By admin | July 1, 2009
Submitted by The Birdcouple Blog
Wherein we share bits of important news and views about the environment and birds…
* In the
better late than never category (hey, it’s still June, at least on the East Coast of the USA!),
here is the June issue of the Birding Community E-Bulletin, chock full of cool stuff like a Greater Sand-Plover seen in Florida; designation of the Chesapeake bay as a “National Treasure” and the potential addition of two species, Horned Grebe and Whip-poor-will, to Canada’s list of at-risk species.
* On the subject of
at-risk species, the BBC
reports that a 30-year study of woodland birds has found catastrophic declines in many species. The Nightingale, which inspired odes from Britain’s greatest poets, has declined by 95 percent, virtually vanishing from Britain’s woodlands.
* In
happier news,
the American Bird Conservancy reports that a new effort, undertaken in cooperation with the Colombian organization
ProAves, has established a reserve for
Niceforo’s Wren, one of the world’s most endangered species, with less than 25 breeding pairs known to exist. We LIKE the A.B.C.
*
Closer to home, and in today’s mediocre picture category, Warren arrived back from Iran and discovered that summer had indeed arrived. He went hiking at
Cedarville State Forest and, along with seeing and hearing many breeding warbler species, found a few damselflies:
W and L are off this weekend to do our first three-day hike on the Appalachian Trail, doing a bit of New York and finishing off New Jersey!! Somewhere along the way, we will cross the 1/4 mark of doing the whole trail! WOW! More info on BC and the AT
here. And the Appalachian Trail Conservancy has a
really cool new interactive map on their website….
By admin | June 29, 2009
Submitted by The Birdcouple Blog
Lisa has been keeping Birdcouple.com going (there could never be any question about Birdcouple itself keeping going), while Warren has been galavanting around the world. Well, to be more precise, Warren was in Iran for 10 days covering the election, which turned into quite another story … but that’s another story.
And then it took W about a week to recover, thanks to MORE work on Iran, jetlag, some Persian flu bug, etc, etc. So, mea culpa.
But Birdcouple is definitely a blog made for 2, and while June has been a bit of a wash out, here we go again!!!
Here are a few birds from Golestan Palace in Tehran, which was the seat of power during Iran’s Qajar dynasty. These beautiful paintings look like doves for sure, but what species, I couldn’t say.
Golestan actually has a very eco-friendly building, 200 years before its time, that is an architectural wind-catcher, designed to catch the wind and use it for natural cooling… Cool!
By admin | June 29, 2009
Submitted by Bird TLC Blog
Ghost and I went to the Kenai River Festival last week. Thanks to Ken and Judy Marlow for putting us up. Ghost got to spend his first night perched out at the foot of my bed. I didn’t feel that he needed to stay in his kennel all night. He did pretty good for his first time. The festival was a blast.
This is baby bird time at TLC. We get loads of baby 
ducks, magpies, chickadee’s, etc. This year we got a mom and its baby. Mom was hit by a car. Someone picked her up and what babies she could and brought them in. Mom has a wing injury. Only one of the babies survived. Tell me that picture doesn’t make you say AAWWWW!!!!
We’re getting improvements to our property all the time now. People who see it will be able to tell that it belongs to Bird TLC. We have our own sign.
By admin | June 26, 2009
Submitted by The Birdcouple Blog
This is the Pfeilstorch or the Arrow-Stork which can be found, stuffed, in the
Zoological Collection of the University of Rostock.
The Arrow-Stork was discovered in northern Germany, alive and fairly well, in 1822.
The only problem was that it had an 80 cm long spear stuck in its neck.
A spear whose origin was Central Africa.
The discovery of the Arrow-Stork solved the mystery of where birds go each fall. Prior to finding the bird (who had somehow survived the entire migration in an impaled state) birdwatchers speculated that birds turned into mice or hibernated each winter - perhaps at the bottom of the sea.
This Pfeilstorche and the 25 other recorded pfeilstorches were the first proof that birds migrate long distances and don’t nap away the winter months.
Thanks to Paul for sending us some Friday cool stuff.
Happy weekend!
