Birdchick Blog
We can't let Non Birding Bill know about this story. Family releases "baby bunny" and it lasts maybe 10 seconds in the wild. Here's a cleansing albino chickadee photo.
Calcified bird photos by Nick Brandt.
9 leading causes of bird deaths in Canada.
Crazy lady writes about...dinosaur "love."
Ducks Unlimited beard app fundraiser.
NBB's other podcast.
This is a picture of Kabuki, our cockatiel who you sometimes here in the podcast:
I know what some of you are thinking after reading that subject line, "Wait...there's something other than the Rembrandt House, Van Gogh Museum and Red Light District that people like to do in Amsterdam? Really?" Yes! Really! After all of the non birding in Paris, I took the train up to Amsterdam to visit my nephew who lives there.
I'm actually closer in age to my nephew than his mother (there's a ten to eighteen year difference in age between me and my siblings). He's an amazingly cool individual who among many things designs iPhone apps (one app that worked with wallpaper ended up being an exhibit at the Louvre) and has such fun hobbies as playing the theremin. As I settled in to his apartment, he casually shifted into a speech I'm sure he's given to any family for friends from the states about visiting his town, "Now, I know when everyone gets here that they want to go to the coffee shops and I just want to warn you..."
I cut him off right away. "That particular activity really doesn't do anything for me and that is not on my agenda."
"Good," he said, "because (family member name not revealed in the blog) went and threw up all over the place and (friend not revealed in the blog) had a bad trip."
"But the Red Light District is, I want to see the ladies in the windows," I said. He agreed to take me, though I suspect reluctantly.
And for the record--I don't judge people who toke up, I actually think it should be legalized in the US. But, it literally is wasted on me, doesn't work on me at all (and yes I've tried more than once). Whiskey works well and smells better to me so that's what I stick with. As a matter of fact, one of the really special parts of my trip was that my nephew too me to WhiskeyCafe L&B.
A small dark bar filled with nothing but scotch whiskey--that's one of the wall in the bar in the above photo...every wall was like that. As a thank you for for his hospitality, I ordered my nephew and I scotches for our respective ages. It was a lovely moment and I felt so happy sharing the success of my last year writing with his success of owning his own company in Amsterdam. We both grew up in Indianapolis and our lives have taken us to strange and far flung places neither of us could have ever imagined when we were kids.
I told my nephew not to worry about me during the day, as long as I had a key and knew where the public transportation was, I could keep myself entertained and we could meet up for dinner and hang out with this friend in the evening. Ever the tech guy, he made me a super useful map for my phone:
He's not really a birder, but his mom indulges in the habit and he's been around me, so he has a good idea of what we are looking for. And between the rail, bike rental and walkability I was out and about on my own without any problems whatsoever. And unlike Paris, I felt just fine walking around along with my 65mm spotting scope and camera. I even got turned around a bit and stopped into a Turkish coffee shop for directions and they good naturedly made fun of me for losing my way when I should be able to see everything with my scope. And they were happy to offer me suggestions of birds they knew of in the area.
I had a fabulous morning of birding just in the Oosterpark down the block from my nephew's apartment and managed to get quite a few birds for my digiscoping big year.Grey herons were all over the place.
As were rose-ringed parakeets, an Indian species that is a popular pet bird but has feral colonies established in Europe, especially Amsterdam. This cavity nesting species occurs naturally in the foothills of the Himalayas, so they can take a bit of winter.
Here's a great cormorant that was drying off. I think I ended up adding 14 species to my Digiscoping Big Year challenge while in Amsterdam.
Magpies were all over the place too. I had thought originally that getting a magpie in Europe would mean I wouldn't have to worry about getting black-billed magpie in northern Minnesota, but those scamps over at the American Ornithologists' Union decided that black-billed magpie is not a conspecific of the Eurasian magpie (at one time both had the Latin name pica pica). Eurasian magpie is still pica pica while the black-gilled magpie in the US is pica hudsonia because the AOU thinks its mitochondrial DNA sequence is closer to yellow-billed magpie rather than Eurasian magpie. Sheesh. I really do not like listing. But at least I have a magpie on my Digiscoping Big Year.
I think one of my favorite European species is the blackbird, what a lovely singer. It looks like a melanistic robin and has the haunting tones of a hermit thrush. What a great bird to serenade you all over the city.
I never had to worry about an alarm clock while I was in Amsterdam...my nephew's dog Weezer worked great. Even if he didn't make any noise. I would just have this vague notion that was being watched and would open my eyes to this:
Weezer giving me the stare down. I think Weezer normally gets the guest bedroom and so waits patiently until said guest wakes up and then...
