Cape May Friday Morning

First bird of the morning', right outside the hotel room! House sparrow! Actually, I took this yesterday, the sparrows appear to be used to hotel patrons feeding them. The sea is crashing, the wind is howling and it's rain, rain so I'm staying in this morning. Last night I went to a dinner hosted by Swarovski with a few folks from Cape May Bird Observatory, WildBird on the Fly, and Jay from birdJam at this wonderful little restaurant called Freda's. When the mussels appetizer was served, it got a little ugly, there was some competition, but Clay Taylor, the Swarovksi rep said that we had to our best black oystercatcher call to get them. I found this unfair as there are American oystercaters on the east coast and black oystercatchers on the west coast. Plus, I also felt birdJam had the unfair advantage--they always seem to have a portable speaker hidden in a pocket. Had it been a behavior challenge and we had to act out an oystercather--I would have nailed it.

WildBird on the Fly and I showed off our nails. She took me for my first ever manicure--I had no idea that was that much dead skin just around my finger tips. I chose Kreme de la Kremlin for my nails, she had something I think called Sparkles in the Snow.

And I was just sorting through some emails last night and found Frank Taylor's banding report from last weekend and this oh so cool shot of red-tailed hawk flying low right into the nets. What a great shot! If I weren't in such a cool birding place at the moment, I'd have total banding envy!

Okay, time to tweak my PowerPoint for Saturday, take a shower, and prep for the bird show this afternoon. I wonder how the other bird bloggers are fairing this morning?

Arrived In Cape May

Well, it took more drama than it needed, but I made it to Cape May. This morning was just a series of little trip ups that suddenly turn what is normally routine travel plans into enormous amounts of stress. First, we went to the wrong terminal to catch my flight and I ended up getting to the right terminal so late, I had to be whisked past the long line of security--to everyone I went in front of--I apologize, I normally wait in line just like you. The folks at Sun Country Airlines really saved my bacon, not only getting me to my departure gate in time, but also getting my luggage on the plane. Then there were some issues with the rental car, which at this point I'm relieved are resolved.

But, I got on the Garden State Parkway, popped in the iPod and had a leisurely drive here. On the way, I saw lots of turkey vultures, an osprey, some (non vulture) turkeys, and deer. When I got to Cape May, it was windy and cold. It's supposed to keep up in the morning, so I may stay in tomorrow morning instead of birding.

Peregine 568 Update

I got a call from Lorraine this morning. She reported that she saw a saw-whet owl in Mr. Neil's yard flying around the bird feeding station--perhaps it is the same saw-whet we found a couple of weeks ago. I wish I could have gone out to look for it, but I have to pack for my trip to Cape May, NJ--SO excited about the birding and meetin' up with all the bird bloggers and Birds and Beers on Friday night. AND! I have a bonus trip to New York on Monday and Tuesday. Maybe I'll get to see Pale Male?

I have some optimistic news about peregrine 568 at The Raptor Center. They were going to do an X-Ray on Tuesday morning, but remember how she likes to rip the duct tape off of her foot? She was at it again big time this weekend, so they did her check a day early. I didn't get to observe, but Tuesday morning, Alana gave me the down lo on what happened.

The X-Ray looked good! You can see where the bone break had healed up in the above photo and that's very good news in her recovery!

Here is the X-Ray from right after her first surgery. You can see that there is one big rod lining up the broken leg bone and two smaller roads helping to stabilize the bone. Alana said that they removed the large rod that was inside the bone, but left in the two smaller rods. They remove the rod gradually, to make sure the injury is stable as the bird gains more movement. I got a video of Alana explaining the X-Ray below--again, she's a great teacher and very good at explaining things:

Things looks promising.

How Is This Hairy Woodpecker Foraging?

A couple of weeks ago when it was warmer, a large group of wasps/hornets were converging on the side of Mr. Neil's house. There was more than one species and I'm not up on all of them, but it was kind of scary to watch. Leaf cutter bees and mason bees will sometimes use gaps in wood to lay eggs and woodpeckers love to find them and eat them.

This hairy woodpecker was working the roof area in search of food--despite the massive amounts of suet and mixed nuts I had filled in the feeders below. Hello?? I was trying to watch the hairy to see how she was foraging for the food. Was she randomly poking, looking or hearing the larvae?

