I and the Bird #60

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Edition #60 of I and the Bird is currently online at the Search and Serendipity blog. Check it out for the best of bird blogging in the last few weeks.
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Juniper Titmouse @ Grand Canyon National Park Black-headed Grosbeak @ Grand Canyon National Park Broad-billed Hummingbird @ Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum Barn Owl @ Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum Anna’s Hummingbird @ Madera Canyon Anna’s Hummingbird @ Madera Canyon
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female Northern Saw-whet Owl A few nights ago I had the opportunity to help band saw-whet owls at a Girl Scout camp close to Halifax, PA. This excited me because, although saw-whet owls are one of the commonest owls in Canada and the northern US, I have rarely seen them. These owls are tiny, with the males only weighing as much as an American Robin (~75 g) and females just a little more than that. Saw-whet owls are a common target for banding because they are migratory, arriving in PA between October and November. We were looking forward to a busy night because a cold front had just passed thru and the wind was generally calm. Plus, we had heard reports from further north reporting some huge catches recently and were expecting a huge influx at any time.
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Yesterday was the day that I finally upgraded my binocular. I had decided that it was a good time to pass my adequate Swift Audubon HHS 8.5×44 on to my wife to replace her lower quality Bushnell’s. At least that was the noble reason. I also felt bad making her use those Bushnell’s when I was counting hawks at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary. It is amazing how much more you can enjoy bird watching when you are looking through a binocular that is sharp and has a large field of view (FOV) and I want her to enjoy birding with me. So I headed to Lost Creek Shoe Shop to look at binoculars. This Amish run shoe shop in Oakland Mills, Pa also has a large selection of all the top optics ranging from the hundreds to the thousands of dollars.
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Despite the much lauded launch of Cape May Bird Observatory’s, the most exciting thing for me on the site is the Mid-Atlantic Birding Forecast. When its updated, it provides a nice update on the potential weather conditions for movements of birds. David La Puma of woodcreeper.com is the guy who updates it and he has several years experience of looking at wind conditions and weather patterns to guesstimate flight conditions for both north and south migrations. I would recommend reading both these sites as well as Paul Lehman’s National Migration Forecast.
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You have to check this video out. At 8 minutes its a bit long for the typical internet browsing attention span but its well worth it.
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There is a little spot on the Susquehanna River south of Harrisburg known for fall Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrows. It’s basically a collection of small islands populated by sedges and grasses and the sparrows seem to like it. Today, the most common passerines on the islands were American Pipits and Savannah Sparrows. The real show-stoppers today were the shorebirds, though. A friend and I managed 11 species, which is notable for an October birding excursion in Pennsylvania. For me, the most exciting find were the three juvenile Long-billed Dowitchers that foraged for a long stretch of time with both Yellowlegs. Unfortunately I forgot the memory cards for the camera and so this is the best shot of the birds I could come up with.
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For a nice story from The Onion click on the story below. Rhino, Tickbird Stuck In Dead-End Symbiotic Relationship POLOKWANE, SOUTH AFRICA—”We just go through the motions and there’s hardly any communication. I get on top and take the parasites off while he just lays there,” the tickbird said. .onion_embed {background: rgb(256, 256, 256) !important;border: 4px solid rgb(65, 160, 65);border-width: 4px 0 1px 0;margin: 10px 30px !important;padding: 5px;overflow: hidden !important;zoom: 1;}.onion_embed img {border: 0 !important;}.onion_embed a {display: inline;}.onion_embed a.img {float: left !important;margin: 0 5px 0 0 !important;width: 66px;display: block;overflow: hidden !important;}.onion_embed a.img img {border: 1px solid #222 !important;;width: 64px;;padding: 0 !important;;}.onion_embed h2 {line-height: 2px;;clear: none;;margin: 0 !important;padding: 0 !important;}.onion_embed h3 {line-height: 16px;font: bold 16px arial, sans-serif !important;margin: 3px 0 0 0 !important;padding: 0 !important;}.onion_embed h3 a {line-height: 16px !important;;color: rgb(0, 51, 102) !important;font: bold 16px arial, sans-serif !important;text-decoration: none !important;display: inline !important;;float: none !important;;text-transform: capitalize !important;}.
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It looks like migration could be pretty strong tonight, check out the radar image below. *update* I went out and did some moon-watching thanks to the post that Woodcreeper put on the Jersey listserv concluding the same thing I did; there was substantial migration going on. I counted 60 birds crossing the moon in 16 minutes which is the highest traffic rate I have seen in the few times I have moon-watched. If anyone knows how to extrapolate the number of migrants passing over from moon-watching results please let me know.
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So almost 2 months ago I was in Arizona for my honeymoon. We stayed in Sedona for a while enjoying the scenic canyons and visiting the Grand Canyon and Petrified Forest National Parks. I did not manage any digiscoping on that part of the trip but we then went to SE Arizona for a few days and I did much better then. This White-eared Hummingbird was phonescoped thru my binoculars. It is amazing what one can do now with the availability of cameras everywhere. I am just waiting for the day when I find a rarity and can send the picture to a group of people moments after seeing it for verification and notification. White-eared Hummingbird- Miller Canyon I was able to take this shot at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum of a female Broad-billed Hummingbird sitting on her nest.
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