tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44650492015813861712024-03-13T00:20:04.266-04:00The BirdistBirds and BirdingNickLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15505861510483807050noreply@blogger.comBlogger334125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465049201581386171.post-12512908859599263072024-02-26T15:33:00.001-05:002024-02-26T18:21:18.355-05:00Recent Article and Appearances!<p> Hello my dear friends. Here's a quick update with some things I've been doing recently.</p><p><b>WSKI appearance</b></p><p>I grew up snowboarding at Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine, and spent mornings there watching the tiny local TV station, WSKI. It's a delightful channel, footloose and unserious and joyous in all the best ways that a ski mountain vibe can be. I'm honored to now have been asked onto the channel a few times in the past year to talk about birds in the area. My latest appearance was last weekend, and as always I enjoyed the back-and-forth with host Greg Powers.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rYQGcQdE7Z4" width="320" youtube-src-id="rYQGcQdE7Z4"></iframe></div><p><br /></p><b>Birds and A.I. in Slate</b><p></p><p>Generative A.I. is the stupidest thing. I hate it, but it wasn't until it started getting personal that I took to Slate to complain to a wider audience.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://slate.com/technology/2023/12/ai-generated-birds-santa-cardinal.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="502" data-original-width="1235" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_FfEIIwXf7mBqraQUc07zDEGoR_Hn2C94U9qhCZ7cBIvo58snNOHP3FmwQj67wClmPnF14fmFbBfPPVerix4vF9iuIOKXxg2jKax9XcL11vmpCwJsnSxnoa0CWupn8y5xUsvi2VxIwCRx8z0b_mjUf-YolTemSfxt2ksKEeq0VSNkQPViNn3fV0WXvFE/w533-h216/Screenshot%202024-02-26%20152401.jpg" width="533" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>The AOS Bird Name Change in Slate</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I am really excited about the AOS' decision to rename eponymic bird names. It's going to be fun, but it's also going to be hard to settle on a name. I wrote about that challenge for Slate.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://slate.com/technology/2024/01/renaming-birds-eponyms-american-ornithological-society.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="363" data-original-width="1255" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipsOt0-UZF5wiAlcfpTocIAL2WDSCppW7xtbSo9A32mRDERxCNZXxreLRUh-3hCLqTZPQouqBs9WHLuKXPlWJz7d2Zt2ISZNWJln1E_6mSc1Y1f-4oV9nIMlCxYJAcGjKr6UNimUppp25wftRLXoFKi6GPcB3DDkgSEwlDqak4thC_XMQNscXYLTTtNv8/w541-h157/Screenshot%202024-02-26%20152721.jpg" width="541" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Rare Bird Stakeout Etiquette for National Audubon</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Showing up to a rare bird stakeout is one of the most anxiety-inducing aspects of birding. You never know whether the bird will be there until you arrive, and it's easy to get frustrated if it doesn't show up. It helps to help each other, and so I wrote a quick Dos and Don'ts piece for Audubon about how to make the most of your time with a rare bird.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.audubon.org/news/birdist-rule-84-know-dos-and-donts-rare-bird-stakeout" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="1035" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjfgik5OQRzLtqMA6T2T3Xl5TbzxBuNBr6MtZB6T5acdWcixfmvrsLp5pZzgAvCHdrL7HRd_Jh4fpW0uG9iyXWFFA9YeHZbuzkLomrXOU_GcRYhxtM_GlR8j7IIoUHOpfa_JvLQFaV_io_LaEjjiiWXDp0gtJl7nV43lYXjYaTFBm8ZEyuhzfc9Q_LZ-o/w612-h246/Screenshot%202024-02-26%20153206.jpg" width="612" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><b>Nature and Video Games for Atmos</b><div><br /></div><div>Finally, I'm quoted in this really interesting piece from Lewis Gordon writing for Atmos called <i>From Pixels to Politics: How Video Games Can Inspire a Green New World</i>. "As manufactured as it was, that sensation of abundance, the ‘everyday-ness’ of nature, the ever-presence of nature, is not something we feel in the same way anymore. Red Dead Redemption 2 gave me what felt like a glimpse of that.” </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://atmos.earth/from-pixels-to-politics-how-video-games-can-inspire-a-green-new-world/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="488" data-original-width="796" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPiVxauM4HsWKwFJLHh_5Xr276WK7Xga5UDwwoXxlBj6lA5EYV0jV56aVK-nTWtzJ6fGiaJ6Sa2J9m3a3l5NjTMAtzsHPxvpCfCzKPuDJ62OjEcCgaqN7wRmYusKcsWV2wld7MVDj7aY1wlGdg-udl49i_qFrLnySphbPY46FfBJSptxSjWs8JKIBVaNk/w521-h319/Screenshot%202024-02-26%20182049.jpg" width="521" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /><p><br /> </p></div>NickLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15505861510483807050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465049201581386171.post-71936350047416832522023-12-04T23:00:00.001-05:002023-12-05T11:11:13.528-05:00Birds in Video Games: Grand Theft Auto 6 Trailer<p>The trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6, maybe the most-anticipated video game in history, leaked on social media last night. It looks pretty goddamn rad. The game returns to Vice City, a fictional town based heavily on Miami, and the trailer is set firmly in the nutso world of South Florida. </p><p>Plus, there are a TON of birds.</p><p></p><center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Watched GTA VI trailer 10 times now.<br /><br />World looks beautiful and just cant wait to see some Gameplay.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GTA6?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GTA6</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GTA6TRAILER?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GTA6TRAILER</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RockstarGames?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RockstarGames</a> <a href="https://t.co/6aTSY5kBWc">pic.twitter.com/6aTSY5kBWc</a></p>— Hicks_26 🎮|👺 (@Hicks_26) <a href="https://twitter.com/Hicks_26/status/1732025244049674240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 5, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><br /></center><p>Birds and other wildlife appear throughout the trailer, especially early on when the setting is being established. As I do, I wanted to take a close look -- going on the trailer and trailer alone -- and give my thoughts on how things look.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT76y4jbnlRqalv38gQNNsIffMPsTdt7CL9t54yVCMjQVdGpgC_huLBc4Qowam_qq8irn1ZlhDgHeROu9zoBup2Po4qLuSzzRKF6t9cuJDVCEOaGngB1x34GU5Cv4XCAM_T8Bnu6svhF2hs8ie-1p1yEDc-gjxuhgLQ9mepoI1xFZZ8RNetMWXu_Z3rNs/s1898/GTA6%20trailer%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1002" data-original-width="1898" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT76y4jbnlRqalv38gQNNsIffMPsTdt7CL9t54yVCMjQVdGpgC_huLBc4Qowam_qq8irn1ZlhDgHeROu9zoBup2Po4qLuSzzRKF6t9cuJDVCEOaGngB1x34GU5Cv4XCAM_T8Bnu6svhF2hs8ie-1p1yEDc-gjxuhgLQ9mepoI1xFZZ8RNetMWXu_Z3rNs/w640-h338/GTA6%20trailer%201.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>The very first image in the trailer includes some birds flapping and wheeling in the upper left. They are .. odd. They've got broad wings and are spinning in a kettle like Black Vultures would do, only they're flapping really quickly unlike any bird at all. Honestly they look like fruit bats. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNgWdTnXxkXOxLeyN3H5tE9QP2_DgGiIGy9qFZXYMqwi9uC5P2EbhGxle_ccPQcTFLq5OjgzLl0-ocXbzQsYnrEloML8otPAQxYZQ43dbKzLU6068CJtZguT0o-2wHiqkK-ilIjGEdHAxzTnLBJ9IQd9u4sWhIQq3rF7WmMEFXCi5KtGiCtX_kM6WX8_8/s1892/GTA6%20trailer%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1006" data-original-width="1892" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNgWdTnXxkXOxLeyN3H5tE9QP2_DgGiIGy9qFZXYMqwi9uC5P2EbhGxle_ccPQcTFLq5OjgzLl0-ocXbzQsYnrEloML8otPAQxYZQ43dbKzLU6068CJtZguT0o-2wHiqkK-ilIjGEdHAxzTnLBJ9IQd9u4sWhIQq3rF7WmMEFXCi5KtGiCtX_kM6WX8_8/w640-h340/GTA6%20trailer%202.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>There are birds in very next scene, as well: some goose-looking birds flying over the barbed wire in the top left. The structure looks pretty good for geese, though they never fly in scattered flocks like this. Would be great to get the in a realistic formation, but they may not be geese at all.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP5zJ65Qtf2OxFu6mYP6Nhk_JXEZL9cXoANt0-iSV-GSBTYFbXA_un2RL2HNqkWy055tDIFbx7ScOLMDIArKX4TPAl1OWtzj8bmF01I62E11lg1g0XspgC-tBJlrcXsNRdtHt7HhtKoWNmGsEiB41JJsFvqXLEHGyELy7yUkLL6cPPjjuXpVWzQun0NFA/s1840/GTA6%20trailer%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="998" data-original-width="1840" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP5zJ65Qtf2OxFu6mYP6Nhk_JXEZL9cXoANt0-iSV-GSBTYFbXA_un2RL2HNqkWy055tDIFbx7ScOLMDIArKX4TPAl1OWtzj8bmF01I62E11lg1g0XspgC-tBJlrcXsNRdtHt7HhtKoWNmGsEiB41JJsFvqXLEHGyELy7yUkLL6cPPjjuXpVWzQun0NFA/w640-h348/GTA6%20trailer%203.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>The trailer kicks into gear (the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AilA-M6N5U" target="_blank">Tom Petty soundtrack</a> rules) with a flying shot over a beach, with a bunch of pelicans cruising past. They look pretty good for Brown Pelicans (I think the odd whiteness on their wings is just an artifact of the bright sunlight), which are the expected birds here. Not bad.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxKVtgMXdeDDc4CSz7_jIdXTPsgVtQofs4a_QQw5Jqzxis5jdt7i0YEhF5O2-Jbdt9Wv11kI_TXUHg2Ov0yoYI5wG2x43DQd2_-Yilo15cnqXArMPS9P3bJ1sEkQU2R1kwvpuwXWx9sao8K2DZ_z1IlUvPadBEQu9Ksj72h4Xqb1Hgok6-c034KJx2NYQ/s1902/GTA6%20trailer%204.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1010" data-original-width="1902" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxKVtgMXdeDDc4CSz7_jIdXTPsgVtQofs4a_QQw5Jqzxis5jdt7i0YEhF5O2-Jbdt9Wv11kI_TXUHg2Ov0yoYI5wG2x43DQd2_-Yilo15cnqXArMPS9P3bJ1sEkQU2R1kwvpuwXWx9sao8K2DZ_z1IlUvPadBEQu9Ksj72h4Xqb1Hgok6-c034KJx2NYQ/w640-h340/GTA6%20trailer%204.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>Check out this awesome shot of an airboat cranking through some Everglades-y landscape. Ducks are flushing from the grass, and they look pretty good for Mallards or other <i>Anas</i>. Getting South Louisiana vibes more than South Florida, but what do I know?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvL9NgBKAs8_guPw26rNj4jaQJ4-1d0UgPk_jOZLmribixzgcg3n1xFREgUuOJroly9EQm42M1DUBce6PL6F6omreXVMke0oiS9eYLv8W5gdFADtY3r2XtFscxEgh-zEI5K6feCo7_tzvbIGcSRc2udL_hNC-ygn3B6WWhkJ4BlEgP7RqQ6RpCr0x-J5U/s1896/GTA6%20trailer%205.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1010" data-original-width="1896" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvL9NgBKAs8_guPw26rNj4jaQJ4-1d0UgPk_jOZLmribixzgcg3n1xFREgUuOJroly9EQm42M1DUBce6PL6F6omreXVMke0oiS9eYLv8W5gdFADtY3r2XtFscxEgh-zEI5K6feCo7_tzvbIGcSRc2udL_hNC-ygn3B6WWhkJ4BlEgP7RqQ6RpCr0x-J5U/w640-h340/GTA6%20trailer%205.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>The moneyshot! Look at this goddamn image! This looks more like the Everglades, and has just a boatload of what look to be pretty accurate American Flamingos flying around. </p><p>It's pretty funny. I know the summer of 2023 was a <a href="https://birdcast.info/news/in-the-pink-american-flamingo-madness-in-late-summer-2023/" target="_blank">wild one for flamingos</a> in the states, but they're much less common than many non-birders believe. As in, there's sometimes only a single known individual in all of Florida at any one time. A flock like this hasn't been seen anywhere in the U.S., not even South Florida, in centuries. Still, cool.</p><p>There are some other birds in this shot, too. There are some cranes on the left side that @ramone_rita pointed out on Twitter look okay for juvenile cranes, which have orange feathering up their necks, though the plumage isn't quite right for either Sandhill or Whooping.</p><p>There are also some ducks and/or geese on the right side, just over the back of a flamingo. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeeZPMUHlAG1DDCKQuEYDfytxu4iyL8HbjT40EHWz-PAYJI7W46FEPEF4ADIOaxF9DxyDkRwbklK-qk9Tc56cyPt3y2aPqdocveA1FRoIkvQZsyxfufhzltzGDuBiLNg7vHgCeKS12jfeLvE2HWM6IB6jvLAfRp4j8h3JRT8pgmSshAJtFvdiwkKIweys/s1578/GTA6%20trailer%206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="986" data-original-width="1578" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeeZPMUHlAG1DDCKQuEYDfytxu4iyL8HbjT40EHWz-PAYJI7W46FEPEF4ADIOaxF9DxyDkRwbklK-qk9Tc56cyPt3y2aPqdocveA1FRoIkvQZsyxfufhzltzGDuBiLNg7vHgCeKS12jfeLvE2HWM6IB6jvLAfRp4j8h3JRT8pgmSshAJtFvdiwkKIweys/w640-h400/GTA6%20trailer%206.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /> Birds aren't the only wildlife in the trailer. A bunch of gators make appearances (along with a pod of dolphins in one of the early overhead ocean shots), including one menacing its way into a convenience store. This image above, which appears to be from the social media account of some kind of in-game wildlife group, makes me think that there's probably a mechanic or side quest in the game for capturing troublesome wildlife. I bet there's a Green Anaconda round-up, or maybe some feral hog wrangling. We'll see.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLBo5Jd7e7tLu7uAClcUN8sB0-lby4aALrfX8MovmQpdQRsBtwG3Iy5Xc4Fm5tHm333eSHH_i4CV4DAh4dxE7toIJy06gVErNE_wrgRsXOJbhFaNa_uHnp9kJe5unX3oxBnRE3Jn0etZYqEcMhZM2CjIVfv_0-7sVkw7Xa6mbNi6YPyMZB0Mu-q4bQ1Pc/s1756/GTA6%20trailer%207.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="981" data-original-width="1756" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLBo5Jd7e7tLu7uAClcUN8sB0-lby4aALrfX8MovmQpdQRsBtwG3Iy5Xc4Fm5tHm333eSHH_i4CV4DAh4dxE7toIJy06gVErNE_wrgRsXOJbhFaNa_uHnp9kJe5unX3oxBnRE3Jn0etZYqEcMhZM2CjIVfv_0-7sVkw7Xa6mbNi6YPyMZB0Mu-q4bQ1Pc/w640-h358/GTA6%20trailer%207.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>Birds make a brief appearance in the very final image, too, flying by right above the guy's arm and behind the middle telephone line. Birds are all over this game, though my initial sense is that there's some work to do to make them as accurate as the rest of the South Floridian world playable in the game. We'll know more when the game comes out in 2025. </p><p></p>NickLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15505861510483807050noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465049201581386171.post-71321941428901144152023-11-24T16:01:00.005-05:002023-11-24T16:01:51.234-05:00Know Your Birdseed!<p><span style="font-family: times;">When I was a kid and we wanted to fill our
bird feeder we reached for one thing: birdseed. It came in a big bag from the
store and we used a scoop to dump it onto our feeder. What kind of seeds were
in birdseed? We had no idea. Did some birds like some seeds more than others?
The thought never crossed our minds. It was birdseed, and it was what the birds
ate.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: times;">But it turns out that it pays to understand
your birdseed. Different birds prefer different seeds, and so knowing exactly
what you’re putting into your feeders can help you attract the birds you want.
