Owls seen and unseen

Sometimes the chase is as fun as the catch.
Kathi tried today, but even her sense of fun wasn't the same as seeing a Snowy Owl.

Another Snowy (or the same one from last week) was spotted about 1 1/2 hours from here. Kathi asked if I was up for it, and of course I was. She had loaned her car to her sister, so I went to get Kathi this morning. She lives an hour and a half from me, to the southeast. We then turned around and drove two and a half hours northwest to find the owl.
We looked. And looked some more. And looked a little longer. NO owl.

That makes two different Snowy Chases that I have choked on. Maybe it is to be my Nemesis Bird (a bird that you regularly try to find and can't)?

That and Snow Geese. They are around here every Winter, but damn if I can actually find one.

Since I don't have great photos of a brilliant white male Snowy, how about a big sassy Barred Owl?

This female Barred Owl tangled with a fence. The fence won.
(This is Cindy, our Bird Care Director. What is it with raptor rehab and people named Cindy?)


One of our vets performed some laser treatments to promote healing, and this big beautiful girl was transferred to a flight cage to strengthen up.
Look at those feathery toes. All curled up. Can't say it enough: Owls are cool.


That gaze...so fierce, in a face so sweet.
When I hold our program Barred Owl, I have to remember not to kiss her sweet face. How would I look with no lips?

So I didn't get a Snowy. But I can go and look at birds like this whenever I want.
Neener.

Still on the planet

It's been three days since I posted anything. A very busy weekend:
Friday night: A program at the Cincinnati Nature Center.
Saturday afternoon: A program at the Queen City Birding Festival.
Saturday night: A program at Spring Grove Cemetery.

I have enough to post about until my trip this weekend!
Friday night, after taking the birds back, I got to hear a pair of barred owls singing a love song in the woods behind the barns at RAPTOR:

Barred owl quickie video, etc

Two nights ago, Nellie and Hooper needed to go out and do their business at 1:00 am. I stumbled to the back door and let them out. As I was closing the door, I heard our barred owls calling:

It's really, really faint, so crank up your speakers.


Kathi and I went for a bird walk today, and we actually saw birds this time.
Blue-gray gnatcatchers
Turkey vultures
Eastern meadowlark
Song sparrows
Chimney swifts
Tree swallows
Killdeer...
Did I miss any, Kathi?

We also saw a millipede.


Miss Holly Go-Lightly came along, too. Isn't she a happy-looking dog?

Yesterday,while sitting in my favorite spot at Lake Isabella (By the way, reports of the GHOW chick branching are coming in), I heard a long, drawn out bird song. I grabbed my trusty Les Beletsky's Bird Song book and found the warbling vireo. I played the song a few times and got him to land about 20 feet from the car:


I did a program today at the EPA. Yes, the E P freakin' A. I was a little nervous about it, but it was great. It was awesome. I totally killed. I had an A game. I feel really, really good right now.

And now, the gravy.
Our crab apple tree is in full bloom, and to see little bird faces peeking out of all that pink is just a handful of joy:

As Erma Bombeck said, the grass is greener over the septic tank

Since rain has been a precious, rare commodity lately, the grass has gone unmowed. That hasn't stopped our neighbor's, though. Now, don't get me wrong, they are very nice people. But they are sadly disillusioned when it comes to lawn care. They pay a Scott's Lawn person to come in once a month or so to spray God-knows-what on their lawn, but looking at the photo below, you can see whose grass is prettier.

I did mow the front yard this evening, and it's still greener than theirs.
We don't water, we don't fertilize, we don't use pesticides.
And our grass rocks anyway.

We may not water the grass, but we water the birds.

...and make sure thhe sunflowers are healthy for all the critters.

From last night's video shoot:

Elvis, the Movie Star.
I wanted to get more pictures, but I wanted to be on hand in case the owls got hinky and needed me. The class had spotlights over the owls to simulate moonlight. The owls were like, "What the heck?" because they are never perched out at night. But they were well behaved.
I am doing a program in Madisonville tomorrow at 3 pm, if anyone in the area wants to come by and say Hey. This was a last minute request, and I can't say no to people who ask for programs. Even if going to be really hot. Even if I was looking forward to having the weekend off.

We apologize for the fault in the subtitles. Those responsible have been sacked.

***There was just a bald eagle and a handler on The Colbert Report! Stephen! Ask ME next time!***

You know it's time to put out more suet when...

...a red-bellied woodpecker is hanging from one toe, trying to get a sunflower seed.
That's a position you don't often see a woodpecker in.

Here's a house finch saying, "Wha...?"


Here's same house finch saying, "Wha...?", but POOFIER.



Lorelei had a mystery fever today. She was NOT her usual sunshiny self.

Since our TV is still fried, I have to resort to playing DVDs on the laptop.
What a cute scene...my three kids snuggled on the couch.

I was taking random pictures in the house, and rather liked this one.
On the left is a picture of my parents on my wedding day (and this is the ONLY picture in existence of them kissing), and on the right is a picture of our Great Horned Owl (taken by the Fabulous Shila, aka Zick's buddy)

Don't let the cat out of the bag...er..box!

I put the garden hose on "Mist" yesterday for the hummingbirds. And they appreciated it. Did I get a picture of them appreciating it? Please.

I had a great presentation this afternoon. 150 Girl Scouts who were really into birds of prey.
And Elvis (our Barred Owl)
Stole. The. Show.
He was so...himself. He was named "Elvis" because he thinks he is the King. And barred owls have such a human look about them. Every time I would say something about his attitude, that head would swivel around and he would stare at me, cracking the audience up.
The lady who set up the program said that it was like he was a puppet on my hand, because it looked scripted the way he was interacting with me.
He is such an interesting bird. He is hard to catch in the mew sometimes (I have to wear him out and then sneak up behind him to grab his jesses) but once he is on the glove, he sits there like the royalty he thinks he is.


"My name is Elvis. Worship me and I may let you live."

To continue the goofiness from the other night:
(these are not original....)

Ever wonder what chairs would look like if our knees bent the other way?

From the brilliant comedic stylings of the the Boys of Monty Python:

"...I'm a kike, a Heebie, I'm a Red Sea pedestrian, Mom, and proud of it!"

"I don't want to talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough wiper. I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!"

"Go and boil your bottoms, you sons of silly persons!"

"Come and see the violence inherent in the system. Help! Help! I'm being repressed! "

“-She turned me into a newt!
-A newt?
-I got better...”

And a few from Dave Barry:
“Never under any circumstances take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night”

“It is a well-documented fact that guys will not ask for directions. This is a biological thing. This is why it takes several million sperm cells . . . to locate a female egg, despite the fact that the egg is, relative to them, the size of Wisconsin.”