Bird Thugs

The Ohio Ornithological Society has a link up of some young thug eagles loitering around cars and trampolines. Birds fresh from the nest are a hoot. They have no idea what to hunt and you'll sometimes see wacky things like a peregrine going after a butterfly or and eagle on a trampoline. Many people like to think of this as play but ornithologists usually attribute this to learning, birds figuring out what they can eat and kill. I'm not sure which it is, but it's funny.

I'm very excited, we ended up not owing as much in taxes as we set aside and I got a new iPod this weekend. I'm using it in conjunction with the microphone that Sam Crowe sent me to record my Birdzilla.com segments. I did kind of a tester segment about the owls over the weekend and next week Amber, Lori and I are headed to Kearney, Nebraska to party with Paul Johnsgard (at least party as much as one can with a 74 year old ornithologist) and see a butt load of cranes and snow geese.

Amber just alerted me that they have the Crane Cam up at National Geographic. It's a mic that's on at Rowe Sanctuary where you can watch and listen to the cranes. I have it on while I'm typing this and I can't see anything but I can hear the cranes. It reminds me of being in the blind (minus the frozen extremities)--I have goosebumps right now. Cool, I can hear snow geese starting up...and a train. Non-birding Bill has just come in and given me that smile. He said, "I'm so happy for you, you have taken your birding to a new and even geekier level."

Awkward Bird

Young Lauren asks:

I have a question what is the most awkward kind of species of bird that you have came across?

Well, there are lots of awkward birds out there. Have you ever watched a bald eagle jog on the ground. The way their body bounces back and forth they remind you of weebles. Loons are incredibly awkward on the land. Their feet are place so far on the back of their bodies, they are unable to stand or walk on land--however this adaptation makes them incredibly graceful and fast in the water.

But the most awkward bird I have personally encountered was a young osprey. I went out with Amber, Bud Tordoff and Mark Martell as they banded osprey on Grey Cloud Island (it was a magical day for me because I got live my dream of riding in a cherry picker). Anyway, when you take young osprey out of the nest, they just sort of deflate and lose whatever majesty you normally associate with that bird. Here's a photo:

Nature's perfect fish killing machine as a disaffected youth.