ABA Field Trip

The bird trip that I signed up for the ABA Convention really delivered the birds. Although, I had never birded this area so most of the birds we saw were lifers and I was easy to please. The redstarts, bridled titmice, hepatic tanagers, and sulpher-bellied flycatchers were cool, but I'm a raptor chick at heart so Bill Thompson helping me get a lifer zone-tailed hawk was a high fiving moment and to cap off the trip our leader Al Hays drove by an area and got us a surprise look at a really cool adult gray hawk.

We had one Funny Guy on our trip (a true gentleman from Kentucky who for the life of me I can't remember his name) and I am incredibly indebted to him for the loan of toilet paper when we came to a horrifically dirty port-a-potty. At one point, someone in our group shouted, "Trogon just flew over the road!" We all darted back ready to aim our binoculars towards the bird. Movement to our left, a bird popped up into the higher branches of tree, we froze and discreetly tried to see what it was, was it a trogon, could it possibly...no! I was some blasted flycatcher. The group laughed at itself for freezing in unison and carefully turning towards the would be trogon that ended up being a flycatcher of some sort. Funny Guy grabbed his chest a la Fred Sanford shouting, "Oh, Elizabeth, it's the big one."

The highlight of the day were hummingbirds, which I was surprising more interested in than I anticipated. We even managed a hummingbird rescue of sorts. While birding along a road near where we had parked our leader was trying to pish out some birds. We all noticed a metallic chip call but couldn't figure out where the sound was coming from. After much searching I found a hummingbird nest (a first for me) and we speculated if there was a chick inside chipping. The rest of our group was trying to find the nest and as many know, it's hard enough just trying to describe where a small brown bird is, a nest the size of a walnut is even harder. Some members of the group just could not find the nest to save their life, so Funny Guy announced he had a fool proof way of finding a nest. As the members quickly gathered around him, Funny Guy gasped. At his toe was a teeny tiny hummingbird chick (pictured above), on the ground directly under the nest. How we didn't step on it as we were milling about looking for the nest, I will never know. The chick was the bird making the metallic chip note that we had been trying to figure out.

Of course my raptor rescue mode kicked in and I came up with what I thought was a brilliant plan of driving over our van directly under the nest, someone climbing on top of it and placing the chick back in the nest. Our field trip leader would have none of it. I'm sure there was a liability issue, but the chick's peeping set off my maternal hormones (curse anthropomorphism and everything it stands for) and I just wanted to help it. The trip leader made an attempt at that's the way nature is but I tried to reason that wouldn't it make a great story that one of the field trip groups at the ABA Convention helped a broad-tailed hummingbird chick back in the nest. It was clearly too young to be out of the nest, the flight feathers hadn't developed yet so it was not a matter of early fledging. I didn't see anything like feather mites so didn't see the harm in putting it back in. Alas, the trip leader would have none of it.

I placed the chick on a rock in the shade and I did see a hummingbird fly over in its direction so it was noticed, hopefully by the female that was feeding it. We continued on with our trip when a truck from Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative, Inc. pulled up. I flashed a smile and they pulled over and asked about the birds we were seeing. I asked if they would happen to have a ladder as there was a hummingbird chick a little ways back that needed to be put back in the nest and that all we needed was something about as tall as their vehicle for someone to stand on to get it back in the nest. They didn't have a ladder but were happy to lend us the use of their truck. The gentlemen backed their truck up right under the nest, and one of the tallest members in our group, Dave Muret of Grove, OK (right) climbed on top of the cab was able to grab the branch pull it down and drop the hummingbird chick back into the nest. It was a wonderful group effort (photo of rescue group).

I have struggled the last twenty four hours whether to include the actual ending to this tale, because it seems so perfect to end it there. However, I stick to my motto of putting things in this blog that I would find interesting and the actual end of the story would definitely be something that I would want to read.

After we finished our hike and were returning to the parking area we discovered that the chick fell out of the nest again and got crushed. Here is a prime example of nature weeding out the ones that aren't going to survive. I was talking with Bill Thompson and Pretty Boy Bouton about what would have caused this and it could have been the nest wasn't properly built or that ants or mites were all over in the nest making in uncomfortable for the chick forcing it to get out of the nest. Who knows. I thought of all the times I have told customers who are upset about hawks flying in for birds at the feeder or about nests that various predators had eaten in their yards, about how that is the way nature works and how nature can be cruel but that's how it ensures the strongest and best will survive. I hate it when I forget to follow my own advice. Well, we gave it the old college try and nature gave the final decision.

So, What Exactly Happens At Bird Conventions?

And people think birders don't know how to get down and have a good time. We have our own fun. That is not to say we don't have time for stimulating conversation about pressing bird conservation issues and the finer points of gull id and that sort of talk but after a day of getting up at unnaturally early hours to watch some great birds we like to unwind! Now that I think about it, there was quite a bit of singing going on. Jeff Bouton of Leica Optics kept trying to sing snippets of The Boxer by Simon and Garfunkle and Sheri Williamson and Tom Wood were singing a version of the song I'll Fly Away but with a birding theme. Both sang it and was just lovely. Sheri has a beautiful throaty voice that blended well with Tom. I tried to maintain some decorum by sticking to Barry Manilow songs, although I did come up with the idea of singing American Woman, but changing it to American Bittern. However, Sheri came up with a better idea of chaining it to American Wigeon so that way you could make the song into a lament of really wanting a Eurasian Wigeon...I know, I know you're thinking of that line Judd Nelson had in The Breakfast Club, "Demented and sad, but social."

