One weird bird

First: Lynne's sister passed away gently on Saturday. Please go to her blog and give her some Cyber-Hugs.
I wish I had stellar vulture pics for her, but I do have this one weird bird:


I had three programs today: Two at an elementary school (Every kid in the school....every single one) and one at a Cub Scout meeting. My voice is shot and my eyes are blood-shot.
The beginning of the day was actually at 1:00 am, with vocally-sparring barred owls (video tomorrow when I can stay awake long enough to upload them). As Geoff and I were getting Lorelei into the car to go to school, Geoff pointed out a bird on top of a tree..."Honey, that's a weird bird up there." I've learned to listen when GEOFFREY points out a bird. Remember when he found a barred owl in the yard for me?
This is the weird bird....


At first, I thought I was looking at an escapee parrot or cocketiel. But the bill is straight.


As far as I can tell, this is a leucistic tufted titmouse.


He or she sampled the catkins on the "whatever" tree and also the big maple.
Is that a weird bird or what? If anyone has any other ID thoughts, I would love to hear them.

Mommy-Brag: When Isabelle got home from school (and I had stopped in between programs) I showed her the pictures, and she said, without prompting from me, "That looks like a leucistic bird, Mommy. Maybe that's a titmouse? See the little crest?" I do love that kid.

Goodbye August, you skanky wench from Hell

September is a breath of fresh air here in scenic southwestern Ohio. 85 degrees. I never thought I would be happy about that.
Here are some pics from my program today at Shawnee Lookout:

This big beautiful female red-tailed hawk usually lives in Sharon Woods, but her mew is being rebuilt, so she is vacationing at Farbach-Warner. Matt, the park naturalist who co-presented with me thought it would be nice for her to get out and stretch her legs.
(Hit by car)

Oh, it's so sad. This is actually not our red screech owl. He belongs to the park district, and in the tradition of education screech owls everywhere, the *molt *is *ugly.
(Hit by car)
Does anyone think that this is worthy of Cute Overload?



Maybe this one, then:


"Please take me home, love me, and knit me some cozies."
(Barred owl belonging to the parks.)
(Hit by car. Now totally blind)



"Let the disapproval rain down...."



This spider has a death wish. I found it crawling up the GHO's belly. I had to take a picture before brushing it off.


And look who I had the nerve to bring today!


Isis!



I am proud of her, too. She was really good. She gets slightly skitzy with transitions (i.e. starting and stopping, doorways, etc), and it took 10 minutes of slow approaches and soft talking to get her on my hand and out of the mew, but she perched out just fine and I had tears in my eyes more than once today.
She stole the show. Some people are drawn to falcons, some people are drawn to the little cuties, but EVERYONE is drawn to Isis. This is a type of bird you are NOT going to see very often in your life.
I perched her next to the "typical" RT to show the difference. It's an understatement to say that the difference is remarkable.

I am also proud of myself. I have avoided Isis for too long. She's nowhere near as difficult as I built up in my mind. I just gave myself a mental kick in the ass, and it worked. I think the public will be seeing much more of Isis from now on.

Oh, and I got a life bird today.


A red-breasted nuthatch was noodling up and down the tree I was standing next to.

Today gets an A +.

Pass the crackers, Whitey

It's not often that I get something new in the yard, bird-wise. Today was a day spent mostly indoors, trying not to sweat my last drop of moisture into my shirt. I did have to venture out to fill the bird feeders and turn on a nice mist for everyone. As I was doing that, a white bird flew over my head and into the neighbor's tree. Holy Moley, an albino-something!

I ran back into the house and grabbed the camera and waited at the window.

And here it is:

(Figures it would be a house sparrow.)
When I got a better look, I saw that it wasn't an albino, but leucistic....like Isis:



Lots of white, but she still has some pigment (eyes, beak and a spot on the back of her head).

This may be the first time in the history of the world (certainly the first time on THIS blog) that this has been said: "Isn't that a cute house sparrow?"
It must be the heat.
This is a young one...you can see the last vestiges of a bright yellow gape. And even the legs are cute...pink!

It's so cool to see those faint typical "house sparrow" patterns on a mostly white bird. The only house sparrow I can say that I like. Partly because it's pretty, and partly because its chances of survival are slim. (I have a heart, honest. A teeny little part of me wishes it the best)

So that was exciting....

And this was too...the chrysalis is suddenly black and the sweet delicate wings are visible. Not a great picture...but I was nervous, trying to get it back into the habitat and not drop it on the floor. I assume tomorrow's post will be full of emerging and wing-pumping and releasing.