Florida AVICATION Part I

Last year I came to the sad realization that it had been 11 years since I had been on a 'vacation'.  I'm talking about traveling to a place just to do what you want and nothing else.  And I had never taken a big, non-work trip that was solely based on birding.  What kind of a birder was I?!  

Fortunately a friend, colleague and fellow bird nerd was also in dire need of getting away to bird for fun.  And that was when the plan was hatched.  We could take a vacation for fun-birding (versus work birding which no matter how fun, just isn't quite the same), in a place we might actually desire to bird, and we'd do it all for cheap.  

Wow.  We could really pull this off...we quickly dismissed talk of Arizona as a delusion of grandeur - we needed a place in the east where we could converge from our respective states for a reasonable price.  We needed to go in late winter/early spring and we wanted to escape the frigid northeastern climate.  Bingo - Florida!  But do you suppose we were headed to the beach to relax?

No way - we were going to the swamps!

Seven days of bird-packed adventure awaited us.  All we had to do now was plan it...yikes.  Florida is a big state, with a lot of great birding places and a lot of potential lifers.  We booked for February and got snowed out by the largest storm of the year.  Fighting depression, we rescheduled the whole trip for mid-March.  Chins up - we had more planning time...we prioritized places...

We dreamed of Roseate Spoonbills, Wood Storks. herons, egrets and alligators...

I rubbed my hands together, laughing like Mr. Burns from the Simpson's as I dreamed of the potential lifers: Florida Scrub Jays, Cape Sable Seaside Sparrows, Short-tailed Hawks, Swallow-tailed Kites, Purple Gallinules, Red-cockaded Woodpeckers...

We planned the major stops, birded some hot places in between, and stayed flexible enough to allow for extra time when needed.  We saved loot by cashing in rewards points for hotels and the car rental (which got 40+ mpg woohoo!) and by using our federal duck stamps to get into refuges for free. There were hilarious moments of road-side 'Sible' and Gazetteer consultation and much guidance was sought from A Birder's Guide to Florida by Bill Pranty.  

We birded obsessively, having to remind ourselves to eat and hydrate...but we saw a male Painted Bunting (yes it's wild - it's in a feeder, not a cage, at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary!)...

A major highlight was the numerous Red-shouldered Hawks - subspecies Buteo lineatus extimus.  We lovingly referred to these pale gray beauties as  'extimus' from day one, as in "it's just another extimus".  We took the pronunciation lightly, and born was the golden describer for all future bird vacations: "Nextimus"...as in "Nextimus we're going to Arizona" or "we absolutely have to hit the Florida keys Nextimus"...

That's all for Thistimus, stay tuned for Florida AVICATION Part II...

Binoculars Are A Girl's Best Friend...

A few years ago I experienced what most birders dread in their deepest souls - I had an optics emergency.  My faithful Leupold binoculars had a fatal encounter on the way out from a particularly brutal, mountainous, breeding bird transect.  The damage was irreparable, I was like a fish outta water, I was like a bird without feathers, I was like a pig without a blanket - only worse - I was a birder without binos.  I had seen my first Short-eared Owl through those...

I was faced with some really miserable decisions - ones that caused me to explore my inner nerd and really question what was important to me.  Do I save my busted 'cheap' binoculars because of the high sentimental value?  I mean, those trusty Leupold binos were what I saw all my western lifers through, I got them in the Rockies, I had them in Ornithology Lab in college, they had made the journey east and now they were toast.  But I'd counted Greater Sage Grouse leks through those...

Do I spray paint them gold and hang them on the wall as a sort of self-awarded trophy of my past birding 'exploits'?  

Do I let Leupold graciously send me a brand new pair, forfeiting the busted ones in trade?  

Do I go on with this new replacement pair as if my old ones never existed?  That just didn't feel right.  

I went into deep thought...I recalled having to defend my 'lesser' brand to various Great Birders, as though I was a Lesser Birder because my binos cost less than $500 dollars and were generally considered a 'hunting' brand.  I thought defensively, 'But they match my scope'!  I recalled feeling as though maybe I was gaining skills because I somehow had to work harder with my civilian binos, like those people who run with weights.  I started to think, could I be worthy of a grand pair of binos?  Could they really be all that the Great Birders proclaimed them to be?  Am I ready for Big Girl Binos?  

 

Then an epiphany struck - simple - I'll get a new pair of Swarovski EL's and keep the replacement pair of Leupold's for backup!  These were pre mortgage-on-ancient-home days and I happened to have a little money socked away...suddenly my heart strongly decided that I had earned that pair of Swarovski EL's...plus, if any non-birder pal ever wanted to go birding with me...I'd have those Leupold's to loan.  Sure, this wasn't all about me...

