Birdchick Podcast

Friday was a fun and active day--between the weather, the birds and friends it was just a day where you look around and think, "Isn't great to be alive?"  It's been wonderful to come home to spring birds and many of the Minnesota migrants have returned--even the common nighthawk, I heard one outside of the apartment my first night home. We did some banding at Carpenter Nature Center and though we didn't get huge amounts of birds, we got a good variety--especially woodpeckers.  Above is a downy woodpecker male, we got in two of those, plus a hairy and a red-bellied woodpecker.   I completely missed the red-bellied because... ... fellow bander Larry showed me shots of a scarlet tanager that was singing along the oak savanna trail at Carpenter.  Since it was slow, I took off after it.  The tanager was singing on territory and moving around like crazy.  It was a challenge getting him in decent light (the best I could do was the above photo) and then I just gave up to watch him...that red is practically impossible to recreate and sometimes it just fun to watch a bird with your eyes, not with your camera's viewfinder. After banding, I met up with a group who are helping to plan the Minnesota BioBlitz.  It's going to happen in the National Park that I work in: The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area--specifically in Crosby Park. Here is one of the many indigo bunting males staking claim on some territory along one of the trails--they should still be around for the BioBlitz June 12 - 13, 2009.  We're going to catalog all the wildife we can find from bugs to plants to birds to mammals to reptiles to fungus and everything in between.  We'll have walks, rides on a river boat, bird banding, and a whole host of stuff. While walking the trails, a fellow ranger said, "I haven't seen a pileated woodpecker in a long time. I'd like to see one again." Within 2 minutes of her saying that, a male showed up.  He stuck his head in a hole right off the trail...I'm about 90% certain he was feeding something inside the hole.  He then flew off to another tree and did some territorial drumming.  Here's a video: It never ceases to amaze me how effortless woodpeckers look when they make that loud drumming sound. Incredible creatures. Crosby is going to be a great spot for the BioBlitz--it's in the metro area, so it's easy to get to. Since it's right on the Mississippi River, there's going to be some great wildlife to see.  If you are in the area, you should check it out, it's free and open to the public.

I love this shot of the full moon visible from our flight to Europe. My journey to Kazakhstan started with a trip to Frankfurt.  My flights worked out to go from the Twin Cities, to Detroit, to Frankfurt and then on to Kazakhstan.  Originally, I was supposed to do this all in one day, but for whatever reason, it saved $1000 for me to arrive a day ahead, spend the night in Frankfurt and fly to Kazakhstan the following day--which I'm  really glad happened that way.  It gave me a chance to catch up with the time change...and finally do a bit of European birding.  This was my first time across the Atlantic. I was able to walk around the hotel and all the birds were new like the above chaffinch.  I also looked forward to experiencing some of the iconic birds of Europe like the nightingale which I did not see, but only heard.  This was fine with me, the song of the nightingale is written about so often, I'm not sure I would have counted it if I did not hear it (even if I saw it).  Here's a sample of the nightingale song. Some birds were just down right confusing to my little American brain.  Above is a blackbird--as a matter of fact, this is the very blackbird referenced in the Beatles song, Blackbird Singing In The Dead Of Night...which this bird did do...right outside my hotel room window.  However, if you look at the shape of this bird, it resembles an American robin, not something like a red-winged blackbird.  Check out the bill on this bird. Robins that I see are in the genus Turdus, their scientific name is Turdus migratorius.  Well, the blackbird above has the scientific name Turdus merula--they are in the same genus as North American robins.  European blackbirds are not the same as North American blackbirds, they are like our robins. It gets more confusing! Here is what a European robin looks like. It's not shaped like a Turdus at all (did I actually type that last sentence, yes I did).  The European robin's scientific name is Erithacus rubecula, it's not in the same genus as North American robins, about all they have in common are featers, an orange breast and a love of insects for breakfast. Anyway, here is another exciting (at least to me) Turdus that I got to see--a fieldfare.  My only regret is that when I was finally able to get my hands on my digiscoping equipment, it was softly raining and the light was terrible. But I had a great time watching something shaped like the robin I'm used to, but colored in a different way. This is a green finch.  After hearing the nightingale, seeing the blackbird, and then seeing this bird I thought, "All I need now is a linnet and I have a song from Sweeney Todd."  I didn't get one around the Frankfurt hotel, but did later in Kazakhstan.  Score! Here were some European goldfinches.  This was interesting, because I periodically see these sold in pet stores in North America.  It strikes me as odd that it's illegal to own North American birds as pets, but European birds are ok.  Actually, according to this website, you can get some of the birds in this post (like the chaffinch and green finch) and some of the birds I saw in Kazakhstan as pets.  Whoa, I just did some digging on their price list and found that one of their South American species for sale is a "yellow hood blackbird" which looks remarkably like a yellow-headed blackbird...that's not legal.  And as much as I love those birds, I would not want them singing in my home on a regular basis. Another fun bird to see what a white wagtails.  I ended up seeing several different versions of this bird throughout my travels and each one is very striking. I'm sure it's a common bird, but it's a striking one to see. That is a sampling of the birds that jump started my Kazakhstan journey.  After an afternoon of birds, I met up with some of our other travelling companions, had a meal and got a good night's sleep before board a plane for parts unknown.

