A Few Things...

While I am busy preparing a longish post for this blog about the Wagtails I'd get to see along the German Baltic coast if I were there now instead of Michigan, I thought it would be the right time to post a few things about Ann Arbor, while I am here and not at the Baltic coast.

Does this make sense? I don't know, it did when I started thinking about what to post today.

First up, the Ann Arbor Peregrine Falcons returned to the Burton Memorial Tower in downtown Ann Arbor a while ago. This is very handy as my blog is named after that Tower mostly because of the falcons and as there is an interesting link here which provides nice and up-to-date information about the falcons. I'll add the link to my side bar soon, need to update the link-part of this blog anyway after that big IatB fest.



Next, while May is approaching fast and with it - as is to be hoped - the wood warblers and other passerine goodies, I thought it appropriate to provide an insight into one of the places about which there'll be a lot of blogging here soon, the fabulous Arb. One of the best migration hot spots in this part of Michigan, it had long deserved its own blog, and thanks to Wrenaissance (thanks!), I know now not only that there is a blog but also where to find it, which is here.


And finally, here is a recent picture of a Canada Goose from Gallup Park that took a cool swim on the Wild Side:




Thanks to everyone for all the great contributions to and comments on "I and the Bird #47: It's all about the Bird"!

It's been a huge and great party!!

I and the Bird # 47 - It's all about the Bird

Yes, it is that time of the year again and another round of "I and the Bird" has come, the 47th to be precise, and today's edition is about what rocks our blogs, the "Bird" behind the "I and the".

With so many birders watching and writing about the bird, it was time to give this whole citizen science project a solid foundation and take a first step towards establishing a monograph on the bird species which is the object of our blogging. Patrick of The Hawk Owl's Nest therefore got in contact with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The full report of Patrick's first meeting with the Cornell staff, where he represented our blogging community and discussed the possibilities of a cooperation with the lab, can be found here. One of the most exciting results of the conference (he's obviously excellent at negotiating, this Hawk Owl's Patrick) was to define the aim of such a common and shared project, which is to eventually incorporate the knowledge about this as yet largely unknown bird species gathered on our blogs into the fine Cornell's bird guide.

I am therefore more than pleased to present a summary of the most recent scientific blog results here at Bell Tower Birding. This summary is not only intended to show how far we've gone already but to also highlight deficits in our bird blogging which might be mended either in future editions of "I and the Bird" or in the course of each blog's own advances into the wonderful world of birds and birding.


Common Name and Taxonomy
The most widely used common name of this little known bird species which we will start to characterize here is "Blog Bird". As a result of its wide distribution and evolving into many subspecies and morphs, there are a multitude of alternative names which can be learned by reading the following blog citations. However, as mentioned before, the name "Blog Bird" is in wide use and appears to reflect its many facets in a neutral and summarizing way, which is why I will use this common name here within this presentation.
Its taxonomy is still fiercely debated and there are no results fit to be presented here. It was at a time incorporated into the Ciconiiformes simply on the basis that all bird species whose taxonomy was somewhat confusing were placed there.
Even though the high diversity of heron forms within the Blog Bird complex was shown by Beakspeak, the Big Bird Blog during his research in Florida, the inclusion of the Blog Bird into the Ciconiiformes is not fully accepted yet and needs further investigation.

What we can state at this point however is its scientific name, on which there is complete agreement:
The Blog Bird is known to Science as Iandthe bergini, in honour of Mike Bergin who first discovered it and promoted a wider interest in its biology and conservation.


Identification
Discussing the identification of the Blog Bird as a species is hampered by the multitude of plumages, subspecies and morphs, as was recently shown by Journey Through Grace.

In some regions of the Blog Bird's range, some forms may be difficult to find, but once seen are a sight not easily mistaken or forgotten, as Murmuring Trees demonstrates here.

In other regions, as Charlie of Charlie's Bird Blog was able to investigate and prove for southern Africa, a radiation of Blog Bird forms lead to many similar looking morphs that make local expertise desirable when venturing out to find those Lousy Brown Jobs.

