Back from it!

Anyone else have fun this weekend? I did! Checking out a part of Colorado that I had not previously visited was just the thing to get me firing on all cylinders and infect me with full blown spring fever. Happy Presidents' Day to all, and for those not at work enjoy. I'll have more on the trip shortly.

Back at it!

Well, here we go again. After being immobile or otherwise distracted for far to long I am headed back out for some quality time with the wilderness this weekend. I am headed South East, and look forward to doing a bit of birding in the Oklahoma panhandle and the corner of Colorado.

I've had the itch for a few weeks now, but weather, my recovering toe and an unexpectedly exciting Colorado Basketball season have kept me pinned down. Seeing an open weekend was too much - so I am off for adventure.

There are still a couple of England posts in the works, but otherwise any readers checking in haven't missed much. I haven't filed a single Ebird report, and the camera has been idle since December 30th.

Wherever this weekend finds you I hope it is safe and filled with the wonders of wildlife.

SOPA/PIPA and update

Hi there!


Daveabirding here to get a personal message up about myself and this whole SOPA/PIPA whirlwind that is going around.

Update on Daveabirding:
After a long silence, aside from the one UK trip update last weekend, I owe anyone who has dropped by an explanation. No, Daveabirding did not swear off technology and go to live in a hut somewhere to contemplate the phases of Jupiter on plant growth. No, I didn't decide to rebrand as Daveacastling, although after the next few UK recaps to be posted you may think so. I also didn't have technical issues, and there was no intentional abandonment of blogging.

Instead Daveabirding has gone bionic! That's right, they rebuilt me - better than I was before. While I can't jump notably higher that before, and I can't lift staggering weights - I do have a shiny new screw in my toe! The down and dirty is that after years of dealing with a bad toenail I went into have them do the thing where they make the ingrown part stop growing. While I was there I mentioned that periodically I was getting a very brief, intense pain in the joint of my big toe. It was happening more and more often, and had become a nuisance when hiking or running, and I wondered if the nail was an issue for that. Was it.....of course not. I had the proud diagnosis of Hallux Limitus a toe joint issue that has one joint out of place, causing the next one down the line to degrade over time. The fix was surgery - which I underwent on the 22nd December. That meant that a Christmas visit to Minnesota got moved up a week - preventing me from participating in the Boulder Christmas Bird Count, or any others for that matter. It also meant that December was a whirlwind of all the pre-holiday craziness, with a week less time to get it all done. Christmas was a blur of pain medication and icing, followed by decreasing pain and bowl games through the new year. I'm now a few weeks back into regular work days in the office, and getting around decently, however I am stuck in an open, Velcro, surgical shoe that forces me to heel walk. So, for at least the next week I am still effectively hobbled. While I did take a cleansing break from most things bird, I have been keeping my eyes open, occasionally seeing the Snow Geese return to the local field, and spotting one potential Ferruginous Hawk on an evening drive home from work.
Unfortunately, when I returned to my email I found 800 messages, describing all the CBCs, great local rarities that had come and gone, and the largest irruption of Snowy Owls in 40-50 years. What a bummer. Oh well, hiking, photography and longer days will all be back soon enough, and in the meantime I do hope to get a few more UK recaps up.




Now the SOPA/PIPA take, from me a random blogger;

Odds are, if you've found your way to this site you have already seen much larger, more prominent sites that are/were on shutdown on 1/18 - protesting the devastating impact that SOPA/PIPA could have on their ability to offer the services they have provided to this point. Well, since I have no ability to shut down blogger.com, and am frankly surprised that Google has it operating today. I would like to share what I perceive to be the impact of these bills on my simple, not for profit (much less income), birding site.

For starters, it would be very unlikely that blogger.com, a free blogging offering driven by Google would be available moving forward. Unless they could ensure that all content posted by all users was original and unique, they, in addition to the users could be held liable for facilitating that content. This has already been widely publicized in the media when describing photo hosting and sharing sites. So to keep daveabirding alive I would have to start by hosting and serving my content myself, at the cost of a server, domain registration, and uptime, etc.

Now that wouldn't be all bad, but it is not the entire picture either. If I took over hosting of daveabirding I would take over the civil and criminal liability for all content, and all linked to content on my site. Again, that shouldn't be a problem for a blogger that only posts his own images and short recaps of hikes etc, right? Unfortunately, no.

First off, all links to any other sites would have to go, why.....because I can't afford to be responsible for the originality of their content.

Next, reduced look and feel. Locally hosted sites are generally more simple, because building, testing and maintaining features take time. Not to mention that freeware html templates would likely become a thing of the past. So things like comments and keywords would be lost.

