Coolest Bird Job Ever?

September 3, 2010

I am a happily married woman. I LOVE Non Birding Bill with all my heart and treasure the adventures we have together. Yet, every now and then, I see bird job opportunities come along and I think, "If I were single...I would totally apply for that job!" Usually it's a position of monitoring birds in the Carribbean for a few months or spending a few weeks in some remote lodge in Ecuador. But today, I found the mac daddy of all cool-ass-adventure-birding-jobs. This job is so cool, that it sounds like it was made up by an 11 year old: Parahawking Team in Nepal is looking for a new assistant. Based on a photo from their website, here's what that might look like:

Are you kidding me?? It's a company that trains birds of prey and vultures to fly along with you while paragliding over Nepal! Remote gorgeous country, vultures and flying--my head just imploded a little at the awesomeness of it.

Based on what the job description reads for Parahawking, the job opening is not for a falconer or a paraglider, but someone to do the grunt work (who cares, the grunt work is in freaking Nepal):

"As the 5th member of the team, your role will be varied but your priorities are to take care of the birds, feeding, weighing, cleaning, general husbandry, preparing for daily flights etc. Parahawking tandem flights are the mainstay of our business, we are busy all of the time. The operation must run like clockwork and each team member has their role to play. You will also be responsible for giving presentations to small groups of American tourists several times a week. These presentations form part of our contribution to the the vital conservation work we do. They normally last for no longer than 1 hour, they are informal and fun and a good opportunity to raise awareness and funds for Himalayan Raptor Rescue and vulture conservation."

So you'd get to do programs and take care of birds of prey (in Nepal). So, since I can't apply for this, someone out there needs to for all of us who fantasize about working cool remote areas with cool birds.

And now I need to find a way to get to Nepal and take one of these trips. I think my aerial waterfowl surveys have mellowed my fear of heights. And if I had a cool old world vulture to focus on, I'd not care about heights.

*I'd like to say that I find what this company is doing fine for the birds involved. It looks like the birds are trained to fly along the gliders and land. The birds are doing it of their own accord with positive reinforcement (if they weren't trained well, they would never fly to the gliders). The birds are in great feather condition and look well cared for. I find this a safe and okay environment.

Completely the opposite of what I think of the dude who flies around with the injured eagle in the hang glider so it can experience flight again. Honestly, I think that is schmaltzy and stressful to the eagle. That bird is completely bound up and has no control of the situation (unlike the birds at the above job that can choose to fly to the glider or ignore it. I think it's dangerous to fly with the bird wrapped up like that where if something goes wrong, the pilot can do little to help it. Quite frankly, I'm surprised US Fish and Wildlife allows it. But that's another blog entry.

Random Great Egret

September 2, 2010

Staging Birds

September 2, 2010

I've been out at the state fair this week doing different things and mostly answering bird questions. Although, there was a minor foray into bird rescue. A young cowbird was lurking around the DNR stage and during a rather long and arduous pan pipe concert, it was weaving in and out of the bleachers. People kept asking us to rescue it but every time I checked on it, the bird was taking advantage of the ample supply of fair food droppings under the bleachers and would fly away irritated when humans would try to grab it.

Many people had questions about pelicans. Quite a few are staging or gathering in larger flocks for fall migration around the Twin Cities--you might see some birds staging for migration where you live. This can include all sorts of species like swallows, blackbirds or waterfowl. The above photo is a flock of American white pelicans that were circling over the Mississippi River last week. I've seen quite a few gathering along the river on our park's canoe trips. I got a slight pang of excitement when we canoed a section that was loaded with birds during our aerial waterfowl surveys...which start at the end of this month.

Here are some pelicans and double-crested cormorants staging on Lake Vadnais--based on the pelicans and cormorants in this photo alone, I would say this might be an ideal spot for fishing...although, I don't think fishing is allowed on this side. The part of staging is that gives you a chance to see large concentrations of birds or...

...odd groupings of birds. Above is a great blue heron, some mallards, a couple of cormorants and a ring-billed gull. Since they aren't breeding, there aren't too many territory squabbles. It's interesting to see that when one bird starts preening (putting feathers in place and conditioning with oil from a gland on their back with their beaks) the rest soon follow suit.

Even great egrets are staging (every white thing in the above photo is an egret). But they do not appear to allow the closeness that pelicans and cormorants allow with each other. Even if a bird flew too close, you could hear their belchy cloaks in protest.

It's interesting to watch these groups when they are not feeding or preening. They all seem to be waiting for something, for some cue. Perhaps it's combination of signs: feeling a certain heft to their bodies from all the fat put on for a marathon flight along with the length of daylight and winds out of the north to help them push south.

Mississippi Birds to Beers Event @MerlinsRest

September 1, 2010

I am so excited about this event!

I have organized an event for my park called the Mississippi National River and Recration Area at Merlin's Rest on September 11, 2010 from 2pm - 4pm. You can come for the whole thing or just part of it. It's going to be a great way to get to know others interested in enjoying the outdoors in the Twin Cities as well as learn the History of Beer along the Mississippi River (my boss, Ranger Dan is doing this and he is HILARIOUS--really a good program giver and knows his beer). Rangers will also be on hand to answer questions about boating, fishing, birding, biking or whatever you'd like in the park and you can enjoy the fun atmosphere at Merlin's Rest.

I'm very excited that we will have a special Mississippi River themed pub quiz to round out the event! Perhaps I'll bring some of our award winning honey along as a prize for the winners?

Here is the tentative schedule--which may change slightly as we may have a few surprises.