And maybe just as importantly, some companies fill out bird seed mixes with
certain seeds birds <i>don’t</i> like, and
count on consumers not knowing the difference.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: times;">A little knowledge can help both you and the
birds in your backyard. Let’s get educated about the different seeds out there.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><span lang="EN">Black
Oil Sunflower</span></b> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: times;">Black Oil Sunflower seeds have the broadest
appeal for backyard birds. The combination of a large, nutritious seed with a
thin, easy-to-crack shell means that they’re popular with everything from
larger birds like Blue Jays and Mourning Doves to smaller species like Pine
Siskins and nuthatches.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><span lang="EN">Tips:</span></b><span lang="EN"> Birds prefer the all black Black Oil seeds to the similar-looking
Striped Sunflower seeds, whose thicker shells make them better for people to
snack on but are too tough for some birds. Also, sunflower seeds are sold both
as regular seeds and with the outer shells already removed, known as “shelled”
or “Sunflower Hearts.” Birds love both, but losing the shells means there’s
less mess under your feeders.</span></span></p>
<center><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="354" src="https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/272555551/embed" width="320"></iframe></center>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: times;">Safflower
Seeds</span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><span lang="EN">These white seeds are enjoyed by many of the
same birds as those that eat Black Oil Sunflower, but Safflower seeds are
perhaps more interesting for what <i>doesn’t</i>
eat them. Their bitter taste makes them unappealing to squirrels, grackles,
starlings, and other species that can sometimes take over feeders.</span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><span lang="EN">Tips</span></b><span lang="EN">: Safflower seeds are not as common on grocery store shelves as Black
Oil and some other seeds, and so shoppers may need to find a dedicated wild
bird store or similar outlet. These seeds may need to be introduced gradually
if using for the first time to help birds get accustomed.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: times;">Millet</span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: times;">Also known as White Proso Millet, this grass
seed is a common component of many seed mixes. These small, round seeds may be
white or red, and appeal to a number of smaller birds, like sparrows and
finches.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><span lang="EN">Tips:</span></b><span lang="EN"> All birdseed can get moldy when wet, and millet is particularly quick
to ruin in the rain. It can be tempting to load backyard bird feeders up with
seed, but it’s better to fill only a little bit at a time to avoid exposure to
moisture.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: times;">Nyjer</span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: times;">This thin, black seed is the food of choice
for small-billed finches like goldfinches, redpolls, and Pine Siskin. Though
often referred to as “thistle,” and appearing similar to the seeds of those
spiky plants, nyjer seeds actually come from African yellow daisies.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><span lang="EN">Tips</span></b><span lang="EN">: Nyjer seed is so lightweight that it will simply blow away if placed
in a feeder with bigger, heavier seeds. This seed is best delivered in special
feeders with smaller openings, or dumped into nylon “socks” with holes just the
right size for prying finch beaks.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: times;">Milo</span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: times;">Milo, also known as Red Milo or sorghum, is a
seed to be careful of. It looks for all the world like something that birds
would love, but most of them don’t. Unless you’re especially trying to attract
turkeys, quail, Mourning Doves, ducks, geese, and other large birds, you won’t
want to put Milo in your backyard feeders.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><b><span lang="EN">Tips:</span></b><span lang="EN"> Though few birds eat it, inexpensive Milo seed is often used as filler
in bargain birdseed mixes. This <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/07/31/why-many-bird-seed-mixes-are-filled-with-stuff-birds-wont-eat/"><span style="color: #1155cc;">Washington Post expose</span></a> found that Milo made up
to 75% of some mixes. Read the ingredients on the back of the package and buy
something else if Milo is listed. Your money will be wasted on food that birds
don’t eat, and the seed may rot when it's left in the feeder by uninterested
birds.</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: times;">There are lots of other great things to feed your
backyard birds – suet, cracked corn, peanuts, fruit, native berries – but
birdseed is still the most popular item on the menu. I hope now you have little
more info to help you give your birds the feast they deserve.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></p>
<center><iframe src="https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/158583871/embed" height="368" width="320" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center>NickLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15505861510483807050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465049201581386171.post-25697731242108063442023-07-23T08:40:00.002-04:002023-07-23T08:40:10.901-04:00Shearwaters in the Gulf of Maine<p>There are four regularly-occurring shearwaters in the Gulf of Maine: Great (the most numerous), Cory's, Sooty, and Manx. Telling them from one another can be tricky, especially when the boat is rocking and/or you're actively barfing. I took a whale watch boat out of Boothbay Harbor this week and got pretty good looks at all four species, and so wanted to take a moment to compare them for you. </p><p>Shearwaters are encountered offshore, usually seen resting on the water, skittering awkwardly out of the way of your tour boat, or flying incredibly gracefully low over the water. I think it was that old philosopher, Wikipedia, who said it best: "These tubenose birds fly with stiff wings and use a "shearing" flight technique (flying very close to the water and seemingly cutting or "shearing" the tips of waves) to move across wave fronts with the minimum of active flight." </p><p><b>Sooty Shearwater</b></p><p>These guys are the easiest so I'm getting them out of the way first. Sooty Shearwaters are all brown. They're the only all brown ones. Their underwings are flashy silver, which may help in certain lighting conditions or when you see one far away, but their all-brownness is the thing. They're about the same size as Greats.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDAgZa7IlcjFuzzdC6a8B_jbklJE--5JrDU2TNElKJ_YV6pu0Hp6DsrmerbKUPbOHlUOzkh0Iqf5YGCs_SuKu8nGpd3MIgy0nzOtFKwHSvx6im9xwbTKepyodzDP1idOSK9oiJt6rwgBEeOQrM6JOSaf6mXQNFVsO3Cvc4g8rCBS8CDfwGIwjRffrtdp8/s3611/A99F07F5-B469-4525-BB1E-74F25BA96D74_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2697" data-original-width="3611" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDAgZa7IlcjFuzzdC6a8B_jbklJE--5JrDU2TNElKJ_YV6pu0Hp6DsrmerbKUPbOHlUOzkh0Iqf5YGCs_SuKu8nGpd3MIgy0nzOtFKwHSvx6im9xwbTKepyodzDP1idOSK9oiJt6rwgBEeOQrM6JOSaf6mXQNFVsO3Cvc4g8rCBS8CDfwGIwjRffrtdp8/w400-h299/A99F07F5-B469-4525-BB1E-74F25BA96D74_1_201_a.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg67iR2uAGTUWZUhtsMFRa3UbvH8epcsiGOh2cKIrXj0gK1fD_yBpQ9Ow36ZQyVYLyulIBF-0WR_LyIgMRXPA7Dj42SxnMa1Byv64LNmI5GzxGq2iCQp0c8A5hbFkxzxaxCaXb63qUbn3yxaH3gQhZYC0FYxFuP7GmCwpagUbQTZRZOLTYNDwJpDg51nR8/s3802/8B84DAD8-A405-4B4F-B1B2-2FA9EFFECC24_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2533" data-original-width="3802" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg67iR2uAGTUWZUhtsMFRa3UbvH8epcsiGOh2cKIrXj0gK1fD_yBpQ9Ow36ZQyVYLyulIBF-0WR_LyIgMRXPA7Dj42SxnMa1Byv64LNmI5GzxGq2iCQp0c8A5hbFkxzxaxCaXb63qUbn3yxaH3gQhZYC0FYxFuP7GmCwpagUbQTZRZOLTYNDwJpDg51nR8/w400-h266/8B84DAD8-A405-4B4F-B1B2-2FA9EFFECC24_1_201_a.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><b>Great Shearwater</b></p><p>The Great (not Greater!) Shearwater is the most common shearwater seen in the Gulf of Maine, oftentimes by a factor of 20 or so to 1. It's the default species, and so getting a good mental image of their size, plumage, and structure is important to use as a baseline to compare other species.</p><p>The most notable field mark, I've found, is the white on their head. Both in flight and on the water, Greats have white feathering that wraps most of the way around their neck, giving them a capped appearance. For me, that cap is the first thing I look for when seeing a shearwater: if it's got a cap, it's a Great. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhreu4F6FINErEiinFxIIKrYIgzyhWfbWv1ExSl29CliP2T8WLtUjTZPi4rjo6NBnYBypHqPVk8qYIfut1ywpegfmp3WrygKs8DuL1fdYzrGLcE68gVR0YACZv05aiKX1o6nFJYg6Q8otLLExzcqD1wMaEzPYrDW7Ezti9R7V23R3fbmykGeuhfh0PcgMk/s6000/4B98A145-E41A-415B-BF25-5C995745E8CD.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="6000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhreu4F6FINErEiinFxIIKrYIgzyhWfbWv1ExSl29CliP2T8WLtUjTZPi4rjo6NBnYBypHqPVk8qYIfut1ywpegfmp3WrygKs8DuL1fdYzrGLcE68gVR0YACZv05aiKX1o6nFJYg6Q8otLLExzcqD1wMaEzPYrDW7Ezti9R7V23R3fbmykGeuhfh0PcgMk/w400-h266/4B98A145-E41A-415B-BF25-5C995745E8CD.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyhqWKI-3OGiJPatG_bbA7xyrkJ5r1j2uw-TonQZ0a-tB1--SLbUm_cJxcVuws2sQr8pA5HCP2H1lwmvCQGKSPii7DoWa2vug1OeFilx9JvoPaiQARnBnGCLHCNmaZqns8JqqAZqlBIiqeRhVC2P6RCDT5-_7W4f7XMR18JcrZesztLIKAhFu3jgv_5Fk/s4092/61B71296-EE82-436B-82B2-BE19CB26BF85_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2910" data-original-width="4092" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyhqWKI-3OGiJPatG_bbA7xyrkJ5r1j2uw-TonQZ0a-tB1--SLbUm_cJxcVuws2sQr8pA5HCP2H1lwmvCQGKSPii7DoWa2vug1OeFilx9JvoPaiQARnBnGCLHCNmaZqns8JqqAZqlBIiqeRhVC2P6RCDT5-_7W4f7XMR18JcrZesztLIKAhFu3jgv_5Fk/w400-h285/61B71296-EE82-436B-82B2-BE19CB26BF85_1_201_a.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_xV7WLq84rgL4dnUq3F0OSBe-LVAEMbMqbxLHiBjPO6WxQDjBzk_L2s5wVGqqxCay2dkMUxW7wZaYVcGawSCbNfJEsKYAECMVcmA23C-lQIF7w0fhM_2QSbreve8CV4UmBoXOYiy_LKZt1ho14-tWJVkett-n_CUN7uw7sh9qODTxLhH21dyrFwhrjk/s6000/F49A2D65-6C9D-43DB-98C7-38A4E4C91F1A.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="6000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_xV7WLq84rgL4dnUq3F0OSBe-LVAEMbMqbxLHiBjPO6WxQDjBzk_L2s5wVGqqxCay2dkMUxW7wZaYVcGawSCbNfJEsKYAECMVcmA23C-lQIF7w0fhM_2QSbreve8CV4UmBoXOYiy_LKZt1ho14-tWJVkett-n_CUN7uw7sh9qODTxLhH21dyrFwhrjk/w400-h266/F49A2D65-6C9D-43DB-98C7-38A4E4C91F1A.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><b>Cory's Shearwater</b></p><p>These shearwaters are bulkier than Greats, without a capped appearance and all-brown on top. Their yellow bill, if you can see it, is a cherry on top. On our recent trips these birds numerous, and for some stretches about equalling the number of Greats. </p><p>There are two subspecies of Cory's in the Atlantic: the <i>borealis</i> subspecies (the expected on in the Gulf of Maine), and the <i>diomedea</i> subspecies, known as Scopoli's Shearwater. The easiest way to separate the two is by the amount of white in the underwings, with Scopoli's showing more white in the primary feathers near the tip of the underwing. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4sd9O3J0L8cqMTgUDllTg2N90ZEv-tr8pz01JiU5MoZLIyoQv8IFSNeAHS_U5M3Kh0jl6smLtmQoKJFWL7utIawlLyeZrSm_MxHUM1hwbwtXaqzp_6qIl4hvGXz3H_0FtobrHOf8jCmfRilbq_d1ZvKkD3Awz1sGaG7EgzLL0s0W6fpgQk3ASOHngL28/s2579/2CEE29F1-7135-4EEC-AB74-CA5AB3500889_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2070" data-original-width="2579" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4sd9O3J0L8cqMTgUDllTg2N90ZEv-tr8pz01JiU5MoZLIyoQv8IFSNeAHS_U5M3Kh0jl6smLtmQoKJFWL7utIawlLyeZrSm_MxHUM1hwbwtXaqzp_6qIl4hvGXz3H_0FtobrHOf8jCmfRilbq_d1ZvKkD3Awz1sGaG7EgzLL0s0W6fpgQk3ASOHngL28/w400-h321/2CEE29F1-7135-4EEC-AB74-CA5AB3500889_1_201_a.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9qTh6H5SP0jLgHCMAPFzOvUP-jxZck8lqMD1LHznQbEETO7YsZKOkf6SoK2L6RdFNjfEH4_a_2einvFZ2Sy47nRgg1iLHwTNm5TNE7DxppMPrvfDQ-0lZEhaeU0i-j0SQAqffvCx9AOO3kZi8YQsoT3daIowR4eLfUbLXydnTZ1iKoDJ3R0f8EqXAu3A/s3475/853C0119-8A23-44A7-80F0-AE2F4C146B5A_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2702" data-original-width="3475" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9qTh6H5SP0jLgHCMAPFzOvUP-jxZck8lqMD1LHznQbEETO7YsZKOkf6SoK2L6RdFNjfEH4_a_2einvFZ2Sy47nRgg1iLHwTNm5TNE7DxppMPrvfDQ-0lZEhaeU0i-j0SQAqffvCx9AOO3kZi8YQsoT3daIowR4eLfUbLXydnTZ1iKoDJ3R0f8EqXAu3A/w400-h311/853C0119-8A23-44A7-80F0-AE2F4C146B5A_1_201_a.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><b>Manx Shearwater</b></p><p>Manx Shearwaters are the smallest regular shearwater in the Gulf. They are, oh I dunno, 2/3 the size of a Great? That feels about right. Though they have white on the face, it's much more limited than on a Great, and doesn't really give them a capped appearance in flight (thought it does on the water a little bit). They're a darker brown, close to black. The bottom photo shows a Manx taking off above a Great, making for a helpful comparison. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-zzDELddNgPbWILbpbJ0E-jj_KbCbkdTmOHcMgk8ECX3-HF5AxMQeIITmaECWJaxWDA4fJkeAm0GQ7Q8An4dDTYgXZBq3M4msUSaXymP9OkzyCzIeaSOfQTbiey1AvM7YUoRCNes1UduAX7kP0hEyl7YJhT-zqv8Sd_JYjQDjoE47HDhiA36uKwnQABs/s2562/7568C7A1-CD6F-4D72-A114-5BE091CFF327_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2092" data-original-width="2562" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-zzDELddNgPbWILbpbJ0E-jj_KbCbkdTmOHcMgk8ECX3-HF5AxMQeIITmaECWJaxWDA4fJkeAm0GQ7Q8An4dDTYgXZBq3M4msUSaXymP9OkzyCzIeaSOfQTbiey1AvM7YUoRCNes1UduAX7kP0hEyl7YJhT-zqv8Sd_JYjQDjoE47HDhiA36uKwnQABs/w400-h326/7568C7A1-CD6F-4D72-A114-5BE091CFF327_1_201_a.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4d4Wmu44im5Lfuu8gmQv0IuEj3yDR73k0gRZ_jm2JidHQQ_c05zs2H_dgxx_pOsncP4xMEzi2GUm2hqvo8qDc_QgCk0AdeUitAFJ0hPMlvhX2TdAEV05ptY0yq1gnhte_SCNAsWP5wJ1PO1EZVFDlML4CEGfMfE-bIePLInErL9-060xVbSC7a18F4KE/s3424/508EFF5F-1FB3-41C3-B3DE-534300E042C7_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2488" data-original-width="3424" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4d4Wmu44im5Lfuu8gmQv0IuEj3yDR73k0gRZ_jm2JidHQQ_c05zs2H_dgxx_pOsncP4xMEzi2GUm2hqvo8qDc_QgCk0AdeUitAFJ0hPMlvhX2TdAEV05ptY0yq1gnhte_SCNAsWP5wJ1PO1EZVFDlML4CEGfMfE-bIePLInErL9-060xVbSC7a18F4KE/w400-h291/508EFF5F-1FB3-41C3-B3DE-534300E042C7_1_201_a.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>NickLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15505861510483807050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465049201581386171.post-80032407537800878002023-02-21T23:42:00.009-05:002023-02-22T10:01:07.046-05:00Birds at Large: The Birds of Elden Ring<p>I know I'm about a year late on this but who cares. Elden Ring is a video game, and it rules. It's the latest in a series of games from a company called FromSoftware where the player travels some forsaken countryside killing monsters and knights and ghouls and all kinds of other what-have-yous. It's the first game in the series that I've ever played, but I've been obsessed with it for the past bunch of months.</p><p>Not everything in the Elden Ring universe is, like, a murderous skeleton or a blood-spewing demigod. There's also wildlife! They're just hanging around and living their little lives in the middle of an insane world of death and despair. There are deer and sheep and bears and pigs. And birds. Let's talk about the birds.</p><p><b>Eagle</b></p><p>The first bird you encounter in Elden Ring are these <a href="https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Eagle" target="_blank">eagle-looking birds</a>, just hanging out on cliff edges. They're vaguely Golden Eagle-looking, though aren't exactly that. They make a sort of chirping noise that I can't really place, and they fly when you get close. Maybe the most numerous bird in the game. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAK1xbLgKHi3gtwDdSsYsjKUS8XrQnoaDAcReRCu-0mybjQlikpCqOX0FXjW4jlA4DSjCUCCtd4dQ1jKK5LOhb0jO7BDFjotu5k0diYw4Ts07fvV1jn3Zl7wqruM1x_FEJe792z6Wq4la4p7YYA2HCMn6sJX7mP1Wn4IUJ-8ASxTwQzZFAbb412JP6/s1920/ER%20Eagle.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAK1xbLgKHi3gtwDdSsYsjKUS8XrQnoaDAcReRCu-0mybjQlikpCqOX0FXjW4jlA4DSjCUCCtd4dQ1jKK5LOhb0jO7BDFjotu5k0diYw4Ts07fvV1jn3Zl7wqruM1x_FEJe792z6Wq4la4p7YYA2HCMn6sJX7mP1Wn4IUJ-8ASxTwQzZFAbb412JP6/w400-h225/ER%20Eagle.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Warhawks</b><p></p><p>The cliffside eagles aren't hostile, but there are some other eagle-type birds that do come after you and they're a real pain in the ass. <a href="https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Warhawk" target="_blank">Warhawks</a> have blades attached to their legs (some of them also have falconry hoods), and they're massively annoying when they come attack you. Players just getting started through Stormveil Castle know what I'm talking about, but they're not any easier later in the game, like a nasty gauntlet of them in Crumbling Farum Azula, which you have to run through while also dodging a lightning-casting dragon. Ugh. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZgkNg_xHgPZywZH3Zzh4MYpXJaLGwxTov3OsmOW38HceuOE8Bt4ggQsGRl6IWWzfNQzIbw-50jXFw5x1ZAot_cRYUfAXzZv0Cav-sh1eKxpRyvu4B7BvMTYU3q8I7W4JojZ3sH46CfrWgC8G47GQqpcP4uPRp-ZHXzzP655n9bWmyORp7JZkT2Vcp/s600/Warhawk.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZgkNg_xHgPZywZH3Zzh4MYpXJaLGwxTov3OsmOW38HceuOE8Bt4ggQsGRl6IWWzfNQzIbw-50jXFw5x1ZAot_cRYUfAXzZv0Cav-sh1eKxpRyvu4B7BvMTYU3q8I7W4JojZ3sH46CfrWgC8G47GQqpcP4uPRp-ZHXzzP655n9bWmyORp7JZkT2Vcp/w400-h225/Warhawk.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here I am about to get chonked in the back by this jerk in Stormveil Castle. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRqhDMT1Uvl4nTuR0jmBexItsBi2OelCovBMtsZEplknmqBWqUZYsenDGE9ykd_PmZc-brVpHCCJp5rEb74xAdwnDWIbpPsES3PO_Y2vzc7J6dQ1l8wiRT5DTytbBMsfy_3XHJZeS4q7h0B5U5sSHnl1UjigsfmlVOqtuJ4sd86rqgxRuTjkBCTsbG/s1920/ELDEN%20RING%E2%84%A2_20230124201026.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRqhDMT1Uvl4nTuR0jmBexItsBi2OelCovBMtsZEplknmqBWqUZYsenDGE9ykd_PmZc-brVpHCCJp5rEb74xAdwnDWIbpPsES3PO_Y2vzc7J6dQ1l8wiRT5DTytbBMsfy_3XHJZeS4q7h0B5U5sSHnl1UjigsfmlVOqtuJ4sd86rqgxRuTjkBCTsbG/w400-h225/ELDEN%20RING%E2%84%A2_20230124201026.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p><b>Guillemot</b></p><p>These <a href="https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Guillemot" target="_blank">alcids</a> are fairly common on the oceanside cliffs and beaches in the southern part of the map. Fitting with the UK bent of the wildlife in this game, this bird is what we in the states would call a <a href="https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/guillemot/" target="_blank">Common Murre</a> (EDIT: or, perhaps more likely, a <a href="https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Thick-billed_Murre/id" target="_blank">Thick-billed Murre</a>). The Guillemots in the game <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0S1iLbbgL0" target="_blank">call when you're close to them</a>, but it doesn't sound like the sound of real Common Murres, not sure what it is.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-AdU2Ti_cIBzaShZldIqH5iMlbTRy6WdCiR_IjDkVRZTNTZE17DRQoR-N7mRjORU7FOaI6xDBSfumAkzhGn2XETyBRBWDNIE3tkebLf3LjzOi8N73p1T6hvU0nk6czppj2kiNujTzUp9lSLJHSoQ820fJcuTaMxQltfyN7oQxjRMeey2hCsMi7S7C/s600/Guillemot.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-AdU2Ti_cIBzaShZldIqH5iMlbTRy6WdCiR_IjDkVRZTNTZE17DRQoR-N7mRjORU7FOaI6xDBSfumAkzhGn2XETyBRBWDNIE3tkebLf3LjzOi8N73p1T6hvU0nk6czppj2kiNujTzUp9lSLJHSoQ820fJcuTaMxQltfyN7oQxjRMeey2hCsMi7S7C/w400-h225/Guillemot.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here I am sneaking up on some of these MFers on a beach. So confiding! Maybe they're sick, from all the death. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXetXZOzdnY41arwWFPZo4BKkQoCogrz7NPNrVmz826ls-EC2beH6exA82zIUSd8UtAbH_m11eDWhQpaWpv-Gg75Qj_Yw0I98J2lCSFXYDB_dTjKEM_1Zmf9zwSLaE76MujlFTJda67jSPpYzys8mA3t2sNLlIR_Ifni-8ppMhqYsQ7dPAyjzn-tZX/s1920/ELDEN%20RING%E2%84%A2_20230124194317.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXetXZOzdnY41arwWFPZo4BKkQoCogrz7NPNrVmz826ls-EC2beH6exA82zIUSd8UtAbH_m11eDWhQpaWpv-Gg75Qj_Yw0I98J2lCSFXYDB_dTjKEM_1Zmf9zwSLaE76MujlFTJda67jSPpYzys8mA3t2sNLlIR_Ifni-8ppMhqYsQ7dPAyjzn-tZX/w400-h225/ELDEN%20RING%E2%84%A2_20230124194317.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p><b>Owl</b></p><p>The least common of the cliffside birds, in my playing experience, is this owl. It's clearly a <a href="https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Hawk_Owl/id" target="_blank">Northern Hawk Owl</a>, but it sits on cliffs rather than on the tops of trees like real hawk owls. The Elden Ring owls make a soft hooting noise instead of the undulating sounds of a hawk owl. A missed opportunity if you ask me. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCegoi6SVwbnLGdLgHeNvXpxoylN18xLKi8qzJyGj_c_sOzjSohEFh7pY7MSafWP2PAeyeGvu13mv3fFNy6DaoF8tgfwe6tNMZd8rpQ3BamNmlLuAoViIdKgvI5ZB-BJOm8x2g_JsNQ-Z1ytk9ZkWZGz33RUx6Wf7dixxp0Phz_koXoOU8ZyPK1FLX/s1920/Owl.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCegoi6SVwbnLGdLgHeNvXpxoylN18xLKi8qzJyGj_c_sOzjSohEFh7pY7MSafWP2PAeyeGvu13mv3fFNy6DaoF8tgfwe6tNMZd8rpQ3BamNmlLuAoViIdKgvI5ZB-BJOm8x2g_JsNQ-Z1ytk9ZkWZGz33RUx6Wf7dixxp0Phz_koXoOU8ZyPK1FLX/w400-h225/Owl.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><b>A Bunch of Birds That Swirl Around </b></p><p>If you climb up near the top of Mt. Gelmir, real close to where you have to fight that big rock bull guy, there are all these birds flying around. They sound like crows, but they're barely rendered and look more like swallows or something. I dunno. They're birds. </p><p>Here's my dude climbing up the ladder and you can see some of the birds in the background. This isn't a funny post or anything these are literally just the birds from this video game.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLYoatJe8URDGMp2l3GvxIQwzXCaNra_kN8qZB3WurgglT_p-ovOREX_GsuuggXD4D1n1OrZi3FiQfpam23sMUFHmbwq0greJQKRQ5SY34JODZcVjmh8nPCBgyGC6wEQ1DIAAI52KLjYHmoK-eEaDIJXPHz7CgQweVJFDrrXKl22NVnbGoGZhvIAvh/s1920/ELDEN%20RING%E2%84%A2_20230124202801.