Angry spelunker

It's not often you come across a hilarious birding skit online, but Coudal did. This clip is well worth four minutes of your time. Click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXKKtATfASY

Happy New Year!

Owl frenzy

There's no doubt I've become something of a solitary birder. But I couldn't have added two life-list birds today without the help of other people.

As a teen and pre-teen, I birded as part of a group each spring. In college, I nearly stopped formally birding altogether (though one really can't stop birding, probably a topic for a future post). After college, I resumed birding, especially on solo early-morning walks in a place called the Pony Pasture in Richmond, Va. Since then, I've typically birded alone or with one other person. I do check the birding message boards and occasionally ask questions of other birders when I encounter them. A little bit of information can make a huge difference. As posted here previously, the Internet has sent me directly to unusual birds before and makes it easy to bag new species. Admittedly, I do like the solitude and discovering birds on my own though, too.

Today I went to Montrose Point. The northern saw-whet owl, above, and long-eared owl are fairly common winter visitors here but elusive to those who don't know precisely where to look. I knew that they had been seen in the area recently, but previously I have never sighted them on my own. Just after biking up to the sanctuary, I caught two birders in conversation and asked if I could join them to find the owls. We first saw the saw-whet, a sparrow-sized owl buried in a tangle of small trees and brush. Then we moved on to the long-ear, in a similar position about a hundred yards away. The saw-whet was clearly sleeping, but the long-ear was alert and mechanically twisting his head back and forth. (I always think of the robotic owl from "Clash of the Titans" when I see owls move.) They both were very tame, and I took a few pictures; there are more posted on flickr. Finally, to top it off, I later saw a short-eared owl fly over the pier at the end of the point and out high over the lake--apparently headed for a distant shore. Quite a few owls about on this bright, crisp morning!

Skyline limit

Thank you to Chicagoist, which posted a driftless area photo yesterday.

Dim bottles

I would like to give a nod to the International Dark Sky Association, as featured in the Tribune recently. What an important cause this is, for so many reasons.

Also, read about the dangers of Nalgene bottles here. I'm not sure what we'd do without them.

Sweatshirt wisdom

More photos at the driftless area Flickr site.

Corvid return

Observations from Southeast Michigan, Larry King style (note use of ellipses)...what if I didn't check weather forecasts at all for a couple weeks? Could I survive? Would I have packed the appropriate clothing for the wild temperature swings of the past few days?...The crows returned to the tree in front of our neighbors' house on Friday night. Loyal readers will recall these crows began sleeping in this tree last winter. Now, they're back and the number of corvids is up to four...A cooper's hawk has spent the past couple weeks near my workplace on the Southwest Side of Chicago...I saw a black squirrel today in Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich., another record to add to the nationwide matrix I'm developing...A December thaw sent temperatures soaring to over 50 as far north as the Adirondacks. Why don't people remember drastic snow melts as much as dramatic snowstorms?...ESPN2 showed Jeff Foxworthy kill a dall sheep on the tundra this morning.

Nimrod farewell

"Nimrod Nation" concluded its run on Sundance Channel last night, and Monday night TV viewing will be far less interesting because of it. Thankfully, there is plenty more content on the Sundance Channel Web site. I'm not sure if I should give away the ending or not so I won't mention how the basketball team does. I will say that Brian Aimsback, the junior guard of Native American descent, emerges as perhaps the most interesting person of all those chronicled.

One of the most memorable lines comes from an area man who lives with his family in a house without siding. In the last scene, he is tapping maples for syrup--all this man does throughout the series is hunt, skin game and slaughter animals (there is a bio and more about him on the Sundance site). Anyway, his youngest son says "We shouldn't cut down all the trees because we need them to breathe." The man replies: "That's right; we need them for oxygen. But don't be a treehugger. We don't want to save every tree because that's not good forestry."