Bobcat!

I was driving right by Black Mesa (in the Oklahoma panhandle) and this guy comes loping across the road! Big cat! was my first thought and I have to admit I was thinking Mountain Lion for a split second, but once I gathered myself I saw the short tail, etc... He/she joined another Bobcat and they headed toward the mesa. I quickly got my scope and camera set up on my window and snapped this picture. I've only seen one Mountain Lion and that was in southeastern Arizona. I've seen a few bobcats here and there, but mostly in Kansas. It's always cool seeing a wild cat!

Fried Green Tomatoes!!

Well, these are the last of our tomatoes. Maggie's been making fried green tomatoes all summer and here's our last batch of the year.

Slice them up. I like thinner and crispier. Maggie likes them sliced thicker.
Then dip them in egg.
Next coat them with bread crumbs and corn meal.
Then give them a nice toasty deep fry. This removes all fat and calories!
and here you have them! Mmmmmmmmm!!! Mmmmm! Good!

Lewis' Woodpecker/Favorite Bird?

In class the other day my students asked what my favorite bird was. I think this is a fairly common question asked to birders and when I get it I usually qualify my answer by saying how tough that question is and how I really don't have a favorite bird, etc... But for some reason when they asked me I answered without much hesitation, Lewis' Woodpecker.

The easiest and closest place to see Lewis' Woodpecker from Kansas is Carrizo Canyon
in southeast Colorado. There can be no migration, no birds at all and you will still see a dark woodpecker flying across the canyon between oaks and cottonwoods. I love watching them flycatch from the tops of cottonwoods. They are just beautiful birds and they are also somewhat rare. Their distribution is patchy and they seem to be on the decline. They also don't look like a woodpecker! They look like a crow more than a woodpecker. Their black backs are a glossy blue-green-purple-black color which truly defies description. Plus they are named after Meriwether Lewis of Lewis and Clark fame! I'm a sucker for history of the west and add onto that history of birds/birders and I am hooked.

Here is a pic and video I took while in Colorado. It doesn't do the bird justice, but it is the bird I sat and watched for nearly an hour.


You can read Lewis' account of the bird here.

So put the gorgeous Carrizo Canyon together with the equally outstanding Lewis' Woodpecker and you have my favorite bird! At least for now!

Picture Canyon, Baca Co., Colorado

During my trip I made a stop at Picture Canyon in southeast Colorado. I didn't know the area very well so I just hiked a little ways, but I did get to see some rock art. I'm not sure of the history of these paintings/carvings. I haven't been able to find much information on them. I was disgusted by the amount of graffiti. It made my stomach turn to think of how oblivious to history and art a person would have to be to carve their initials into rock art. Uggh!




I missed quite a few sites because they were further back in the canyon. I just wasn't sure of where to go. I hope to go back to explore more.

Morton County, Kansas

Last Monday evening I packed up a rental car, kissed Maggie and hit the road. I wanted to get to the southwest corner of Kansas before a cold front was supposed to hit on Tuesday night. So with a 4-pack of Red Bull and Fellowship of the Ring on CD I was going to drive the 1000 miles and 16 hours straight through the night. The excitement of the road kept me going past midnight, but soon after, I had to start hitting the Red Bull. Red Bull had gotten me through an all-nighter from Portal, AZ to Garden City, KS in the pursuit of some Roseate Spoonbills, so I had confidence in its power.

I was also boosted by the lunar eclipse which started a little before four in the morning. I was in the Flint Hills when it was at its fullest coverage. It truly was an amazing experience (heightened by Rusted Root and Red Bull at this point). I pulled over at the cattle pens off of I-35 and tried taking a picture. Here is my attempt.

As I blearily made my way through western Kansas I came into Greensburg. Greensburg was hit by a tornado and was totally devastated. Maggie and I had driven through in the spring on our way to Santa Fe and we weren't allowed to go through town. We could see it had been flattened, but we could only see the outskirts of the devastation. I believe a lot of the rubble has been cleaned up so now there is little left except stripped trees.

Growing up in Kansas either leaves you terrified of tornadoes or makes you want to hop in the car and chase them down. I'm of the former!

When I pulled into Elkhart around noon I went straight to the Sewage Lagoons which I blogged about here. There were a few birds around. A flock of 15 American Avocets, many Blue-winged Teal and Northern Shovelers, Spotted Sandpipers, Solitary Sandpipers, Least Sandpipers, a flyover Long-billed Curlew, Black-billed Magpies, Black-crowned Night-Herons, and many Turkey Vultures roosting in the trees around the lagoons.

I then headed to my favorite spot in the Cimarron National Grasslands, Point of Rocks. Travelers on the Santa Fe Trail would stop here and survey the road ahead. Standing there, looking over the Cimarron river valley, I always feel steeped in history.

This has always been a great place to find western birds in Kansas. But this day there wasn't much except some Rock Wrens, Swainson's Hawks and Kestrels. But I never have had a bad time there.

Can you see the Rock Wren? He didn't care for me walking in his area! Click on the picture for a little closer look.



Below the point you can see the ruts from the Santa Fe Trail.
And before I completely crashed I checked the sewage lagoons one more time. I call this one Sunset Over Sewage. (Edit: I just took another look at this and it is actually a sunrise over sewage!)

I went a lot more places and saw more birds and country that I'll hopefully write about later.