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLYoatJe8URDGMp2l3GvxIQwzXCaNra_kN8qZB3WurgglT_p-ovOREX_GsuuggXD4D1n1OrZi3FiQfpam23sMUFHmbwq0greJQKRQ5SY34JODZcVjmh8nPCBgyGC6wEQ1DIAAI52KLjYHmoK-eEaDIJXPHz7CgQweVJFDrrXKl22NVnbGoGZhvIAvh/w400-h225/ELDEN%20RING%E2%84%A2_20230124202801.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><b>Oh god no those Giant Crows</b></p><p>Some of the game's scariest and toughest non-boss enemies are these nightmares found around Caelid and Mohgwyn Palace. The Mohgwyn ones are covered in disgusting bloody sores, for good measure. I hate these shits and never want to see them again.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIUZ8Si8fuikC6yMHz_NFUAY84F5fLuuNAahE51nX_14GkD-79oFrvr-Wp2yGmmFvcE-48EbaFah_dRQkJiMT-MpjcfPfP_VjWOTOiVcFDTjgiisGcLdlMLVSvrRR3YDboFhwM4-eOR4oPThHPzBw9v5Mje0uqWOepifs8ikm8xXvPYX6M5LbZpPfD/s1920/er_crow.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIUZ8Si8fuikC6yMHz_NFUAY84F5fLuuNAahE51nX_14GkD-79oFrvr-Wp2yGmmFvcE-48EbaFah_dRQkJiMT-MpjcfPfP_VjWOTOiVcFDTjgiisGcLdlMLVSvrRR3YDboFhwM4-eOR4oPThHPzBw9v5Mje0uqWOepifs8ikm8xXvPYX6M5LbZpPfD/w400-h225/er_crow.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj446yw1UACA7zXBx-75phQt7HYZab3GN9Ew0FVRKyhFXtuqNFNqIRTo5qx66kgy1A3hsBiK-mvjbLjgc5oCPNuWmcVCuQtKm5KtSQfnwIAUf-S5hC8eEU15TVc8jJyYln-m5FyFEFqICGlLVI-Rz2AZ5bxAN1OesiTCC9aOyXJE2xaN5jgZogDtEJy/s1920/monstrous-crow-2-hq-elden-ring-wiki-guide.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj446yw1UACA7zXBx-75phQt7HYZab3GN9Ew0FVRKyhFXtuqNFNqIRTo5qx66kgy1A3hsBiK-mvjbLjgc5oCPNuWmcVCuQtKm5KtSQfnwIAUf-S5hC8eEU15TVc8jJyYln-m5FyFEFqICGlLVI-Rz2AZ5bxAN1OesiTCC9aOyXJE2xaN5jgZogDtEJy/w400-h225/monstrous-crow-2-hq-elden-ring-wiki-guide.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Deathbirds</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There are four of these "field bosses" that appear at night in certain areas of the map. They're birds, I guess, in that they have "bird" in their name and they have, like, the skull of a giant baby owl. But they also have wings <i>and</i> arms, and are just generally not very birdlike. They're skeletons for chrissakes. Plus each and every one of them kicked my ass multiple times before I could find the right cliff to stand on to smoke them with arrows from a mile away.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEmL6kjEJoT3cXzLMdsTQQ7kcw3HV_i9rEAM4trvbgGoHRERuI-93bjYRAcKjgYhduDg3WIhPxB-ZOCvKnF8ylx1Fhh3X0DJeeTU0UtRyqBqoZc7MAhrFHgvQsXZjGNvCLfQtSbTmYVnJ5JQvofRnHbn7ZM0i09veBaRk1nZG-HLpUuB5GXncrtGlo/s400/Deathbird_Leyndell_Boss_Elden_Ring.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEmL6kjEJoT3cXzLMdsTQQ7kcw3HV_i9rEAM4trvbgGoHRERuI-93bjYRAcKjgYhduDg3WIhPxB-ZOCvKnF8ylx1Fhh3X0DJeeTU0UtRyqBqoZc7MAhrFHgvQsXZjGNvCLfQtSbTmYVnJ5JQvofRnHbn7ZM0i09veBaRk1nZG-HLpUuB5GXncrtGlo/w400-h400/Deathbird_Leyndell_Boss_Elden_Ring.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Thanks that's all! Great to see you all!</div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>NickLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15505861510483807050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465049201581386171.post-43118644506393483202023-01-23T11:38:00.002-05:002023-01-23T11:38:16.821-05:00Sugarloaf Bird Man<p>Ugh sorry no blogs for so long MY FAN(S) IS/ARE FURIOUS! I've been doing a lot of writing recently, just not on here. Will have some more info to come when I can.</p><p>But I did want to share a recent appearance of mine on WSKI, a local access channel in Carrabassett Valley, Maine, home of the Sugarloaf ski area. I've been going to Sugarloaf my whole life and watching the low-budget-but-high-spirits WSKI for that whole time. It was a true pleasure to join the crew for a morning in December. Check it out!</p><p><br /></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mzaJY52_9wg" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
<div><br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CxazGfftr-Y" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div>NickLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15505861510483807050noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465049201581386171.post-65934319097913039952022-06-07T19:55:00.001-04:002022-06-07T19:55:13.098-04:00Mississippi Big Day Attempt<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAJlsG_HNftbE33hhjbKIUL6s18-xDH8zIcomfFg-DxaTmYavihfhl83Lbbmfrh1mio2DE84lJgJ9DJ9sG5tjv_aNKQfB01rhJhUXJuyTWS0LE-KqLNlSqEcl6LGOXWYLJorndwFBwLKFC53HnEvAX_Bti_sOvkON39JA6uuoBuMxrNjPBQm4PuI9B/s640/IMG_5607.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAJlsG_HNftbE33hhjbKIUL6s18-xDH8zIcomfFg-DxaTmYavihfhl83Lbbmfrh1mio2DE84lJgJ9DJ9sG5tjv_aNKQfB01rhJhUXJuyTWS0LE-KqLNlSqEcl6LGOXWYLJorndwFBwLKFC53HnEvAX_Bti_sOvkON39JA6uuoBuMxrNjPBQm4PuI9B/w389-h292/IMG_5607.JPG" width="389" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I spent just a single year living in Mississippi but the impact has been much greater. My largest continuing connection is through a group called <a href="https://www.deltawindbirds.org/" target="_blank">Delta Wind Birds</a>, a non-profit started by friends that works to protect shorebird habitat in the floodplains of west Mississippi. It's been a real pleasure to see the group go from its kitchen-table beginnings to helping protect hundreds of acres in this under-conserved region. (Plus they released an awesome collection with my favorites at <a href="https://www.birdcollective.com/collections/delta-wind-birds" target="_blank">Bird Collective</a>.)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span>For the past several years, Delta Wind Birds has tried to raise funds by attempting to break the Mississippi Big Day record. I <a href="http://www.thebirdist.com/2017/04/mississippi-big-day-results.html" target="_blank">joined them in 2017</a> where we fell just short of breaking the then-record of 175 species. They tried again the next year without me (look, it's fine), and succeeded in setting a <a href="https://www.deltawindbirds.org/blog/2018-big-day-recap" target="_blank">new record of 179 species</a>. They continued to refine the route, but COVID threw things off a bit, but in 2022 they were back, and once again invited me along.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">I love everything about these Big Days. I love being in Mississippi; the landscape is so open and beautiful and different from what I'm used to. I love the atmosphere down south and the food. I love the dudes I'm birding with -- Jason Hoeksema, JR Rigby, Hal Mitchell, and Andy Bell -- who are all much better than I am but also all funny as hell and don't ever let things get too intense or serious. </div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">They've also planned things down the last detail. The team had changed the route from previous years, and instead of starting up near Jackson in the middle of the state and slogging through a brutal pre-dawn drive to the coast decided to just start along the Gulf. The other big addition (for me, anyway) was a mid-day boat trip to Round Island, a dredge island wilderness that offered us a shot at a whole bunch of great birds. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">We made our run on May 2, 2022. Long story short: we didn't break the record, but had a great time. More importantly, we raised some good money to help us protect birds in the delta. I had the time of my life, again, and hope that I get another shot someday. Below is Jason's writeup of the day.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"></span></span><blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Our total of 154 was well short of the current record of 179, set by our team in 2018. Indeed, it is our lowest total since we began trying these statewide</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><span class="il" style="color: #222222;">Big</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Days back in 2015. So, what happened?</span></span></blockquote><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><blockquote style="text-align: left;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">First, the <span class="il">good</span> news: We found 9 species this year that we missed in 2018, including some nice rarities such as Neotropic Cormorant and Western Kingbird, some rare/new coastal breeders such as Cave Swallow and Gray Kingbird, and some can-be-tough-to-find-on-a-<span class="il">big</span>-<wbr></wbr><span class="il">day</span> species such as Cedar Waxwing and Seaside Sparrow. By focusing only on the coastal counties, we were able to greatly reduce total driving time (our previous route started in Jackson and required a drive to the coast between 2am and 5am), and we incorporated some new, very productive sites in Hancock County. Eastern Phoebe is one species we gave up by sticking to the coast, but on the coast we were able to almost all of the other birds we normally got pre-dawn in the Jackson area (e.g., King Rail).<br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Unfortunately, we also missed a whopping 34 species that we found in 2018. The main reasons?</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1) Songbird migration was almost completely absent. We did not give ourselves maximum flexibility on choosing the date (which can mean that the weather conditions were not optimal; however, we had a nice storm system hanging over the coast the <span class="il">day</span> before), but reports from the Mississippi coast the entire spring have indicated a strange and low-diversity songbird migration, likely due to the prevailing east winds over the Gulf of Mexico. These winds have pushed Florida migrants such as Cape May Warbler and Black-throated Blue Warbler west into MS, but pushed many of our normal migrants further west into Texas. As a result, we had only <u>11 total warbler species</u>, only two of which (N. Waterthrush and Magnolia Warbler) were transient migrants. We also missed other key migrants such as Scarlet Tanager, Baltimore Oriole, and Gray-cheeked Thrush. Veery and Swainson's Thrush were only detected by their flight calls just after midnight, and none of the Catharus thrushes were seen at migrant traps on the coast, which is bizarre for this date.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2) Very few wintering birds lingered, compared to previous years, so we found few diving ducks (Red-breasted Merganser being one of our <span class="il">bigger</span> misses), few sparrows (missing Swamp Sparrow most notably), and no other winter lingerers like Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Virginia Rail, Bonaparte's Gull, and Northern Harrier. This is just bad luck--some years, these kinds of wintering birds hang around longer.<br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">3) Our preferred dawn spot for bottomland breeding birds, Wade-Vancleave Rd over the Pascagoula River, was inaccessible due to <span class="il">major</span> bridge repairs. Instead, we started at Spence's Woods on the Pearl River. This site was pretty <span class="il">good</span>, but we missed some key breeding birds there (such as Wood Thrush, Pileated Woodpecker, Acadian Flycatcher), only some of which were made up using an extra stop at Ward Bayou WMA later in the <span class="il">day</span>, which of course took time away from birding other spots.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">4) Around a half dozen key species were present during scouting on May 1st, but absent on May 2nd, including some tricky but important shorebirds on our target list, such as American Oystercatcher and White-rumped Sandpiper. Sometimes that's just how it goes.<br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">5) Late-<span class="il">day</span> route inefficiency: Late in the <span class="il">day</span>, after it became clear we would not be breaking any records, we made some inefficient route choices that we would not have made otherwise. For example, we decided to drive to Bellefontaine Road to look for the Gray Kingbirds nesting there, even though it is quite out of the way, and it was unlikely the oaks there would reward us with migrants to make it worth it. We also visited an unscouted site looking for American Coot and Bank or Tree Swallow, late in the <span class="il">day</span>, and (besides not yielding the Coot or swallows) it caused us to arrive at our longleaf pine site too late for Red-cockaded Woodpecker.<br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So, it was a bit of a perfect storm for our lowest total ever. But we did manage to have a blast, and we also learned a LOT. This is the best thing about conducting a <span class="il">Big</span> <span class="il">Day</span>--it forces you to learn so much about where and when birds occur, and how to efficiently find them. This was our first time trying the strictly coastal <span class="il">Big</span> <span class="il">Day</span>, and we definitely feel it has a TON of potential in a <span class="il">good</span> migration year. Next time, we'll be much more efficient, having been through it once, and will almost certainly have better luck.<br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here's a <span class="il">great</span> article from Pete Dunne that makes that same point about how much you learn from doing a <span class="il">Big</span> <span class="il">Day</span>, in his "Blueprint for a <span class="il">Big</span> <span class="il">Day</span>" article:</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.birdwatchingdaily.com/news/birdwatching/blueprint-big-day-birding/&source=gmail&ust=1654702016913000&usg=AOvVaw29gsGHO3xRNaFVGzDLDoZk" href="https://www.birdwatchingdaily.com/news/birdwatching/blueprint-big-day-birding/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">https://www.birdwatchingdaily.<wbr></wbr>com/news/birdwatching/<wbr></wbr>blueprint-<span class="il">big</span>-<span class="il">day</span>-birding/</span></a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We'll be back next year to try again! In the meantime, we're already scheming to improve next year's effort.</span></div></blockquote><p>Thanks for reading. Some photos below.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie1mBZ2hzlyHmN3bw2SI2Mj0VlzcNGZ68t2V-2Pa6b_hifKrAzDh1uz1QcFb6SQD57ao3AUpYylz_J_OIW50GNX6Q93v1kXkEZ3dBr0MjWvF5XCUleou2-l0zV4_F9Rk57Mbw__fIjZ7n6lx43FP4D6vPdnsoFCpOJWD7z6vRc5RmC-OozRdefx_A9/s640/IMG_5592.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie1mBZ2hzlyHmN3bw2SI2Mj0VlzcNGZ68t2V-2Pa6b_hifKrAzDh1uz1QcFb6SQD57ao3AUpYylz_J_OIW50GNX6Q93v1kXkEZ3dBr0MjWvF5XCUleou2-l0zV4_F9Rk57Mbw__fIjZ7n6lx43FP4D6vPdnsoFCpOJWD7z6vRc5RmC-OozRdefx_A9/s320/IMG_5592.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And we're off! Just after midnight.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKvo0HRqb15Emn6uYSsaqki48fPwCAgeKh6kA5f-_WOAkcFN_RsZJxduFW0hgctFhIR4dkRZjilTJTAQVliM5tvELrCKXDFS5aE6krqnTCB4ubwbwTRcQ20ECJTo7jH2c03QL93cIKhdfZNTRI00eg8c_mQ8DPHr1-1Pq6WGylylSHs6BlRNmd04MX/s640/IMG_5601.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKvo0HRqb15Emn6uYSsaqki48fPwCAgeKh6kA5f-_WOAkcFN_RsZJxduFW0hgctFhIR4dkRZjilTJTAQVliM5tvELrCKXDFS5aE6krqnTCB4ubwbwTRcQ20ECJTo7jH2c03QL93cIKhdfZNTRI00eg8c_mQ8DPHr1-1Pq6WGylylSHs6BlRNmd04MX/s320/IMG_5601.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Owling at a private sporting reserve we had access to. Incredible spot.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnRMf8__FbutZimsGedsYoRaXBuV4Y5-1Ibn33Yf0Pc6iXu_QyC4MZSdGBzZJiZGuLcSQfH2hIcu7iur7dG3L-W3je2AlawsXnZr9sIhVbwWPopzHq1JUaeCApiXKOCFkZ76_BmqVUesmJ8nTNLw4R0KX-K3IFIZ0CdMCxGLwIR5K4Ourc-mXXIL0g/s640/IMG_5607.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnRMf8__FbutZimsGedsYoRaXBuV4Y5-1Ibn33Yf0Pc6iXu_QyC4MZSdGBzZJiZGuLcSQfH2hIcu7iur7dG3L-W3je2AlawsXnZr9sIhVbwWPopzHq1JUaeCApiXKOCFkZ76_BmqVUesmJ8nTNLw4R0KX-K3IFIZ0CdMCxGLwIR5K4Ourc-mXXIL0g/s320/IMG_5607.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trying for Limpkin (why not??) along the Pearl River</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrXk7kW4Mrm6pEKDKIVe156b9JbfX8o-y1FvIEomjh77tHs8beaBUvsNQKD9jfKdj__j6PYfHgjChPntVqdUIRk_rI5fl0tuDPIwSKqb-Vp5EXf6VuovYdV5mICJsT3Ld5Hw1ROxf1CU_rq7TzYeChmwYgNz6859I7koBsaoEsmI3lz5QZAsPU4ywV/s640/IMG_5611.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrXk7kW4Mrm6pEKDKIVe156b9JbfX8o-y1FvIEomjh77tHs8beaBUvsNQKD9jfKdj__j6PYfHgjChPntVqdUIRk_rI5fl0tuDPIwSKqb-Vp5EXf6VuovYdV5mICJsT3Ld5Hw1ROxf1CU_rq7TzYeChmwYgNz6859I7koBsaoEsmI3lz5QZAsPU4ywV/s320/IMG_5611.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">dawn in Mississippi</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi93I-fXQrz8NRvMVM8YW3P5Zh_zAazg55X0ztIvRXU7AD-6GJQr_Z4ot4Y07vrXAIy9lHMvaf8i6amBknZu_fySmSjS0MmYcfEbHe5WCT_ojJ5wug3hQUCLSDtC106YlxUbgxuXZ53EuFC-0tBXIJUcbdGab3PxzkaMsV3xFXLUMjgjVd-QFo49UZY/s640/IMG_5614.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi93I-fXQrz8NRvMVM8YW3P5Zh_zAazg55X0ztIvRXU7AD-6GJQr_Z4ot4Y07vrXAIy9lHMvaf8i6amBknZu_fySmSjS0MmYcfEbHe5WCT_ojJ5wug3hQUCLSDtC106YlxUbgxuXZ53EuFC-0tBXIJUcbdGab3PxzkaMsV3xFXLUMjgjVd-QFo49UZY/s320/IMG_5614.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">working it</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_KztILngxQga--kX8k4qhPoXX4R-ySDkAk8EVnGFjTOKMe_EeHk1HWUI5s68991crCYQr2v1Ng8Q5jFBPOyQJWr-cLFgCB5rv2C1Rr_UdNeFGRGaGx0Ss7gRO4QzeZGt9oo1i8cBlsuNzdPK8KTilQVMxO4EKIXo4Tic81zXqeLZNzxHXvIVr4LoU/s640/IMG_5619.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_KztILngxQga--kX8k4qhPoXX4R-ySDkAk8EVnGFjTOKMe_EeHk1HWUI5s68991crCYQr2v1Ng8Q5jFBPOyQJWr-cLFgCB5rv2C1Rr_UdNeFGRGaGx0Ss7gRO4QzeZGt9oo1i8cBlsuNzdPK8KTilQVMxO4EKIXo4Tic81zXqeLZNzxHXvIVr4LoU/s320/IMG_5619.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">looking for, what, House Finches I think?</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGNawHPOK2KZXGMSHbW4JejuBEIMzjgr8al6IL6AgtUizJKSukpHN120Y79zsVo_8fiv2O9oSJJJ8bEcGAewpSfOK2aNzX47eTxhj4CGmEhVPTpd9wfAnPLDi3EkUvYDW8voRRyM4m_a9RCWR_1I9g7MfDKrXh3KxStN3iTnZP12ULqc9gC1d9PylG/s640/IMG_5632.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGNawHPOK2KZXGMSHbW4JejuBEIMzjgr8al6IL6AgtUizJKSukpHN120Y79zsVo_8fiv2O9oSJJJ8bEcGAewpSfOK2aNzX47eTxhj4CGmEhVPTpd9wfAnPLDi3EkUvYDW8voRRyM4m_a9RCWR_1I9g7MfDKrXh3KxStN3iTnZP12ULqc9gC1d9PylG/s320/IMG_5632.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Round Island. This place was a trip. No Man's Land. Birds could have cooperated better, but I had never visited any of the Gulf islands so this was a treat.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ08jbPLmWF6ir-6Zziaa1MOcf3nZ-3PBlWrlSPGyjUHiKwRKt89GdsXFbXOgfNjWWMzIt4-DidhDexxfbfwqv9miBsdIdpXDUH-CDlbAUNYzoBoxRHdRucbHzyvo25ky_vL3rbmmmfyLMaEpI8FyPQLI0V_Ro2iwCgR5X3mfPd9CljW8Fgoz9gDRM/s640/IMG_5635.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ08jbPLmWF6ir-6Zziaa1MOcf3nZ-3PBlWrlSPGyjUHiKwRKt89GdsXFbXOgfNjWWMzIt4-DidhDexxfbfwqv9miBsdIdpXDUH-CDlbAUNYzoBoxRHdRucbHzyvo25ky_vL3rbmmmfyLMaEpI8FyPQLI0V_Ro2iwCgR5X3mfPd9CljW8Fgoz9gDRM/s320/IMG_5635.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tough end-of-day dip on Red-cockaded Woodpeckers ... but a gorgeous forest.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"></div>NickLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15505861510483807050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465049201581386171.post-37991252656013107032022-04-15T16:16:00.004-04:002022-04-15T16:16:55.356-04:00700 Quest! Part II: 700 Quest!<p><a href="http://www.thebirdist.com/2022/03/700-quest-part-i-699-quest.html" target="_blank">Click here for Part 1 of 700 Quest!</a></p><p>I came home from Texas with 699 ABA birds and with no idea how long I'd have to wait for 700. What could it be? Would I make a trip to Canadian breeding grounds to finally connect with a Connecticut Warbler? Could I talk my wife into taking our son on a one-in-a-lifetime vacation to Oklahoma to see a Lesser Prairie-chicken? When and how??</p><p>The answer, it turns out, was six days.</p><p>On the afternoon of Thursday February 17, a text message from my ol buddy and Maine Audubon colleague Doug Hitchcox popped up in the group thread. He asked a simple question, about whether I'd ever seen a Common Gull. No, I replied, I had only seen a Short-billed Gull, the American species that was recently recognized after splitting Mew Gull into Short-billed and Common. Oh, he replied, well a Common was just seen in Washington County, Maine. Eyeball emojis followed. If I could connect, it'd be 700.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPdw6MFGER6xMU9L5XI6A_L2L2tDPbYmdae8I2ja6TKdvCbaLl5c47nbIF4omwJ0aNe8mNFjaRjM-8SBAca5NJ6XXbnMZykWqq171ozxwuj1_KWBkzcE3WbkpAmuXhQFqZVXsRqfWElVJ6MbPDWLKCZ6sF9h0wiKX-5-XapEaPFpivGdW2IPggT-ry/s1465/image0.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1465" data-original-width="1170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPdw6MFGER6xMU9L5XI6A_L2L2tDPbYmdae8I2ja6TKdvCbaLl5c47nbIF4omwJ0aNe8mNFjaRjM-8SBAca5NJ6XXbnMZykWqq171ozxwuj1_KWBkzcE3WbkpAmuXhQFqZVXsRqfWElVJ6MbPDWLKCZ6sF9h0wiKX-5-XapEaPFpivGdW2IPggT-ry/w320-h400/image0.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My god. Despite the fact that this bird was just a few hours' drive away, I was on the fence. I'd have to take a day off work, and I'd just cashed in some "Can you please take care of our son while I go chase birds" chips the week before with my Texas trip. Looking back through the text messages I wasn't sure I could or should go. I had plenty of excuses: the weather was going to be crummy; the bird probably wouldn't stick around; it was too far; maybe waiting another day until the weekend was a better idea. Etc.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But this is why Doug is the best. Doug was the first birding friend I ever made - the only other person under the age of 50 at Evergreen Cemetery when I met him by the ponds in 2008. We bonded immediately and began chasing birds together - first to Massachusetts for an Ivory Gull, and later to Florida, Texas, and all across Maine. In that time I've watched him grow from a bird (and beer) obsessed kid to a bird-obsessed professional, one of the best and most respected and without a doubt the most beloved birder in Maine. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Plus he's dedicated to chasing birds, and as a result is just two birds away from hitting 400 in the state, an incredible milestone only achieved by one or two people in history. Much of that success, I think, is because Doug has a simple but effective rule for chasing: go, and go now. Don't wait around. Don't wait for a better or more convenient day. Go get the bird as soon as you can.