The bird appeared to be putting the side of her head to the shingles and gaps, actively listening...or was she just looking? According to my beloved Bent, the birds are suspected of having excellent hearing. In his book, there is a quote from Minnesota's Dr. T.S. Roberts:

"The active grub, as it crunches the wood, makes a sound that would surely be audible to a bird with its keen sense of hearing. The tunnel produces a cavity which would give both a different sound and feeling on tapping over it. Such things as grubs have a strong odor, and it is probable that this plays a part also."

I checked BNA to see what modern thinking is and couldn't find anything that supported hairy woodpeckers having a great sense of hearing but did discuss using percussion for locating prey:

"Percussion not a means of securing prey, but rather a means of locating prey by rapidly tapping along a branch or trunk, presumably in order to hear resonance produced when tapping is above tunnel of a wood-boring insect."

So, that would add to why the woodpeckers are pecking, not just boring to get to the food, but testing for sounds of food. Interesting.

So Much For The Winter Finch Forecast

Earlier this month, I mentioned the influx of purple finches in Mr. Neil's yard. While we were there over this past weekend, there were still some purple finches about, but nearly as many as that day. Perhaps some of the flock has headed further south? However, a flock of pine siskins moved in on Sunday (above photo). Pine siskens resemble very streaky goldfinches in winter plumage. Here is a goldfinch in winter plumage:

I took this photo on Sunday, this bird still has a splash of yellow to remind us what they look like in breeding plumage.

I wasn't expecting the pine siskins, as the Winter Finch Forecast had predicted that:

"White-winged and Red Crossbills and Pine Siskins will not be irrupting south of Ontario as they do in some flight years, because most have already gone east and/or west."

So much for predictions! Hey, we got siskins, now it's time to bring on the crossbills! That would be so cool to digiscope at Mr. Neil's feeders.

Check out this crazy siskin. We still have the hummingbird feeder out on the off chance some western hummer migrates in a different direction and because rain is collecting in the ant moat and the birds are sipping out of it, like this siskin in the above photo. When it was warmer and there was a trail of ants on the hook, you could see nuthatches, chickadees, and warblers flying in to eat them. Nectar feeders: not just for hummingbirds and orioles.

Mr. Neil Takes One For The Team

This past weekend, we started closing the beehives for the winter. I've been kind of dreading this--no more beekeeping fun once a week! I didn't even want to blog over the weekend, I just wanted to pretend I didn't have to close up my beekeeping fun. I noticed an interesting change in my beekeeping ability this past weekend. Normally, I am very prepared for our trips to the hives, but his past weekend I took advantage of my procrastinating nature by creating an identity on a social networking site, I just didn't want to close them up. I thought back to how excited and ready I was for the hiving of our packages and now, I delayed, delayed everything and we had to do some scrambling for materials before we went out Sunday. I'll miss visiting them and also, I'm worried that the Kitty hive doesn't have all the stores she needs to make it.

The plan when you close the hives in the northern United States is to wrap the hives with insulation, close up the bottom entrances, remove feeders, and put in a moisture board. I modified our plan somewhat. If there is anything this beekeeping adventure has taught me is that bees do not read the books and every beekeeper had a different method for dealing with their hives and with challenges that arise. Even my small mention of closing the hives in the previous post prompted a beekeeper to share in the comments their strategy of keeping their hives open a little longer and their process. And when we had the swarm this summer, I got lots of different advice from a myriad of beekeepers. I've been following what I learned in the Beekeeping Short Course, but since I figured chances are good that Kitty wouldn't survive, why not try an experiment to see if that will keep her going.

This is Kitty, she has three deep brood boxes. In theory, the top should be filled with honey stores and the bottom two should have some food and some brood cells. The top and second box both have some empty frames, which they have been slowly building out since we started feeding the homemade nectar. The top two smaller boxes are holding the bee feeding bucket. We should remove this, but we have decided to just keep filling the bucket for the time being. Above is Mr. Neil and Non Birding Bill securing the entrance reducer. We stared with a wooden one in spring, but have switched to a metal one, to prevent mice from chewing the entrance open wider and moving in for the winter. Note Mr. Neil is NOT wearing gloves. Some of what were doing required some dexterity, and he opted to offer his hands to the cause--since he really doesn't use his hands that much, right? What would a writer need his hands for?