By admin | June 26, 2009
Submitted by Birding Notes Blog
This morning, for the first time this season, I heard a Blue Grosbeak singing in the old field. The warbled high notes of its song cut through the traffic noise of the highway below, though just barely. It was hard to hear anything else but trucks and cars and SUVs.
I found the Grosbeak low, going from spot to spot in pokeweed and other ragged shrubs and stopping to sing along the way. His intensely blue plumage and big silver beak stood out brightly. He swished his tail from side to side, and now and then called a hard metallic chink! He was one of the most brilliantly colored Blue Grosbeaks I’ve ever seen. I don’t know if the color was all in the bird or the early morning light or a combination of both, but he looked uncommonly clear, fresh, sunlit blue.
He kept moving and I lost him in the thickets, then found him again, singing from the top of a small chinaberry tree half covered in kudzu vines. From there, too, he looked very colorful.
Meanwhile, a Red-tailed Hawk sat on a pole overlooking the highway. Mockingbirds and Towhees sang. Three Brown Thrashers preened in the upper branches of ragged shrubs. A Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and a Downy Woodpecker called from the shade of the clustered pines, and a Ruby-throated Hummingbird zipped over the tops of the weeds and grasses. The purple thistles have almost all gone to seed, the grasses look faded and yellow, all the shrubs and vines look baked and curled by the heat, and the big white flowers of wild potato-vines splotch the shaggy grasses in the power cut.
By admin | June 26, 2009
Submitted by The Birdcouple Blog
Yes, Cute Husband and I will take any opportunity to party!
And, this week we are in the midst of celebrating
Pollinator Week!
There are about 200,000 species of pollinators which include hummingbirds, bats, beetles, bees, ants, butterflies, moths and even wasps.
Without the work of these creatures that transfer pollen grains and ensure fertilization we would have a serious lack of blueberries, melons, peaches, vanilla and almonds.
And if that isn’t scary enough, pollinators are also necessary for the healthy production of coffee and chocolate.
The chocolate part really scares me.
The pollinator of chocolate is but a tee tiny fly that is no bigger than a pinhead. 
So say Hooray! to the next little bee or ant or fly you see!
The best way to bring pollination right into your own habitat is by planting continuous blooming nectar laden plants and avoiding pesticide use.
Perhaps I can talk Cute Husband into celebrating the week with a little chocolate… and wine….
By admin | June 24, 2009
Submitted by Birding Notes Blog
A first-spring Summer Tanager sang a tentative song from the branches of oaks and pecans in the front yard this morning. The song was clearly the slurred, musical whistle of a Summer Tanager, but much softer and more hesitant. Splotched about half and half rose-red and deep yellow, he sang not from a treetop, but from low in the branches, moving from place to place, singing a few bars here, and a few bars there.
By admin | June 24, 2009
Submitted by Birding Notes Blog
This morning – another hot, sunny day – a male Eastern Towhee sat on a wire along the road that runs by the old field, singing a song that ends in three sharp, quick tink-tink-tinks. This song is different from a Towhee’s usual drink-your-tea song or to-whee call, and it often takes me a minute to remember what bird it is. The Towhee in the field has been singing it all this week, and maybe longer, and I remember it from previous years. Today I watched him sing this song several times from his perch on the wire.
I have not been able to find any description of this song or a reference to it, except for notes that Eastern Towhees sing a number of different songs that have not been fully described. It is somewhat similar to the drink-your-tea song, except that it’s backward. Instead of beginning with short notes and ending with a trill, this song seems to begin with something like a garbled trill and end with three very crisp, distinct notes. These notes are not rising and falling, but are all the same pitch – tink-tink-tink.
By admin | June 24, 2009
Submitted by Birding Notes Blog
Also this morning, I walked off the road that runs along the field and up a rutted driveway that leads to an abandoned house and an overgrown, weedy area, and found two Black Vultures and one Turkey Vulture all perched on the tops of separate poles. One Black Vulture and the Turkey Vulture sat with their backs to the sun and with wings held out to warm them. The Turkey Vulture, in particular, looked much more impressive than one usually does, almost handsome, its dull black feathers and red head standing out clearly against a blue sky.