A Meadow Blogpit, of the notorious LBJ tribe

Those difficulties in sorting out rare Blog Birds from the more common forms were mostly avoided in the past by looking at Blog Birds down the barrel of a gun, as A DC Birding Blog reveals here for the District of Columbia, but this approach was luckily replaced by Digiscoping and Binoculars, or the Status section of this account would be different from what it is now...


Range and Migration
The Blog Bird is widely distributed - potentially each continent has a whole range of different morphs and forms - and shows different migratory behaviour traits depending on the breeding ranges of the different populations. As with so many other topics within Blog Bird Biology, our knowledge until now is scant at best and only comes from a limited number of sites where bird bloggers were active and these results mostly pertain to migration routes.

An interesting migration pattern along the North-Eastern Atlantic was demonstrated by Peregrine's Bird Blog during his recent studies in Ireland.

The seasonality of coastal migration was investigated by Mike of 10,000 Birds who presents his results here.

The Blog Bird migration and diversity however is not confined to the coast and was witnessed in an abundance of forms in the Missouri Region of Nebraska, as is described by Aimophila Adventures in an exciting report here.

Neither their brown (LBJ-type) patterning nor the bad weather have prevented Plummer's Hollow, Pennsylvania from keeping an eye on the sparrows and drawing conclusions about weather related phenomena in their migration, a very welcome addition to this monograph as results from former migration periods are also included and put this spring's cold snap into context: while some Blog Bird populations are right on schedule, others linger around longer. I can't help but wonder though if this latter effect was caused by the quality of the local bird feeders and not by the cold?

Search and Serendipity failed to record any weather dependency of Blog Bird migration but accomplished a remarkable inventory of roosting Blog Bird forms for Texas.

The naivety of the Bell Tower Birder regarding the Michigan weather finally allows us to check on bird occurrence in good, bad and ugly weather conditions. Or to cite Coleridge's Ancient Mariner: "He went like one that hath been soaked and is of sense forlorn: a wet but none the wiser man he rose the morrow morn."

Tom McKinney provides a much needed first impression of Blog Bird occurrence or lack thereof in Scotland here, where he braved the remoteness and the difficulties in obtaining decent provisions and furthermore ignored the nerve wrecking history of expedition failures to secured this wealth of knowledge for generations to come.

More than amazing is the progress a small team of dedicated Blog Bird Bird Bloggers is achieving in Mongolia. The team has been too busy lately in documenting spring migration to submit a single link, but the whole blog is too important to leave out in this first summary of Blog Bird biology, so a repeated visit (or permanent link) to Birding Mongolia is highly recommended.


Habitat
A recent observation by Wrenaissance sheds some light on the varieties of habitats used by certain migratory populations of the Blog Bird, as can be seen here, although these pristine habitats seem to be frequented infrequently.

Comprehensive studies on Blog Bird use of different landscape elements were conducted by Ben Cruachan Blog and his detailed analysis of the different types of habitat and their respective Blog Bird forms can be found here.


Food
An interesting insight into the parasitic and highly sophisticated feeding behaviour of certain Blog Bird morphs was recently obtained by A Snail's Eye View and published here.

A less aggressive behaviour was adapted by Blog Bird herons in Florida, as was shown by Snail's Tales. The reasons for the discrepancy between the two regions have yet to be clarified, possible hypotheses worth investigating being differences in barbecue quality or human defensive behaviour towards animal intruders.

Living the Scientific Life tells us here why these complex behavioural traits might have been necessary in Blog Bird evolution and led to the pre-adaptation and high degree of intelligence necessary to use humans as a source of food in multiple ways.

To complement our picture, Coyote Mercury demonstrated how - starting from this pre-adaptation - the precise behaviour especially regarding the parasitic traits observed in Australia might evolve. Clearly it is the concentrated occurence of food in school lunch breaks that lures the birds in and then it is only a small step from catching a fly in midair to snatching a sandwich from a juvenile offender's hand.

A less competitive way of using human food sources is shown by this American Blogging Gull

Even though these results demonstrate a change in Blog Bird behaviour as a result of co-existence with humans, Rurality clearly proved that this is not always the case and that some Blog Bird forms maintain their natural feeding behaviour even within human back yards.