I looked online, I searched for the best price, I choked and gasped at spending some thousands of dollars, even on sale...I sweated, I skulked, I ordered...I canceled the online order - I needed to buy them in person - I couldn't let my new Swarovski's be shipped from some unseen warehouse, to be coldly delivered to my house by Ace Ventura.  Besides, fall migration was coming - I was opticsless - I needed to act soon.

I went to the store, I tested a pair out, again...even the floor model testers were like Excalibur - a certain power was wielded when I raised them to focus on some exotic taxidermy mount on the far wall.  It was as though a little invisible fairy was shining a light on my quarry - I felt a surge of Great Birder flood me, just think of all the birds I could ID in low light with these babies...

It was time, all I needed was to see an actual human clerk unlock a cabinet and pull out the beautiful box that contained my very own pair of Swarovski El 10x42's, the box that held my renewed vows to birding, my large investment, my precious...

Burly Bird featured on Birdfreak.com!

Burly Bird has been featured on www.birdfreak.com!

This awesome website has loads of information and cool links.  The name says it all - Birdfreak.com - Birds, Conservation and Everything Outdoors!  Check it out:

My favorite part is that a Pileated Woodpecker Burly Bird  found a home on Birdfreak's iPhone...now that is quite a compliment!

Where will you put your Burly Bird?

Lesser Prairie Chickenless in Oklahoma...

Once upon a time a journey was made to Oklahoma to look for Lesser Prairie Chickens.  Two brave biologists set out from a distant land to cover a giant grid and found themselves surrounded by unexpected beauty and incidental birds...

 

 

Faithfully the two biologists covered the prairie, diligently listening for prairie chickens, dutifully staying in the field long after surveys ended to record incidental bird observations.  The trees were still bare, the visibility was excellent, and the wooded thickets of the backroads held promise of juicy birds...

 

  
Being in the time before we all got Bird Pods, one of the biologists was far advanced for the age and possessed a magical handheld PDA loaded with bird sounds.  The two biologists laughed and high-fived as they confirmed a Carolina chickadee - a bird not found in the land where they were from, far, far away.  A blue-gray gnatcatcher confirmation caused great excitement that was soon overpowered by the sighting of a Bewick's wren and the discovery of some very interesting nests.  The first one an oriole, sure, but that second one?

 
There were many long, moments of strained listening as wild turkey gobbles floated by on the breeze, teasing the biologists minds with the possibility of distant phantom prairie chickens.  The biologists pressed on, rewarded with the spring arrival of scissor-tailed flycatchers, a treasured lifer for one of the biologists.

The days continued and the birds continued to impress, bobwhites, cinnamon teal, loggerhead shrike, prairie falcon, Swainson's hawk, red-bellied woodpecker, vesper sparrow, long-billed curlew - the list grew and grew.  Burrowing owls were a highlight, barreds were regular, and one evening a great-horned gave a fine performance of turkey roost upset in a stand of trees as a couple of great blue herons flew over in the failing light.  The biologists moved at a snail pace as owls swooped across the roads on the way out...

The biologists knew they were in a foreign land upon discovery of great protective fences made entirely out of junked vehicles and they moved on cautiously as not to upset the castle dwellers inside.  Moments of serious study were had on a random throne the biologists stumbled upon and they feasted at local establishments...

One morning of their journey was marked with thousands of fresh tracks of critters that had traversed the sandy backroads that very night and morning.  Rodents, raccoons, badgers, fresh burrows, and the sure sign of the phantom chicken gobblers...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the time to return home neared, the biologists were observing an armadillo when a Mississippi kite swooped by providing full dorsal and ventral views in a flash and offering up another lifer.  Though unsuccessful at locating a lesser prairie chicken, the journey had produced a healthy list of juicy birds and the story had gotten them out of a speeding ticket.  For an adventure where the target species was not spotted, they had seen many others to compensate.  The biologists then traveled home and birded happily ever after. 

This was the only chicken they documented...

 

Sticker Issues...or just addiction?

Not that this is a bad thing but I've been told by close friends that I have sticker issues.  And frankly, not many were surprised when I told them about my Burly Bird sticker venture.  My idea was born out of the frustration that I wanted bird stickers that couldn't be found.  I wanted stickers that showed the wonder and fun of birds.  I wanted stickers that help raise money for conservation and research organizations that I believe in.  So naturally I had to create 

www.burlybird.com

 

 
I've been known to purchase multiple stickers, even of the same one - you never know when you'll need to give one away, not to mention if you change vehicles!  You need to have backups.  I like the variety, the randomness, the memory.  I have a roof-rack space cadet that will someday be covered...

   

  

There are stickers on my clipboard... 

 I stick them on my toolbox...

I have them on my car...

 

I have quite the inventory of random stickers from all over the country,..

 

I keep them carefully stashed in this manilla envelope, patiently waiting for the perfect application somewhere, someday...