Loggerhead Shrike

I had planned on writing up a bit of a travelogue from my trip, but time constraints may keep me from that. I will probably post some pics and video like this Loggerhead Shrike. Morton Co. Kansas had quite a few shrikes, one of my favorite birds!

Home Again!

Just got home from birding in Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma and New Mexico. Migration was fairly nonexistent, but I had a good time. Lots going on this week. I've got to get stuff together for three classes, teach the classes, go to a Cubs game, and sleep for about 12 hours straight!

No Country For Old Men

This looks like it will be good! The Coen brothers and Cormac McCarthy!

Compost Happens

Slowly Maggie and I are getting to where we want as far as gardening/composting/recycling. We are still looking for a "farm," but for living as close to Chicago (where we can make some money) we are pretty happy. Here is our compost in the back yard. We started with a worm bin, but it just wasn't large enough for all our compostable matter. When we got the compost bin I added the worms thinking that if it got too hot for them they could go down into the ground, but our compost doesn't seem to get that hot so it almost feels like we have a big worm bin now. Either way the thing works. We put quite a bit of waste in there and it never gets much higher than you can see in the photo. I'll probably add quite a few leaves this fall. We'll see how it does in the winter.

Montrose Beach

I spent a little time at Montrose today. There were quite a few birds, many Semipalmated Sandpipers, Least Sandpipers, Semipalmated Plovers, a Willet, a Ruddy Turnstone, a large flock of Short-billed Dowitchers, Sanderlings, Common and Forster's Terns, etc...

I've always loved Ruddy Turnstones. In Kansas they are fairly rare. I actually missed seeing one during my big year. So here in Chicago where they are fairly common I usually take even more interest in them. Here is a video and still.


Here's an American Kestrel eating something. I have no idea what though.

Montrose

You can read about some of the birds seen at Montrose today on IBET. Here are a couple photos of a Semipalmated Plover.


Does anyone know these mushrooms? With all this rain mushrooms are popping up everywhere.

Storm Damage

Last night Chicago was hit with heavy thunderstorms. Here are a few pics of tree damage.

The Magic Hedge at Montrose lost a big Horse Chestnut.




The platform at Jarvis Bird Sanctuary took a hard hit.


Jarvis also had this tree completely uprooted!

Rainbow and Montrose Beach

I was working at Rainbow Beach today on the south side of Chicago and had a flyover Whimbrel and a single Willet who landed. The Whimbrel was calling quite a bit as it flew over. The Whimbrel looked as if it was going to land but a woman was walking her dogs along the shoreline at the time. There had been a sighting of a Whimbrel at Montrose earlier in the morning so there is a good chance this was the same bird.

I also checked out the many Monk Parakeet nests at Rainbow Beach Park. Here's a pic.


Later I stopped by Montrose and had 7 Willets, a Baird's Sandpiper, Sanderling, Least Sandpipers and Semipalmated Sandpipers. It's always so cool watching Willets fly.
Baird's Sandpiper

Baird's and part of a Semipalmated Sandpiper

Least Sandpiper


I saw that A DC Birding Blog used Bird Cinema for their videos so I tried them out. I like them better, but I don't like that they automatically start playing. Any thoughts? You Tube maybe?

More Rain!

This is the latest storm to hit our region. This was around 8:30 central time. I love weather and I just think radar is art. Now, I could do without the non-stop rain though!!!! Our plants are rotting!!

Squirrel stuck in feeder: News at 11

You've got to check out the video over at The Hawk Owl's Nest of a squirrel that got stuck in their squirrel proof feeder!

I have this same feeder. Crazy squirrels!

Birding Meme, the results

Thanks everyone who has answered my Birding Meme! I thought I would make a comprehensive list here so people can check out each other's answers. I'll continue to add links as they happen or I find them. The OC Warbler, A DC Birding Blog, Search and Serendipity, Bell Tower Birding, Wrenaissance Reflections, Jeff Gyr's Birding Blog, Steve Blain's Bird Porn, The Hawk Owl's Nest, Born Again Bird Watcher, 2 Birders To Go, Wild Bird On The Fly, Thomasburg Walks, 10,000 Birds, The Wandering Tattler, Nurturing Nature, bogbumper, Words and Pictures, James, Crafty Gardener, and . . .

Chicago Peregrine Falcon Pics

Chicago Peregrine Falcons were successfully reintroduced and nest on buildings downtown and elsewhere. Some of the Chicago birds like to come down to Montrose Beach to hunt during migration. I've seen them chasing shorebirds mostly, but you can go under the tower and find flycatchers and the sort. I took these photos last year. I watched this bird bathing in Lake Michigan and then fly up to its spot on the tower.

Mortonia!!

In less than one week I will be on my way to Morton County Kansas!!!!!!!

Native Plant o' the day: Pasture Thistle

Since I am a restorer of all things native I am often destroying thistle, Canada and Bull Thistle for the most part. So it was refreshing to come upon Pasture Thistle (Cirsium discolor) at Ashburn Prairie. I'm pretty sure this is the only native thistle in all of Chicago park land. I'd estimate there are around 30-40 plants this year.




As a side note, I've been looking for some plains birding blogs and mostly coming up with nothing. I'm pretty sure there are no Kansas birders blogging, but I did come across a nice blog called Nebraska Birding run by Kayleen. Stop on by and say hi. And if you run across any other plains birders who are blogging send me a link!

Obedient Plant

I took this at Ashburn Prairie at Marquette Park on the south side of Chicago.