Hawk Platform

About five years ago my dad put up a a 32-foot tall hawk platform on our farm, hoping to encourage the Red-tailed Hawks in the area to nest there, but the hawks still haven’t shown any interest. For the past two years we’ve put sticks on the platform to help entice the hawks, maybe this will be the year?

This past Sunday, we added some more nesting material to the platform, using our Skytrak telehandler. Here I am by the platform,

Hawks do a much better job of arranging the sticks than I do, but it’s just to get them interested and (hopefully!) they can finish the job,

Birding News #15

:: A Common Loon spent 43 days incubating, trying to hatch a pair of rocks

:: An opinion piece by author and birder Brian Kimberling for The New York Times, on “What do the birders know?”  Mr. Kimberling’s new book, Snapper, just published on April 23rd by Pantheon, is about an amateur ornithologist and future falconer. NPR has a good review, with a picture of the lovely cover, here. Also, a good interview with Mr. Kimberling, “the twitcher of Evansville”, at The Independent (UK) here:

the level of detail and casually assured knowledge evident in Snapper, the book which could do for birdwatchers what Annie Proulx did for small-town newspaper reporters and gay cowboys, would tend to suggest that he’s being over-modest. But it’s not a book about birds; more a book about a birdwatcher, Nathan Lochmueller, who is employed by Indiana University to track and log the nesting habits of songbirds in a specific corner of woodland near Evansville.

:: Have you ever wondered what a woodpecker tongue looks like? Find out here!

:: Researchers are studying American Crows to learn more about their evolutionary behavior

:: The pair of Bald Eagles from the eagle cam in Washington, DC has just recently hatched chicks

Great posts in birding blogs this week:

:: From Kathie at Kathie’s Birds: In Search of Nighthawks

:: From Hugh at Round Robin: 294 Species and One Shattered Record on “Almost Perfect” Big Day

:: From Steve at Bourbon, Bastards, and Birds: Birds for Bullshit Artists, A Pipit of Excellent Posture, and More

:: From the Backyard Chirper: 10 Interesting Facts About Chickadees

:: From Drew at Nemesis Bird: ***MEGA*** Bahama Woodstar, Lancaster PA

:: From Carrie at 10,000 Birds: Eurasian Tree Sparrow From Long Ago

Look Up!

Look what just flew in, in time for the Snow Goose Chase giveaways: autographed copies of Look Up!: Bird-Watching in Your Own Backyard (Candlewick, March 2013), straight from author/illustrator Annette LeBlanc Cate in Massachusetts!

Thank you so very, very much, Annette for sending such a wonderful parcel!

(Annette also included some surprises, including a couple of the field guides she used in writing Look Up!)

We leave for the Snow Goose Chase tomorrow just after 7…

Feathers on Friday

If you would like to join me for my Feathers on Friday meme, please put the link to your blog post in the comments and I’ll add a link in this my post.

Here is a pair of Mallards I digiscoped on Wednesday at the slough across the road fro my house,

Giveaways for the Snow Goose Chase

The Young Naturalists’ Corner at the Snow Goose Chase this Saturday will have numerous books and other items to give away as door prizes!

These are some of the books my mom and I bought, but there will be others that other organizers are bringing,

:: Look Up!: Bird-Watching in Your Own Backyard, written by Annette LeBlanc Cate (Candlewick, March 2013) is the one book I’m still waiting for to come in the mail; Annette kindly offered to send some copies — thank you, Annette!

:: The Kids’ Outdoor Adventure Book: 448 Great Things to Do in Nature Before You Grow Up by Stacy Tornio and Ken Keffer and illustrated by Rachel Riordan (FalconGuides, April 2013); I reviewed the book earlier this week here.

:: One Small Square: Backyard: One Small Square by Donald M. Silver and illustrated by Patricia J. Wynne (Learning Triangle Press, 1993); this series is one we read a lot when my brothers and I were younger.

:: The Listening Walk by Paul Showers and illustrated by Aliki (HarperCollins, 1961); another book we had when we were younger, and my mother had it too when she was little.

:: A Golden Guide to Mammals by Donald F. Hoffmeister and Herbert S. Zim, and illustrated by James Gordon Irving (St. Martin’s Press). This is a wonderful little book, just the right size to fit in your pocket to take on a nature walk. Dr. Hoffmeister (1916-2011) was a professor of zoology, and director of the Museum of Natural History at the University of Illinois. Dr. Zim (1909-1994) was a naturalist, author, educator, and the founder and editor-in-chief of the Golden Guides series of nature books.

And Ken Keffer sent me these fabulous bookmarks that he and Stacey Tornio had made as part of the release of their new book The Kids’ Outdoor Adventure Book. And there’s one just for me to keep, too! Thank you, Ken!

Wild Bird Wednesday: Snow Geese

The Snow Geese arrived in our area on Monday, and I was very excited to see them after a long winter! I saw about 300 yesterday so they are back in full force. For the first time, today, I’m linking up with Stewart for his Wild Bird Wednesday. So, be sure to read through all the other bloggers’ posts with their wild birds.

A flock of Snow Geese,