By admin | June 24, 2009
Submitted by Birding Notes Blog
Back home in northeast Georgia, we’re in the middle of a heat wave as summer officially arrives, with temperatures near 100 for the past few days, and more of the same in the forecast for next week. The rasp of cicadas rises and falls, and grasshoppers sing. Wasps, bees, dragonflies and other flying insects buzz and hum. Chimney Swifts chatter as they sweep low over the grass in the morning. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds visit the feeder and flowers on the back deck often. Red-eyed Vireos sing fast and constantly all day, but stay deep in the woods. Now and then I hear the sharp wheet of an Acadian Flycatcher from down near the creek.
The highlights of a morning walk for me – trying to beat the worst of the heat – were the summery call of a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, a pair of Red-tailed Hawks and a juvenile, and a Scarlet Tanager perched in a treetop and singing.
About 7:30 this morning it was already very warm and humid when I left the house. The sky was covered in high, rumpled clouds that drifted apart and faded away as I walked, clearing the way for another blistering sunny day. Around our yard the songs of a Northern Parula and a Pine Warbler sounded shady and cool. A Great-crested Flycatcher called whreep. Downy Woodpeckers and Red-bellied Woodpeckers rattled. Two Phoebes hunted from low branches.
Seven Crows stalked in the grass of a neighbor’s lawn across the street. Several Robins were scattered across the grass of another yard, and a couple of Robins sang from treetops. Blue-gray Gnatcatchers called spee from a thicket. Bluebirds flashed their colors all along the way, very active, and some perched in treetops and sang. Bird songs and calls generally were scattered and muffled and mostly in the distance, with a few exceptions – the dry cawp-cawp-cawp-cawp of a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, the lisping song of a Phoebe, the warbling of House Finches – and the enthusiastic songs of several Mockingbirds. One that sings from an area near the small pond does a near-perfect imitation of a Kingfisher’s rattle, as well as the scream of a Red-tailed Hawk, and variations on Carolina Wren, Brown-headed Nuthatch, White-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, Cardinal and several more.
Goldfinches passed over, trailing their potato-chip calls, House Wrens sang cheery, energetic bursts of song here and there. Carolina Wrens, Chickadees, Titmice, Blue Jays, Cardinals and too many Brown-headed Cowbirds sang or called.
When I got to the old field, a Red-tailed Hawk was sitting on top of a pole overlooking the highway. Several mornings during the past week, two Red-tailed Hawks and one juvenile have been around this area – the juvenile often screaming while the adults perch quietly. This time, while I was watching, a second Red-tailed Hawk flew up and joined the first one on top of the same pole. Both of these were adults. They lifted their wings, looking as if they had a little trouble finding footing, but then they both settled down and sat there sharing the space, facing in opposite directions. I walked on, and when I saw them again on my way back, one had flown to the next pole out over the highway. A third Red-tailed Hawk – the juvenile – then circled high over the same area, crying repeatedly.
Earlier in the week a single Indigo Bunting sang almost every day in or near the field – sweet-sweet, chew-chew, sweet-sweet – but this morning it wasn’t there.
As I got close to home again, I heard the squeaking calls of Brown-headed Nuthatches, the long dry trill of a Chipping Sparrow, and saw several Bluebirds perched in trees and flying from place to place. But the best part of the walk came just as I reached our driveway, when I heard a few hoarse bars of a song and saw a tiny shape in the leaves at the top of a water oak across the street. It was a glass-red Scarlet Tanager, singing, in the same territory where one sang all day every day last summer.
By admin | June 24, 2009
Submitted by Bird TLC Blog
Young guys seem to get in the most trouble, no matter what species they might be. Because of the population of eagles in Alaska, we get to see quite a few.
This guy was sent to us by Liz of U.S.F.& W. in the Kenai NWR. He some how got tangled in tossed fishing gear. What we figure is that he got this treble hook caught under his wing. He reached down with his beak to pull it off. In doing so he got the hook right through his tongue. He had to be down for a few days.
He’s not feeling good now, but he has to be feeling a lot better than before. He gets to have Bird TLC hospitality until he gets back into shape.
The raven was sent to us from Nome. U.S.F. & W. shipped this raven down who wasn’t flying on its own. He has some major leg and foot issues. Dr. Riddle has fixed him 
up with his version of Nike’s for now. This is a young raven, probably this years bird. He’s very talkative.