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And that's what he did to me. From our texts: "But would it return there in the rain?" I asked, cowardly. "I don't know. Gulls will keep foraging in the rain." He replied. "Hahaha I don't know either. I'd love to get 700 with you but everything else about this bites," I said, stupidly, using a term from, what, 1992? "Let's just go for it." He said, smartly. "fuck ok" I capitulated. It was on.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We met at the wretched hour of 4:30AM at an unremarkable park-n-ride near Gray, Maine and headed north. The bird had been spotted in Eastport, the absolute furthest eastern town - Downeastern, really - on Maine's map. We set off in the rain and drive into the dawn, quickly and painlessly making our way to the spot where the bird had been seen the day before.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The weather was not helpful. It was howling wind, like a can't-open-my-eyes-or-the-car-door type wind. Rain was pelting us sideways. Gulls were swirling all around us, riding the wind in huge messy flocks, mostly distant and out of view. For a bird like a Common Gull, which looks remarkably like a Ring-billed Gull, picking it out of a flock like that -- if it even was still around -- would have been impossible. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">(I should say that a species is a species is a species, but Common Gull isn't exactly the most exciting bird there is as far as 700s go. It is a recently split, and looks for all the world like a stunted Ring-bill, which is perhaps the boringest bird on the planet with all due respect. Some friends urged my not to go after a Common Gull for 700 because it's so lame. But it's a species, and a cool vagrant, and a perfect representation of life on Earth! Let's go!)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Doug and I scanned the small flock of Ring-billed on the grassy lawn where the bird had been seen the day before but didn't see anything. We weren't sure what to do, but then a car parked a ways up ahead of us turned around and drove down towards us. It was a birder. "You're the Birdist, right?" the driver said. "Do you see it? It's that one right there, right?" He pointed to a bird we must have scanned over towards the back of the flock, and we took a closer look. Sure enough. Common Gull, ABA 700.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyWHZBAL0_thoa2GNbenAwFVw0lUOtcOf-_ZpF93JTeBgAchPxeTfKvcT5sdrvOsBFyYRZOAnDUZlJm13z0xP6oLKs12YINy_y3jVZkoN7qu4SicEbWeyfwWD2yM3wVh9inVl8TmowD-iKhbN7N_yMkOmD8griNdfFlbx1E7_Kj12neTybw8bdi2dw/s770/Screenshot%202022-04-12%20225850.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="647" data-original-width="770" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyWHZBAL0_thoa2GNbenAwFVw0lUOtcOf-_ZpF93JTeBgAchPxeTfKvcT5sdrvOsBFyYRZOAnDUZlJm13z0xP6oLKs12YINy_y3jVZkoN7qu4SicEbWeyfwWD2yM3wVh9inVl8TmowD-iKhbN7N_yMkOmD8griNdfFlbx1E7_Kj12neTybw8bdi2dw/w400-h336/Screenshot%202022-04-12%20225850.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We watched the bird for as long as we could tolerate the wind and rain. I got some terrible pictures, and Doug (as always) got some better ones, <a href="https://ebird.org/checklist/S102928805" target="_blank">found here</a>. We did it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The birder in the car was none other than <a href="https://pdxbirder.com/portland-bird-guide/" target="_blank">Seymore Gulls, aka PDXbirder</a>, the birder, artist, and field guide author from Portland, Oregon. He was in town to see the Steller's Sea Eagle, which was still present off and on in the Boothbay area. But the eagle was unreliable and a Common Gull was probably less likely to show up in Oregon, so he bombed up from the Midcoast even earlier than we had. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And thank goodness for it. 700! It felt good. A relief, mostly, that I didn't have to be nagged by getting to this big number, or felt obligated to spend time and money chasing some bird that I didn't really care about, and could focus my attention on birding in places I really want to. Mission accomplished, and now time to start some new missions.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We bid farewell to the bird and kept going. Seymore wanted to try to find a Spruce Grouse and I'm always down for that, so we checked Boot Head Preserve but came up very empty (raven, BCCH, and HERG and that's it). Seymore headed south to find the eagle (successfully!), and Doug and I checked around a bit. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We found ourselves at Quoddy Head State Park, a Maine landmark that I'd somehow never visited before. It's the easternmost point of land in the US, and just a gorgeous spot. The <a href="https://ebird.org/checklist/S102927903" target="_blank">birding was OK</a>, but the scenery was amazing -- the waves were huge and dramatic. It was a nice moment for me, and reminded me of just what I love the most about birding. It's not necessarily the birds themselves, it's the places they take me. Just a week before I was standing on the banks of the Rio Grande among palms and mesquite near the southernmost point in Texas, and here I was a week later breathing the salt air looking across a wintery bay towards Canada. Birding is an adventure, from number one through number 700 and beyond. I can't wait to keep going.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju2KO8DaZMq1RcsYnbb46JZpukRj8EKg5Fmo9xMCAoHXbi7TOmGMZ4z2WAP4y3MjXTID_FRwZwZqpoV2UggE5dExUUGNC7KNdv7fJMwStxqVTV0EodidH61o5Rsmd8OoxwY7cIQ0SBivyULWgSpnWY7ruvpz0AbGHjqnghkwtnTX61Mk5Xswx4dQZi/s4032/B63503CD-D989-420C-9B6E-7345CBC8B5B0.heic" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju2KO8DaZMq1RcsYnbb46JZpukRj8EKg5Fmo9xMCAoHXbi7TOmGMZ4z2WAP4y3MjXTID_FRwZwZqpoV2UggE5dExUUGNC7KNdv7fJMwStxqVTV0EodidH61o5Rsmd8OoxwY7cIQ0SBivyULWgSpnWY7ruvpz0AbGHjqnghkwtnTX61Mk5Xswx4dQZi/w300-h400/B63503CD-D989-420C-9B6E-7345CBC8B5B0.heic" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><p><br /></p>NickLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15505861510483807050noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465049201581386171.post-70537056635315176082022-04-12T22:18:00.002-04:002022-04-12T22:18:45.418-04:00The Ultimate Biography of Earth and the ABA Field Guide to the Birds of Maine<p>I didn't learn how to bake sourdough during the pandemic, but I was still productive! I was honored to have been asked two write several books in the past few years, the first two of which are out now.</p><p>The amazing folks at Workman asked me to write a complete history of the Earth aimed at middle school kids, and the result is <a href="https://www.workman.com/products/the-ultimate-biography-of-earth/paperback" target="_blank">The Ultimate Biography of Earth</a>. I'm so proud of it. It's fun and funny, but also serious and complete. It's chock-full of incredible illustrations from UK artist Jason Ford, who I think perfectly captured the tone and style I hoped. It's a delightful book, and is getting <a href="https://www.yabookscentral.com/the-ultimate-biography-of-earth-from-the-big-bang-to-today/" target="_blank">good reviews</a> from folks who review books like this. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicp33tXhWnzSTEYGVtndmjEqZdQ8vsqC9hAVvGrvQAd7iREQ8J9XGQPY8DhXa8c0KA7TdzOiagVfwR67ZembmG2MYdyNwjatWiYCqZ9RtlDMIpJP4vhi5_ZS0xEMicOLtIXMqTHUnF4ez1JYNr0RmYveES5YQziEHlCKtN7G4GHS3RMxOhKd8qLWE_/s2400/Cover.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="2288" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicp33tXhWnzSTEYGVtndmjEqZdQ8vsqC9hAVvGrvQAd7iREQ8J9XGQPY8DhXa8c0KA7TdzOiagVfwR67ZembmG2MYdyNwjatWiYCqZ9RtlDMIpJP4vhi5_ZS0xEMicOLtIXMqTHUnF4ez1JYNr0RmYveES5YQziEHlCKtN7G4GHS3RMxOhKd8qLWE_/s320/Cover.png" width="305" /></a><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcGFBaWObkLIZMtoH0lbuzOYI5E_FpuFuGvx5x3lfR-vSO5chJXYNYptVjc_arR_S22jPQZOdY5YZx9X3peF00tor-Hk-pUGjX-km0W0kDv5gV5sXsdfUR748j98AU0pm6rQtJx3rkJGV_rouHSSFcnMLEQP4vW9EN9oEXpA7SdMDu5y5UQLJGH1G1/s1237/Dunkleosteus%20Small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="843" data-original-width="1237" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcGFBaWObkLIZMtoH0lbuzOYI5E_FpuFuGvx5x3lfR-vSO5chJXYNYptVjc_arR_S22jPQZOdY5YZx9X3peF00tor-Hk-pUGjX-km0W0kDv5gV5sXsdfUR748j98AU0pm6rQtJx3rkJGV_rouHSSFcnMLEQP4vW9EN9oEXpA7SdMDu5y5UQLJGH1G1/s320/Dunkleosteus%20Small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnX-03QLakhNVjAJDAiRbUb7ldKsftxczgZMmLqyb3WV0IyEERUzxoMAWn1m5TaR5thfplKhZzDeSvoFcaYVEhPe84JmU51UFCmAGN3PK2zP1Bcs8J7q0yZOu229R43udi2mJlHAKgYoBqEZkRYjF46hIBdE0ziWhdEzj0j1EjJtT-fL82jFC6Pvdv/s1187/Cells%20Small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="842" data-original-width="1187" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnX-03QLakhNVjAJDAiRbUb7ldKsftxczgZMmLqyb3WV0IyEERUzxoMAWn1m5TaR5thfplKhZzDeSvoFcaYVEhPe84JmU51UFCmAGN3PK2zP1Bcs8J7q0yZOu229R43udi2mJlHAKgYoBqEZkRYjF46hIBdE0ziWhdEzj0j1EjJtT-fL82jFC6Pvdv/s320/Cells%20Small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The second book is the <a href="https://www.buteobooks.com/product/ABAFGME.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of Maine</a>. An absolute honor to put this book together. To think that I've come from writing about the dumbest bird stuff imaginable to creating a field guide to the birds of my beloved home state is just a real dream come true. As with all the ABA guides, it's illustrated with incredible photographs from <a href="http://www.briansmallphoto.com/" target="_blank">Brian Small</a>. The book covers more than 260 species found in Maine, making it a great reference and a perfect gift.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipc2Br8HeM01lHxFnA1x2Z0YVjqsJOIM50uIyrIFj1zJRCK3_CjPwmGkz8Ts0_B4kzlPeH231el5ZL_hJ8m4ax5_njKaand2FMg14a81E12h8h-HFUGzF_Gjqspzzx_wuqM-l9otW-RLxxnxP2uFdMeT22sE-CSL3-43_Vw4lO5TfwFL-dyIJyI2JU/s1530/Lund%20ABA%20Cover%20Image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1530" data-original-width="1440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipc2Br8HeM01lHxFnA1x2Z0YVjqsJOIM50uIyrIFj1zJRCK3_CjPwmGkz8Ts0_B4kzlPeH231el5ZL_hJ8m4ax5_njKaand2FMg14a81E12h8h-HFUGzF_Gjqspzzx_wuqM-l9otW-RLxxnxP2uFdMeT22sE-CSL3-43_Vw4lO5TfwFL-dyIJyI2JU/s320/Lund%20ABA%20Cover%20Image.jpg" width="301" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>I'm thrilled to have these two books finally coming out after working hard on them during 2020 and 2021, and am grateful to both my friends at Workman and at Scott & Nix for their trust in me. And stay tuned, I have two other books in various stages of done-ness, that will hopefully hit shelves in the next year or so. Excited to share them with you. Good birding!<div><br /><p><br /></p></div>NickLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15505861510483807050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465049201581386171.post-82763897188545910462022-03-24T15:26:00.001-04:002022-03-24T15:26:15.783-04:00700 Quest! Part I: 699 Quest<p>For as long as I've been birding in the U.S., 700 was <u>the</u> number. Hitting 700 meant that you'd been everywhere, and seen most everything. I've been on a slow march towards 700 for a long time now, but, as any birder knows, it gets harder the closer you get. I saw 500 species in my first 5 years of birding, getting a Kentucky Warbler for my 500th ABA species in north Mississippi in early 2011. 600 was two years later -- still a pretty good clip -- a Gray Vireo in southern California. </p><p>Things slowed after that. I got 12 ABA birds in 2016, 11 in 2017, 1 in 2018, 0 in 2019, 3 in 2020, and 3 in 2021. There just weren't a lot of birds I could see without a lot of effort and expense, two things in short supply with a youngster in the house. At the beginning of 2022 I was sitting at 697 ABA birds and after two years of pandemic madness I was itching to get moving.</p><p>Plus, I wanted to hit 700 so I could start focusing elsewhere. In my younger birding days, international birding seemed somehow impossibly complicated and exotic. The U.S. was big enough. But that's changed, and the lure of totally unique birds and big trip lists has overtaken everything else. </p><p>But I was within striking distance of 700, and wanted to cross that finish line. Texas obliged, and at the beginning of 2022 there were 4 lifers hanging around the Lower Rio Grande Valley pretty regularly - a Bat Falcon (!), Social Flycatcher (!), Golden-crowned Warbler, and Crimson-collared Grosbeak. I could do it in a long weekend, I thought. My wife acceded, and I booked it. </p><p>I texted my birding dudes in case anyone wanted to join. They couldn't. I prepared to go alone. (I love birding alone and was fine with it, and it felt actually like a full-circle completion to U.S. listing, where I birded alone for years before meeting birding friends.) But the day before I left I texted the group again and talked about my preparations. My friend Ed texted back - wait are you actually going? I thought you were joking. No, I'm going. Want to come? Leaving tomorrow. Yes. Incredible. Ed's a great birder and one of the best guys and had never been to Texas before, and all of a sudden this trip just got a lot more fun.</p><p>The flights down were uneventful, and we met in San Antonio at about the same time despite taking different airlines. We grabbed a car and drove the always-long-than-you-remember trip straight south to McAllen. We headed straight to Santa Ana NWR hoping to catch the Bat Falcon at dusk, but missed. No matter, we were suddenly among the palm trees and cacti in South Texas and life was good. That night we dined at a auto-mechanic-turned-taco-shop, giddy that this was actually happening, happy to be out of the Maine winter, and ready to get some good birds. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi3Uuu148IMN5I4AComgGD2BBX1y_HwfPIMLIM5_MDlU86hFlEJwZnehfTzCqXuKZauQoGa4aANlr4h9RARDGvStxvoP0cToMLyA3uOPdeZUiuSmLF7z7tGZLVu_qt-rfgnQ0utjYQKKxXxeLp42JOhYruXddbTjaN0JL8U5kIaJZMFIEMGWFsqcnG/s3000/842B90D4-B86E-4BB4-BE2E-533DB27E4496_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2925" data-original-width="3000" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi3Uuu148IMN5I4AComgGD2BBX1y_HwfPIMLIM5_MDlU86hFlEJwZnehfTzCqXuKZauQoGa4aANlr4h9RARDGvStxvoP0cToMLyA3uOPdeZUiuSmLF7z7tGZLVu_qt-rfgnQ0utjYQKKxXxeLp42JOhYruXddbTjaN0JL8U5kIaJZMFIEMGWFsqcnG/s320/842B90D4-B86E-4BB4-BE2E-533DB27E4496_1_201_a.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bat Falcon at Santa Ana</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>We were up at dawn and headed back to Santa Ana. The Crimson-collared Grosbeak hadn't been seen for a few weeks, so now I needed hit all 3 of the remaining birds to make 700. A tall order, but they'd all been reliable. We waited along the entrance road in front of the Bat Falcon's favorite perch -- a telephone pole above a noisy road -- and - there it was. No one even saw it fly it, it was just there, suddenly, perched on the pole. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuz8iOFyD5e0Z7ukdD60oBs0vGDEBp0B1Y8VbK2wtwfJgME6cm94ECormOOQttp2uWhBSHGy91GktXcBcRkpDnmOqxGBUif0yA3ODU9BQf3HPeawFJb4BTG3_ZFNc9_r1CYhs06f3zOMO2CqE7_lMtiAjhbXUIqwuwRwesopXJll_oy6cWx4dSoFfy/s3808/BEAEB2E7-5BB6-4581-971D-F328A5E4AD69_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3147" data-original-width="3808" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuz8iOFyD5e0Z7ukdD60oBs0vGDEBp0B1Y8VbK2wtwfJgME6cm94ECormOOQttp2uWhBSHGy91GktXcBcRkpDnmOqxGBUif0yA3ODU9BQf3HPeawFJb4BTG3_ZFNc9_r1CYhs06f3zOMO2CqE7_lMtiAjhbXUIqwuwRwesopXJll_oy6cWx4dSoFfy/s320/BEAEB2E7-5BB6-4581-971D-F328A5E4AD69_1_201_a.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Black-necked Stilt in the morning light at Santa Ana</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>An incredible bird. The first ABA record, and just an attractive species. We were pleased because sometimes it wasn't cooperative at the telephone pole and birders had to chase it all over the Refuge, but not us. We were in good spirits, and now had time to kill. The Valley Nature Center, where the Golden-crowned Warbler had been hanging out, didn't open for a few hours, so we explored Santa Ana.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9W_kM-GcgecmwArlaRxj-elZF32xa1c5lpIMgMCflArXLue7xveRCibXW5GPl-QmHTZKhsAO5qvuYP2i52qqWfUdDbvzCqZYN1lxBEgZ1FGhKkwa0NCwqhLj_ra6HG8GO5avJE-DpvdGoxwPmqWaAEsbrjTCjGnhZUTXO0dW1u3Zev4LjrPEjYvxI/s2628/D1C5B490-EB12-47B3-B7FF-79EC16978D11_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2371" data-original-width="2628" height="339" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9W_kM-GcgecmwArlaRxj-elZF32xa1c5lpIMgMCflArXLue7xveRCibXW5GPl-QmHTZKhsAO5qvuYP2i52qqWfUdDbvzCqZYN1lxBEgZ1FGhKkwa0NCwqhLj_ra6HG8GO5avJE-DpvdGoxwPmqWaAEsbrjTCjGnhZUTXO0dW1u3Zev4LjrPEjYvxI/w375-h339/D1C5B490-EB12-47B3-B7FF-79EC16978D11_1_201_a.jpeg" width="375" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">young Gray Hawk at Santa Ana</td></tr></tbody></table><p>We had the place to ourselves, and spent a beautiful morning walking the trails past spoonbills, stilts, pelicans, kingfishers, woodpeckers, Green Jays, Long-billed Thrashers, Gray Hawks, and a bunch of south Texas specialities. Ed saw the Rio Grande for the first time, and we pondered over this sleepy stretch of river that caused so much heartburn and heartache. </p><p>We made the drive to Valley Nature Center, and walked to the back section into one of those scenes you hate to see as a twitcher: a bunch of birders aimlessly walking around shrugging, saying "haven't seen it yet, not sure where it is." Oh. We poked around for a few minutes and then -- there it was. This tiny warbler came chipping through the dense vegetation, briefly posing for good looks. Golden-crowned Warbler is rare but regular in the LRGV, and I was thrilled to connect. Sitting now on 699.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_dhSESrj1uyiULDIbwIFUtDKx95fI3wd7RJRUz-Eqym7esBxt_4J35Y2-Tbv3CXbgGWfz6PJQYF2pmJAyeOxDquzbo1gH9IFkjAe67eDyL7l6_Xgz-DEYHWhC-8qVreHT4Xdj2bPpuDiNvBNmR5t28b1fOJ3wdh6DIN7XyZoiom_vs6inYgBWdBxQ/s4249/2289EE7C-DCF2-438A-B0BB-365E36804342_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2997" data-original-width="4249" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_dhSESrj1uyiULDIbwIFUtDKx95fI3wd7RJRUz-Eqym7esBxt_4J35Y2-Tbv3CXbgGWfz6PJQYF2pmJAyeOxDquzbo1gH9IFkjAe67eDyL7l6_Xgz-DEYHWhC-8qVreHT4Xdj2bPpuDiNvBNmR5t28b1fOJ3wdh6DIN7XyZoiom_vs6inYgBWdBxQ/w387-h273/2289EE7C-DCF2-438A-B0BB-365E36804342_1_201_a.jpeg" width="387" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Golden-crowned Warbler at the Valley Nature Center, ABA 699</td></tr></tbody></table><p>We had hit two of our three targets and it was Saturday at noon. We figured we'd walk right into the Social Flycatcher at the University of Texas RGV campus and then have a whole extra day to explore. Our minds raced. Should we head up to Laredo and get the seedeater? Should we go to Aransas NWR and get Whooping Crane, Ed's number one most wanted bird? We were dizzy.</p><p>We rolled up the campus and walked to the beautiful resaca habitat. There were a ton of birds around in what proved itself to be a perfect migrant trap, including my lifer Texas Black-throated Gray and Black-throated Green Warblers, and Fulvous Whistling-Duck. But ... there was no flycatcher, and no one had seen it that day. We waited, and walked around. The weather worsened. Brownsville is much closer to the Gulf than McAllen, one of the local birders said, and it's often much windier. It was howling, and raining. We spent six hours at the campus, and left birdless.</p><p>We were back at it the next morning, but decided to make a stop at dawn at nearby Eserto Llano before making the hour plus drive back to campus. EBird checklists showed that the Social wasn't really a morning bird, and we wanted to pick up Buff-bellied Hummingbird and White-tipped Dove so we stopped and enjoyed those birds and more before heading back south. </p><p>We arrived to find another stomach-dropping scene: a bunch of birders celebrating and high-fiving after seeing the Social Flycatcher and then seeing "We just saw it, but it's not here now." We had missed it by maybe 10 minutes. At least it was around. We settled in with our hopes renewed.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1qN_eVrycd0FPTINOfA0Eb8I6fJnlYZykqfsh7VmPmVLpuWLdx7hnXtsuK6M_36HNpx8vi_1zVw_qLy2n8FPeI3SgQHXsEz0q91dxyin_w18PmiIpfa8LDIoGPXCE0N2ZZE3RuGmP8LTp7Y97MtTw1qFKBKs9mhKxdt5Sf9BeexBjyw7tKBxw_OtY/s5075/D0E2626D-E34C-4A9F-B438-155CC1CF6813_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3499" data-original-width="5075" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1qN_eVrycd0FPTINOfA0Eb8I6fJnlYZykqfsh7VmPmVLpuWLdx7hnXtsuK6M_36HNpx8vi_1zVw_qLy2n8FPeI3SgQHXsEz0q91dxyin_w18PmiIpfa8LDIoGPXCE0N2ZZE3RuGmP8LTp7Y97MtTw1qFKBKs9mhKxdt5Sf9BeexBjyw7tKBxw_OtY/w400-h276/D0E2626D-E34C-4A9F-B438-155CC1CF6813_1_201_a.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the best sighting at UTRGV</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Six hours later we still hadn't seen it. We'd seen every goddamn bird (and Bobcat) in every goddamn bush in the whole park, but not the Social. Our legs were sore from walking laps. We wanted to do something else. So, stuck on 699 and with no clear next lifer in sight, we bailed. I was so ready. </p><p>Unburdened from the wait, we have a great afternoon of birding. We drove out to Old Port Isabel Rd. and got distant looks at Apolomado Falcon, as well as a number of trip birds including Long-billed Curlew and a bunch of waders. Then we scooted up to a Red-crowned Parrot roost in Brownsville and reveled at the squawking mass on telephone wires right over our heads. We listened to the Super Bowl in Spanish on the way back to the hotel, reveling in the not-Maine-ness of it all. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--nB0Ayath_w/YjzFhddsGjI/AAAAAAAAFpY/KQO_JAmSUbgWHPYO0Hp5YvdDKc91D-VBwCNcBGAsYHQ/s4765/591F451D-8581-4A81-9809-255F99545455_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3533" data-original-width="4765" height="296" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--nB0Ayath_w/YjzFhddsGjI/AAAAAAAAFpY/KQO_JAmSUbgWHPYO0Hp5YvdDKc91D-VBwCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h296/591F451D-8581-4A81-9809-255F99545455_1_201_a.