John of Birds Etcetera did interesting research beyond food choice by investigating the correlation between some Blog Birds' food choice and their popularity with humans, the results of which can be found here.

John's findings were independently verified by KeesKennis, publishing the results here and presenting them at "I and the Bird" after the manuscript got rejected by CuteOverload.


Behaviour and Reproduction
As was to be expected, Blog Bird behaviour varies in accordance with the different morphs inhabiting varying habitats. The following account is therefore only a short preliminary compendium of a few selected results and does not mirror the full range of Blog Bird Behaviour and Reproduction. However, some of the results obtained so far are very promising and sure to promote a wider interest in this field of bird blogging science.

Bogbumper for example was treated to a full display of Blog Bird intraspecific aggressive behaviour during a day on the coast, but so far has not been able to verify the same behavioural schemes for the BBBB's (Bog Bumping Blog Birds).

Over at Blogaway, an interesting behaviour trait of the Blog Bird regarding conspecifics in trouble was observed and documented here but is still awaiting an explanation.

Turning to reproductive behaviour, Lord Garavin's Bird Blog reveals here just how quick this reproduction thing can happen when you're well adapted to living on the fast side of life.

A very unexpected insight into the nest choice of some Blog Bird forms and the first tough lessons in these young bird's lives can be obtained by studying WoodSong's publication here.

The Behavioral Ecology Blog shows for the first time here that sexual selection in Blog Birds is strikingly different from what one might expect and this is certainly a very intriguing finding that should spark a multitude of follow-up projects on Blog Bird wattles, crests and other inexplicably strange bird protrusions.


Vocalization
A short essay on Blog Bird vocalizations associated with potentially kinky mating behaviour was published here by the Bird Ecology Study Group.

The BirdChick recently looked at spring vocalizations of the Blog Bird and also provides a few details on mating behaviour and pretty scary character traits of some Blog Birds here.

An unexpectedly deep insight into the vocalization of the Yellowblogger

Conservation Status
Blog Bird populations have been monitored for close to 50 seasons now and appear stable, as can be seen on the following diagram.


However, Birdman provides very remarkable and thoroughly researched evidence here of severe declines in recent history for some Blog Bird forms due to a multitude of reasons that reflect poorly on the will and effectiveness of nature conservation in western societies. Much still needs to be done.

An increase in mortality for migrating forms of the Blog Bird has been noted in connection to late cold spells in North America and are a major conservation concern, but recent research published here in The EDGE Gallery shows that conservation measures are easily possible and help avoid significant population losses during adverse weather conditions.



Cool Facts
The economic importance of some Blog Birds, especially regarding the income of small local communities through Ecotourism, was demonstrated by Corey of Lovely, Dark and Deep, who published his calculations here.




The next edition of "I and the Bird" (No. 48) will be hosted by Greg Laden and contributions should be sent to him (laden002 AT umn DOT edu) or Mike over at 10,000 Blogbirds by May 1st.

REMINDER

The blogging here around the Bell Tower has slowed down recently for a number of reasons :

a) personal stuff

b) work - yes, again

c) weather

d) getting ready for I and the Bird!

So this post is a REMINDER for those few who still haven't sent in their best recent blogging piece on birds and birding to do so NOW!

The cold phase - and I mean really cold as in snow storm and wearing gloves in your apartment - seems to be largely over now and the sun is shining down from a bright blue sky.
One could actually think this might be birding weather now at the onset of heavy duty spring migration, but I suppose we are given a bit of a warm-up phase (how friendly) as it is very stormy now and not really worth trying to find passerines high up in the wuthering heights of the Arb's tree tops.

Maybe later this week, after the IatB-feast.

I did go to the Arb on Sunday for a short walk and there were a few birds around. Best species was the Pine Warbler still singing, or rather singing again, and a lone Hermit Thrush. Gosh, I know this joke is wearing thin but you just gotta combine the word "lone" with "Hermit", it's just so catchy.

Looking forward to IatB and hope to see you again then, but I still need more posts!!