Commandeers the bed and blankets for himself. I thought Weezer and actually had a great time together. Amsterdam was the last leg of this particular European trip and at this point I had emails or articles to deal with. He'd snuggle up behind me in a chair while I would type away. I felt like we had developed some sort of bond, but while taking a selfie to send to Non Birding Bill...
I discovered that Weezer did not trust me as much as I thought--perhaps the best dog photobomb I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing.
I had the Van Gogh Museum on my list while visiting Amsterdam. I decided to forgo being super cheesy by wearing my Exploding TARDIS t-shirt to the museum. But I did look for the Vase with Sunflowers and didn't find "For Amy" on it. The museum was more interesting than I thought. I love Van Gogh, I wasn't sure if I was up for a museum that was nothing but, however this museum covered his history and who he worked with and included fun things like a portrait of Van Gogh by Toulouse-Lautrec or the same painting Van Gogh made, but done by other contemporaries like Gaugain at the same time. I didn't expect to see Starry Night because I came across it while it was on loan to Metropolitan Museum of Art just a few months earlier. I was there for the Edvard Munch exhibit and when I turned around to leave, there it was, nonchalantly hung in a hallway.
But I did get to see one of my favorites: Crows Over A Wheat Field--the color use is spectacular and it reminds me a bit of seeing crows in autumn right before a storm rolls in like I would see on my bird surveys. And I took this for no other reason than to capture the woman next to me taking a photo of it. I am baffled by all the people who go through museums and only look at the art through their phones and their iPads as they collect photos of it rather than actually enjoy being in its presence. I wonder if people think the same thing about me when I'm bird watching? But I almost always get the bird in the scope before I hold up the phone and if it's a really great bird, I take the time to enjoy it rather than just get photos.
There's no way my phone can capture all the detail and texture of this piece, so I just capture it by purchasing mug in the museum gift shop. But it was a treat to get to see this particular bird painting on my travel.
In the evenings, I would join my nephew for dinner and had such traditional dishes like white asparagus with wild boar...a rather phallic looking dinner now that I take a good look at my photo. Eesh. This particular dinner was partly a birthday party for him and several of his colleagues arrived. Fortunately for me, everyone in Amsterdam speaks in English so it was easy to chat. Periodically my nephew would pop by, "Are you ok, are you having a good time?"
"No worries," I said, "these are all programmers, it's like being a sci fi convention, talking Game of Thrones is universal."
Amsterdam was a lovely city and after you have your fill of the art, cultures and debauchery there are fun birds to be had in the park and along the many canals. We had dinner in one of the large houses that line the streets. For some reason, I had the impression that all those tall houses were lined up side by side with more houses behind them. If you ever have the chance to go in one and look out back, you will discover that all those buildings are fencing in block-wide parks that all the surrounding buildings share and they are chock full of birds.
You can see it a bit better if you look at the satellite images of Amsterdam on Google Maps--all those trees and green space and trees hidden behind tall buildings.
Great-spotted woodpecker digiscoped in Amsterdam taking advantage of the many trees.
Two side notes about visiting the Red Light District in Amsterdam and seeing the ladies in the windows:
1. The types of ladies in the windows are very different depending on the time of day. My nephew took me at night and they looked like, well what you might see on the cover of Maxim or on Cinemax or some such. My nephew said during they day...they were...well not quite the same. Of course I had to go back and see for myself and let's just say that there is lid for every pot and the ladies in the windows during the day did not look that different than what I might see working East Lake Street in Minneapolis--a little rough to say the least.
2. I found it incredibly amusing to watch how the ladies in the windows responded to my nephew as opposed to me. I even slowed my pace so he was about five steps ahead of me (he wanted to get through there quickly, I'm sure taking your aunt through the Red Light District is one of the weirder things you can do). When he walked past the windows, they were all smiles and wiggling various parts of their bodies. When I walked by, the smiles vanished, they turned around and started texting and there was no wiggling of any body parts. They clearly know their target market.
I'm going to make fun of Birding Is Fun and their vest contest because I am adamantly opposed to birding vests and I never wear anything ridiculous ever. At all. Never. Ever. By the way, here's my picture from the Midwest Birding Symposium 3k Fun Run:
Speaking of cool, Luke Musher has 12 recommendations for being a "cooler bird" that are about 75% correct at Nemesis Bird.
This is an interesting color test on how well you see color. I'm wondering how this affects how people see birds? We both took it.
Looks like we have documented evidence of a golden eagle grabbing a live deer, killing and eating it. Attempts by golden eagles have been captured before in Illinois and Wisconsin, but this is the first successful kill that has been documented. And then there's this series of photos of a golden eagle attacking wounded antelope (warning: graphic).