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Green Jay /heart eyes emoji</td></tr></tbody></table><p>We got up early the day of our flight out but didn't have time to head back down to Brownsville, so cranked up towards San Antonio, stopping at a few out-of-the-way places en route. We scored some distant Mountain Plovers (only my second ever) at a random farm field in Frio County, and picked up some nice little common state birds in a park in Castroville. </p><p>I left Texas sitting on 699 with no clear answer for 700. How long would it take? What bird would it be? Connecticut Warbler was the most likely possibility - though would still require a ton of effort - and everything else was a wild card. I'd have to wait and see. </p><p>Turns out, it didn't take long at all. TO BE CONTINUED!</p>NickLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15505861510483807050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465049201581386171.post-19096894790706063302022-01-11T21:40:00.003-05:002022-01-11T21:40:39.182-05:00Steller's Article for National AudubonThe vagrant Steller's Sea Eagle is still in Maine and still a sensation. National Audubon asked me to write a summary of the bird's incredible path to Maine, and <a href="https://www.audubon.org/news/inside-amazing-cross-continent-saga-stellers-sea-eagle" target="_blank">here it is</a>. <div><br /></div><div>It's been so fun to play such a weirdly visible role in this bird's journey, from first cajoling the NYT into the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/05/science/stellers-sea-eagle.html" target="_blank">first major article on the bird</a>, to all kinds of <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/12/21/metro/weve-never-had-one-here-rare-stellers-sea-eagle-native-asia-has-been-hanging-out-around-taunton-river/" target="_blank">press</a> <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/12/22/1066831352/rare-sea-eagle-from-asia-spotted-in-massachusetts-favorite-movies-of-2021" target="_blank">around</a> the <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/stellars-sea-eagle-massachusetts_n_61c2011be4b0c7d8b89548ca" target="_blank">eagle's appearance</a> in Massachusetts, to helping organize the ongoing <a href="https://maineaudubon.org/news/rare-bird-alert-stellers-sea-eagle/" target="_blank">response from Maine Audubon</a> helping people safely see the bird. What a fun ride.</div><div><br /></div><div>In more depressing news, my wife and I had to pull out of the long-planned trip I was supposed to be on RIGHT NOW to Costa Rica with a cadre of birding friends due to COVID concerns. We couldn't risk leaving our young son with my mom. Turns out just today, the day we were supposed to have left, our son's preschool emailed us to say that he had a close contact somewhere at school and now needs to quarantine until Jan. 24. Awful. Birding trips with friends are my absolute favorite thing on Earth, and I've been working really hard over the past two years (on <a href="https://www.workman.com/products/the-ultimate-biography-of-earth/paperback" target="_blank">this</a> and <a href="https://www.buteobooks.com/product/ABAFGME.html" target="_blank">this</a> and other announcements to come), and really wanted this break. I'm kinda taking it like a big baby but oh well, there'll be other trips. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-VjdKcJN2yLg/Yd4_jiCQyrI/AAAAAAAAFkc/vkKGdGF47oMq0HqLlavngvQsMAue3hM_QCNcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1244" height="207" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-VjdKcJN2yLg/Yd4_jiCQyrI/AAAAAAAAFkc/vkKGdGF47oMq0HqLlavngvQsMAue3hM_QCNcBGAsYHQ/w430-h207/image.png" width="430" /></a></div><br /><br /></div>NickLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15505861510483807050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465049201581386171.post-14335427149834212262022-01-01T22:22:00.006-05:002022-01-03T13:16:02.126-05:00Steller's Sea Eagle in MAINE<p>I was having a pretty crummy day. My wife had given me the green light to go birding on 12/30, but I was striking out on all my targets. I wanted one last Maine year bird but couldn't connect. I whiffed on American Pipits at Scarborough Marsh, and Iceland Gulls along the Portland waterfront, and Yellow-breasted Chat downtown. My last hope for a new bird was a Lark Sparrow reported a few days earlier with House Sparrows behind an auto mechanic shop. </p><p>So I sat in my car in the muddy back lot of a Subaru mechanic and watched some dumb House Sparrows fart around in a small bush next to an old rusting Outback. No Lark Sparrow. I felt like a goddamn loser, but then I checked my email.</p><p>I'd hoped for a last minute eBird Needs Alert but instead I found something much more interesting. A comment moderation message from this very web-blog, alerting me that someone named Linda Tharp had posted a note to my post about the Steller's Sea Eagle in Massachusetts. It read, "It's in Five Islands ME today, 12/30."</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjRQ_1sJfNlFhGQ7tals6bDIl0Az63TUfqgF4xsFPsmAawF92l8Y5g0M0Uzq2Sa4hYMljF4zUKBUZLlMeqVGlD6O36mjXT69V5oOHQvBCbz48v-EaIoJp7GO_nqRtB3VZIcrJ2jI1hV7FYltFTE5JuzcVxWwzxwkxhRCFbAVcgm6O29GLtVDpKNIUx7=s539" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="228" data-original-width="539" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjRQ_1sJfNlFhGQ7tals6bDIl0Az63TUfqgF4xsFPsmAawF92l8Y5g0M0Uzq2Sa4hYMljF4zUKBUZLlMeqVGlD6O36mjXT69V5oOHQvBCbz48v-EaIoJp7GO_nqRtB3VZIcrJ2jI1hV7FYltFTE5JuzcVxWwzxwkxhRCFbAVcgm6O29GLtVDpKNIUx7=w462-h195" width="462" /></a></div><br /><p>That was it. No photos. No contact info. No exclamation marks. </p><p>"Probably someone just looking at a juvenile Bald Eagle," I thought to myself. There are plenty of people who, when there's a rare bird in the news, come out with a story of seeing it at their backyard feeder a few weeks before or something. It happens. Still, I was sitting in a stupid parking lot feeling stupid, and may as well try to get some more info. I searched for the name Linda Tharp on Instagram and immediately found a woman whose bio mentioned Five Islands, Maine. Her DMs were open so I gave it a shot. This is six minutes after she posted the comment to the blog.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKgN7CAFhefiPvrnBum-8-KTbj1zvxfaWCqVuhOtWj_6j5lW_5RXtq83hrvLAr4GCFIywUHJrmHlbzvfVG6TilshOWwbaX2DZZooNwNeQKD2zhvBNCG0YTeUf1yP813YrKjjb-P1AaLXOaELCO08csdHmFFzXhx6ZwbQEFaG-V_Fw8PPKnbhGftRq3=s640" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="430" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKgN7CAFhefiPvrnBum-8-KTbj1zvxfaWCqVuhOtWj_6j5lW_5RXtq83hrvLAr4GCFIywUHJrmHlbzvfVG6TilshOWwbaX2DZZooNwNeQKD2zhvBNCG0YTeUf1yP813YrKjjb-P1AaLXOaELCO08csdHmFFzXhx6ZwbQEFaG-V_Fw8PPKnbhGftRq3=w332-h494" width="332" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">WHELP. WHEEEEELLLLLLP. That's a Steller's Sea Eagle. You can see that I sent the first message at 2:21. What you can't see is that she responded with her message and that cell phone pic at 2:22, almost instantly. It's not suitable for framing, perhaps, but it was pretty clear that the Steller's was in Maine. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I left the parking lot, my squealing tires probably dousing the House Sparrow flock in mud. I went right home. The next moves were to a) Hopefully try to get a better image from Linda to confirm the bird (ie there's no yellow bill visible in that pic; b) Understand if it is publicly accessible, if it's still being seen, how long it's been around, and any other useful information before; c) Getting the word out to as many people as possible.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Linda was fantastic. She was responding to my questions, and I spoke with her on the phone while I was in the car. Yes, it had a huge yellow beak, she said. It was hanging around with Bald Eagles, she said, indicating she could differentiate between the two species. At 2:48 she sent two other cell phone photos, still distant but enough to confirm. She said I could try to view the bird from her back deck if I could get there before dark. What a wonderful interaction. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I texted my friend and Maine Audubon colleague Doug Hitchcox and others on our small birder friends group text, first to get their confirmation that this bird was the Steller's and wasn't some other species that just wasn't ringing a bell. I didn't hear anything different, and we all went for our cars. I stopped at home and quickly typed up messages for the Maine Birds Listserv and the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1526479937628399/posts/3250120361931006/" target="_blank">Maine Rare Birds FB</a> group getting word out about the eagle and including Linda's photos. The FB post was made at 3:10 PM, less than an hour after first hearing from Linda. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The rest is still-developing history. I and a handful of other birders cranked up to Five Islands that afternoon but didn't find the bird before darkness. It was refound on the morning of 12/31, however, and I saw it that day. It was seen again today, Jan. 1, and will hopefully linger for many birders to come. If you've found this website in pursuit of information about the eagle I'm sorry but I don't really have that, please check <a href="https://maineaudubon.org/news/rare-bird-alert-stellers-sea-eagle/" target="_blank">Maine Audubon's updating blog post here</a>, and please please please be respectful of the locals at Five Islands and be at times aware of yourself and whether you (or your car) is some place that it shouldn't be. Thanks. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I was glad to play a tiny role in this bird being enjoyed by so many. I don't know how Linda found my blog -- she must have been aware of the bird somehow already in order to search the internet for a place to comment about it, right? -- but I'm glad she did. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This Steller's Sea Eagle is such an incredible individual, I'm so glad I've now seen it in two states, including my home state. No one knows what the future holds for this bird but I'm excited to see what happens next.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiRpY2CIvXNpWo5LzkwC0LUmhwLb08fl6kCsg_p1H_IUrMYyK7-xzxOuSwcPEPASewR87vjgwo3usN_YEHosTgFwbYTJM-O4QNZSxnxAXxdeuSmgXlRxQYhlH_qtPe2TOGKoc6qqLjz_UNkNdkp0qucXQCF7NfxQHMmGGQ7MgTnb2xaLOmXNJM8GWY9=s3094" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2522" data-original-width="3094" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiRpY2CIvXNpWo5LzkwC0LUmhwLb08fl6kCsg_p1H_IUrMYyK7-xzxOuSwcPEPASewR87vjgwo3usN_YEHosTgFwbYTJM-O4QNZSxnxAXxdeuSmgXlRxQYhlH_qtPe2TOGKoc6qqLjz_UNkNdkp0qucXQCF7NfxQHMmGGQ7MgTnb2xaLOmXNJM8GWY9=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p>NickLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15505861510483807050noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465049201581386171.post-6901970920663011882021-12-20T22:57:00.004-05:002021-12-20T23:02:12.335-05:00Steller's Sea Eagle in Massachusetts<p><b>5:45 AM</b> - I left my house in Cumberland, Maine and drove an hour south to York, to meet other birders for the York County Christmas Bird Count.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMmnA3qaft9CBV_-yLSbSlmF8nR63Ey6fAgJLnyuMFLfHrXElpn8vbq9yhjeXAbCBrPaspdr01MPLSrET1hIV2OJg-dGAolDCjF69lxHOppevsSm5j1mnmR4UpzJUWTDC0rgT3R2WuRyE_tucI9Aq2nHZa2wqBFHfCyYDHwlKXHAwTUWeASMileH1V=s640" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMmnA3qaft9CBV_-yLSbSlmF8nR63Ey6fAgJLnyuMFLfHrXElpn8vbq9yhjeXAbCBrPaspdr01MPLSrET1hIV2OJg-dGAolDCjF69lxHOppevsSm5j1mnmR4UpzJUWTDC0rgT3R2WuRyE_tucI9Aq2nHZa2wqBFHfCyYDHwlKXHAwTUWeASMileH1V=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>7:40 AM</b> - We were counting! Things were going pretty well. We'd just seen a Northern Flicker, apparently the first one ever on the York count, and now we were walking through the cold and quiet but beautiful Highland Farm. Here's that.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgnKe4UNHSpBbPXTEYhh6LywQYxtjbnYFfaGfw0YCbcL352ZZFc3nnhjvxjsjwH0X-smNvM-6cREd4KsIbpWnsW3HP5a8S623ZlgeaNYD-w8ny4bOUi39_cMpWQkJtur8DZ7F37mWc0tTbKe5wlUYwQi7L7adCE2YsIsoWrheI5AxISCut17nLNYeqI=s640" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgnKe4UNHSpBbPXTEYhh6LywQYxtjbnYFfaGfw0YCbcL352ZZFc3nnhjvxjsjwH0X-smNvM-6cREd4KsIbpWnsW3HP5a8S623ZlgeaNYD-w8ny4bOUi39_cMpWQkJtur8DZ7F37mWc0tTbKe5wlUYwQi7L7adCE2YsIsoWrheI5AxISCut17nLNYeqI=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then I got a text from Doug Hitchcox: "Steller's was just found."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">He was referring to the Steller's Sea Eagle. The species had never before been seen in North America outside of western Alaska, but one individual had been spotted in interior Alaska in August of 2020 has been disappearing and appearing all over North America since then. It was photographed in southern Texas in the spring -- a baffling sighting that was initially chalked up as an escaped bird or a hoax -- when all the way up in Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia in the summer and into November, when it disappeared again. I spoke to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/05/science/stellers-sea-eagle.html" target="_blank">New York Times</a> about the bird in mid-November after it had just gone missing again, and I told them I hoped it would fly to Maine. Apparently it did - but we all missed it. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We learned yesterday, Dec. 19, that a photographer in Massachusetts had photographed the bird a week earlier, on Dec. 12. Not sure why word hadn't gotten out but the Taunton River area was searched yesterday without luck. This morning they had luck, and I got a text in York County.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>8:48 AM</b> - I abandoned the Christmas Bird Count. Sorry, York County, but there's a goddamn Steller's Sea Eagle two hours away. They had enough counters without me and I heard later that things went great. Doug and Fyn also paused their seawatch from Nubble Light. I picked up a <a href="https://ebird.org/me/checklist/S99166882" target="_blank">Horned Lark</a> (a year bird for Maine) along Short Sands Beach while we waited for Ed to come down from the Portland area.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEher33cBfzrU7JCwC2w3Tr33ExP8QaXqH5c6xxRVbzHD8J8nzL1IHlmT7D2SYb5b9PV2k0ZFmNztDCqXOs0sodCsVUrLDgOZ2W8B3fppm5cXoIEaY3qstw0r-v6z7-7-Ul6YiL0jto161V1xRvzS7qImy3O5Dnmaxo9iFSD2yG0U-piJa867dQYH5X9=s937" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="687" data-original-width="937" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEher33cBfzrU7JCwC2w3Tr33ExP8QaXqH5c6xxRVbzHD8J8nzL1IHlmT7D2SYb5b9PV2k0ZFmNztDCqXOs0sodCsVUrLDgOZ2W8B3fppm5cXoIEaY3qstw0r-v6z7-7-Ul6YiL0jto161V1xRvzS7qImy3O5Dnmaxo9iFSD2yG0U-piJa867dQYH5X9=w400-h294" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>10:32 AM</b> - We are barreling through southern Massachusetts. I forced everyone listen to the Adam Sandler "Toll Booth Willie" skit after we passed the turn to Worcester and it was even dirtier than I remember. We were all shot up and boosted and wore masks in the car.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhbDR23YisS2020Y3D7Hba6VY4v7AnloKReZsZiVvjnBl_lt0M1lTscsTzcN_jDPGCntlNp6s9PUtoEvhqSdrKNssxrcAyELVZf2-S-KD8DjtIOuuXUFTxx5fNJETvsW6NH3AzqH-8oJeLzOKgYJDXCC84mhbR7UUKkjIzMgGe3R4imUOgGD0R5cjX_=s640" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhbDR23YisS2020Y3D7Hba6VY4v7AnloKReZsZiVvjnBl_lt0M1lTscsTzcN_jDPGCntlNp6s9PUtoEvhqSdrKNssxrcAyELVZf2-S-KD8DjtIOuuXUFTxx5fNJETvsW6NH3AzqH-8oJeLzOKgYJDXCC84mhbR7UUKkjIzMgGe3R4imUOgGD0R5cjX_=w300-h400" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEir2FHZvSXTYBLX6fosVA-YzEG-zZXY7G8JqxmzW6Vz4DMLmsRPNlSw53zHfZovaq9sxpJmQCR8HXWzFaiNQmkOY19u5n8jqs5rvyEE9poykTJOAYjTUfL8AOwqeTkJjFcQsXDKdz7SQ7SvOXGSo0LhRf4F5gU_5FjAtvt8E--vUobuYzJYXsZiRTWD=s640" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEir2FHZvSXTYBLX6fosVA-YzEG-zZXY7G8JqxmzW6Vz4DMLmsRPNlSw53zHfZovaq9sxpJmQCR8HXWzFaiNQmkOY19u5n8jqs5rvyEE9poykTJOAYjTUfL8AOwqeTkJjFcQsXDKdz7SQ7SvOXGSo0LhRf4F5gU_5FjAtvt8E--vUobuYzJYXsZiRTWD=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><b>11:02 -</b> We pull up to the tiny, private beach where the bird was last seen to the dreaded "you just missed it!" A birder's nightmare. It flew upriver somewhere and no one knows where it is. My gas light is on with 22 miles left until empty. We follow the roads upriver.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjfgGX3XHVQ918_CmQCqOFhf1dwE8Lal3oenrwl_DkdxEW0vTP33CL5cFIUVrN9ipaatySMxE-TCFi52MaksjBDTldPebve5c7gQw9A38Xy04GT43yqNbvBnz4HbDQES-9X7Z5PLK1HBUfJvjsoVw5BBPiCjRYGmr8HhS94DAWH10YKWzREzTSuiA4c=s640" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjfgGX3XHVQ918_CmQCqOFhf1dwE8Lal3oenrwl_DkdxEW0vTP33CL5cFIUVrN9ipaatySMxE-TCFi52MaksjBDTldPebve5c7gQw9A38Xy04GT43yqNbvBnz4HbDQES-9X7Z5PLK1HBUfJvjsoVw5BBPiCjRYGmr8HhS94DAWH10YKWzREzTSuiA4c=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><b>11:37 AM</b> - We get word that the bird is being seen from Dighton Rock State Park. We go, park haphazardly, and there it is, across the river with a bunch of Bald Eagles. Holy shit. We're screaming.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEji6dX9vQH-0VdRufcn8BOY52yKJNFG8zZ10RhNbU7vrHNFSa33UCPyfYkKOvfTbXWVkUlyoN5N4HekXNTSGHEDPOW2CZm9o_c4x2BIt7pbLiwucWXjlqoLPIHwKWl2bvpQPssO0EhcRlhTBJV8uek08jdOYR2T5sGRQUE-_E7oNdnhMvC3PkLq8jrr=s640" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEji6dX9vQH-0VdRufcn8BOY52yKJNFG8zZ10RhNbU7vrHNFSa33UCPyfYkKOvfTbXWVkUlyoN5N4HekXNTSGHEDPOW2CZm9o_c4x2BIt7pbLiwucWXjlqoLPIHwKWl2bvpQPssO0EhcRlhTBJV8uek08jdOYR2T5sGRQUE-_E7oNdnhMvC3PkLq8jrr=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>We're not particularly close to the bird, but it sits still and gives great views through the scope. The orange bill is visible with the naked eye. The size stands out -- a pair of juvenile Bald Eagles perch just above it but are dwarfed by the Steller's. An absolute dream to be all of a sudden standing in this random park in southern Massachusetts looking at a wild, rare Russian monster. There are about 200 birders there by noon. We leave.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjsn80eBdBybTqxyVBR5NRBb0Pazv3QtAKx9KE9bSH0UAEfAhHel_m78Uu_VWiIZaYrgOZLsXi9twv2a3dVPowGhFlgL-6Gst8n3qLTJW4CrtnDINnx4fgO8RUAJYeRxy_iTdWEvBQirrn_oiqa6fGsf5xrOBguNWUZboSHCA4S6I2Zt3v6GWjeR4LT=s640" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjsn80eBdBybTqxyVBR5NRBb0Pazv3QtAKx9KE9bSH0UAEfAhHel_m78Uu_VWiIZaYrgOZLsXi9twv2a3dVPowGhFlgL-6Gst8n3qLTJW4CrtnDINnx4fgO8RUAJYeRxy_iTdWEvBQirrn_oiqa6fGsf5xrOBguNWUZboSHCA4S6I2Zt3v6GWjeR4LT=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><div><br /></div><div><b>2:23 PM</b> - Obligatory stop at the New Hampshire State Liquor Store to buy some vodka to commemorate our new comrade. I am home in plenty of time to pick up my son.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiPdhPKNJDTxPfOGo_qRWSbn8uFiBREVzsPEBSpBMHoQGn4RZYAhKQOD9eLHGMC8k-4UmyG3wHyWdPO6UE0CC-02eRAAHTdS9jw3BGBi6eZD_s6CPWauQBxRdL-leU696PE6Srke3mwJOWIj5BjQFTLMZMrSHII_2MY-30YsyIiPA2OyeI9QmQAAlOf=s640" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiPdhPKNJDTxPfOGo_qRWSbn8uFiBREVzsPEBSpBMHoQGn4RZYAhKQOD9eLHGMC8k-4UmyG3wHyWdPO6UE0CC-02eRAAHTdS9jw3BGBi6eZD_s6CPWauQBxRdL-leU696PE6Srke3mwJOWIj5BjQFTLMZMrSHII_2MY-30YsyIiPA2OyeI9QmQAAlOf=w300-h400" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><div>An amazing day. I never in my life thought I'd see a wild Steller's Sea Eagle, and may never again. This bird is my 699th ABA Continental species. It appeared healthy and was seen eating earlier in the day, and so hopefully it'll stick around to entertain many more birders.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><b>9:25 PM</b> - I sit down to write this blog and hit publish at, let's see, 10:57 PM, which is righhhhhhhhtttttt now.<br /><p><br /></p></div></div></div>NickLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15505861510483807050noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465049201581386171.post-62581503203933716622021-10-10T19:19:00.001-04:002021-10-10T19:19:53.124-04:00Interview with Birder / Pro Skateboarder Dave Mull<p>Skateboarding is the best thing in part because I don't know what kind of thing it is. A sport? Not really. A hobby? Doesn't seem strong enough. A ... thing?</p><p>Whatever it is, it's the best. It's athletic, but not competitive. It's as technical as gymnastics and as dangerous as football, but isn't full of meatheads. It's artistic, in that there are different ways to execute the same thing and each skater has his own style, or take on the same trick. Plus, as artists do, skaters look at the world differently than the rest of us - seeing the inescapable built environment as things to slide down or jump over or whatever. I just love it.</p><p>My brother, Alex, is a great skateboarder. Always has been. I am not, because I have no balance. But we've always enjoyed skateboarding together, and he regularly sends me videos and clips to watch to keep my appraised of the latest. A couple of years ago he started sending me clips from a company called Worble, who was putting out videos based around a dude named Manramp: an anonymous guy in overalls who carried around a piece of plywood to act as a moving feature. A man ramp. They videos ruled, and had a great soundtrack, and featured a long-haired skater named Dave Mull.</p><p>Alex sent me a couple more Worble videos and Dave Mull clips and I kept noticing something: there are, like, a bunch of birds in here. There was that Manramp intro where he's got a hawk on his arm. There was an Acorn Woodpecker in the stump jump B-side video, there was a young Red-tail ... I am used to seeing 0 birds in skate videos but now I am seeing birds. Then, Alex send a 2018 interview Mull did with Thrasher (uh, the skate magazine, not the Mimidae), and my suspicions were confirmed: Dave Mull is a birder.</p><p>I immediately knew I needed to interview him for Audubon, as I firmly believe in the mission of frantically pointing and waving when I find a birder who is outside whatever you want to think the traditional stereotype of a "birder" is. Dave Mull, pro skateboarder, is certainly outside it. I really enjoyed <a href="https://www.audubon.org/news/this-birder-also-happens-be-one-best-skateboarders-planet" target="_blank">interviewing him for the National Audubon website</a>.