After we secured in the entrance reducer, we wrapped a specially made insulating wrap around the hive, but we left open one small entrance hole at the top for the Kitty bees to fly in and out of if they need to. We replenished the feeder bucket and will continue to check and feed through the fall and as far into winter as we can.

We did the same with the Olga hive, but we removed the feeder bucket--she is just chock full of comb, nectar and brood. She will have no problem surviving the winter.

In both hives, we put in a pollen patty. In theory, both hives should have plenty of pollen, but you can't really see it because pollen is placed in the bottom of a cell, then covered with honey and capped off. It was recommended that we throw in a pollen patty to help if they run short on protein over winter.

When we were removing the Olga feeding bucket, there was still a small amount of nectar inside, so Mr. Neil drizzled it into the hive for the bees to clean up/eat up. Above are some syrup-covered beets. The worker in the center looks like she has a large orb like crown--she's queen of the nectar for the day.

The Kitty bees had been pretty lethargic, but Olga still had some zip left in the colony. As we were drilling and banging the hive, Olga remained true to her defensive nature...

and stung Mr. Neil. That's his third sting from the Olga hive, and he said that it really wasn't as bad as the first one. But we did need his dexterity for some of the drilling, duct taping and wrapping, so Non Birding Bill and I appreciated his noble sacrifice. I must say, true to his British background, he took the sting with dignity and barely any flailing and now wild screaming whatsoever. I took notes.

We took out the propolis trap from the Olga hive and discovered more bee art. I must say, one big complaint I have about bee supplies--it does not come with clear instructions--some of it comes with no instructions--period, you just get the item. After we finished closing the hive, Mr. Neil did some digging on the Internet and found that we used the propolis trap incorrectly but we will be ready next year. So, on the off chance any beekeeping retailers read this site: instructions with the equipment--it's a beautiful thing.

So, the hives are wrapped for winter. I'm sure I'll visit them a bit--I have to see for myself that heat from the hives will melt snow near them! But still, the season is over and it's a good six months until they will be open again and I can do things like dividing the colonies or perhaps installing new packages once again.

Man, if I'm having trouble dealing with this...how will I be this time next year when I won't go to efforts to get the girls to over winter? The average queen is supposed to live 2 summers. It was recommended that after the second summer we let the colony die out over the following winter and start with fresh bees to help prevent the spread of mites and other diseases. How can I let them just die out over winter?

Underside Of A Brown Creeper

Sorry about the lack of posts. I have been avoiding the blog because I'm avoiding anything remotely related to the bees. I had to close them up this weekend. But in the meantime, we did have an encounter with a brown creeper this morning. We're not sure if this bird hit the window and was recovering on the ledge or was just exhausted from migration.

Normally, I would say that it hit the window, but usually when a bird hits the window hard enough to stun itself, it ricochets far out and hits the ground. Lucky, that this bird didn't, it was a good two stories up. Either way, it is a rare chance to see the belly of a creeper. These guys creep along the trunks of trees like nuthatches, but rather than creeping down head first, these guys creep up. Their brown backs and heads blend well with bark, almost looking as though the tree bark itself is moving.

Don't worry, a few seconds after this photo was taken, the creeper flew to nearby white pine and began foraging for food and doing what it does best: creep.

Peregrine 568 Update

WARNING! This is a post about an injured peregrine falcon we met earlier this month. This post covers some of her recovery. Some photos might be a tad gross for those who may be eating or have a problem with needles. Just an FYI.

Alana Shrubsole-Cockwill, the vet overseeing the injured peregrine falcon I've been blogging about, called me this morning to let me know that she was going to check on the bird to see how she was doing. When I arrived at The Raptor Center, Alana was working on a red-tailed hawk with an injured wing in the above photo. After she checked the injury, she extended the wing to keep the muscles from permanently contracting.

The red-tail was passage (first year) and huge! That's Steve Sutter hold her up. He volunteers in clinic at TRC. Clinic volunteers come in once a week, feed and clean birds in recovery and hold birds while the vets check them out.

Steve's job is to get the falcon and then when she is under anesthesia, he still holds onto her feet--on the off chance she isn't completely under, she won't grab the vet or flail around and risk further injury.

