Back From Bama

Hey! Check out this freaky lookin' bird hanging out in Texas right now. I think it's some kind of partial albino blackbird (my guess would be red-wing but the jury is still out).

I am back from Alabama. Above is the view of the meeting room I spent most of Thursday in. It was a good thing the mountain view was mostly fogged over and I wasn't too distracted by watching thermalizing raptors. Still quite pretty.

Wednesday night when I got stuck in Memphis, the airport gave all of us stranded passengers hotel vouchers and a dinner and breakfast voucher. The hotel had a special menu for us--apparently, we were "distressed passengers". We were given $15 for dinner which covered a beverage and appetizer. The cheapest actual dinner was $14.95 and most were $16.95. The breakfast voucher was the biggest joke. It was for $5 and the cheapest thing on the breakfast menu was the small pot of coffee for $4.95. Ah well, all part of the joys of travel.

I really do enjoy traveling for work. It's fun and if something is a little boring, you always know that tomorrow I could be in a different place doing something different. But really, when you're a "birding specialist" things rarely get boring.

While in Birmingham, we stopped at a Wild Bird Center. They have a very cute puppy who greets you when you arrive. Bart, who was my contact in Birmingham, outted me at the WBC as the birdchick and writer for Birding Business and the owner said, "Oh no! You do those secret shopper articles, you're gonna look at my store." Well, not now, since I'm outted. I don't do those articles too much anymore and if I did, this store would have passed with flying colors anyway.

I did find this little birder bust at the store. Is it me, or does this look like an anime version of Lillian Stokes? She's only $26.95--a bargain!

And because we haven't had too many bird photos lately and I found this on the desktop, a random merlin photo.

I'm so excited, tomorrow I'm going to help Stan Tekiela with is Sandhill Crane and wine field trip. Alcohol and cool birds--an excellent combo!

Wireless in Alabama

Hello, all, NBB here again.

Sharon has arrived safely in Alabama, and is overwhelmed by the breathtaking beauty of the area. She is, however, without reliable internet access, and so, once again, here I am.

But what to do to entertain you all? Hmm, that's a puzzler. So difficult to figure out how to amuse people who come to a site for information about bird behavior and ill-mannered rabbits. What is one to do? Why, I'd have to find something like... like... oh...

Like a video of a rabbit picking a fight with a crow:

The Joys of Work Travel

I was supposed to fly into Birmingham, Alabama tonight but due to flight delays, I missed a connecting flight so I'm spending the night in Memphis, TN (ah, takes me back to the ivory-bill search) and will fly out tomorrow morning. The airport has put me up in the lovely Holiday Inn Select (which I hightly recommend if you are going to be staying Memphis--fantastic service). My favorite part of this is that since I'm in the south, I will get my favorite dish--fried green tomatoes for dinner--on the airport's dollar! A great silver lining on a bummer of a travel day.

I just ordered a martini:

Whoa, doggies, there's a lot going on there. Lemon zest, a twist of lime AND an olive. The south, they aim to please!

Boy, I landed a sweet gig today! In my never ending quest to find ways to get paid to go bird watching, I just signed on to help Minnesota Audubon compile maps and information into two separate books: one birding guide for the Mississippi River in Minnesota and one birding guide for the Minnesota River...in Minnesota. I'm not writing them from scratch, I'm taking information that's already out there and putting it into an easy to read format and adding some info here and there. The idea is that the guides will be sold and the money from the guide sales will pay for future reprintings for Audubon. The whole project is being funded by the LCMR.

Of course, I will have to go out and research and make sure all the directions are correct and see what birds are there to make sure the guides are accurate. I always said that Eagle Optics was the best job ever, but this one is going to give that job a run for the money for the number one slot of best jobs I have ever had (but really after having worked at a Showbiz Pizza Place--now known as Chuck E. Cheese, any job would be the best job ever).

Sometime, if I can find a tactful way, I should tell you guys about when I worked for Pfizer in the "E.D." Department (E.D. as in those odd little Bob Dole commercials a few years ago). It was right before Viagra came out, so Pfizer was trying to find ways of using the old technology for E.D. and apply it to urinary and fecal incontinence. It was the only time I found that my seven years of taking French classes ever came in handy.

Hm, I think that martini is kicking in and I should stop blogging.

Toes in Bird Forum

So I recently joined Bird Forum to see what that is all about and plus Non Birding Bill and I are planning a trip to Scotland next year and I'd like to connect with some people over there before I go.

