Countdown to the New River Birding Festival (5)

Five weeks till the New River Birding and Nature Festival! [April 27- May 3, 2009]

Do you like wildflowers? Then, you'll love the hillsides of West Virginia.

Bluets (a little washed out)

Partridgeberry

Squawroot - a Life platnt!

Wild Stonecrop

Wild Geranium

Bellflower
Love the perfoliate leaf!
(Flower stem pokes right through leaf)

Little Brown Jug
(a bad photo, but also a Lifer)

Hi, Jack!
(Jack in the Pulpit)

Solomon's Seal
(not to be confused with...)

False Solomon's Seal
(aka Solomon's Plume)

And, one of the sweetest wildflowers of all,

Violets

Smack my head and call me "Stupid"

I see lots of awards out there as I cruise through the blogosphere, but I have yet to see one for a birder-blogger who attends a birding event without her camera. I think I will invent one and bestow it upon myself. The UNthinking Blogger, perhaps, or maybe the Amnesiac Award. Whatever you call it, I certainly deserve the prize.

I attended the 6th annual Adams County Amish Birding Symposium on Saturday, March 7, my third year to enjoy this meeting, but forgot my camera at home. Without pictures, I will have to share this day with you in words only. To truly appreciate this symposium, though, you must visit in person.

The Amish Birding Symposium is held in the center of Adams County, in the heart of southwestern Ohio's Amish country. (Holmes County, in the eastern half of the state, is Ohio's Amish "ground zero.") The host facility is Dennis Yoder's pole barn, where he produces lumber for Yoder Log Homes. For this event, a gasoline powered generator is brought in to run the microphones and Power Point presentations, but there are no other modern amenities - no lights, no heat, no running water. Porta potties and Purell are the only comfort provided. Excepting for the food, that is. The homemade dounts from Miller's bakery called my name and I was forced to eat - well, let's just say I ate way too many donuts that morning.

The drive to Dunkinsville, just north of West Union, is picturesque. I followed State Route 125, aka Ohio Pike, east from Bethel. This is a broad, level, straight 4 or 5 lane highway from Cincinnati to Bethel, where it narrows to two lanes. It is still relatively straight through Brown County, but when you hit Adams County, the road changes dramatically. It dips and dives, swoops and soars, twists and turns through the rolling hills of the edge of Appalachia. Flatlanders grow white-knuckled on roads like these, but I learned to drive in the hill country of southeastern Ohio. For me, this trip is like coming home.

All the usual suspects were there. Susan brought her education birds from RAPTOR, Inc., including her newest acquisitions, Angel the gray-phase Eastern Screech-owl and Storm, a Barn Owl who came from Brown County. (click here for photo.) Of course, her beloved Peregrine Falcon, Lucy, was present, and even ate a rat to the oohs and aahs of a rapt audience.

Jimmy Mac, President Jim McCormac that is, represented the Ohio Ornithological Society and led the end of day field trip to Adams Lake State Park. Hugh and Judy Kolo-Rose brought their wares down all the way from the gift shop of the Black Swamp Bird Observatory on Lake Erie. The Amish community was well-represented, by Keim family Market and of course Mr. Hershberger, of Time and Optics in Holmes County, with his usual display of the best in birding glass and gear. Cincinnati area wildlife artist, Ann Giese and photog Jim Mundy showed off some beautiful images at their respective booths.

Local birding friends and acquaintances in the audience included Ann Oliver, editor of the OOS's newsletter, The Cerulean; Lois Shadux, Mary Ann Barnett, Debra Hausroth, Ned Keller of the Cincinnati Bird Club, his wife, Kathy McDonald, and Jim Upson, one of my team members from the Cincinnati Bird Club's Christmas Bird Count.

After opening remarks by Chris Bedel, of the Cincinnati Museum Center and director of the Edge of Appalachia Preserve, and Roman Mast, representing the Amish community, our first speaker was David Kline, from the Amish community of Holmes County. One of the things I love about this symposium is the chance to hear about Amish life and their relationship with nature. Mr. Kline didn't disappoint. His discussion featured the connection between managing his artificial prairie, his hayfields, for both good production and grassland birds. He leaves part of his fields unmown early in the season, even though this is the top quality hay, in order to provide nesting habitat for bobolinks, horned larks, vesper sparrows and much more.

Steve Pelikan (yes, that's his real name!) of the University of Cincinnati's math department enthralled us with his talk on bird songs. Some of the factoids I gleaned were: Birds have 2 syrinxes, avian voice boxes, and so can sing their own harmony or back-up. Some birds, like sparrows, warblers, and thrushes, learn their songs by listening to their parent(s) while other birds, such as flycatchers, raptors, and waterfowl inherit their songs. These species are hardwired to sing one song, and there is little variation from place to place. Birds who learn their songs can have many variations in different location or among different birds in the same location. In fact, one individual can have many different songs in his repetoire. A good example of this are cardinals and song sparrows.