Meet Gus. He’s an education bird that came to TLC in 1991 with a broken wing. They figure he was about 2 at the time. It was determined that he wasn’t releasable. He has gone through 3 caretakers 
and several presenters during that time. Now it’s my turn to try to present him. Gus and I are in training together with Lisa as my mentor. We’ll keep you updated.
By admin | June 23, 2009
Submitted by Craigs Birds Blog
By admin | June 22, 2009
Submitted by Craigs Birds Blog
Cute Husband returned on Wednesday from covering the election in Iran.
His work (said his proud wife) can be found here:
Apparently he was a little busy and didn’t get a chance to add anything to the BirdCouple year bird list….
Sigh. So good to have him home…
Birding tomorrow morning, Love?
By admin | June 22, 2009
Submitted by Craigs Birds Blog
The first bird we saw at Randolph was the Dickcissel, yet another life bird for all three of us. They were all over and are very chatty birds. They pretty much sang the entire time we were there. I think I was most pleased with these shots from the day.
By admin | June 22, 2009
Submitted by Craigs Birds Blog
We had never seen a Bobolink before and although we had heard they were there, we didn’t spot this one until right before we left. We were just saying that it was time to go and my Father spotted a bird farther out in the field so he went to check it out and low and behold it was a Bobolink.
By admin | June 22, 2009
Submitted by Craigs Birds Blog
Here’s the Grasshopper Sparrow from the other day. There call is actually quite distinctive. My mother compared it to a locust which I had to agree with.
Again, if this looks like the wrong ID please let me know! 
By admin | June 22, 2009
Submitted by Birding Notes Blog
In addition to the Black-necked Stilts and Ospreys, many other birds were active around the Willet Pond and Ibis Pond on Kiawah. Clate got some amazing photographs – the best part of these postings by far! Click here to see a slide show.
Four Wood Storks soared overhead and then flew in to wade in shallow water with Great Egrets, foraging for small fish and other prey. Two Glossy Ibis foraged on the far edge of the Willet Pond, too far away to see their dark blue-green and rust-colored plumage well, though their shapes and long down-curved bills were distinctive. Twice I saw a fairly large, rufous-orange bird fly up out of the grass and back down again, so warmly colored I think it must have been a King Rail.
Snowy Egrets, with their bright yellow “golden slippers;” Tricolored Herons in blue-gray and white, with a thin ribbon of orange down the throat and neck and hints of purple and mauve; and at least one Little Blue Heron foraged in open areas of shallow water. Many Red-winged Blackbirds sang and flashed the colors in their wings, and an Orchard Oriole – with handsome chestnut-red body and black hood – perched in the top of a shrub and whistled a clear, musical song.
Two Green Herons stalked in the grass and shrubs near the edge of the water. Lots of Laughing Gulls flew over and all around us, perched on the rail of an observation deck, and dove down to fish, and three or four Royal Terns flew by.
Four Least Terns were among the most fun to watch, fluttering, hovering and diving into the water. These small, graceful terns are considered species of concern because the sandy beaches they need for nesting habitat are also increasingly popular and heavily used for recreation.
We also saw this beautiful Gull-billed Tern flying over the Ibis Pond. I’m not familiar enough with terns to be completely sure of the identification, but its size, coloring and rather heavy, all-black bill were distinctive. If any readers could let me know, I’d be very interested to confirm if I’ve correctly identified it. (Click on the image for a larger view.)
By admin | June 22, 2009
Submitted by Birding Notes Blog
On our visit to Kiawah Island, SC, last week, a pair of Ospreys were active around a nest occupied by a Great Horned Owl in mid-March. (March 15 blog posting) Photos by Clate Sanders
The two Ospreys were present around the nest area each of four times we went there during the week – soaring, perching in pines very near the nest, and bringing fish to nearby pines to eat. Twice one of the Ospreys flew to the nest and sat in it for a few moments, then left it. On the last day we were there, we saw one of the Ospreys fly to the nest with a stick and appear to be working it in.
After we returned home, I found an April 18 report from the nature program on Kiawah Island that “the last owlet at Willet pond is now gone and the Ospreys have moved in, they were spotted re-building the nest and courting.” (Kiawah Island Golf Resort) So I’m not sure what was happening now, two months after that report – but it seems like they have reclaimed the nest even after it was used by the Great Horned Owls.
