Earlier this month, the Barn Owl was named Audubon California’s 2010 Bird of the Year by popular vote. Although not one of the six birds nominated by group, the Barn Owl won as a write-in candidate with nearly 70% of the total vote. The species probably got a boost via an extremely popular Barn Owl nest cam that ran over the spring. Molly the Owl got worldwide attention. The Barn Owl is doing relatively well in California; local populations suffer from habitat loss. The species is endangered here in Illinois for the same reasons.
Meanwhile, Dutch bird research partners including the Dutch branch of BirdLife International named 2011 the Year of the Barn Swallow. The population of Barn Swallows in the Netherlands has been cut in half over the past 40 years. Researchers are asking for the public’s help in reporting Barn Swallow sightings as well as previous and potential nest sites. Dutch friends can visit this site to learn more.
While I can’t predict what my bird of the year for 2011 will be, I can say that 2010 was the year of the Barred Owl. I got to meet a very special education Barred Owl named Meepy, and I am looking forward to spending more time with her in 2011.
And one of my most exciting bird sightings of the year took place on November 13th, when Arthur and I attended an Owl Prowl at Ryerson Woods in Lake County and saw our first Illinois Barred Owl! The owl was a lifer for many on the trip and a county tick for everyone except the trip leader (I think), including a friend who has been birding in Lake County for over 40 years. It was so exciting and I regret that I didn’t blog about it at the time (because I didn’t have any photos to share).
Last December I came up with a few birding-related things I hoped to accomplish during the coming year. My targets weren’t too lofty, really: use eBird; read some books; see some birds. So how did I do with my 2010 Birding Goals?
I started using eBird regularly right from the start, but on repeat visits to regular birding spots, I didn’t keep regular lists as the year wore on. In my initial blog post I expressed some frustration in understanding certain nuances of eBird, especially when it came to bringing up reports. Happy to say I got the hang of it enough to be able to find what I’m looking for, mostly, but sometimes it’s still a small struggle to find what I need. I can use it, but it doesn’t come naturally just yet. With a total of just 122 checklists entered for the year, representing an estimated 85% of my birding trips, I’d say the eBird goal I set for myself was met, but just barely.
Another goal I had was to read most of my birdy natural history books. Total failure! What once took up just over a shelf in my office now occupies an entire case plus. I did end up cycling out quite a few books out (see Book Reviews Revisited), but I took in far more. Book shelf space is a small issue, though, and I am happy with some great titles I managed to snag this year, even if I didn’t manage to read everything I wanted to.
Lastly, I hoped to see 200 birds in Illinois AND get my life list up over 500 birds. This was kind of a wonky goal, seeing as how my life list isn’t really recorded very well in the first place. I share most sightings with Arthur, who keeps a list with Birdstack. He has a bird or two on me, but I was using his list as a basis, saying at the end of last year that 13 new lifers were needed to hit 500. Together we got 44 new species which brings Arthur’s life list up to 545. Yeah, something’s not right with the math, I know. I can say with certainty that MY OWN Illinois list for 2010 only reached 165 species, and MY OWN world list for 2010 was 235 species. So, another big all-around fail.
Of course two failures and one just-barely met birding goal don’t mean all that much, really. I certainly don’t feel like the birding I did in 2010 was any kind of failure, especially since I learned a lot (!!) and had a lot of fun (!!). Those are the only goals that matter, anyway, and they will remain year after year.
Did you have any birding goals for 2010? How did you do? I’ll post my own goals for 2011 tomorrow.
Operation Migration [OM] has been working to reintroduce critically endangered Whooping Cranes into the wild since 2001. Their goal is to establish a migratory population of Whooping Cranes in the eastern part of North America. Each fall, part of their work involves flying first-year birds from their breeding grounds in Wisconsin down to wintering grounds in Florida with the aid of ultralight aircraft. On Sunday, October 31st, Arthur and I were lucky enough to see the cranes as they departed their Fall 2010 stop in Winnebago County, Illinois. Arthur wrote up a nice post, which contains more information about OM, on our personal blog: Whooping Cranes and Operation Migration in Winnebago County, IL.