Eagle with a GoPro Camera:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3QrhdfLCO8
Remember when I got the offer of a free camo bikini? I opted for a camo bedset instead, I actually really like it. And I learned that white vinegar makes a great fabric softener. Owl that was supposed to deliver wedding rings during ceremony, falls asleep instead.
Once again migratory birds get caught in the 9/11 Tribute in Lights.
Hawaiian petrel found dead in Arizona.
We referenced this article in the last podcast but a report came out that 67 eagles have been killed in the last five years at wind turbines. Bird deaths are a cause for concern but considering all the other things that kill eagles, is that so bad?
Walter Kitundu presents the most intimate photo of an oxpecker with a giraffe you will see all day.
Punk Rock Big Year is test offering bird shirts. The initial design is a red-winged blackbird.
67 eagles killed at wind turbines in 5 years vs 7500 birds killed at one gas flare in Canada in one night.
Quick note, for those interested, the next Birds and Beers has been set for September 30 at the Black Forest.
As I catch up and sort photos from my latest European trip, I'm packing for my next trip to the Midwest Birding Symposium. I'm looking forward to catching up with friends and I'll also be presenting a workshop on digiscoping with a smartphone at 3:15pm on Friday. I'll be on hand with some adapters for people to try out if you want to give it a shot. You can also ask me about regular digiscoping as well.
Speaking of digiscoping, I'm sorting through photos from my recent trip to Sweden and I can't believe this photo worked out. It's a marsh harrier (the upper bird) and a common buzzard. They were kind of taking shots at each other in the same thermal. It got this with my Nikon V1 and Swarovski scope.
When I'm away from the Americas, I see marsh harriers everywhere I go. Their wings are a bit fatter than the North American northern harriers ( or hen harriers as they call them over in Europe). The buzzards are a lot like the North American red-tailed hawk...only minus the red-tail. But they can have color morphs like our red-tails can.
As those two birds were circling higher and higher, something got the harrier's attention and it dove towards the ground. Boy, that would make for kind of cool tattoo.
As the harrier lowered the landing gear, I thought I might get to see it catch prey, but at this point it was seriously putting on the breaks and slowly lowered itself closer to Earth before flying off in a different direction entirely, perhaps to look for another thermal to carry it up to the sky again. It was a cool moment to watch and makes for a great souvenir from my trip to Sweden.
When you have breakfast in Sweden you can put any number of things on your toast like honey, mountain berry jam, cheese in a tube, reindeer meat in a tube or caviar in a tube:
Facebook bands birding ad for referring to juvenile boobies.
Andrew Wallace sent a really cool link to the Birdchick Facebook page from Project Nightjar. It's a game and you click on photos where you think you see one roosting on the ground. You can play as a mongoose or a monkey, it's very cool.
People move to the woods...then complain about the animals.
23 things going on inside the mind of a birder.
Story about wind farms killing 65 eagles (both golden and bald) in five years...not that much when you consider that cats kill 5 million birds a year.
Principal vs. Deer from My Ordinary Life...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7Et0a8fnuw
Below is actually a repost of a blog post made back on September 25, 2006 (holy cow, how is my blog that old). I wanted to link to it on the Facebook page but because it's on the old blogger platform and it's not letting me grab just that particular blog entry.
I'm reposting it because there's a news story of a young bald eagle that got caught in a tree because it was impaled by a branch as it was learning to fly. You can read about it here or watch a video here. Above is a screen grab of the video that shows you what a dire predicament the eaglet was in--way at the top of a dead cottonwood tree--almost too dangerous to climb.
We need to give a medal to this guy, Gordon Sasa, an arborist who risked his life to climb the tree and grab the bird.
Look at Gordon go, getting that eagle!
But birds getting impaled on branches does happen. I think we don't see it all that often because they die or get scavenged. But this old post from 2006 shows a sharp-shinned that survived impalement.
All the photos below this entry are courtesy of Frank Taylor.
I just got in a weekly banding report from Frank Taylor. In it was a an interesting account of a first year sharp-shinned hawk that had impaled it's wing on a twig. Frank said that it had healed up with a bit of the twig still in the wing!
They didn't try to pull out the twig, just clipped the ends that were close to the wing. The bird seemed to be doing just fine and they didn't want to stress it out with a trip to The Raptor Center down in the Cities. Frank used to be curator of birds at TRC and has been a master falconer for longer than I've been alive. He knows a healthy flight in a bird when he sees it, and with a high strung bird like an accipiter, letting it go gave it a better shot at survival than time in a rehab facility.
