Common Cranes In Israel

November 11, 2011

As information is coming in about my itinerary to the Hula Valley in Israel, I'm getting more and more excited. One of my hosts for the trip is Tim Appleton and he sent over some photos of what we could see...looks like Cranemaggedon to me. Actually the Common Cranes in the above photo remind of the Sandhill Cranes in Kearney, Nebraska. The last time I went to Nebraska, our group actually saw a lone Common Crane mixed in with a bunch of Sandhills...wouldn't it be funny to see a wayward Sandhill Crane mixed in with thousands of Common Cranes?

Apparently the Hula Valley is host to millions of migrating birds of several species including the Black Storks above. Should make for some fantastic photos and interesting stories.

Birdchick Podcast #77: Calling All Birders To Wikipedia...

November 10, 2011

Red Rock Audubon wants you to help remove mining claim pipes in Nevada--this really does help birds! 10000 Birds brings up the pipe dream of having a non hunting duck stamp.

Starbucks is discontinuing it's shade-grown coffee line. If you don't have a place that sells shade-grown coffee near you, I like to order the Chestnut-sided Warbler blend from Birds and Beans.

The American Birding Association wants YOU to contribute to Wikipedia.

Laughing gull tries to steal food from a great egret.

I haven't read the story but the headline involves the words "hawk" and "escalator" and it can only be a Cooper's hawk.

Burly Bird is unleashing some cool new stickers. Check them out and if you want one...you know what to do.

Can You ID This Road Kill?

November 6, 2011

I found some interest road kill just now on my bird surveys. Let's use it as a contest! The first person to correctly id the bird in the comment section of this post based on these photos wins a giant loon coffee travel mug.

And here is what the other side looks like:

Downy Woodpecker Working The Corn

November 6, 2011

Most of the fields in my survey area have been cut and plowed (which has really wrecked my bathroom plans). At one spot a female downy woodpecker has been systematically work the corn stubble.

She must have been getting something out of there, she worked the stubble piece by piece the two days I was there. She wouldn't stay if she wasn't getting a good food benefit from it. She would peck open the cracks to make them larger and stick her tongue inside.

Here's a shot where you can get an idea of how long a woodpecker's tongue is (for more on woodpecker tongues click here). She actually had it wedged in the stalk but only for a few seconds. And then she continued on to the next stalk.

It was interesting to see a bird finding benefit in the stubble. I also wonder if there was some bug that moved in to the stalk after harvest or if there was some bug in there and the farmer had a low yield to his crop.

Birdchick Podcast #76: Murmurations and Duck Penises

November 6, 2011

Warning. This podcast gets a bit BLUE at the end. If you listen to this with kids or at work...may not be the best one for you. Really cool video of starlings wheeling and spinning.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/31158841[/vimeo]

Sometimes even super common birds unleash their awesomeness. Here's another video from @sfraster

My buddy Amber has an an op-ed piece in the Star Tribune about using lead alternatives when deer hunting.

Red-tailed hawk with the nail through it's face has been released--yay!

The duets of long-tailed wrens in Ecuador. Be sure to watch the video with the article.

There's now a Kickstarter site for people doing science projects called Rocket Hub...and of course there's a research project on duck penises that needs funding.

Fun On My Ground Surveys

November 3, 2011

Man the final stages of fall migration have set in. Today on my eagle survey I had a flock of tundra swans fly over me. It was really cool because the were headed towards the Mississippi River and I realized that chances were good that the would be included on my aerial waterfowl surveys next week.

There are still plenty of eastern bluebirds around and I find it amazing that I can see the above bird in the field and take a photo and send it to the blog all via the iPhone.

Birdchick Podcast #75: Micro Brew Seed, Bird Researcher Convicted In Poisoning Cats

November 2, 2011

This is a real shame. I had hoped that this story was false but it appears that Nico Dauphiné, former researcher at the Smithsonian National Zoo's Migratory Bird Center has been found guilty of misdemeanor attempted cruelty to animals for sprinkling poison atop cat food intended for feral cats living in Washington, D.C. This does nothing to reach some sort of reasonable understanding with the misguided yet well intentioned cat lobbyists. Non native cats living in feral colonies is habitat destruction by humans. Cats living in the environment are the same as birds hitting windows or someone bulldozing nesting and feeding habitat.

There's a reward for creating Bird Friendly Glass!

Paraglider ran into a griffon vulture (ignore how the "news" calls it an eagle, it totally is NOT). Both survive!

Micro batch bird seed. You can even create your own. But the really interesting thing is that they are outing pesticide companies who carry seed for wild birds.

Dude creates a website to track road kill in California and Maine. I so want to do this with my smart phone! Here's a link to Wildlife Crossing.