</p><p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kWhyPZgiXI8" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p><p><br /></p>NickLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15505861510483807050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465049201581386171.post-631053379392958872021-08-06T23:56:00.005-04:002021-08-07T00:00:07.440-04:00Birds at Large: The Bourne Identity (2002)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ybbV0wW7Kos/YQ4FOWyU7dI/AAAAAAAAFX0/cYk1SaAtp2k3eCTl9BFaIHjlaox9CBYzQCLcBGAsYHQ/s784/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-08-06%2Bat%2B11.58.05%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="335" data-original-width="784" height="234" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ybbV0wW7Kos/YQ4FOWyU7dI/AAAAAAAAFX0/cYk1SaAtp2k3eCTl9BFaIHjlaox9CBYzQCLcBGAsYHQ/w548-h234/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-08-06%2Bat%2B11.58.05%2BPM.png" width="548" /></a></div><p>I don't know why this clip was recommended to me on YouTube. I have never seen the Bourne Identity and have never searched for clips of it, and don't care much for Matt Damon, and uhhh I just don't know. But I saw that there were birds in the thumbnail so I gave it a watch. You should too, for the purposes of this blog post!</p><p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5JVMxzV1Kw4" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p><p>OK so this dude shoots some barrels and they explode immediately. I don't know if that's actually something that can happen (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MythBusters_(2005_season)#Episode_38_–_%22MythBusters_Revisited%22" target="_blank">Mythbusters in 2005 </a>apparently found that "It has already been proven that when shot by a normal bullet, a gasoline tank will not explode. However, if a gasoline tank is shot by a tracer round from a great enough distance so that the round can ignite with air friction, it will cause the gasoline to catch fire. By the time this happened, the tank was so riddled with bullets [from previous tracers that were fired too close to ignite], there was no contained pressure, but the MythBusters surmised that had the tank been properly enclosed, it might have exploded." Great!), but (still with me?) the thing I took from that explosion shot is "this movie is not set in the United States." Those are Europe homes!</p><p>So, I thought to myself, inner monologueingly, it seems likely that if there are any birds singing in the vicinity (if they haven't fled in terror from the massive explosion) they are likely to be ones that I cannot identify. I don't know the vocalizations of European birds, dear friends! I believed myself to be up the proverbial creek SANS paddle! </p><p>Imagine my surprise then, when just a few moments later, the perfectly enunciated song of an Eastern Wood-Pewee bounded through my ear drums or canal or however it works. Surely I must be imagining things, I monologued to myself, innerly! An Eastern Wood-Pewee, in the snow, in Europe? There must be some mistake! I took off my headphones to check if there was some poor, lost Eastern Wood-Pewee stuck somehow in my basement office, but no. This was IN THE FILM. </p><p>Look, I continued internally monologuing, everyone makes mistakes. It's OK! The wrong bird sound just slipped in there! It's the audio equivalent of a typo. Nothing to make a big deal out of!</p><p>But then in rapid succession came the vocalizations of Blue Jay, American Crow, and Black-capped Chickadee! Ain't none of these birds in France unless there was some kind of avian class trip? They were on a passing bus on the way to Normandy? No, no, no ("my inner monologue is arguing with itself now," I thought in an inner aside, a kind of even deeper, even inner-er monologue), birds don't take class trips. This was just a shitty job from the sound guy or gal.</p><p>Then Matt Damon goes over and shoots into the air and a ton of birds take off from the field. What the shit was that. Why didn't those birds flee during the earlier massive gas explosions and/or gunshots? What even were those things? Too skinny to be doves but does France have huge winter fields filled with snipe? </p><p>This clip sucks and the movie looks like shit and if Matt Damon's character is supposed to be so smart why doesn't he know a single bird call? GOODBYE.</p>NickLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15505861510483807050noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465049201581386171.post-48542530546757752562021-06-08T11:27:00.002-04:002021-06-08T22:18:16.538-04:00A quick post about Pat Hentgen, Major League Baseball player<p>As longtime readers (?) of this interblogsite know, I like to think about sports teams named after birds. Good times fun times all is well. But one angle I've never considered in all of this how the players feel about playing for a team named after a bird. </p><p>And I still don't know that and can't really pursue it because I'm too busy and too lazy at the same time.</p><p>But if I were to talk to anyone I'd talk to <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hentgpa01.shtml">Pat Hentgen</a>, a Cy Young Award winner and three-time all-star pitcher who played between 1991 and 2004. He was a really good player and, for our purposes, has the unique status in major league baseball history as being the ONLY player to play for all three teams named after a bird (the Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles, and St. Louis Cardinals), and ONLY those teams.</p><p>Every time Pat Hentgen put on a major league uniform there was a bird on it somewhere. Pretty cool.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w6DOMZzqOHs/YL-MIXPHLCI/AAAAAAAAFTY/x4ywkJxQQh8xs8OHIZ2iFn3MRkJzawWAACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Hentgen%2BCards.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="322" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w6DOMZzqOHs/YL-MIXPHLCI/AAAAAAAAFTY/x4ywkJxQQh8xs8OHIZ2iFn3MRkJzawWAACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Hentgen%2BCards.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZWA9emOSAjs/YL-MISUQnJI/AAAAAAAAFTc/6hCfMAcLEdAJrrp1RnwYRRLtWxJnRqgTACLcBGAsYHQ/s960/Hentgen%2BJays.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="960" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZWA9emOSAjs/YL-MISUQnJI/AAAAAAAAFTc/6hCfMAcLEdAJrrp1RnwYRRLtWxJnRqgTACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Hentgen%2BJays.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kutiYogOcuE/YL-MIXwcbgI/AAAAAAAAFTg/ngCYFAo9pFUvP6_g5ot_PSvqxzi9eS6jACLcBGAsYHQ/s925/Hentgen%2BOrioles.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="925" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kutiYogOcuE/YL-MIXwcbgI/AAAAAAAAFTg/ngCYFAo9pFUvP6_g5ot_PSvqxzi9eS6jACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Hentgen%2BOrioles.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p><b>UPDATE</b><br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cQPxq_EfzZ8/YMAk1v5z8ZI/AAAAAAAAFTw/gwLcVBJLSwo4BWbBLTepmx9k6OMxP2JzACLcBGAsYHQ/s746/Screenshot%2B2021-06-08%2B221704.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="646" data-original-width="746" height="389" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cQPxq_EfzZ8/YMAk1v5z8ZI/AAAAAAAAFTw/gwLcVBJLSwo4BWbBLTepmx9k6OMxP2JzACLcBGAsYHQ/w450-h389/Screenshot%2B2021-06-08%2B221704.jpg" width="450" /></a></div><br />NickLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15505861510483807050noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465049201581386171.post-13483895859227823012021-05-11T22:36:00.002-04:002021-05-11T22:36:51.426-04:00In Memory of John Beetham<p>John Beetham, author of the longtime bird blog <a href="https://dendroica.blogspot.com/">Dendroica</a> (formerly A DC Birding Blog), passed away this week, just a day or so after competing in the World Series of Birding. I can't say I knew John -- I think I met him only once, in DC back in probably early 2006 -- but he was a good online friend, a pioneering bird writer and journalist, and by all accounts a nice man.</p><p>When I moved to DC in late 2005 I had the birding itch and was stuck in an office all day at a low-pressure internship. I couldn't leave the office to bird, but I could write about birding, and so I wanted to start a blog. Blogging, and birding blogs, were sort of new at that point. There were a lot of them, mostly all unread, and, as I recall, all pretty boring. Most had some boring title like "Backyard Musings" or something and every post was like "I went out this afternoon and saw a cardinal. Here, look at this awful picture I took." But the beautiful thing was that there was possibility in a blog - you could write about whatever you wanted with no editors and no filters. Some birding blogs weren't boring.</p><p>John's A DC Birding Blog (now <a href="https://dendroica.blogspot.com/">Dendroica</a>) was one of them. (<a href="https://www.10000birds.com/">10,000 Birds</a> -- still going strong -- was another.) John posted A LOT in those days -- 528 separate posts in 2006!!! -- and didn't just post birds he's identified but wrote about history and advocacy issues and ephemera. Fun stuff, interesting stuff. He also played an important role as an aggregator of information - links, news stories - which he collected into his mentromically regular <a href="https://dendroica.blogspot.com/2021/05/loose-feathers-800.html">Loose Feathers</a> column. This type of aggregation was the most useful way in those days for a writer to get noticed, or for like-minded blogs to find one another. Seeing one of my crummy little posts show up in John's Loose Feathers collection was such <a href="http://birddc.blogspot.com/2006/03/3606-calm-after-storms-alright-well.html">a thrill</a> and an honor in those early days, the first taste of recognition. Fittingly, the last post that John ever published was the <i>800th</i> edition of Loose Feathers.</p><p>The first time I ever corresponded with John was when on March 1, 2006, when I told him that I was starting my own blog, titled BirdDC. I don't know why I titled my blog something so close to the title of his ... I think people just used local geography in their blogs back then? Kinda rude of me, in any case. But, at least I owned it I guess, and I wrote to John:</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">Hello John- I just wanted to let you know that I have recently (still working out the HTML kinks) begun a blog called birdDC (<a href="http://birdDC.blogspot.com">http://birdDC.blogspot.com</a>). It's quite similar to your site, which I like very much, and for that I apologize, but I live in DC and love birding so what can ya do. I just thought I would give you a heads-up about cramping your style rather than having you stumble upon it. Best, Nick</p></blockquote><p>John wrote back the kindest response. Instead of saying, like, "Oh, good for you" or "Nice why didn't you call it something else you hack?" he wrote:</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">Nick - Thanks for sending me the link. It looks like your blog is off to a good start. Don't worry about cramping my style. There is plenty of room for additional voices among bird bloggers. When I started my blog I originally patterned it after several bird bloggers that I read and liked, and then eventually developed my own voice and style.</p></blockquote><p>Then he offered to connect me to a blog carnival (these were early, curated collections of blog posts hosted on a rotating blog roll) that he was managing. I mean, just the nicest guy and the kindest response. </p><p>We supported each other and kept reading each other after that. I <a href="http://birddc.blogspot.com/2006/05/redemption-at-kenilworth-on-thursday-i.html">followed his advice</a> and went to good birding spots. I <a href="http://birddc.blogspot.com/2006/08/teaming-up-against-arctic-drilling.html">learned about the issues</a> from him. I <a href="http://birddc.blogspot.com/2006/09/birder-profile-john-from-dc-birding.html">"interviewed" John in 2006</a> as part of my very-lame-in-retrospect Birder Profile series. Maybe our biggest shared thrill was when John and I debated the question of <a href="http://www.thebirdist.com/2008/03/discussion-with-john-of-dc-birding-blog.html">what percentage of rare birds get found</a> (I was on the Birdist site then), and we were <a href="http://www.thebirdist.com/2008/11/birdist-as-refuted-by-david-sibley.html">directly refuted</a> by David Sibley himself! David Sibley read our dumb little thing and thought we were so wrong he put down his paintbrush to (very kindly) join the conversation! A badge of honor.</p><p>But to be honest the Sibley issue illustrates perfectly the excitement of those early blogging years. Two non-experts could write about whatever popped into our heads, post it online, and have the biggest minds in birding read it and respond. There was no gate-keeping or approvals, no one to tell us what to post or what not to post, and genuine freedom to let writers develop their interests and reach viewers with minimal road blocks. Everything I've written and published is due to the freedom I had in those early bird blogging days and to the support of John Beetham and people like him (but mostly just him).</p><p>I didn't "know" John, and never birded with him, but I don't want his small but important place in birding history to be forgotten. He was a great writer and by all accounts a good person and good birder. I want to thank him for his friendship and support, and I extend my deepest sympathies to his family and friends. </p>NickLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15505861510483807050noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465049201581386171.post-20825008562995629302021-02-21T17:18:00.000-05:002021-02-21T17:18:00.115-05:00The Blobin<p> Just wanted to share that I found the chubbiest Robin, the Blobin. Here it is.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BaJZe1ypLYE/YDLbdZYtvgI/AAAAAAAAFM8/vHchyg6NcksIyGbdYr-jmmsVKj0ePO_nwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/D521410C-3C91-482B-882F-966C127E7B74_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1614" data-original-width="2048" height="315" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BaJZe1ypLYE/YDLbdZYtvgI/AAAAAAAAFM8/vHchyg6NcksIyGbdYr-jmmsVKj0ePO_nwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h315/D521410C-3C91-482B-882F-966C127E7B74_1_201_a.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eKS7Zdp76TQ/YDLbeSVuMNI/AAAAAAAAFNA/5LtW05rfxFMUnUAlQeg_KF4U--16pGtIgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/3F48D7C8-EBD6-478D-AC2E-09F93A7B5F6E.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eKS7Zdp76TQ/YDLbeSVuMNI/AAAAAAAAFNA/5LtW05rfxFMUnUAlQeg_KF4U--16pGtIgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h266/3F48D7C8-EBD6-478D-AC2E-09F93A7B5F6E.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Good stuff. Oh, there was also a Redwing there, in Portland, Maine. ABA Lifer #694.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hEAcWTWzseU/YDLb32PNPYI/AAAAAAAAFNM/cP-P8R41uFo74Muj5nQJNSgNJuv2R_6YQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/B5898D71-B598-46EB-ACE9-AE41107260CF_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1436" data-original-width="2048" height="280" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hEAcWTWzseU/YDLb32PNPYI/AAAAAAAAFNM/cP-P8R41uFo74Muj5nQJNSgNJuv2R_6YQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h280/B5898D71-B598-46EB-ACE9-AE41107260CF_1_201_a.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><p><br /></p></div>NickLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15505861510483807050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465049201581386171.post-29717591359329800792021-01-10T13:20:00.000-05:002021-01-10T13:20:07.012-05:00Trashfire: The 2020 Year in Review<p>I mean it wasn't actually all that bad from a birding perspective. I miraculously got some great trips out of the way before the pandemic hit, and then I was pretty damn lucky to be able to enjoy the birds in my backyard. </p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: left;"><b><u>QUICK STATS</u></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b>World Species Seen: </b>615 (new personal record)</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><b>Countries with eBird Checklists: </b>4 (USA, Mexico, Ecuador, Panama [airport lol]) </p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><b>ABA Species Seen: </b>292 (only 7th year since 2005 under 300)</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><b>ABA Lifers:</b> 2 (Yellow Rail and Common Cuckoo, bringing ABA total to I think 694 counting Northwestern Crow for now) </p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><b>Maine Birds Seen: </b>232 (most since 2010)</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><b>Maine State Birds: </b>12 (Bullock's Oriole, Thick-billed Murre, Western Tanager, Golden-winged Warbler, Mourning Warbler, Yellow Rail, Clark's Grebe, Say's Phoebe, Western Kingbird, Rufous Hummingbird, Tundra Swan, Rock Wren, bringing state total to 338)</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><b>Yard List:</b> 49 year birds, 99 total yard species. </p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"> </p></blockquote><p style="text-align: left;">Let's do a quick review, month by month.</p><p><b>January</b></p><p>I have a good crew of birding friends, and in January we took a trip up to my family's cabin near Moosehead Lake to help out with Maine's Winter Bird Atlas, and also drink a bunch. We had a blast, and the birds were cooperative. There was an abundant cone crop, and the sky was filled with White-winged Crossbills in full song, making reproductive hay while the sun shined, so to speak. We had close encounters with most everything you'd want up there in winter: Canada Jay, Boreal Chickadee, and a very confiding Black-backed Woodpecker.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8wQPkMDz4GU/X_DvJDvcuNI/AAAAAAAAE_s/y4umJwQUGXk2WePsGvAwlqR3QadyuGtbgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1023/493CE5F3-2DBA-4E0A-980B-5C3BA70D9D85.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1023" data-original-width="868" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8wQPkMDz4GU/X_DvJDvcuNI/AAAAAAAAE_s/y4umJwQUGXk2WePsGvAwlqR3QadyuGtbgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/493CE5F3-2DBA-4E0A-980B-5C3BA70D9D85.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DdENyYOFGXo/X_DvJdl_BSI/AAAAAAAAE_w/eYhcDIe6Xvcuaqe0VE5bnihfoswZphoJwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1668/655C9408-F0C7-4EA4-9421-8FE7E29612F5_1_201_a.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1610" data-original-width="1668" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DdENyYOFGXo/X_DvJdl_BSI/AAAAAAAAE_w/eYhcDIe6Xvcuaqe0VE5bnihfoswZphoJwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/655C9408-F0C7-4EA4-9421-8FE7E29612F5_1_201_a.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c1Tj8wehQZw/X_DvJST2WjI/AAAAAAAAE_0/K3_GApkUBuU7H-fvsFO1FNus07HTfBzLQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1825/DF14C01B-22BD-4318-9062-B20BAFDF5312_1_201_a.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1473" data-original-width="1825" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c1Tj8wehQZw/X_DvJST2WjI/AAAAAAAAE_0/K3_GApkUBuU7H-fvsFO1FNus07HTfBzLQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/DF14C01B-22BD-4318-9062-B20BAFDF5312_1_201_a.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><b>February</b></p><p>In February I was invited to speak at the <a href="https://laredobirdingfestival.org" target="_blank">Laredo Birding Festival </a>in West Texas, a huge honor and an opportunity to see some incredible birds. A great time on multiple fronts: great birds, great food, warm weather (as opposed to Maine), and a few good night's sleep away from my 2 year old (lol thanks to my lovely wife). The festival was incredibly well organized, and had great support from the city. I can't thank them enough for having me down, and I encourage anyone reading this to attend in the future.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AdfmRJrYpm4/X_YeB83fYgI/AAAAAAAAFAk/fV6DHBIGOaAVVI00fNCOzo185pUEmgEFQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/12EE07D4-CDDC-487E-8980-D2374A78809E_1_201_a.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1581" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AdfmRJrYpm4/X_YeB83fYgI/AAAAAAAAFAk/fV6DHBIGOaAVVI00fNCOzo185pUEmgEFQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/12EE07D4-CDDC-487E-8980-D2374A78809E_1_201_a.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sQRvB2HO-Fg/X_YeB3F2u4I/AAAAAAAAFAg/eKG4a5U7w60UKbhEIM1XyRT3SfWKoIrRACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/70921CA2-710A-42C3-8859-FE72EC8B54FB_1_201_a.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1609" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sQRvB2HO-Fg/X_YeB3F2u4I/AAAAAAAAFAg/eKG4a5U7w60UKbhEIM1XyRT3SfWKoIrRACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/70921CA2-710A-42C3-8859-FE72EC8B54FB_1_201_a.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mg9IWhXjqls/X_YeBkxYV8I/AAAAAAAAFAc/RtUR08vJFZgJInSFO5TkPWVdBycP3-s8QCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/CBB4CE77-7F99-4ADF-9D82-5687608CCD4A_1_201_a.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1951" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mg9IWhXjqls/X_YeBkxYV8I/AAAAAAAAFAc/RtUR08vJFZgJInSFO5TkPWVdBycP3-s8QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/CBB4CE77-7F99-4ADF-9D82-5687608CCD4A_1_201_a.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><b>March</b></p><p>All the shit started this month, but I tell ya, I had a good March. Three friends and I put together an insanely fun trip to Ecuador, a 8-day whirlwind up and down and Andes. I saw or heard (or was told I was seeing or hearing) 398 species, mostly all lifers. What can I say? It was incredible. We drove on insane mountain roads, relaxed over Amazonian vistas, tromped through high tundra, ate awesome food, and just had a wonderful time. It looks like I didn't do any posts on the blog about it? Weird. Too many highlights, but one (pictured below) is my 1,000th world bird, a Cinnamon Flycatcher.</p><p>Here are a few photos.