I think I managed to meet Scott Weidensaul (pictured right) without scaring the dickens out of him. He was incredibly gracious and nice and I learned that he has a new book coming out in the fall. I'm really bummed that I'm going to miss his speech since I have to go back to the bird store but few minutes just shooting the breeze was pretty darned cool. He kissed my hand at the end of the evening--in a very courtly and gentlemanly way, not like a smarmy guy making a move. I think it will be at least 72 hours before I begin to think about washing that hand.
I got the coolest thing from Bill Thompson (pictured left--that must have been taken during one of the few thoughtful birding discussions we had about upper tail coverts) He has a band and he burned me a CD. They are called the Swinging Orangutans and his talented artist/writer wife Julie Zickefoose is on there too.

Wow, looking through all these photos I realized that I need to update my author sighting page, I got a few lifers this weekend with Sheri Williamson and Tom Wood and I can change Weidensaul's status from heard only to actually seen.

I've gone to my share of conventions, but I'm thinking that this ABA Convention was the best ever. It was almost as good as getting an adult female goshawk in the nets at the hawk blind.

Disapproving Horny Toad

Disapproving animals follow me where ever I go.

Word on the street was that someone was going to be at the ABA Convention protesting the validity of the ivory-billed woodpecker sighting bringing proof and a speech outlining all the problems with the sighting. No one has done any such thing yet, although I did overhear a very prominent birder and author say, "I have seen better footage of Big Foot."

Hmmmm.

HOT

This is a broad-tailed hummingbird that is hanging out outside the hotel.

By the way, when people tell you that it will be hot but it's a dry heat so it won't be so bad, they are full of crap. It's hot, just plain hot. I have sweated in places that I shouldn't sweat. I was worried that I was leaving a trail.

I have found my crowd, birders who drink and like a surly joke every now and then. I'm sitting currently with a rowdy group and would you believe that Amy Hooper the editor of WildBird Magazine and Bill Thompson of Bird Watchers Digest and they are as wild as all get out. Rumor has it they are going to pants a binocular rep. Tighten the belts lads.

I met Debra Shearwater today. If you haven't been on one of her pelagic trips you may have read about her in various birding magazines or her part in the book Big Year. Anyway, she ws showing Amy and me photos of gray whales and then she points to a large pink oblong thing. She asks if we can identify the object, we both quickly realized it was a whale tallywacker. Debra proudly announced that it was over six feet long (that's longer than me--my body that is). That's my kind of woman.

Oh the irony

So the week or two Minnesota gets two new state birds to add to the list (brown pelican and white-winged dove) I travel to two states where both birds are quite common. This morning I opened the curtains to see my first Arizona bird and what do I see? A starling (harumph), the second is a female cardinal (getting better), the third a mockingbird (nice, but I saw lots of those in Virginia last week), then popped up a thrasher it was either a Bendire's or a curve-billed (either would be a lifer. Alas, they are almost impossible to tell apart. And then to sooth my birding frustration were two very accomodating white-winged doves. At least one lifer before breakfast. Not bad.

I'm kind of geeking out right now. I'm in the Double Tree lobby taking advantage of their free wireless and Paul Lehman is a few seats away and is on his cell phone editing some publication. He is completely unaware that I am stalking. He's talking sooty terns and now something about a glossy ibis he found some place unusual. I see so many names of birders in print or via email in a way it's like I'm birding them. Fun.

ABA here I com

Well, I'm as about as packed as I can get for the ABA. I still have several loose ends to tie up before I head out this afternoon. Mostly bird store stuff, but I think I can get it done.

Yesterday one of the NovaBird People stopped by and we talked about a fun new hand held pishing device they are working on. It has sounds on it to call in birds--including pishing. They recorded my pishing sounds for possible use on the machine. I hope I make the final cut. Wouldn't it be dreamy to see someone with this device at a birding convention, use my pishing sounds and get a great rare bird? As everyone is congratulating themselves on a bird well observed, I would casually say, "You know that pish you used? That's my pish." I'd be so cool.

There are a few other birders they are recording such as my good buddy Carrol Henderson (who wrote theMN DNR's Wild About Birds book among others). Perhaps he and I will have a friendly competition on whose pish gets the most birds. My pish fu is the best. I just realized that if there are any beginning birders or non birders reading this blog, they will be utterly confused about what pishing is and quite possibly assume I have an incontinence problem.

I'm just getting into my non birding summer obsession of raising monarch caterpillars. I have one caterpillar and two eggs...actaully as I type this one of the eggs is hatching. Alas, it is too small for me to get a photo with my camera but in a few days it should be big enough. Monarchs become the store soap opera from July through September as we find eggs and caterpillars outside the store and bring them inside to raise them into a monarch. We then release them so they can begin their migration south. Val Cunningham told me that just about everything eats monarch caterpillars (despite the awful taste they have from eating milkweed) so if you can raise the caterpillars indoors it does help the monarch population. Plus it's fun.