Celebrity birders in attendence were Jeff Gordon, our keynote speaker, and his lovely wife Liz, who I finally got to meet. Jeff's talk was on the Ten Greatest Birds of the last 30 years. I thought this would be about his top 10 favorite species, but after defining a "great" bird, Jeff went on to tell us about 10 individual birds who showed up in the wrong place at the right time, including the Pigmy Nuthatch (#3) that was found at a bird feeder in North Dakota, just across the river from Minnesota. An enterprising birder called this bird across the Red River, which makes up the state border, and into Minnesota, thereby ticking off the first Minnesota Pigmy Nuthatch and setting off a bird world controversy rivalled only by the return (or not) of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (great bird #1) Educational, amusing, and darned good fun, if you ever get a chance to hear Jeff Gordon speak, you must take it.

(New River Birding and Nature Festival participants: Fair warning - Jeff may not be attending this year. Please, take a moment to e-mail him or to fill up the comments section on his blog and DEMAND that he comes to West Virginia!)

After Jeff's talk, I left early. The sun was shining, the room was warm, and I wanted to be outside. I drove home via another scenic route and stopped at the water association's property just outside of Higginsport, Brown County, Ohio, to check up on the Bald Eagle nest. A parent bird was on the job, incubating the egg(s), but of course, I have no pictures, because I left my camera at home!

This weekend, I'm going north to Port Clinton for a Black Swamp Bird Observatory weekend, which will include a field trip to Ottowa NWR, a ID class on waterfowl by Kenn Kaufman, a lecture on Snowy Owls, and on Friday night, Kenn and Kim's band, 678-OH will be playing. I can't wait! (Hope I remember my camera!!)

Pretty as a Pitcher

And now, a cleansing pottery post, to clear my head after that last rant.

I have become obsessed with making pitchers lately. I think I have the shape down, but I'm still struggling with handles. Here are three pitchers in my series of five recent creations.

Texture kiwi fruit, on white clay
This pitcher holds 1 qt.

Goldenrod shino on brown clay
This type of pitcher has a cut spout.

Forest satin, overdipped in clear glaze, on brown clay

Worst Movie EVER

I rarely go out to the movies, and if I do, it is usually a matinee or to the cheap theater. So, it was a big deal for me to go out Saturday night to a full-price, first run film. Four of us, three women potters and one husband, met last night to see the Oscar-winning "Slum Dog Millionaire." What a mistake!

I was shocked, appalled, and horrified by this movie. The abject poverty and overwhelming filth was expected, but the cruelty, hate, corruption and torture was not. The movie centers on Jamal, a poor young man who has just won the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" by answering questions he could not possibly be expected to know, given his deprived background. His story is told in flashbacks, and as the questions increase in difficulty, the level of horror he experienced in his childhood escalates.

From seeing his mother murdered in a raid inspired by religious hatred while the police watched, to living in a garbage dump, to being trained as a beggar by the director of an "orphanage," Jamal and his older brother are abused every day of their lives. Even the school teacher disciplines his students by throwing a book at the boys. The police interrogate the adult Jamal using beatings and electric shocks. When a child at the orphanage is blinded by pouring hot oil into his eyes, to increase the profits he can earn as a beggar, I was thoroughly sickened. My companions and I fled the theater in disgust. As we shared our feelings in the lobby, the one male in the group said, "I'm ready for a chick-flick." We talked about doing something else, but all I wanted to do was go home and hide under the covers.

How the Academy can possibly have thought this was an Oscar-worthy film is beyond me. Even more surprising is how many people I have talked to who saw it and failed to warn me of the horrific violence in this move. To me, this film was more frightening and upsetting than any Alien, Friday-the-13th, Freddie Kruger, snakes on a plane, Jurassic Park type movie because this stuff really happens, every day. Children and women are starving, neglected, tortured, and killed in third world countries, and even in our own so-called "civilized" world, daily. The thought that someone would make an entertainment film about this evil, and that Americans would celebrate it with their dollars, makes me physically ill.

I am ashamed that I inadvertently supported the industry that created this monster. All I can hope is that my $9.00 finds its way past the big-money corporate giant pimps in charge of the studio to succor the people whose lives inspired the film.

It will be a long time before I go to the theater again. Next time, it will be a romantic comedy or something by Pixar.

Countdown to the New River Birding Festival (6)

A reminder: It's six short weeks till the New River Birding and Nature, which starts April 27.