Volunteers with OM were on hand at the viewing site to let us know what the pilots were doing. The first step was to test the flight conditions. Once the initial flight was made, and conditions were deemed suitable for flight, the ultralight planes circled back to get the birds*, and they were on their way. Two ultralight planes accompanied the flock of 10 birds. The first plane appeared in the distance.
As it approached, we could hear other crane viewers shouting – “there they are!” and “I see birds!”
Soon we could all see the flock of birds-and-aircraft heading our way. The flightpath brought them directly over us as we waited in the viewing area. It was very exciting!
I stopped taking photos and stood in awe as they passed right over my head. I snapped a couple more pictures as they headed off towards the sun.
Here is the group of “craniacs” at the viewing site shortly after the flyover.
Over the next few weeks, the cranes will follow the ultralight aircraft as they make their way to Florida. Several stops along the migration route provide viewing locations, so you can go and view the birds flying overhead, as we did. You can also watch the birds online via the Operation Migration Crane Cam, and follow along with their progress via the Field Journal. You can help support Operation Migration by making a donation, becoming a member, or purchasing Operation Migration merchandise.
*This is an extreme simplification of the process. Follow the Field Journal to learn more about the process of teaching these young endangered birds how to migrate.
Last Saturday night Arthur and I visited the Sand Bluff Bird Observatory in Durand, Illinois. The banding station is open each weekend during spring and fall migration, and they band a huge number of birds – up to 4,000 per year. The station has been in operation since 1967 and has always been run by a team of dedicated volunteers. Visitors are welcome to observe songbird banding activities, which takes place during the day. Our visit on Saturday night was to see a special, nocturnal bird: the Saw-whet Owl.
Northern Saw-whet Owls are small owls that winter in our region (there have been a few records of breeding Saw-whets in Lake and Winnebago Counties). The birds are banded during migration, when they are lured into mist nets using recordings of Saw-whet Owl calls. The data gathered through banding helps us understand more about these tiny nocturnal owls.
As in other bird banding work, data such as sex, age and condition are measured each time a Saw-whet Owl is captured and banded. Saw-whets can be sexed by comparing measurements like wing chord (the length of an extended, relaxed wing) and weight. Age can be determined by examining the plumage and molt pattern.
The program began with Sand Bluff Master Bander and founder Lee Johnson telling us about the banding station and their work. Since no Saw-whet Owls were found during the first evening net-run, Lee took some time to show us a few of the songbirds that were still being processed at the end of the day. Here he’s showing a Hermit Thrush. Of the thrushes that migrate through the area, Hermits are usually the first to arrive in the spring and the last to fly through in the fall.
SBBO Master Bander Lee Johnson with a Hermit Thrush
It was great to see these little birds, which included a Fox Sparrow and a fiesty Field Sparrow besides the Hermit Thrush. But it did come as a relief when a Saw-whet Owl was found in the nets on the second run of the evening. Notice the high-pitched tooting in the videos – that’s the recorded call of the Saw-whet.
A Saw-whet Owl in the mist net
Removing the owl from the mist net
Putting the Saw-whet Owl into the mesh bag
In all, three birds were captured in the nets during the evening. After an owl was removed from the net, it was brought back to the banding station building in a mesh bag. The bird remains in the bag during the banding process.
Banding a Saw-whet Owl
The main reason for this is to protect the bander’s hands from these:
Sharp and deadly to prey! Saw-whet Owl talons
After banding, the bird is examined and measured, and the data is recorded. The wing feathers are even examined under a black light to help determine the bird’s age.