By admin | June 22, 2009
Submitted by Bird TLC Blog
Britt and I went to the flight center on Friday to feed our feathered friends and to get Adolph, a bald eagle and bring him back to the clinic. He’s being released on Saturday, yeah!
One of our electrocution birds that we call Gomes had a feather caught on his beak. In the photo at left he looks like he’s balancing it on his beak. He can be a goof ball.
Enlarge the owl photo and look at its right eye. The spider isn’t actually on his eye, but right in front of it.
The mature bald is Adolph. He has absolutely nothing wrong with him. He just likes to hold his right wing out when he’s perched. He flies beautifully. We brought him back to the clinic a 
few months back and took x-rays, did a full exam to include blood and found no reason for him to be doing that. Since he flies well and is in good health, he gets released.
We had to do some repairs on the netting in one cell. We’re taking a rough-legged hawk out next week to get some flight time and maybe start Mouse U in a couple weeks. In another cell a cable had got some slack in it and we needed to tighten that up. That place is getting old and needs some attention.
It was time to take out the trash and head out. As I got to the door I yelled for Britt to get her camera. Mom and young moose were moseying by. So the trash got to wait. One thing you don’t do is get between mom and her baby.
Just another day.
Photo Credit: Britt Coon / Bird TLC
By admin | June 19, 2009
Submitted by BrdPics Blog
By admin | June 19, 2009
Submitted by Craigs Birds Blog
Hello All,
Last weekend I went down to the Randolph Industrial Park with my mother and father we saw quite a few new birds for all of us. My expectation was that this was going to be a park in the sense that it would have trails, or a playground, or something generally associated with a park. However, this is basically an undeveloped area with roads that will eventually lead to commercial buildings. It’s looks like an undeveloped neighborhood at present so when we got there we had a little trouble locating it due to our somewhat mis-guided preconception of where we were heading. Upon our arrival we were greeted with birds within minutes of stopping the car. We saw Savannah Sparrows, Grasshopper Sparrows, Dickcissel, and Bobolinks, all of which were life birds for the 3 of us. I would say that one of my biggest weaknesses with bird ID’s has got to be sparrows so if my ID’s look suspicious, please let me know. I’ll post photos of the above mentioned birds over the coming days. Let’s start with the Savannah Sparrow!
By admin | June 16, 2009
Submitted by Birding Notes Blog
The birding highlight of a visit to Kiawah Island last week was finding Black-necked Stilts in the marsh grasses around the Willet Pond – along with four Wood Storks, two Glossy Ibis, several Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Tri-colored Herons, at least one Little Blue Heron, two Green Herons, four Least Terns, Royal Terns, lots of Laughing Gulls, and two Ospreys around the nest occupied in March by Great Horned Owls. Photos by Clate Sanders
We first saw the Black-necked Stilts Sunday, June 7, at the Willet Pond. I had been watching herons, egrets and the wood storks, when I began noticing agitated calls that sounded to me like repeated breeks, and saw something fly up around one of the Wood Storks. To my amazement, it was a Black-necked Stilt – a very elegant, slender, black-and-white patterned wading bird with long thin red legs. For me, it was a life bird. I had never seen one before anywhere, and had not known they might be here on Kiawah. A pair were flying up again and again around the Wood Stork and calling, and finally, after five or ten minutes, the stork spread its wings heavily and drifted to a different spot, out of the grass, in an area of open shallow water.
After seeing those first two Black-necked Stilts, we began to see others spread out all through the marsh grass around the pond. They flew up here and there briefly, sometimes flew from place to place, low over the edge of the water, and several stalked out into open areas of mudflat and shallow water, where we were able to see them very well. Their black, white and red coloring caught the eye quickly.
A June 5 report on the Kiawah Island Golf Resort’s website says that Black-necked Stilts are a rare summer visitor to Kiawah. “This year, we are fortunate to have several pairs on our island. In fact, according to our Town Biologists, “the stilts are exhibiting behaviors which lead us to believe they may be nesting.”