What might you do there?

Why, you might Bird by ButtConnie Toups

or Bird by BoatMark Garland (standing), Jim McCormac
and New River participants

or Band a Brown Thrasher.

Or, if you are very lucky, you might go Birdin' with Bill.

And Liam!

To Catch a Coop

I was getting ready to jump in the shower Wed. morning when I glanced outside my bathroom window. That's not unusual - that window has the best view of my bird feeders and nest boxes, so I am always looking outside when nature calls. What was unusual was the large brown bump on a limb of my apple tree.


I reached for the bathroom binoculars. (Yeah, I keep binoculars in the bathroom. They are a little 7x25 Celestron pair I bought when I had no money and less knowledge about optics. They no longer satisfy me in the field, but they are handy for feeder watching and backyard birding. So, they live in the bathroom and fulfill their destiny.)


My quick glance turned into a long stare through my bins. Hey, presto! A Cooper's Hawk!

That's when I noticed that all the feeders were empty. The only birds around were a couple of goldfinches, and they were in the top of the trees, above the Coop.

I ran for my camera, and pushed it as hard as I could, exceeding the 4x optical zoom and going all the way out to the full extent of the 16x digital zoom. I lost some pixels at that power, but I think you can make out the bird.


Cropping and enlarging makes it even more fuzzy.


Emboldened, and desperate for a decent picture of this bird, I threw on a bath robe and stepped out onto my enclosed back porch, carefully easing the door opened in an attempt to avoid spooking him. No such luck - "eagle" eyes spotted me and took off for the back 40, dashing my hopes of bagging him. Grrr! Not for the last time I cursed my lack of a good camera with a big, beautiful telephoto lens.

Wednesday must have been Raptor Day. As I was driving to work, I was blessed with a view of Mr. and Mrs. A. Kestrel, perched together across the road from a tobacco barn where I am certain they are building their nest. (I actually saw this pair breeding two weeks before.)

Continuing my commute, I passed a Red-shouldered Hawk perched on a power line. The first time I saw a Red-shouldered do this, I was surprised. I had thought they would be too large for such a narrow perch. Since then, I have frequently observed Red-shouldereds using power lines in this manner to watch and wait for a meal.

Non-raptor nature report for Wed - an Eastern Meadowlark, singing "Spring of the year!" and, when I arrived home that night, Spring Peepers warming up their vocal cords and starting their spring songs. Still no woodcocks, though I listen for them nearly every night.

Wishing you an early spring.

Art at the OVMA

I went to the Ohio Veterinary Medical Association's convention in February. Admittedly, it is called the "Midwest Veterinary Medical Convention" these days, but I have been a vet long enough that I am getting stuck in my ways.

You may recall that last year, I went to a convention in Florida, and came back with weeks of posts on the flora and fauna of the Orlando area, and even a gag post about losing my luggage. Columbus in February is not so blog-worthy, so don't expect scrub-jays and palm trees. About the best I can do for life birds is this owl from the art show, entitled "Wings, Tails, Feathers, and Scales."


Yes, this is Bubo argentalutensilis, otherwise known as the Silverware Owl.

Look at the details in his primaries:

And, how about a close-up of those talons?

Want to take this guy home? Talk to the artist - if you have a thousand bucks to spend!


If you like silverware animals but prefer mammals to birds, check out the "silver" fox.


The work and detail in these pieces was incredible, but you'd have to have a huge living room to be able to display one. And I haven't quite figured out how you'd dust it!

Spirit Williams, a wildlife artist from the Hocking Hills area, submitted this bird carved from basswood.


The sign called it a "harrier," but from across the room, it looked like a Sharp-shinned Hawk to me, so I went in for a closer look.

See any "owl-like facial discs" here?

Neither did I.

I checked out the rear end, looking for the confirming white rump patch, present in all plumages, according to "Hawks in Flight."

yeah. Not so much.

OK, maybe it is "artistic interpretation," but I draw the line when someone blows the ID. If this piece was entitled "Hawk" or "Raptor in Flight" or something, I wouldn't have been so picky.

I was less critical of these horses. Gorgeous!


Can you believe it? This is wood burning, cleverly called pyrography ("writing with fire") these days. How come my attempts at this medium merely ended up with black scorch marks and burnt fingertips?

I thought perhaps I had been transported to Florida when I saw this flamingo painting,


but came back to my senses when I saw Jim Glover's painting of a cardinal in the snow. The title of this piece was "Sitting on the Fence: Scarlet and Gray." You gotta know I would love that!

Now, that's Columbus in February!

***

FYI: Jim did the drawing of the Cerulean Warbler for the OOS logo. Nice, huh?