I posted WildBird on the Fly's question about "where are the great women birders" and a lively discussion has picked up and the topic has gone in some different directions but I did find a link to a blog with an intersting post about a famous female birder called the Dutchess of Bedford from long ago and boy howdy did she know how to dress. Interesting post and worth a read.

Would You Put This On Your Binos?

There's a big push for birders to purchase duck stamps since many of the birds we enjoy benefit from the habitat preservtion. I am 100% for it. There's a group trying to find creative ways to get birders to purchase duck stamps. One idea being a tag that you can attach to your binoculars that will hold the stamp and show everyone that you purchased a stamp.

I'm not opposed to a tag to show off a duck stamp, but would anyone really attach this to their binoculars? I could see putting in on a jacket or my rearview mirror, but to have a tag clanking around while I walk and dangle while I have my binos up to my eyes would drive me insane. I already can't take the attached covers on the objective lenses on binos--I generally take those off first thing when I get a new pair.

What do you guys think--would you attach this to your binoculars?

Who are these crazy people who don't use harnesses and still use neck straps on their binoculars? The birds never seemed more beautiful than when I learned to enjoy them without neck pain.

Calendars

I'm not the only one with calendars this year. My friend Amber has made these really cool little calendars at a glance with her photos:

The calendars are $1.25 a piece and if you would like to order one, contact Amber at redtail100@yahoo.com. I like the immature red-tailed hawk one best, although the loon is a close second.

Duck!

So, I almost got clotheslined by a Cooper's hawk today! Above we have Jane Goggin, one of the many fabulous vets at The Raptor Center. We didn't have any programs scheduled for my shift today so our crew asked if we could watch Jane and Lori (one of the other fabulous vets) test fly one of the 13 Cooper's hawks still in clinic (that's down from 24--it's been a record year).

We followed Jane and Lori and stood behind them as they released the immature female Cooper's. The bird had recovered from its injury and has been test flown by the volunteer flight crew (after birds have recovered from their injury they go through this to build up their muscles). Lori and Jane go out and test fly the birds to determine if the flight therapy is working and to see if the bird's flight is strong enough for release. The bird is attached to a creance (a really long leash attached to the ankles so it can fly but not get away yet). The bird took off well in front of Lori and Jane.

Then she suddenly banked and headed straight for some spruce trees off to my right. At that point she figured out the creance was going to prevent that and she turned on a dime towards me coming up fast on my right. About two seconds after I took the above photo, I realized the creance line was heading straight towards me at about neck level. I hit the ground and heard Jane and Lori yell, "Duck! Quick!" towards the rest of our crew. I heard the line zip over and lifted my head to see the rest of the crew on the ground.

Fortunately, no one was injured and I think it's safe to say that this particular female Cooper's hawk is ready to go off in the wild with moves like that!

Someone emailed how I get the release shots that I posted last week. Above is a photo I took of Chuck releasing a merlin.

Here is the same scene taken by Rick Dupont of me getting the above shot of Chuck releasing the merlin.

Odds and Ends

Just soak in this photo for a moment. I sure need to. Of all the weekends to miss Frank's banding station! They got in a goshawk and a male pileated! I asked Frank if he got any injuries. You don't worry so much about the beaks of raptors, but you sure do when it comes to woodpeckers--especially crow sized woodpeckers. Frank said:

"Actually I only got one puncture that resulted in bloodshed of any kind. I managed to judiciously use the glove as a barrier for most of the handling. (We don't wear gloves while handling the birds so we don't break feathers or squeeze too hard. I always cringe when I see people using big welders gloves to handle birds. You can't feel if you are hurting them through that great thickness of leather. I'd rather get a peck or two, than damage a bird.)

When it hit the net, Chuck (one of Frank's subbanders) was on it right away with no gloves! I guess after grabbing a wild pine marten a few years ago, he doesn't feel very threatened by a mere bird. And with him being a Doctor, I guess he could just fix it anyway. He was holding its head most of the time so it couldn't really get a good shot in at me."

I love this bird, this the bird that got me interested in birds when I was seven. One of the summers I volunteered in the avian nursery, I young pileated woodpecker clung to my torso like I was a tree. I was a profound moment for me and definitely in my top ten birding moments.