Some good news is that the bruising has gone down! Some may remember from last time that the bird's leg was bright green from bruising. The flesh looked healthy pink and you can see pin feathers growing in (her leg feathers had to be removed before surgery--kind of like when humans need to be shaved on a body part about to be operated on.

Something I didn't mention last time was that the foot, just below the break was red, and Alana mentioned that it might be some type of vascular compromise--maybe the blood vessels were damaged when the bird flew into the nets or transported or as a result of the injury. If you look at the photo of the leg from last time, you will note just below the green that the foot was red. Today, all the redness was gone, so the blood flow is good. After that, Alana moved the leg around. I asked if the moving the leg around was for the same reason she was extending the red-tail's injured wing, but she said she was checking for stiffness. I got a video of her extending the leg and talking about what she's doing:

I will say this, Alana does a great job of explaining what she's doing, she's a good teacher. Since I'm an education volunteer at TRC and not a clinic volunteer like Steve, I don't know all the lingo and what they are doing and why. She very naturally will explain what she's doing and do it in way so that you don't feel like a complete dunderhead.

She made sure to clean the spots where the pins holding the broken leg in place and then she took a look at the peregrine's toes:

Because the falcon was going to be putting more weight on her good leg as opposed her broken leg, care had to be taken to keep her from getting bumblefoot and her good foot was wrapped in surgical and duct tape. But what is a bored falcon to do when it can't migrate and hunt and has to sit in a dark box all day--why try and rip at the tape off her toes! Note the mangled mess above. Alana removed the tape:

The bottom of the foot looked good, no signs of bumblefoot! You know how I love to smell birds? Alana told me to smell the falcon foot. I have now experienced that bad bird smell--her feet were stanky! Which is weird because birds don't sweat like humans so it's not like she had sweaty toes in gym socks. It's a combination of the foot being wrapped, probably getting some food bits and poop in there. Alana washed it off and rewrapped the toes. Who knew birds can get stinky feet?

If you look at this photo, you can see little tabs of duct tape--the tabs are there on purpose. She's going to pick at it anyway, might as well give tabs to keep her busy to keep her from ripping it all off her toes.

One thing I haven't mentioned that you may have noticed on the red-tail and on the falcon are the envelopes on their tails. By sliding this over the raptor tails, this prevents them from breaking tail feathers during their recovery. They are in small boxes to prevent them from moving too much too soon. But sometimes an antsy raptor is going thrash about in the clinic cages, so this just helps protect those important rudder feathers.

Here's Alana and Steve with peregrine 568 at the end of her exam. She's perkier, her weight is up and she doesn't need to be hand fed. Alana is going to do an X-Ray next Tuesday to see how the bone has healed and to determine what the next stage will be in her recovery process.

Again, if you enjoy following peregrine 568's story, please consider contributing to her recovery at TRC. I've yet to meet a raptor with health coverage and TRC relies on donations to treat the over 800 birds they see in a year.

Odds and Ends

Okay, this is an on hold post--I just got a call from The Raptor Center, they are going to do a check up on the injured peregrine falcon and said that I can come and watch.

But, before I go, I got a story from my buddy Amber:

Disregarding a plea from his own Fish and Game Commission, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law Saturday a bill that would ban the use of lead ammunition for hunting big game in the California condor range.

Assembly Bill 821, the Ridley-Tree Condor Preservation Act, written by Assemblyman Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara, requires the use of nonlead centerfire rifle and pistol ammunition when shooting big game or coyotes within specific areas of the state identified as the condor's range.

Who knew that Gov. Ah-nold would do something so right?? You can read more here.

Also, Bird Chaser has an entry up about cats being allowed to roam free in Cape May and asking should birders boycott the birding mecca to serve a lesson to the local government for ignoring all of us tourists who come to the town specifically for the birds. He also lists some other options too. It's a little late in the game for me to boycott--the Bird Blogger Conference is next week, but be sure that there will probably be some bloggin' about this issue. I would recommend that anyone going to this be very vocal with business that you are a birder and you are here for the birds and it would be a shame to lose tourism dollars over feral cats.

And if you need a Cinnamon fix, there's an entry over at Disapproving Rabbits Blog--complete with a video of her snarfing down some canned pumpkin.