A friend of mine, Scott Fraser got a recording of a black-billed cuckoo singing in his backyard.  Click here to listen to it.  You will hear his guinea fowl in the background, as well as an eastern towhee singing "Drink Your Teaaaaaaaa!" Totally safe for work.

In today's podcast, we tackle Sharon's experiences looking for the Ivory Billed Woodpecker and other viewer questions. Craig, thanks for your questions and do know that we kid because I love. Download the mp3. Questions? Leave 'em in the comments.

While in Indiana, I went out for some birding with my mom, my aunt and one of my sisters. In the Hoosier State, spring is ahead of my home in Minnesota, so I welcomed watching the song sparrows on territory singing for a mate (above).  There were also a few field sparrows singing which had me excited about hearing them at Carpenter Nature Center in a few weeks--it's such a great song. My mom and aunts have monitored a bald eagle nest in Mooresville, IN for the last five years.  They keep a journal on their observations and I smile when locals drive by, see my mom and say, "Hey, it's the Eagle Ladies. Hi!" Quite a few of the people who live near the nest have invited my mom and my aunts on their property to look at other birds.  One is a bed and breakfast called Lake in the Woods.  As we took the long driveway into their property, we passed a few beehives and then came to a whole bee yard with over 20 hives.  Their bees were much more active, you could see workers going in and out of hives to look for pollen and propolis.  I tried to get my sister, mom and aunt out of the vehicle to look at the hives, but they would not do it.  I told them they would be fine, but they rolled up their windows.  I swear, you blog about getting stung once or twice and no one wants to go near a hive. The owners of Lake in the Woods were very generous with their time and showed us around their yard full of chickens, guinea fowl, bees, a couple of pigs, and lots of great birds, including the above mourning dove.  A pair took up residence last summer on their porch and fledged two broods.  The pair of doves returned three weeks ago and got started again. I noticed some splashing on the lake behind the bed band breakfast and at first could not believe what I saw.  It could not be what I thought it was.  But when I got my bins and finally my scope on the splashing... ...I discovered that it was what I thought:  a common loon--my state bird.  I had to come all the way to Indiana to see the Minnesota state bird.  The loon was in the process of bathing and darted and splashed all over the lake.  I never saw these in Indiana when I was growing, but I wasn't often at a lake large enough for a loon either. Must be a migrant loon, on its way north, waiting for the lakes in the far north to open up.  Apparently, this species is possible to see on larger Indiana lakes during migration.  I got some video of it bathing, it really looked like it was having a good time. Nice day out.