By admin | June 16, 2009
Submitted by Bird TLC Blog
Anchorage Rehab Center Helps Injured Birds Return To The Wild
Lauren Maxwell CBS 11 News
Updated: 06/14/2009 12:31:44 PM AKDT
Did you know that Alaska is home to over half of the wild bird species that live in the entire U.S.? Or that wild birds from around the world migrate to our state every year? It’s the reason that Anchorage has a premier treatment center that works to heal wild birds from all over the state.
Anchorage’s Bird Treatment and Learning Center is that place. The center is known for working with raptors like eagles, hawks and owls. But it also takes in any bird that’s injured, everything from exotic sea birds to tiny song birds.
Director Cindy Palmatier says bird injuries generally fall into three categories: toxins, trauma or starvation. Volunteers work to nurse all kinds of birds back to health at the clinic with the eventual goal of setting them free. But if their scars are more permanent they are trained to become education birds.
Bird T.L.C. presenters go to schools and public events across the state. They take the birds so that people can see them up close, learn about the species and the habitat it takes to support them.
“That they’re beneficial and have a niche to fill and the more that we can expose people to that the better. If you can do that with live non-releasable
birds where people can make an emotional connection to a specific bird they may think twice before destroying habitat. People will respect what they understand.” says Palmatier.
But while bird TLC would love to show more people the good work they do, they have a problem. The center has no place to bring the public. Bird TLC operates out of a donated warehouse in an industrial area of Anchorage. It’s old and crowded and not at all the permanent home that Bird TLC is dreaming of.
That dream rests on a piece of property owned by Bird TLC over looking bird rich Potter’s Marsh. It’s where they are hoping to build a full fledged rehab and education center, open to the public in an area that is already a popular visitors site.
Palmatier says the eventual plan would be to link the boardwalk put up by Fish and Game at the marsh to the new Bird TLC building and have the two agencies work together on projects. Palmatier says the dream of a permanent facility is still millions of dollars away, money she knows will be tough to raise. But, she says, Bird TLC will keep working to make their vision come true.
If you’d like to learn more about Bird TLC and their programs we have posted a link to their website. You can find it under the links and information section on this page.
To contact the Newsroom, call 907-274-1111.
By admin | June 12, 2009
Submitted by The Birdcouple Blog
Yes. You got that right.
Three solid hours of birding with Dan Haas of Nervous Birds fame and not one dang bird.
Dan helped me do a Nightjar Survey coordinated by the Center of Conservation Biology at the College of William and Mary because Cute Husband is off doing important journalism and because I am afraid of wandering around in dark potentially sketchy places alone.
So, we started at moonrise and stopped 10 times along a route strewn with strip malls and parking lots. Two of the stops had some habitat potential for Chuck-will’s widow and Whip-poor-will and various other stops looked good for Common Nighthawk.
We heard nothing.
Not one squeak, tweet, hoot, peet.
For 3 hours.
So, after a disappointing run, we decided to make for the “sure” spots for Chucks, Whips and Owls (it is now 11:30 PM).
We heard nothing.
It was so quiet I remember wishing for a strange mammal to cross our paths just for a little excitement.
So, I drop off Dan and get home at 12:45AM and hop into bed when I hear this tiny squeaking and wings beating all over the LoveNest bedroom.
Hi Mr. Bat.
I tried everything.
I opened windows and doors.
I turned off and on lights.
I tried to speak bat to politely ask him to return to the wild.
It was actually oddly beautiful to watch him fly about and occasionally dive bomb me.
It was also somewhat unnerving.
I decided to find the crab net (which is a typical tool in the house of any Annapolitan) and see if I could help him without injuring him.
When I returned from the garage, there was no sign of him.
Perhaps he decided to roost in between the stones of the fireplace:
Perhaps he was resting behind a curtain:
Could he be hanging out behind this cute picture of Cute Husband?
Or maybe….
Can someone please explain to me why this crazy stuff happens only when manly Cute Husband is away?
By admin | June 10, 2009
Submitted by The Birdcouple Blog
Ok, Paris is nice too!
But nothing beats an old fashioned swamp in the spring! Birds singing over territories.
Frogs calling from the trees and croaking from the wetland.
Bugs of all diversity eating or being eaten.
Sigh.
Yes, there is nothing like a romantic date in a swamp, preferably right after a soaking rain…