The injury was healed, I wonder how long ago it happened? Perhaps when it was learning to fly.
Another fine example of how birds will survive no matter what. It would never occur to this bird that, "Hey, I've got a stick in my wing, I don't feel like hunting and heading south to find food. I'm just going to hunker down and sleep today." Birds just do what has to be done in order to survive. I love that.
Yesterday I got an email from one of our local stations asking if I had time to talk about the changes the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources made to the state endangered species list. There were several animals and plants that had and adjustment but including birds. You can view the segment here. The reporter from KSTP wanted to know if we could meet someplace close by to see any of the species that had a change in status:
Northern Goshawk went from no status up to Special Concern Boreal Owl went from no status up to Special Concern Henslow's Sparrow went from Endangered down to Threatened Lark Sparrow went from none (not even records maintained by the DNR) up to Special Concern Trumpeter Swans went down from Threatened to Special Concern Peregrine Falcons went from down Threatened to Special Concern Bald Eagle went down form Special Concern to None Loggerhead Shrike went up from Threatened to Endangered Horned Grebe went up from Threatened to Endangered Purple Martin went up from none (not even records maintained by the DNR) to Special Concern Bell's Vireo went up from none (not even records maintained by the DNR) to Special Concern
I figured that evening news probably doesn't want to take the time to track down a Henslow's sparrow and that the birds I knew on the list in the Twin Cities easiest to find would either be a bald eagle, peregrine falcon or trumpeter swan. I told them that we should meet at Lock and Dam 1. Eagles fly over there regularly and there's a peregrine falcon nest box. The young falcons have fledged by now and are out hunting on their own, but sometimes they hang out there. I knew actually seeing a peregrine was going to be a slim possibility but it was the best I could do on short notice.
We arrived and there were lots of turkey vultures but no peregrines. Just as we were setting up the camera, I heard a peregrine screeching. It got louder and the bird flew over us and perched on one of the walls along the river.
It was one of the young of the year and had a kill. It looked like it was eating an American robin--and it stayed for the whole segment. The camera man lamented not having his longer lens but I had my iPhone, Swarovski scope and PhoneSkope adapter. I took a few shots and video through my scope and they used it in the segment.
Birds are so unpredictable, but it's so fun when things come together just right and you get to show people something super cool like a young peregrine falcon with its own kill. Though, I do worry that some tv stations get the impression of--"oh yeah, she can get us any bird at any time."
I thought the DNR changes were interesting. I'm thrilled to see birds like trumpeter swans, peregrine falcons and bald eagles being downgraded in their status--that's good, the populations are recovering, the program works. I also found it interesting that some birds like purple martins were added and that their population had never been monitored before. Here's a quote from the assessment:
"Purple Martins are readily observed by participants in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Breeding Bird Survey, and BBS data show a population decline of 5.4% per year in Minnesota during the period 2000-2010. This is one of the largest declines of any bird for which the state’s BBS data are statistically significant. Due to the documented decline in Purple Martins over the past three decades, as well as the continuing threats to the state’s population, its designation as a Species of Special Concern is needed and reasonable. "
So it's good to keep an eye on them now, especially as they are seemingly abundant, rather than when it's too late and they are too far gone.
Incredible series of photos as an osprey attacks a great blue heron. I know, right? American Bird Conservancy is trying to save an Arizona Hummingbird Landmark.
Hen Harriers on the brink of extinction in England.
Woodpeckers and nuthatches benefit from emerald ash borer.
Drinking one's way through the World Series of Birding.
OK...I've seen a lot of weird birding things on the Internet...this is high on the list of weird. It's artistic, but it may not be safe for work for everyone, so careful following this link. Basically...it's butt birds.
Take Cornell Lab of Ornithology classes online--Be A Better Birder.
This is a video of some common terns that I digiscoped at South Beach in Massachusetts recently and there was some beach bird family drama. It was too funny because the terns had young that were just out of the nest and old enough to fly--teenagers. They were in that stage of teaching the young to fish for themselves, rather than constantly begging their parents. One young bird in particular was not getting it. The adult bird at first makes a big show of preening its feathers and ignoring the demanding youngster.
The young bird even tries picking up little sticks on the beach as if showing the adult, "Hey, you used to bring me fish this size to eat, I want that now, see?"
The adult just kind of tosses it away, "You don't want that kid."
Eventually the other adult in the pair lands and give the kid a good, swift kick in the rear to get it to fly--it's hilarious.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwZXl2cz3HM&feature=c4-overview&list=UUcVJYmY1E0Lzar9p6qalw
This video was recorded with a Swarovski ATX 85mm spotting scope, iPhone 4s and PhoneSkope adapter.
