Birdchick Podcast

From the now defunct Birding Family Circus There's the coming BirdSnap app or website to aid in bird ID. Are you aware of the birding term "stringing" and have you been guilty of it? This also leads us to Birder Shaming. Is birding too popular (eye roll).          

        Non Birding Bill and Greg Miller! THE APP GIVEAWAY MENTIONED IN THE PODCAST IS NOW CLOSED. WE HAVE GIVEN AWAY ALL THE APP CODES.  Tree trimmer accused of putting herons in wood chipper in Oakland apparently didn't do that and is genuinely sorry for the situation. Passenger pigeon article Sharon talked about. And here's the group that wants to bring 'em back. The Dead Birds Facebook page. Gadget birders vs non gadget birders. Is this really a thing? And Lili Taylor watching birds from the top of the Empire State Building. The bird books we talked about are pictured above.   Episode 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAZS7tllt3Q   Episode 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FU8b3K6nZo

Here's a link to an Audubon article that ticked me off because at first glance I thought it made digiscoping look like a joke. But it brings up a bigger questions of what is a photo and what is art. Examples of photos that have been manipulated green heron contest winner or blue heron and bald eagle photo. Here's an article in Audubon about what qualifies as natural as they had to disqualify a great photo because it was technically manipulated.    

  Yep. Another oil spill. Follow National Audubon on Facebook for the most up to date info.  Here's a petition. Owl rides a train from Scotland to the UK. Eagle flirting gets out of control. Ravens to be culled in favor of spotted owls. Worst bird bander ever? Stinky cuckoo is not the worse parasite ever. Birder movie reviews. Crow solves an 8-step puzzle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVaITA7eBZE  

What's news in Minnesota? Eagle gossip. Also, this photo taken by Joseph Scrimshaw at a truck stop disturbed me: I don't know if you guys know this...but some dude named David Allen Sibley released a revised bird book and was in the Wall Street Journal. Ugh.  More snowy owl madness.  Here's a crazy shot of one in Louisiana and Project SnowStorm has to delay their maps because some guy decided to be a jerk because he legally could in Pennsylvania. Hey, want to track those migrants? Here's a cool real time map of wind, you can see what conditions are like all over the world to find out if birds are on the move and where they might congregate. Don't forget BirdCast or BadBirdz migration radar. A really cool fundraiser called Champions of the Flyway. This winter has been hard on some of the ducks that spend it on the Great Lakes. Check out Lang Elliot's woodcock page.  And if you are on Facebook, follow Lang Elliot--he's a cool dude.

It's World Sparrow Day soon! Please everyone, let's just be reasonable about snowy owls? Maybe? Latest Project Snowstorm update. Swarovski Optik contest for SLC binoculars. Have a good campfire story? Endangered kakapo accidentally crushes her egg but wildlife rehabbers fix it with tape and glue. Photographer Jim Neiger pleads guilty to harassing endangered snail kites. Funny duck story. Pelican with a GoPro on its beak. Places I've been recently: Klamath Falls Winter Wings Bird Festival and Alamo Inn Bed and Breakfast. We talked about a print that I purchase from a  "tea bag lady" here is here site Orphan Girl Fine Art. Here's the print I got.  

Mya Rose Craig is an 11 year old lister...she's already hit 3000 and has optics sponsorship. Now that is what I call an upper echelon birder. Because, you know, birders don't have enough to argue about, here's a totally unexpected development. It's legal in Wisconsin to trip snowy owls for falconry...and some guy did. Boom! I wrote up my thoughts about it over at 10000 Birds. There's a cool contest over at Birds & Blooms for a free trip to the Biggest Week in Birding. Audubon President David Yarnold on the Colbert Report to talk about culling barred owls in favor of endangered spotted owls. Interesting behavior documented by Corey Finger of what appears to be a lesbian pairing of Nanday parakeets. In some excellent news, the wind turbine project on Lake Erie has been halted. There are good places for wind farms but a major migratory corridor like that one isn't one of them. Dudes, it's an albatross live web cam in Hawaii--perfect escape from this long hard, Winterfell like winter. ABA announces this year's award winners and my friend Laura Erickson is one of them! Hey, did you see that we are doing another contest on the blog in the form of a web series? Check out this trailer--you might win a Swarovski Spotting Scope this spring!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm0OE0aSoV8&feature=c4-overview&list=UUcVJYmY1E0Lzar9p6qalw6g