And as I haven' put up a photo of a bird for a while, here's the close-up of the Chestnut-sided Warbler from the bottom of the page, taken at Ontario's Rondeau Provincial Park in May 2005...

I hate shopping and so should you

I just got back from downtown and upon approaching my apartment building, an American Woodcock was flushed 10 metres in front of me from the sidewalk by another pedestrian in the middle of town!!
"Great, my first close encounter, but what on earth is it doing here?!" I thought, and then "Oh no, don't go this way, don't... too late!"

It had flown barely 15 metres until it hit one of those huge shop windows and died.

I picked it up and carried it a few metres onto a front yard close by. I am not very sentimental but if I was a Woodcock and killed in such a hostile environment, I'd like my remains to be carried somewhere where it is a bit closer to "home" than remain there on the concrete.

As if shopping wasn't already bad and boring enough, now those [Tom McKinney at his best] shops even kill off our beloved birds!!

Food for Body and Mind

Mike over at 10,000 birds is apparently and thankfully an addict to blog carnivals. Not only is he the father of the famous "I and the Bird" which will be hosted right here in the near future, nope, he will also be hosting the Carnival of the Recipes soon - so soon indeed that I hope this blog entry is not too late.

Basically Mike has therefore recently nourished me in two ways:

I am receiving many emails each day now with great blog posts to be incorporated in the forthcoming edition of "I and the Bird" here at Bell Tower Birding.
This is so great!

Thanks to all who have sent in their links up to now, to those who haven't: only a handful of days to go so go for it, and to those who haven't considered it yet:

I NEED YOUR INPUT!

NOW !!

But then of course Mike has also provided me with a new recipe to try out, and while I am trying to return his - and all the other's - favour with my edition of "I and the Bird" soon, I'll also write down one of my vegetarian birder's recipes.

The Filled Pancake

First, the pancake.
This is quite a random process now during which I usually mix two to three eggs (according to hunger) with an equal amount of milk and a bit of salt in a bowl and mix this gradually with flour until it is still really liquid but starting to thicken, a bit less liquid than cream.
Then I put a bit of butter in a small pan, with the heat on medium-high (not high!) and fry the pancakes, no need to describe this. I usually have a bunch of paper towels ready and quickly wipe the pan after each pancake with it, I find this tends to keep the following pancake nicer, but that might just be one of my obsessions...


Then, the filling:
- Take an onion and chop it into little bits and pieces. Do the same with a fresh tomato (of course you may peel it if you are a perfectionist).
- Quickly fry both onions and - a bit later - the tomatoes in a frying pan.
- Add some spinach, preferably whole leaves that you have cut into little bits and pieces, but you may of course also add the cut spinach you can get in the deep freeze section of your supermarket.
- Add a tiny bit (a spoonful or two) of fresh cream.
- Add some feta cheese that you have cut into little cubes and immediately turn the heat off so the feta doesn't really melt but only gets slightly soft on the outside.
- Add salt and pepper only after you've added the feta to make sure it doesn't get too salty (feta by itself is quite salty already).

At last, bring them together:

- Place the spinach mixture onto a pancake and roll it so it looks like a hotdog.
- Repeat until you run out of pancakes or spinach mixture.
- Place all your filled pancakes on an oven-proof plate and cover in cheese, in the US this will probably be cheddar but any other cheese will do as long as you like it.
- Place in oven (full blast, we only need it to melt the cheese and keep the inside warm) until the cheese is melted and slightly brown and has a nice crust.

And then eat while it's hot!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: a Birder's Tale in three Parts

The following account of my birding adventures yesterday really started two days ago, on Tuesday, which will be part 1:

Part 1: The Good
After that long and nasty cold spell, Tuesday was a fine day with blue skies, a few scattered clouds here and there, it was rather mild again with some sunshine and a Tree Swallow. That was all pretty good from a birder's perspective, hence my presumably good idea of getting enough work done on Tuesday to have the next day's afternoon off for some serious spring birding again in this nice - and presumably improving - weather.
Well, this is where part 1, the part on the Good, ends and we move over to ...