So yesterday I got to experience life as a tv show host. Wow, is it fast paced and you have several things going on at once. Above is my script, which was also on a teleprompter too that I could read as I looked at the camera. Using a teleprompter is a lot like the screen when singing karaoke (glad all of the singing at bird festivals has come in handy for my career!). But you also have an ear piece where the producer is telling you how much time you have, if you need to give a phone number, suggested questions for the guests, where to look--all this while you are interviewing the guest. I was really lucky, all three of the guests were good talkers which makes it easy for me. The first guest was Louise the organization expert and she on Showcase Minnesota as often as I am. I told her she was my first and my biggest concern was making sure I wrapped up (finished the segment) when the producer told me to). She told me to just tap her on the leg and she would wind up her sentence. Also, when I got to her for the segment, she made a little sheet with all her main points hidden behind her props--typical, great Louise--helpful and organized to the Nth degree. Birderblog did a great job and when I get a DVD from KARE 11 of the show, NBB and I will put that part of the show up on the site.

Meanwhile, NBB has taken up origami.

Cinnamon has taken up disapproving of the origami. Actually, she's having a great time tossing his designs around. I think someone mentioned in an earlier comment that a bored bunny is a mischievous bunny. Hopefully the origami will occupy her for a few days.

Sunday

Just finished watching the season 2 finale of Dr. Who...heart breaking! Non Birding Bill in on my case saying that there is no crying with Dr. Who. The second season has a couple hit and miss episodes but the last two are not to be missed.

If anyone has the morning off tomorrow in Minnesota, I'm guest hosting Showcase Minnesota. I'm interviewing three people: Organization expert Louise Kurzeka, Chad Lewis the co-author of the Minnesota Road Guide to Haunted Locations, and Laura Erickson of Birderblog fame talking about her book 101 Ways to Help Birds, we're even going to take phone questions on air--dueling bird ladies!

Saturday with the Stitelers

Non Birding Bill: Hey, Sharon, there's a squirrel with a sandwich.

Birdchick: Yeah? So?

Non Birding Bill: It's in your box.

Sure enough there was a squirrel digging a hole for its sandwich just like he would any other nut. Normally, I'd be a tad irritated that this critter is trashing my box, but the cold snap this week killed everything but the mums and asters so it can dig away.

After the squirrel left, you really couldn't see much of the sandwich. Sure, you could tell that some digging had been happening, but no real sing of the sandwich. Makes me wonder what other goodies they may have put in the box in the past...

I dug it up and it was a very stale toasted peanut butter and jelly sandwich. NBB asked what I was going to do with it and I decided to put it back. Maybe the squirrel would come back?

After about four hours the squirrel did come back and dug up the sandwich and carried it to the nearest telephone pole and started snacking away. Speaking of squirrels, did you know that we are wrapping up National squirrel awareness week? We went to a party last night and Scott the official MN Fringe Festival Photographer was telling me about it--can't really find anything about it on the internet though. We were discussing the flying squirrels we could hear outside of the house and Scott told me he volunteers at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center and has some fun photos of squirrels there and then just some fun wild squirrel photos.

A neighbor's house near the party had gone all out for Halloween...this is only half the yard, there are many more decorations that can't be seen in this shot. I loved the six foot pumpkin stack towards the back.

It was cute and clever stuff, I've never seen someone go all out yard ornament-wise for Halloween before.

I think this was my favorite tableau: vampire and witch plastic yard ornaments dunking a Holly Hobby-esque doll into a cauldron.

I was a tad unprepared for the sudden cold snap that we got this week. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE cold weather, I just prefer to ease into it and not go from 80 degrees to 30 in less than four days. I need time to adjust. But, NBB headed to Whole Foods yesterday on a hunch and found that their truffles are in! They only carry these in cold weather because they melt so easily. I've had a box melt in one afternoon of 75 degree temps. I don't really care for chocolate--seriously I only am interested in certain times of the month and can easily avoid it most of the time. But these things are wonderful--best chocolate I've ever had.

Look at that confection--these things are so rich, yet so light and they melt in your mouth with such intense flavor. I can't eat more than two at a time, and usually just one will hold me because my mouth is coated with a chocolate after taste for the next hour. According to the box three truffles are 170 calories, so eating one a day is only 56.6 calories--not bad. NBB brought home the cappuccino flavored but they do come in just chocolate too. I love the first ingredient listed on the box: organic cocoa mass. Mmmm.

I have to keep an eye on Cinnamon today, the bunny butthead snuck in my purse and took off with a packet of Trident chewing gum. She ate half a stick. I have no idea what this will do but I didn't find anything in my house rabbit books or online that said gum is toxic. First she snuck and ate chicken out of the trash and now gum, what's next?