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uL7C1XlntpY/X_YgOYHbXLI/AAAAAAAAFA4/P6WwY3iT_woH2o1-2DQcy40j8TJzbXQ1QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1996/4EB0C392-240F-48C2-83FF-326D05CA6C5B_1_201_a.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1996" data-original-width="1941" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uL7C1XlntpY/X_YgOYHbXLI/AAAAAAAAFA4/P6WwY3iT_woH2o1-2DQcy40j8TJzbXQ1QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/4EB0C392-240F-48C2-83FF-326D05CA6C5B_1_201_a.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uRS7rPQQRO8/X_YgPNjL16I/AAAAAAAAFBA/eo1TTnzj3jkt7UsfkohmJpAo8HlSFrLOwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/9C6BAF97-38C1-482E-A583-802A0D7D35D2_1_201_a.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2041" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uRS7rPQQRO8/X_YgPNjL16I/AAAAAAAAFBA/eo1TTnzj3jkt7UsfkohmJpAo8HlSFrLOwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/9C6BAF97-38C1-482E-A583-802A0D7D35D2_1_201_a.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UFByTd-BP0I/X_YgQp6PqnI/AAAAAAAAFBM/Y0tKegBLkIwGZ4n-VPujF8P3fR6gWUSTwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/12F833A3-381D-446B-9C18-D327E5EAC2CA.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UFByTd-BP0I/X_YgQp6PqnI/AAAAAAAAFBM/Y0tKegBLkIwGZ4n-VPujF8P3fR6gWUSTwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/12F833A3-381D-446B-9C18-D327E5EAC2CA.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YEPIiRdDLT8/X_YgO7rAIgI/AAAAAAAAFA8/nf0OEGrzyAE7eUdyg-RsCQzvo55G6AXZwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/BB47CC2C-EC12-4611-AB01-27A48AF92FDB.heic" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YEPIiRdDLT8/X_YgO7rAIgI/AAAAAAAAFA8/nf0OEGrzyAE7eUdyg-RsCQzvo55G6AXZwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/BB47CC2C-EC12-4611-AB01-27A48AF92FDB.heic" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pQWwNds7qCY/X_YgP0rXaVI/AAAAAAAAFBE/gU_c5-u9K7sgOehj3FlIZFPzJ8z6IHrEwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/C35025EA-30B3-48EF-8407-DE88EBF43227_1_201_a.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1801" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pQWwNds7qCY/X_YgP0rXaVI/AAAAAAAAFBE/gU_c5-u9K7sgOehj3FlIZFPzJ8z6IHrEwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/C35025EA-30B3-48EF-8407-DE88EBF43227_1_201_a.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xd567oE_alI/X_YgQYDg14I/AAAAAAAAFBI/TBRNzku5P-4jtDc0KSRaIdIhPCRVKuVQgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/E23038C8-88AA-431A-8C87-577A53C6B6BF_1_201_a.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1771" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xd567oE_alI/X_YgQYDg14I/AAAAAAAAFBI/TBRNzku5P-4jtDc0KSRaIdIhPCRVKuVQgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/E23038C8-88AA-431A-8C87-577A53C6B6BF_1_201_a.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><b>April</b></p><p>OK well things were a lot slower in April. I birded locally, and <a href="http://www.thebirdist.com/2020/04/" target="_blank">wrote this about Stevie Nicks</a>. I saw a Prothonotary Warbler in South Portland, which was cool.</p><p><b>May</b></p><p>I mean, you can't beat May pandemic or no. One highlight was taking place in a bizzaro version of the World Series of Birding, which was opened to teams outside of NJ for the first time ever. A group from <a href="https://maineaudubon.org/worldseries/">Maine Audubon </a>combined to find 139 socially-distant species on a cold, blustery day. We didn't quite have the numbers to best teams in other states (migration in early May is still not ideal), but we had a blast. </p><p>Also, hilariously, I put a <a href="http://www.thebirdist.com/2020/05/" target="_blank">call out to Twitter</a> to see if anyone could recreate MLB logos with real birds. User @WhiskyEyeBrews managed to get a Northern Cardinal to come to her custom-made St. Louis Cardinal feeder for this photo. Unreal.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ugFjiRylD5o/X_sF9OZIijI/AAAAAAAAFCA/_7-_lksfnmAiFwaMnBLYWyKNHGZqAJjgACLcBGAsYHQ/s900/EX66DQUWAAAn_it.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="675" height="387" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ugFjiRylD5o/X_sF9OZIijI/AAAAAAAAFCA/_7-_lksfnmAiFwaMnBLYWyKNHGZqAJjgACLcBGAsYHQ/w290-h387/EX66DQUWAAAn_it.jpeg" width="290" /></a></div><div><br /></div><b>June</b><div><br /></div><div>My kind and loving wife let me take a couple nights off away from the kiddo so I made a solo trip to the mountains of western Maine to try to snag a long-overdue state bird, the Mourning Warbler. Ebird directed me to a new spot for me, Quill Hill, and it was just a total paradise. I <a href="https://ebird.org/me/checklist/S70895306" target="_blank">nailed Mourning Warbler</a> quickly (why are these only digiscope pics? Did I now bring my camera?), and saw a bunch of other good birds. The next day I hiked Sugarloaf Mountain and had some amazing, close <a href="https://ebird.org/me/checklist/S70907418" target="_blank">Bicknell's Thrush </a>encounters. A great break.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j7kcsQtE_xs/X_sHZYZ1WfI/AAAAAAAAFCM/iXPU01_S8JsZHq44-mPKS5K1UVRVPibEACLcBGAsYHQ/s1944/EFE6D1DA-AE7B-4874-A6B7-2141684382E0_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1944" data-original-width="1459" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j7kcsQtE_xs/X_sHZYZ1WfI/AAAAAAAAFCM/iXPU01_S8JsZHq44-mPKS5K1UVRVPibEACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/EFE6D1DA-AE7B-4874-A6B7-2141684382E0_1_201_a.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><div><b>July</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Word quietly got around to Maine birders that there was a Yellow Rail at a remote marsh in far eastern Maine. This is an exciting bird, one of those birds that I really didn't know when I'd ever get. I couldn't pass up the opportunity, so my pal Ian and I (we were sort of in the bubble together and the virus was at a low point then, still we took many precautions), threw a canoe on my car we drive into the night up to Washington County. We got there in the pitch black, and launched our canoe into what we discovered was dead low tide -- we had to drag the boat through like two-hundred yards of unexpected mud before we hit the river. We finally launched, and paddled down the windy river through complete silence. Soon we <a href="https://ebird.org/me/checklist/S71835689" target="_blank">began to hear a slight clicking in the night</a>, like a reporter at a typewriter in the middle of the marsh. Unmistakable Yellow Rail. We got close to where the bird was without ever getting onto shore -- the bird is surprisingly loud -- and then paddled back through pure starry darkness back to our car. What an experience. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1tLmE5RCxE8/X_sJ5Tu6xQI/AAAAAAAAFCY/gThlkgJPs4gfJ5KyVhvj_ovl7X6HlE2XgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/EBC969FC-7718-41D7-9E90-F5029510124E.heic" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1tLmE5RCxE8/X_sJ5Tu6xQI/AAAAAAAAFCY/gThlkgJPs4gfJ5KyVhvj_ovl7X6HlE2XgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/EBC969FC-7718-41D7-9E90-F5029510124E.heic" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><b>August</b></div><div><br /></div><div>August was pretty quiet. One highlight was rolling up to a socially-distanced friend's house outdoor hang at dusk and bearing witness to a flock of at least <a href="https://ebird.org/checklist/S72668971" target="_blank">300 migrating Common Nighthawks</a>. It was unbelievable. Also, I saw some shorebirds at one point. Also, I saw the crazy Clark's Grebe that showed up in central Maine, but it was too far away for pictures.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ur3ODvcRsvQ/X_tAewLEQhI/AAAAAAAAFCk/b0mvDRYWRVYtF4VjKMMx3aJJ_YobY5pvACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/10C7EB08-5C8D-4D31-B18F-E4CB31E9DB6D_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1673" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ur3ODvcRsvQ/X_tAewLEQhI/AAAAAAAAFCk/b0mvDRYWRVYtF4VjKMMx3aJJ_YobY5pvACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/10C7EB08-5C8D-4D31-B18F-E4CB31E9DB6D_1_201_a.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NuFGdVv2s8M/X_tAgQunevI/AAAAAAAAFCo/4HDamanyR9s_YnKRsXRR5g6jg5hcZ8VdgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/994B39E7-F10C-4F7F-9E54-0CD4688F99CD.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NuFGdVv2s8M/X_tAgQunevI/AAAAAAAAFCo/4HDamanyR9s_YnKRsXRR5g6jg5hcZ8VdgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/994B39E7-F10C-4F7F-9E54-0CD4688F99CD.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>September</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The clear highlight was a (safe and distanced) friends trip to Monhegan Island for some migration birding. God damn is that a wonderful place. I also spotted the Say's Phoebe just a few miles from my house. Good times.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q5jE4CtNMVE/X_tCC3lDRMI/AAAAAAAAFC4/4NWd6TTqSU0MPFR95YnIQ1il6jLr6Q3BwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/0FD087E7-46E1-4469-BF4E-E2909874F16A_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1891" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q5jE4CtNMVE/X_tCC3lDRMI/AAAAAAAAFC4/4NWd6TTqSU0MPFR95YnIQ1il6jLr6Q3BwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/0FD087E7-46E1-4469-BF4E-E2909874F16A_1_201_a.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qwWxyqs287k/X_tCCzL7mbI/AAAAAAAAFC8/hbGCD9bWhaQkZ9bKRDiqaypPdZrFPr6dQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/2ED1B49D-B310-4A34-88DB-56460FF980FE_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1372" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qwWxyqs287k/X_tCCzL7mbI/AAAAAAAAFC8/hbGCD9bWhaQkZ9bKRDiqaypPdZrFPr6dQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/2ED1B49D-B310-4A34-88DB-56460FF980FE_1_201_a.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><b>October</b><div><br /></div><div>It's been an incredible winter for irruptive finches, and it started in October with a flood of Pine Siskins at my feeders. A side effect of the pandemic was that I was able to spend a lot more time birding in my yard (did I write about this already?) and I added a ton of birds to my yard list. Other highlights included ticking Rufous Hummingbird and Western Kingbirds for the state, and photoing an obliging Sora.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s0NygxRMn-I/X_tDXp2AyoI/AAAAAAAAFDM/EroeigklJf4ffDGMiyeIE4d4VSXXY3jTwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/6A14DE17-509A-42AD-8E69-F2828DBA7798_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1633" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s0NygxRMn-I/X_tDXp2AyoI/AAAAAAAAFDM/EroeigklJf4ffDGMiyeIE4d4VSXXY3jTwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/6A14DE17-509A-42AD-8E69-F2828DBA7798_1_201_a.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MVUKWfxjU4c/X_tDX44-jbI/AAAAAAAAFDQ/PRwsVXSMiHg2NWFl8z1frrWoPDZYR0hhACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/1367A46A-4912-4876-9322-D5CC6A9BA85D_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1473" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MVUKWfxjU4c/X_tDX44-jbI/AAAAAAAAFDQ/PRwsVXSMiHg2NWFl8z1frrWoPDZYR0hhACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/1367A46A-4912-4876-9322-D5CC6A9BA85D_1_201_a.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><div><b>November</b></div><div><br /></div><div>On Election Day, which turned out eventually to elect a good man instead of a raving egomaniac, Doug and I were FORCED to make a quick trip to Rhode Island to chase a Common Cuckoo. Common Cuckoo! Never thought I'd see that bird in the U.S. A fun, highly successful chase. At one point the bird flew directly at me and perched just above my head (photo of my by Doug). Also saw my state Tundra Swans, which were boring.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b6ZxEhLLe7U/X_tEIXMjWKI/AAAAAAAAFDc/wgX3Z8niCyQOhWK8vr0KToqYmFMy7oRLwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1440/380621CA-78F7-4CEE-BD0D-095D956A6166.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1430" data-original-width="1440" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b6ZxEhLLe7U/X_tEIXMjWKI/AAAAAAAAFDc/wgX3Z8niCyQOhWK8vr0KToqYmFMy7oRLwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/380621CA-78F7-4CEE-BD0D-095D956A6166.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bYYtTx7VGD8/X_tEaJ9KTkI/AAAAAAAAFDk/K5IJiAvrM80RwwlViu2TcQMA1IjdBNf1ACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/65D44AF7-5CFB-4AA0-B1A6-31269BA71427.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="299" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bYYtTx7VGD8/X_tEaJ9KTkI/AAAAAAAAFDk/K5IJiAvrM80RwwlViu2TcQMA1IjdBNf1ACLcBGAsYHQ/w399-h299/65D44AF7-5CFB-4AA0-B1A6-31269BA71427.jpeg" width="399" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>December</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Another amazing record in Maine, a Rock Wren, was a delightful surprise and gave great looks in Perkins' Cove, where it has persisted into 2021. Also enjoyed shooting some nice Pine Grosbeaks that hung out in my little yard. Nice way to end a garbage hell fart year. Thanks for sticking with me.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-REA-JVWWmrU/X_tFBhi5vLI/AAAAAAAAFDs/YdJX1qfwCi8vaSDb2-UG8Sus2F-bu8EzACLcBGAsYHQ/s1113/020E11CB-8965-4E4A-9A27-903ED4E0EA1D.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1113" data-original-width="1113" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-REA-JVWWmrU/X_tFBhi5vLI/AAAAAAAAFDs/YdJX1qfwCi8vaSDb2-UG8Sus2F-bu8EzACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/020E11CB-8965-4E4A-9A27-903ED4E0EA1D.jpeg" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-taXSFSDjohg/X_tFC0KpmkI/AAAAAAAAFD0/OAx8rF3kwCsDqiEuLYFLpeM7Ajb4ytKhACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/9FED0BEF-5D5E-41AD-BD5E-412A03799DE3_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1856" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-taXSFSDjohg/X_tFC0KpmkI/AAAAAAAAFD0/OAx8rF3kwCsDqiEuLYFLpeM7Ajb4ytKhACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/9FED0BEF-5D5E-41AD-BD5E-412A03799DE3_1_201_a.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eFndQiJHeaw/X_tFCm5LxyI/AAAAAAAAFDw/qrbDQrWppdwjCiMKwrw1lfuPZFCqpNBCgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/90AE9F19-2B9C-4369-A1BF-CDD395EEB9CC_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1435" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eFndQiJHeaw/X_tFCm5LxyI/AAAAAAAAFDw/qrbDQrWppdwjCiMKwrw1lfuPZFCqpNBCgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/90AE9F19-2B9C-4369-A1BF-CDD395EEB9CC_1_201_a.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div></div>NickLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15505861510483807050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465049201581386171.post-69011880512843196982020-12-04T17:02:00.001-05:002020-12-04T17:02:54.575-05:00Rock Wren in Ogunquit, Maine<p>A woman named Diana Onacki was eating at the Jackie's Too restaurant at Perkin's Cove, on the coast of Maine near Ogunquit, when she saw a little brown bird on the rocks outside. She snapped a photo and posted it to the Maine Birds Facebook group, identifying it was a late-but-otherwise-not-Earth-shattering House Wren.</p><p>Well, it weren't no House Wren, but an in-fact-Earth-shattering-to-certain-people Rock Wren, just the second ever record for Maine. A good bird.</p><p>The bird has been reliable since the of November but my schedule hasn't. I went down last week with only about an hour to go before dark and used that hour up wandering aimlessly among the boulders like a moron, with nothing to show for it. I finally had an opportunity to go again this afternoon, and was rewarded handsomely. </p><p>I re-found the bird about fifteen anxious minutes after I arrived, and watched it for about half an hour as it boinked up and down amongst the boulders after little flies. </p><p>[Quick note here: If you are someone who is showing up to try to find a bird, please actually look for the bird. Birders are so frustrating sometimes. Both times when I arrived looking for the Rock Wren there were other birders or photographers just standing there, I guess waiting for the bird to show up in their laps. You gotta look! Look around! Today, after searching the far end of the beach, I returned to the parking lot and asked one of the photographers standing if she knew when the bird was last seen. "It was last seen about an hour ago, going around the back of the restaurant." "Oh, did you look back there?" I asked. "No," she said. Well, I went out behind the restaurant and there it was, just hanging out. Unbelievable.]</p><p>Anyway, I found it, and it was amazing. Probably the most accommodating vagrant I've ever seen. [I dunno, maybe there were more. The Great Black Hawk was reliable, but you couldn't get that close. The Common Cuckoo a few months ago in Rhode Island was also friendly, but more so for others than for me...] It would pose up on rocks like a goddamn fashion model, showing off it's better angles but trying other positions. I might be in love? <a href="https://ebird.org/me/checklist/S77057074" target="_blank">Here's the checklist</a>, and some photos below:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d0LO__cs4Yw/X8qxlCMlruI/AAAAAAAAE9s/xynuUGghTYIrygEOuycVU53QVS22ROnMQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/1EFF7A37-6793-4CE2-A634-0962F90E6471_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1541" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d0LO__cs4Yw/X8qxlCMlruI/AAAAAAAAE9s/xynuUGghTYIrygEOuycVU53QVS22ROnMQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/1EFF7A37-6793-4CE2-A634-0962F90E6471_1_201_a.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HjzFen5KykQ/X8qxlrZsxcI/AAAAAAAAE90/YetC8xxx0JMArtvgB3EgcXbVgrIa6vdNQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/2C14F2EA-F999-480E-A4D4-BF308C5B9275_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1375" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HjzFen5KykQ/X8qxlrZsxcI/AAAAAAAAE90/YetC8xxx0JMArtvgB3EgcXbVgrIa6vdNQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/2C14F2EA-F999-480E-A4D4-BF308C5B9275_1_201_a.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rfmuEVwLFPc/X8qxnnKc-XI/AAAAAAAAE94/BXrEJqvCqmQwmsxnkJiQiIR-Bm6NL1s5wCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/8B55729E-F108-4DBD-A611-C8455614F6F8_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1453" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rfmuEVwLFPc/X8qxnnKc-XI/AAAAAAAAE94/BXrEJqvCqmQwmsxnkJiQiIR-Bm6NL1s5wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/8B55729E-F108-4DBD-A611-C8455614F6F8_1_201_a.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hnTn-vJ2bLs/X8qxoD6FHnI/AAAAAAAAE-A/wsGoZu5DW6cIuG72FizTElCbcOfg3xBLwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/42B68BAF-D330-4CE4-9B4B-72F6A585A132.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hnTn-vJ2bLs/X8qxoD6FHnI/AAAAAAAAE-A/wsGoZu5DW6cIuG72FizTElCbcOfg3xBLwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/42B68BAF-D330-4CE4-9B4B-72F6A585A132.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_qRRAM-yKp0/X8qxlqT1n1I/AAAAAAAAE9w/z9WuGLvcziEe3xtpFqMUddwcK3p4Rbd4gCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/106FE4F4-76B2-4F61-A502-2BD23355827B_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1560" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_qRRAM-yKp0/X8qxlqT1n1I/AAAAAAAAE9w/z9WuGLvcziEe3xtpFqMUddwcK3p4Rbd4gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/106FE4F4-76B2-4F61-A502-2BD23355827B_1_201_a.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IjiF9PAtaJU/X8qxnn60AzI/AAAAAAAAE98/mx5qzdc5El0kgzuy8gJL8F41eEt8xnTTwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/AF28125C-7D23-4129-9131-9AF7710B289E_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1308" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IjiF9PAtaJU/X8qxnn60AzI/AAAAAAAAE98/mx5qzdc5El0kgzuy8gJL8F41eEt8xnTTwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/AF28125C-7D23-4129-9131-9AF7710B289E_1_201_a.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8i2YHWDSmXI/X8qxogRQa_I/AAAAAAAAE-E/uXsZODT2q68c_WvqHcphcPErezLQDuSagCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/E3C59ED8-C0A8-402B-A7E0-0799F049F83C_1_201_a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1404" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8i2YHWDSmXI/X8qxogRQa_I/AAAAAAAAE-E/uXsZODT2q68c_WvqHcphcPErezLQDuSagCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/E3C59ED8-C0A8-402B-A7E0-0799F049F83C_1_201_a.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>NickLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15505861510483807050noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465049201581386171.post-37300558298755074342020-09-24T21:11:00.001-04:002020-09-24T21:11:08.516-04:00ABA Podcast, Illinois Kingfisher Mascot, Others<p> Hey my dear friends what's happening. Will Blogger still be around after there's no democracy? Who knows. Better get these things up now.</p><p>I was recently a guest on the American Birding Association's This Month in Birding podcast, alongside superhost Nate Swick and with <a href="https://twitter.com/wildlifegirl09" target="_blank">Nicole Jackson</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/mstych" target="_blank">Mo Stych</a>. It was pretty depressing to start! Things are not great right now! But it got more fun and funnier! Click on the image below!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.aba.org/this-month-in-birding-september-2020/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="500" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-o-sbPqo6OEM/X21CT-NCMHI/AAAAAAAAE6w/bIdX9iNpCL0o-22OEkDqx8puluLM587KACLcBGAsYHQ/TMIB-header-square-no-date-copy-2-2-2.jpg" width="234" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>I also wrote a <a href="https://www.audubon.org/news/the-university-illinois-might-make-kingfisher-its-new-mascot-it-should" target="_blank">piece for National Audubon</a> about an exciting initiative happening on the campus of the University of Illinois, which has been without a sports team mascot for over a decade since they ditched their own offensive Native American one. The new movement hopes to install the Belted Kingfisher as the new mascot! Great bird! I hope it works! I don't want to spoil the story, but I'll tell you that the vote went really well and that no one still knows what the next steps are! Exclamation points!<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Ff3QxOoZuAc/X21Dha02wRI/AAAAAAAAE68/vtZkNO85hywXpLdvq58AeOSFCkpwC7sUACLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1065" data-original-width="1597" height="213" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Ff3QxOoZuAc/X21Dha02wRI/AAAAAAAAE68/vtZkNO85hywXpLdvq58AeOSFCkpwC7sUACLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><p></p>NickLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15505861510483807050noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465049201581386171.post-2718726561043983842020-08-02T22:09:00.001-04:002020-08-02T22:09:21.386-04:00The Flying Polish Hare of Google Street ViewThe <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/2028802470510541/" target="_blank">Google Street View Birding Facebook Group</a> is still going strong, nearly two years after its creation. It's pretty amazing. My goofy little procrastination side-project now has more than 4,300 members (most all of them much better at finding birds than I ever was), and has tracked down a simply incredible 1226 different bird species. It's a supportive and kind group of folks and I couldn't be prouder.<br />