Content. While I would be able to, and in some way would continue to post my own content - many of the tools that I use would be gone. Google searching images is a fast and easy way to cross check my identifications - unless they were able to confirm the authenticity of all, Google Image search is gone. Listserves such as CObirds would have to look at what they allow posters to contribute. As above, linkbacks to photos, site maps, and other resources could not be included. I would imagine Birds of North America would continue unchanged, but I am unsure how Ebird would fare under SOPA. Blog list and ranking sites would be history, places like Nature Blog Network and Fatbirder would be in jeopardy, and forum sites like Birdforum.net and Surfbirds.com would lose much of their ability to promote the sharing of interest in and knowledge of birds and nature. Other sites that seem to be at risk are xeno-cantu.org, a database of recorded bird sounds from around the world and naturephotographers.net, a forum for critique of some outstanding images.

Sadly, on a personal side I think I would have never developed my interest in birds or photography had it not been for the interconnected network of bloggers, experts, photographers and enthusiasts who share their work freely for the enjoyment of others. I, like many others, strongly support the ability of artists to protect their work by copyright from infringement or piracy. Even as I take thousands of sub-par shots I hope that someday I could have enough good ones to think that someone may want to licence an image for exclusive use.

I am not going to rant on first amendment rights, big bad government, or larger issues that these bills bring to light. They are important, and they should be discussed, but this isn't the place. If you read this hopefully the implications for a one-man, little to no consequence blog are enough to make you wonder what the larger implications may be. If it does, go check out one of the big boys like Google or Wikipedia and learn more. Consider asking your Senator or Representative to do the same.

Adventures in the United Kingdom - the Recap Part 6 - Wildlife along the Thames in Windsor, October 14th

October 14th, I had a morning in Windsor to spend before meeting with my parents to begin the family portion of my trip. I wandered down to the river, and crossed over to walk around Eton College. The river was great that morning. Sun was breaking through the clouds, and a diving Great Crested Grebe was surfacing between dives.


I headed off to wander through the historic college, before returning to the river banks. My lucky timing continued, I arrived at the pier just in time to hop on a scenic river cruise. Boats make great mobile blinds, and I had a great view of a Gray Heron on the bank.


The Gray Heron is similar to our Great Blue Herons in size and overall coloring, but the lack of rust color and spotting are a few key differences.


On the return I got one perched shot of a Great Cormorant. Cormorants through and through, they act very similar to our Double-crested Cormorants, often perching and stretching their wings for long periods of time.


My cruise complete, I heade back to the hotel, met my folks a bit later and headed north to stay the night in Rugby. Yes, the home of the game of the same name. While wandering in the town before dinner we even visited the field with a small sign indicating that it was here where William Webb Ellis "first picked up the ball and ran with it". He became the father of Rugby, which in turn likely had a strong influence on American Football. Pretty cool place to visit, which was followed-up by a great dinner of mutton, and wrapped up the day nicely with a good pint or two.

Snow Geese

This morning I was running early on my way to work. Mainly because there was no frost on my windows. Then, in an incredible struck of luck, I spotted two immature Snow Geese in the field outside my neighborhood. This field has a near constant flock of Canada Geese in the fall, winter and spring, and despite my constant scanning - they always remain Canada Geese - unless of course there are a smattering of Rock Pigeons thrown in for good measure or spite.


Not today though - real, live, Snow Geese! Two of them! Why did the Snow Geese pick this morning to appear? Because this morning, @#$%, I had left my camera bag at home!

"Don't leave Geese!" I thought to myself as I made the split decision to correct that oversight.

I find it amazing that anxiety can reach such levels in moments it took me to turn back into my neighborhood, navigate safely to my house, retrieve my gear, drive back to the edge of the neighborhood, park, cross the divided two lane street on foot, and then, (having confirmed the birds had not been chased off by a happily walked dog), walk along the field to a position where I was not shooting into the sun.


Needless to say, I was happy they hadn't picked those few minutes to leave! Both birds, the second is visible in the top picture - facing away and feeding (AKA the moon shot) - are first year birds, and are trading out their dark plumage for the snowy white feathers they will show for the rest of their lives.


In addition to switching to their 'snow' white plumage, the birds' bare parts, (bills and feet), will turn mostly pink, except for the grin patch on the bill which will remain dark. Check my previous Snow Geese posts for adults in traditional and 'Blue' phases. This bird was nice enough to stretch, showing off the dark primary feathers on its wing, which will remain dark, but are generally hidden when it is standing or swimming and the wing is folded. These were my first juvenile Snow Geese, first of the year Snow Geese, and the first time I had seen more than one at a time in my home county. Not a bad way to spend a few extra minutes before work.

On the topic of good sightings, John Vanderpoel, a Colorado birder, is really tearing it up on his Big Year bid, if you haven't seen his blog yet be sure to check it out in the next six weeks. I have a feeling it is going to be a wild ride down to the end of 2011!

Seasonal Change

Growing up in Minnesota you learned to anticipate the seasonal changes. Living without four distinct seasons would feel like a major loss to me, I find joy in each one, and the transitions between. In Minnesota the change of seasons could be fast, or measured and gradual. No matter what though, there was always a movement from one to the next, you rarely went backwards.


In Colorado the seasons jump all around, and with or without a bit of driving you may find yourself catching a feel of all of them in a single day. One day you may get an early taste of winter, and the next may be reminiscent of summer. Here on the Front Range we have already had several significant snows, and a cold start to the week has progressed back to mild temperatures and the potential for a nice weekend.