Really cool birds in flight video. Artist Dentist Hlynsky creates visual trails that illustrate the path of each moving bird in a flock.  Really cool stuff! White doves that were released by children standing alongside Pope Francis as a peace gesture have been attacked by hood crows and yellow-legged gulls. National Geographic has a good explanation of it...yes, the crows and gulls were trying to eat the doves.  Kansas Secretary of State, Kris Kobach has a bill that makes it a felony for any federal agency to intervene on behalf of the greater or lesser prairie chickens. Cool new app from Cornell Lab of Ornithology identifies common bird for newbies...AND IT'S FREE! When you have time please read some of the cool research going down with Project Snowstorm! An old Onion article on the David Sibley Guide. And not an onion story...city tries to regulate what type of bird feeders you have. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIiS5mzc7ok  

  Holy crap, birding has gone mainstream: it's in the Boston Globe (on Neil Hayward breaking the North American big year record), Wall Street Journal (birders using taped calls) and USA Today (how birding is attracting "young fans" lol in their 30s and 40s).  Is 2014 the year of the BIRDER? Project Snow Storm: the study of a snowy owl irruption in real time. Contribute either sighting or money (I did).  Also here is an interesting of a snowy owl getting caught in a truck's grill (the owl is ok). The controversy surrounding the "rediscovery" of the night parrot in Australia. Also a list of bird discovered in 2013. Turkey chasing delivery guy--why I love living in Minnesota. What it's like to tell people you area a birder at a party.  

Here is the horrific bird house NBB and I were talking about:   *shiver* and Ew! Zombie bird feeder. Here are the links we talked about: Snowy owl nest. Compilation of the best snowy owl pics so far this winter. Some crazy guy in Iowa (who thinks owls have paws) started a blog on feeding them. Goldeneye x hooded merganser hybrid.  

We talked about scare crows, snowy owls, what you should really be concerned about with wind turbines going up on Lake Erie and oh cool this contest from Celebrate Urban birds...you have until January 15, 2014 to enter.

  This is a hard story about the pet bird trade in Beijing but we need to read it. And before you think, oh these are birds, I'll never see...check out the bohemian waxwing and red crossbill. On a side note, the US is offering a $1 million reward for information to help dismantle one of Asia’s largest wildlife-trafficking syndicates. Pete Dunne suffered a stroke last spring but he's still doing what he loves at Cape May. Read more about his future plans here. Wind company fined $1 million for killing eagles (as they should be fined). But be careful where some of the information protesting wind farms on birds' behalf is coming from.  Quite a bit of it comes from oil companies. Are hummingbirds really eating suet? Some New York City residents are not happy about the influx of wild turkeys. Maybe they should try the weird looking coyote decoys. Hand reared spoon-billed sandpiper found with wild flock. Talking starling story. You, North American Peeps, consider signing up for a Christmas Bird Count near you. Liam Neesons.

This is what I feel like when I go birding: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi8a1fOl4u4&feature=gp-n-y Read names of people who said they loved the podcast (it's on your phone). Rome is inundated with starling poop. Kayaker rescues hawk owl in Finland--amazing photo, here's the English version. 14 year old birder named Khalid Boudreau discovered the second-known breeding spot of the American white pelican in B.C. Forbes article tries to explain why the ToysRUs ad is backfiring but makes it a gender issue but Stephen Colbert NAILS it. Study about traffic noise and its affect on birds. Check out an online seminar on the behind the scenes of Cornell's Bird Cams. Learn some of the secrets this coming Monday, Nov. 18, at 7:30 P.M. Eastern, in a special live presentation from Bird Cams Project Leader Charles Eldermire.    

Brace yourselves, kids, there's a new Sibley coming. The company Toys R US has an advertising department that is full of complete and total jerks because of this ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5SXybm6bss Funny article about rules for the 20 something birder. Did you enjoy my post on Austria? Want to have a similar trip? Sign up with my friend Ben and Clay and go on their digiscoping tour of Austria. Here's Carl Sagan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZmafy_v8g8 Australian scientists work on plan to relocate species that will be affected by Climate Change.   Can you see the bird feet in this photo… 'cause I had a tough time. Check out Bird to the Max with The National Eagle Center.  

Dr. Drew Lanaham wrote up the 9 Rules for a Black Birdwatcher...funny and not so funny at the same time. Black hiker in the woods. How birding is like Pokeman. Is this new owl species hooting "Here comes the bride?" Another bird with a satellite transmitter has been "attacked" for being a spy. What we can really do to cut back on bird collisions with planes. Condor Cam...with extra carcass. Bird poop coffee is the new coffee...wait, what? What BuzzFeed thinks are "Borderline Genius" camping hacks...are what people should mostly know anyway.