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A line of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/2028802470510541/permalink/3256073514450091/" target="_blank">discussion</a> began in the group after Linda L. posted a screenshot of some caribou crossing the road in Finland - In all these miles of driving and recording by the Street View car, had it ever hit anything? Street View Roadkill? In theory you'd be able to see the entire story: a poor creature running into the road in front of the car and then left on the road out the other side. I had never seen anything, had others?<br />
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Well, yes, in fact. Group superstar Aaron Polichar recalled at least one likely incident which made the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/google-street-view-accident-maps-hare-camera-a8998306.html" target="_blank">tabloid rounds </a>in July 2019 and was brought to our attention by Oswaldo Zuniga: the sad saga of the Polish Flying Hare.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fscfbw5oLdE/Xydnq1vjdUI/AAAAAAAAE3M/KDMhX_h0Fm0w-KxBHbmxrsiSNBX6wXlDwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-08-02%2Bat%2B1.56.13%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="909" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fscfbw5oLdE/Xydnq1vjdUI/AAAAAAAAE3M/KDMhX_h0Fm0w-KxBHbmxrsiSNBX6wXlDwCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-08-02%2Bat%2B1.56.13%2BPM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
It's a sad saga because, although we can't be absolutely certain, it seems unlikely that this beautiful European Hare survived being struck by the Google Street View car and launched way, way into the air. At least it went with style. RIP.<br />
<br />
Just as I figured, the constant recording of the Street View car allows us to reconstruct a sort of flip-book of the last incredible moments of this creature.<br />
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We're on a road called the Biala Droga, south of Krakow, Poland. The Street View car is cruising down the road -- and I do mean cruising - I wish I could mathematize the actual speed but it appears to be going much faster than I expected Street View cars to be able to travel -- and in the distance a hare appears running down another road.<br />
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<a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@49.9179029,19.9369235,3a,75y,56.96h,87.22t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1szAp29fIQ80gVRIogBIz7Lg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656" target="_blank">First shot here.</a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9tuPTWQOUo8/XydqVvoQ1uI/AAAAAAAAE3c/EMqpEnb-V0Ef8zWsx1Vu1mnxcNr1FsV_QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-08-02%2Bat%2B1.53.03%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="657" data-original-width="931" height="450" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9tuPTWQOUo8/XydqVvoQ1uI/AAAAAAAAE3c/EMqpEnb-V0Ef8zWsx1Vu1mnxcNr1FsV_QCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-08-02%2Bat%2B1.53.03%2BPM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
The <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@49.9179267,19.9370243,3a,75y,56.96h,87.22t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sYm6CkuPdOEB3eux-w0AWFA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656" target="_blank">next click forward</a> for the car and the hare is still coming down the road, into harm's way.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ss99pft-FhE/Xydqsfs0BdI/AAAAAAAAE3k/yt8ckihFx5slnJuat70sq933GSReCGgfgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-08-02%2Bat%2B1.54.04%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="939" height="374" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ss99pft-FhE/Xydqsfs0BdI/AAAAAAAAE3k/yt8ckihFx5slnJuat70sq933GSReCGgfgCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-08-02%2Bat%2B1.54.04%2BPM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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The hare has only moved a couple feet forward while the car has traveled, what, 40 feet? It's hauling, and the rabbit is right in the path. The next few panels are a little rough, because though you can't see the car itself, you can see the hare <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@49.9179503,19.9371238,3a,75y,56.96h,87.22t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sQAxkd6rLTcm174XPhadZCQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656" target="_blank">being struck</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_G7SrXC69so/XydrAggFQyI/AAAAAAAAE3s/KPV5uyyC0bg_jzBqPn9yUm9waup8sfOcACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-08-02%2Bat%2B1.54.39%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="501" data-original-width="852" height="376" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_G7SrXC69so/XydrAggFQyI/AAAAAAAAE3s/KPV5uyyC0bg_jzBqPn9yUm9waup8sfOcACLcBGAsYHQ/s640/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-08-02%2Bat%2B1.54.39%2BPM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Okay now so reversing to the back of the car, the poor animal continues to apparently bounce along <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@49.9179722,19.9372238,3a,75y,207.13h,67.09t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sUKuVyCjsm1OkV-FzQcummA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656" target="_blank">near the top of the car </a>and its camera tower. It's definitely moving upward, but it's unclear whether it's hitting anything else. That's its head facing outward in this image.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_HGDp8u1ikQ/Xydt6MpNIRI/AAAAAAAAE34/BndPC8XHIFQXOuxnt9ndGykSROBbqUXvwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-08-02%2Bat%2B1.55.28%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="652" data-original-width="942" height="442" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_HGDp8u1ikQ/Xydt6MpNIRI/AAAAAAAAE34/BndPC8XHIFQXOuxnt9ndGykSROBbqUXvwCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-08-02%2Bat%2B1.55.28%2BPM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Next comes the incredible image. The hare has continued upward and is <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@49.9179954,19.9373218,3a,75y,250.42h,91.63t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sqky8dDlC-sQk6JPk_WK7Yw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656" target="_blank">captured </a>in what appears to be mid-leap, composed and graceful looking for all the world like its bounding to the moon.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yb5lbye23UM/XyduRUKn5mI/AAAAAAAAE4A/cgV4OW1nUOsFefCx-F2-JRGrCqbpkqErgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-08-02%2Bat%2B1.56.13%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="909" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yb5lbye23UM/XyduRUKn5mI/AAAAAAAAE4A/cgV4OW1nUOsFefCx-F2-JRGrCqbpkqErgCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-08-02%2Bat%2B1.56.13%2BPM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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The creature can be <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@49.9180383,19.9375101,3a,75y,254.45h,90.88t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s1vXZbyDYwWmKtSFGtL1okA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656" target="_blank">seen again </a>as the Street View car continues on its path. Here, the hare is further off the road, still very high, and flailing.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8pziybFtoRQ/Xydulr8oCzI/AAAAAAAAE4I/5A0dgKB3MtQcnNPA8IQ2XS0zJpevMcsfwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-08-02%2Bat%2B1.56.51%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="886" height="406" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8pziybFtoRQ/Xydulr8oCzI/AAAAAAAAE4I/5A0dgKB3MtQcnNPA8IQ2XS0zJpevMcsfwCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-08-02%2Bat%2B1.56.51%2BPM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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The car continues and the hare keep falling. It's visible <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@49.9180772,19.937671,3a,15y,239.31h,87.37t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sbPFnudhAwfEIQH4rRAi_fg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656" target="_blank">here</a>, from further down the road, in a righted position still, what, ten feet in the air? Below the treeline and above the tree in the foreground.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x8Vb88rpyDA/XydvUeZgYXI/AAAAAAAAE4U/aeFLQ6QrnrwK3NrlyChsfaSAjDVcxSNLgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-08-02%2Bat%2B1.58.47%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="590" data-original-width="919" height="410" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x8Vb88rpyDA/XydvUeZgYXI/AAAAAAAAE4U/aeFLQ6QrnrwK3NrlyChsfaSAjDVcxSNLgCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-08-02%2Bat%2B1.58.47%2BPM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@49.9181051,19.9378038,3a,15y,234.13h,85.49t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sv9mAP9vuzZDx-80lztltTg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656" target="_blank">Finally</a>, it lands in the field, on its back. The grace is gone, and the sad reality of human destruction is all that's left.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2F4Sowsz0SA/XydvieiqW5I/AAAAAAAAE4Y/3bdJNEXyvQUaI3VNKrn3Ze21H2va_ZF_wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-08-02%2Bat%2B1.59.18%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="626" data-original-width="669" height="598" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2F4Sowsz0SA/XydvieiqW5I/AAAAAAAAE4Y/3bdJNEXyvQUaI3VNKrn3Ze21H2va_ZF_wCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-08-02%2Bat%2B1.59.18%2BPM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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It's sad, but an incredible sequence. There's no way of knowing what happened to the hare but it seems doubtful that the poor thing could have survived an impact like that, despite the hare looking fairly composed in some of the shots. Still, you never know. The Flying Polish Hare of Street View may have gotten back up, dusted itself off, and had one hell of a story to tell.NickLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15505861510483807050noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465049201581386171.post-1655269915256683822020-06-25T11:06:00.001-04:002020-06-25T11:06:34.840-04:00ABA Podcast and Portland PhoenixHey friends just cranking along in this coronavirus hellscape, taking it one day at a time and just trying to put my pants on the correct legs and feet into the correct Crocs. It's tough out there, but the birds are still flying. And I am here to <strike>see them</strike> talk nonsense about them.<br />
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I did some of that nonsense-talkin' this month on the American Birding Association's <a href="https://www.aba.org/this-month-in-birding-june-2020/?fbclid=IwAR1ZXYszhNzjf01VFp-xfQp8eLXfTGdd644SaBykT96wIkeQ8AiZp8Ystf8" target="_blank">This Month in Birding podcast</a>, also featuring my friends Purbita Saha and Ryan Mandelbaum. Was an honor to have been asked back, and had a predictably fun and funny conversation under the moderation of Nate Swick. Enjoy!<br />
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Also quickly wanted to remind folks of my monthly column in the Portland Phoenix, a great local newspaper in southern Maine with innovative design and, clearly, a great taste in writers. My latest is about <a href="https://portlandphoenix.me/author/nick-lund/" target="_blank">The Best Thing You Can Do For Birds Right Now</a>.<br />
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Be good! Be nice! See birds!NickLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15505861510483807050noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465049201581386171.post-30654485611597512012020-05-14T11:38:00.001-04:002020-05-14T11:38:39.215-04:00Best of Twitter: Recreating the St. Louis Cardinals Logo with a Real BirdTwitter is just the best sometimes.<br />
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For instance, the other day I was making some of my usual meaningless observations about birds, this time comparing a photo of a Baltimore Oriole on my feeder pole to one of the logos of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team:<br />
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At the feeders with the wide stance like <a href="https://t.co/SViLBxxm9Y">pic.twitter.com/SViLBxxm9Y</a></div>
— The Birdist (@TheBirdist) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheBirdist/status/1260259867476008962?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Then, I wondered how close one could actually get to replicating that logo, which led me to:
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I feel like this one is ripe for replication. Can someone make a little yellow bat perch with the attached word mark and get a photo of a cardinal sitting on it? <a href="https://t.co/MSiCeSKyv1">pic.twitter.com/MSiCeSKyv1</a></div>
— The Birdist (@TheBirdist) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheBirdist/status/1260261145035837447?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2020</a></blockquote>
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I expected nothing to happen. Certainly lazy old me wasn't going to do anything about it. But then, Twitter. User Tess Rouillard (@WhiskyEyeBrews) actually went and built the dang Cardinals logo, and put it up near her feeders! What!
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Bait set. Now we wait 😆 <a href="https://t.co/WBMQZ0Kf4Q">pic.twitter.com/WBMQZ0Kf4Q</a></div>
— Tessa “Burn it all down” Rouillard (@WhiskyEyeBrews) <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiskyEyeBrews/status/1260313137628274688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The trap, as she said, was set. It didn't take long for birds to visit, though they weren't the species we were looking for. A Common Grackle was first up to bat.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Wrong bird <a href="https://t.co/VYiIgTUQgh">pic.twitter.com/VYiIgTUQgh</a></p>— Tessa “Burn it all down” Rouillard (@WhiskyEyeBrews) <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiskyEyeBrews/status/1260315228727914496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Then a Blue Jay, which is actually a pretty hilarious mashup of two different MLB teams:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Wrong bird. Guess we know what the next project is. <a href="https://t.co/0scDyFps1h">pic.twitter.com/0scDyFps1h</a></p>— Tessa “Burn it all down” Rouillard (@WhiskyEyeBrews) <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiskyEyeBrews/status/1260574057575206912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 13, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Then, this morning, less than a day after I originally posted the thing to Twitter, Tessa and her feeders came through. A real live Northern Cardinal perched on the Cardinals logo!! Incredible!
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="tl" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/TheBirdist?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheBirdist</a> aaahahahahah yaassssss. Home RUUUNNN <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/backyardbirds?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#backyardbirds</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/birdtwitter?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#birdtwitter</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Cardinals?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Cardinals</a> <a href="https://t.co/05wpS8vHOc">pic.twitter.com/05wpS8vHOc</a></p>— Tessa “Burn it all down” Rouillard (@WhiskyEyeBrews) <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiskyEyeBrews/status/1260649517336031232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 13, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I think, frankly, that this is one of the coolest things to ever happen on the internet. I think Tessa Rouillard so much for her ingenuity and creativity and motivation. I'm hoping that the Cardinals team will see this and give her some credit for her work! Sports!
NickLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15505861510483807050noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465049201581386171.post-2264937531853293482020-04-18T17:31:00.001-04:002020-04-18T17:31:44.763-04:00Stevie Nicks Has Definitely Heard a Dove BeforeAlright.<br />
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I've always had an appreciation (<a href="http://www.thebirdist.com/2014/07/interesting-historical-ebird-checklists.html" target="_blank">see here</a>) for Stevie Nick's 1981 song "Edge of Seventeen" because of its shoutout to the overlooked and underappreciated White-winged Dove. The chorus of the song goes "Just like the white winged dove / Sings a song / Sounds like she's singing / Ooh ooh ooh."<br />
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It's a cool song I guess. Here's the video.<br />
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<center>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UmPgMc3R8zg" width="560"></iframe></center>
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I've always enjoyed the specificity of the White-winged Dove reference. Was Stevie leafing through a Peterson guide when she came up with the lyric? Was she a secret birder? I did quibble a little bit with her representation of the birds song, but I gave her the benefit of artistic license. (Sibley says that the song is "a rhythmic hooting <i>hhhHEPEP pou pooooo</i> … reminiscent of a Barred or Spotted Owl, and a slow, measures series pep pair <i>pooa paair pooa pair pooa</i>" but these wouldn't fit into that song <u>at all</u>.)<br />
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Today, however, Stevie has unexpectedly shed confusing new light on the situation, claiming that she has just now for the first time (April 2020) heard a dove singing.<br />
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In 1980 I was flying home from Phoenix Arizona and I was handed a menu that said, “The white wing dove sings a song that sounds like she’s singing ooh, ooh, ooh. She makes her home here in the great Saguaro cactus that provides shelter and protection for her…” <a href="https://t.co/UzqvdnVv0p">pic.twitter.com/UzqvdnVv0p</a></div>
— Stevie Nicks (@StevieNicks) <a href="https://twitter.com/StevieNicks/status/1247547335867072518?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
There's a lot to take in here.<br />
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First of all, the bird singing in Steve's video is a Mourning Dove, not a White-winged Dove.<br />
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Second, fast facts about the obscure White-winged Dove was on a menu on an airplane?<br />
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Third, there is absolutely no way that Stevie Nicks has never heard a dove before, White-winged or Mourning or otherwise. Let's focus on that for a bit, because it's goddamn impossible.<br />
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You'll often hear new-ish birder say that they feel like they're seeing the world for the first time. I was like that. Once I started looking and listening for birds it felt like I was living in a new world. One of the absolute grandest things about getting into birds is the awakening that they're all around us, nearly everywhere we go.<br />
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But that doesn't mean I didn't know that ANY birds were around. I knew a ton of birds before I was a birder, just from the unavoidabilities of life. The Mourning Dove was one of them (we don't have White-winged Doves in Maine). They sat on the wires outside my bedroom and sang their songs. How could I miss them? I had no occasion to know them, nothing like, say, writing an international hit song about them, but I still knew them because I was surrounded by them.<br />
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How could Stevie Nicks miss the White-winged Dove? She was born in Phoenix and raised in towns throughout the Southwest and California. Here's the eBird map of White-winged Dove for Phoenix:<br />
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I bet she heard them singing <i>every day</i>. I know I am extra sensitive to birds, but it still surprises me that people can be so<i> in</i>sensitive, so unaware of their surroundings. I'm not trying to knock Stevie, and Lord knows she doesn't give a shit about what I think, but I hope we can all go outside and listen to what's around us.<br />
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<br />NickLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15505861510483807050noreply@blogger.com1