I guess one of the aspects of Colorado that I am most fond of is that here you can find the unexpected in nature to reflect thoughts or feelings. For instance, Wednesday's lunch visit to Standley Lake Park found me admiring a Song Sparrow against a backdrop of the warm colors of fall. This morning, while unimpressed by a group of Ring-billed Gulls at Lower Church Lake, I did find frosty beauty in a puddle with a partial skin of ice, reflecting an otherwise unnoticed clump of grass against a cloudy sunrise.

No matter if you are in a place where fall is hanging on, or winter is establishing an early grip, I hope nature finds a way to make the commonplace reflect the beauty of the season. Have a great weekend everyone, and Go Buffs! (It's basketball season - time for a win!). BTW, for anyone who followed my England posts, expect a bit of a lag. I have plenty more pictures, but I need to grind out some more processing before I will be ready to add more posts.

Adventures in the United Kingdom - the Recap Part 5 - Wildlife in Windsor Great Park October 13th

Having walked directly down the Great Walk to Snow Hill and the Copper Horse I quickly deviated from the paved walkway, exploring a good sized woodlot to the west of the statue. I was able to get bad, but identifiable shots of Great Spotted Woodpecker and Spotted Thrush. One of the real highlights of that area was a group of young Pheasants that were passing me as I descended the hillside. They kept their distance, but our directions were generally merging, and it was a nice few minutes of watching stealthy birds try to move more slowly than my notice. The ground wasn't the only source of interest though. Birds were also in the trees, this Great Tit for instance.

All the while Pheasants lurking.....I thought this shot really highlighted the adaptation of their plumage for camouflage. What are feathers and what are fern leaves? In all honesty, at the time I wasn't sure what these birds were. It was my first experience with this age of Pheasant, and I wondered if they weren't some form of grouse. Going to a place where the majority of birds are unknown kept me guessing. I also noticed that I had a much more difficult time picking birds out of the canopy. In past posts I have noted my repeated experience of finally spotting a long sought bird, and then refinding the species several times over the following days. One of my impressions from this trip is that the same brain function seems to happen on a larger scale as well. My visual cortex didn't seem to be dialed in on the patterns and shapes of unknown birds. I could hear them, and even spot motion, but until I had really picked a species out they would remain hidden far longer than I would have expected were I birding on familiar territory.


On the flip side, once I 'got to know' a species I would pick them up far more readily. Granted, the Blue Tit below was fairly obvious against a bare trunk, but they became frequent sights over the course of the trip.


I left the wooded hillside, and headed north across open fields, keeping the Long Walk in sight off my right shoulder. I was heading generally closer to where the Red Deer had been on my visit the day before. I spotted this lone bull, and gave it plenty of space as I walked past at an angle.


Despite my distance and passing route the deer eventually decided he had enough of my presence and camera and wandered off.


Meanwhile, I had arrived at a small pond I had noticed the previous evening. With clear skies and a sinking sun I had much better light for this visit. Common Moorhens are colorful sights on the water. Their red and yellow bills are very impressive against a mostly black body.

I don't think Egyptian Geese are going to be mistaken for classic beauties often. I will give them high marks for having a striking appearance though. They are certainly well suited to picking up the colors of fall.


I had just moved beyond the pond, when I suddenly found myself in an uncomfortable situation. A different male deer had crested a small rise, and I found myself too close for assured comfort, with a lake directly behind me. The male was 'roaring', and headed towards the walk, and the herds I knew to be beyond it. I didn't stick around for the 'killer' shot, opting for the middle ground of a short move to show him I was not a challenge, and then see what I could get for a photo. Unfortunately, (or fortunately), he moved off and didn't give me another direct look. Even in passing the shot is good enough to show the velvet shedding from his antlers. Definitely a memorable experience.


Having determined that he was not going to charge me, I settled back to the geese, getting another Egyptian Goose to pose on land.


Once again the sun was getting low, Windsor and London sit at roughly the same latitude as Calgary. That gave extended periods of soft light, and I took the opportunity to get a slightly different view of the castle towers.


Even though the day was winding down, and I was heading back towards a welcome seat at a pub, I still had one more memorable interaction in store.

Red Kite!


I was just at the point of leaving the deer enclosure fence along the long walk, when I spotted this bird working on a kill farther down the clipped lawn. It gave me a few looks, but I had sat down against a tree and was willing to watch as long as the bird remained.


It did just that, allowing me many shots, and a memory card swap, before a walker on the path behind it finally set it to flight. I believe it had finished its meal at that point, and was just waiting for a bit of motivation before moving to a perch to roost and digest.


A great sight, and a wonderful conclusion to a long and memorable day in Windsor. The remainder of my walk was highlighted by views of the castle, and anticipation of a good pint when I reached town.

The following day, Friday the 14th, I would meet my parents when they arrived in the early afternoon, but the question was how I would spend my morning...