Part 2: The Bad
Wednesday saw the return of the Bad, with a thick and heavy Snow Storm beating down upon us from grey and depressing skies. Oh, of course it was also cold again.
That's how easily a good idea can turn bad.
You see, when I was young and in my early birding years, I used to say that only three things could possibly prevent me from birding or rather cause me to interrupt a birding day:
feeling cold, feeling hungry or having to go to the Zoo urgently (or somewhere that sounds very similar).
Of course those were the young and reckless days. Today, with time and experiences, I'll have to redefine that. What can keep me today from birding is unconsciousness caused by severe injury.
So did that weather prevent me from birding, could a little snow storm keep me inside?
No way, and that's how the bad part ends and we get to...

Part 3: The Ugly
What started out as a walk through snow flakes rushing past in the strong wind turned into sleet halfway to the Arb and due to the wind speeding the ice crystals up considerably it felt like a myriad of pinpricks on your face. This changed again upon reaching the Arb, though for the better or worse I don't know: it started to rain rather heavily and continued to do so until my return to the apartment three hours later when my jacked had soaked in so much water it was about three times its usual weight.
That was pretty ugly I must say.
Well, if I was a meteorologist then this last sentence would mark the end of a rather depressing post on yesterday's weather. Luckily I am not, I am the birder and so here's the bonus part, the brilliancy of the bird life encountered!

And no more comments on the weather, I promise!


Bonus Part: The Birds
Any day that starts with a Peregrine perched on a Bell Tower is bound to be a good day, even if that Peregrine is crouching close to the wall to avoid the downpour of what was then still snow.
But when you reach the Arb a few minutes later and the first three birds you encounter (apart from hearing a Northern Cardinal sing) are two Fox Sparrows and a Hermit Thrush, you know you're in for a birding feast. Of course there was no sign of the Pine Warblers at their former haunts, sure enough they weren't stupid enough to remain here and be turned into Pain Warblers, but upon reaching the central meadow I could distinctly hear the chattering of a large flock of American Robins. Another good sign.
Scanning through the scattered Robins I found three Common Flickers and a bunch of Dark-eyed Juncos with a single Song Sparrow amongst them. I eventually climbed the small hill again that was so good for woodpeckers lately and yet again, there were 2 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers, a few Downy Woodpeckers and a Common Flicker as well as a Tufted Titmouse, Golden-crowned Kinglets, White-breasted Nuthatches and the first Brown Creeper of the day.
My usual walk along Rhododendron Glen produced the usual lack of Eastern Screech Owls but just before I came to the "Beach" area of the Arb, I was almost run over by a party of approximately 30 Golden-crowned Kinglets and at least 5 Brown Creepers.
Brown Creepers frustrate me. Judging by the Sibley guide and my limited impression on their vocal and plumage variation (some call like our European Tree Creepers while I wouldn't even attribute the calls of others to anything but Kinglets), they are bound to represent several species, but as long as nothing is published, there's nothing we can do about it, and whenever I see a Creeper, I have this annoying thought of Creeper spec. spec. spec. in the back of my mind that almost spoils my whole observation.
Anyway, with a few reports on the local email forum and the Kinglets being often at eye-level, I had decided that this was going to be the day of my first Ruby-crowned Kinglet for this year.
Apparently the Ruby-crowneds thought in a different direction as I couldn't find one amongst the Golden-crowneds, but a) those supercilia were difficult to see on all those dripping wet kinglet's heads, so I at least had an impression of what my first Ruby-crowned of the year will look like and I b) remember how much I struggled in May 2005 to find Golden-crowneds amongst the Ruby-crowneds, so I am relaxed.
Knowing it is about time I got back to reporting birds I actually saw and not felt like seeing (California Condor being another one of the latter category), I'll move on to the Dow Prairie section of the Arb where I was treated to yet another Hermit Thrush encounter, this time intriguingly associated with yet another Song Sparrow. Sadly there was no sign of the American Tree Sparrows that had been hanging around there all winter and I presume they left for good (or bad, judging by the weather and if they really moved on North).
My initial plan had been to return home by then but I somehow was drawn on to Gallup Park by all the recent reports of Common Loons on every puddle of Michigan. And so I just went on and on along the Huron, bypassing an Eastern Phoebe and 2 White-throated Sparrows on my way until I reached the open waters of Gallup Park.
Sometimes birding is an amazing experience. I specifically went to Gallup Park to try and see a Common Loon, knowing I was really pushing my luck quite close to the edge, and the first waterbird I see at Geddes Pond (which is the Eastern section of Gallup Park) was ... drum roll ...
a Common Loon in full breeding plumage! What a sight and, hey, what a foresight!