Examining the wings
Counting the feathers
Measuring the tail
Viewing the plumage under black light; the uniform pink indicates a juvenile bird
Saw-whet Owls are extremely docile in the hand, which adds to their already high cuteness factor. Did you notice how calm the bird was in the two video clips above? After data was taken on each bird, visitors were able to have a closer look. Here, Lee shows us the large ear opening of a Saw-whet Owl.
A Saw-whet Owl ear opening
The birds also appear to enjoy having the backs of their heads stroked, as you can see in this short clip.
A Saw-whet enjoys a pet
Earlier in the evening, Lee had asked each visitor to introduce him/herself and tell the group his/her reason for visiting. As an introvert I admit I dread such moments, but I mentioned volunteering at the MAPS banding station at Rollins this summer. While the Sand Bluff volunteers were out on the third and final net-run of the night, Arthur and I remained behind and spoke with Lee about the MAPS work at Rollins and he told us quite a few fun banding anecdotes as we waited. It was really a treat to hear stories from someone with so much experience as a birder and bird bander.
After the third bird of the evening was banded, the few of us that remained were able to hold the bird, if we wished.
Squee!
The Sand Bluff Bird Observatory will have another Owl Night this Saturday, October 23rd. I highly recommend it!
I took more photos during the evening besides the ones shared in this post; you can find them here: Amy’s Saw-whet Owl banding photos.
Throughout the summer, a turkey in Chicago’s north suburbs made the news by blocking traffic and gaining fans. The Lake Bluff Turkey, known as Sparkles (among other nicknames) has over 300 fans on Facebook. The formerly wild Wild Turkey was finally captured by Wildlife Control in early August. When I was searching Google for Wild Turkey information the other day (unrelated to Sparkles) I was surprised to see how popular our local star turkey really is, according the Google’s auto-complete search suggestions.
The other day we were in Waukegan to see a movie. On the way to the parking lot, Arthur noticed some unusual, bold bird art in what we presumed was an art gallery. We walked over to have a look, and found paintings by artist José F. Bolet in an empty store front. The paintings were placed there Part of the Waukegan Art Windows program, where empty storefronts are used to display works of art.
I’m not a big fan of the birds-as-humans ones. I do like the last one, though. What do you think?
Our primary focus during our time at Montrose was spent looking for migrating warblers between the leaves of the Magic Hedge, but the Red-wingeds were hard to ignore. Especially when they do this:
The males put on such a show, while the females seem much more polite.
Bird Photography Weekly is a regular collection of user-submitted bird photos from all over the world. The new edition comes out every Sunday. Go have a look at this week’s submissions!
When I was a kid, my dad built a pair of impressive birdhouse complexes intended for Purple Martins. One was a long ‘rowhouse’ style, while the other was a wonderful jumble of boxes three stories high with entrances all around. They were placed high up in the back of our yard and I remember every year before spring they would have to be cleaned. And I remember my dad hopefully wishing for Purple Martins every year, but only attracting House Sparrows. Because he had a hard time attracting PUMAs to the birdhouses, I somehow got the idea that it was hard to find them at all in our area. Years passed and I forgot about the birdhouses. I moved away and became interested in birds on a different continent, and when I returned to the area where I grew up I was delighted to finally understand that Purple Martins actually aren’t too hard to find around here. In fact, there is a busy little colony using a series of houses down the road from my parents at the Chicago Botanic Garden, where these photos were taken.
(Knowing just a little bit more about martins now, I think my parent’s back yard isn’t the ideal habitat for PUMAs. Just don’t tell my dad!) To learn more about Purple Martins, visit the Purple Martin Conservation Association. By the way, the title of this post refers to a collective noun used for groups of martins. Others include circlage, gulp, and colony.
Bird Photography Weekly is a regular collection of user-submitted bird photos from all over the world. The new edition comes out every Sunday. Go have a look at this week’s submissions!
Bird Photography Weekly is a regular collection of user-submitted bird photos from all over the world. The new edition comes out every Sunday. Go have a look at this week’s submissions!