That's pretty hard to believe, don't you think?
And you're right:
Actually I just lied. The first waterbirds I saw upon reaching Gallup Park were Canada Geese, Mute Swans and Mallards, but they are always the first waterbirds you see when approaching any body of water in North America and even though ignoring them is not nice, it makes for more exciting blogging, so I hope I am being forgiven. Oh, and the Pied-billed Grebe next to it looked incredibly tiny, which really it isn't but it goes to show just how huge those Common Loons are.

I mentioned before in another post that next to Geddes Pond behind a rail way line lies South Pond which is a good place to be when you're a member of the waterfowl society. Yet again, this proved to be true and I was treated to sights of three Bufflehead, a gang of Common Mergansers, a few Gadwalls and - the stars - a pair of Northern Shovelers.

And this was it, I had reached the last spot of my bird excursion and headed back the way I came for home.

The return was more monotonous as I didn't stop to look at or for birds, but there was one encounter I still want to tell you about. I know I promised earlier to not write about the weather anymore, but this is all within birding context, so it should be OK:
The rain was still pouring down hard and the wind was howling and the last thing I expected - apart from a Kakapo crossing my path - was to see a Raptor in this kind of weather. But there I clearly misunderestimated them as I was suddenly taken aback by the appearance of no less than 9 Turkey Vultures.
That's part of the reason I am so fond of Turkey Vultures. They are really bad ass tough guys who won't give a toss about anything and just fly whenever and wherever they please. Gosh, I doubt they even need an atmosphere to fly and if life on earth was brought here by extraterrestrial influences, it wasn't comets that carried it, it was Turkey Vultures travelling through from outer space. They are the first to fly in the morning, the last you see flying around in the evening and I am sure they actually seek and maneuver Tornadoes to gain height quickly during their migration. And it doesn't matter what kind of weather you will see them flying through, even if there is no wind or thermal whatsoever, complete stillness of the air, they will still fly on and on without a single wing beat. This is the ultimate Raptor, the bird extraordinaire and ... what do you mean, they aren't classified as raptors?

What, Storks?

Oh...

Did I ever tell you just how fond I am of Storks in particular?
Well, OK, maybe that's another story.

Room with a View

It is still cold outside and I really don't feel like leaving the apartment to go birding. I might change my mind later today, but that would have to be a sooner later rather than a later later as it is already quite late in the afternoon.
Anyway, just for something meaningless to do and post on the blog today, I thought I'd present my flat-list to the public.

Flat-list?

Yes, that's a special birder expression with two different meanings:

a) List of birds seen from your flat

b) not very exciting list of birds seen


My list has the advantage of combining both meanings, so you can take your pick and especially reconsider the idea you just had about reading this post until its end.

A flat-list is the equivalent to a garden list when you live here ...


... and the view from your best window is this:



I only got here in late October 2006, so this list isn't very exhaustive yet and should grow in spring with the arrival of a few more migrants. If this year we will experience an arrival of spring in the first place.
Most of the species seen are of course fly-overs, which explains the dominance of the non-passeriformes and at 27 species, there's still plenty of room for a severe increase, preferably by a flock of Snow Geese or an Ivory Gull.

Anyway, here is the list for those interested:

Great Blue Heron
Tundra Swan
Canada Goose
Mallard
Common Merganser
Turkey Vulture
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Bald Eagle
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Sandhill Crane
Killdeer
Ring-billed Gull
American Herring Gull
Rock Dove
American Crow
American Robin
European Starling
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
Red-winged Blackbird
House Sparrow
American Goldfinch
House Finch

Man, where's spring? I need to get out of the apartment more!