Cardinals Are Champions!

Northern Cardinal

"The word is spreading fast this morning among the bird community that the St. Louis Cardinals have won the baseball World Championship! We, the REAL cardinals, are absolutely ecstatic!"

Northern Cardinal

"Yeah, word has been traveling from feeder to feeder and from tree to tree all morning. CARDINALS ARE NUMBER 1" 

The St. Louis Cardinals celebrate their World Series Championship



Cardinal Mascot and Cardinal Rally Squirrel celebrate their World Series Championship



2 Syllables or 3?

Coyote

coy-ote (ki'-ot, ki-o'-ti), n. a small wolf of the prairies of western North America. 



Coyote

I was out looking for birds the other day when I came across this coyote. The coyote was not overly concerned about my presence, and I was able to take several pictures. Seeing this coyote got me to thinking about the pronunciation of the word coyote. Some people say it with two syllables, and some people say it with three syllables. I did a little research into the issue, and discovered that coyote pronunciation is largely regional. Rural people of the west and Midwest tend to pronounce the word with just two syllables. Easterners and city slickers are more apt to use three. I always pronounce the word "kye-yote," I just can't bring myself to say, "kye-yote-ee."  



Coyote



Hawkeyes

Red-tailed Hawk

Hawkeye, n. 
1. a person from the state of Iowa.
2. one who is quick to see things that are not obvious.


Red-tailed Hawk

There is something eerie about looking into the eyes of a hawk. It makes you wonder how deeply they can see inside of you. I guess if you survive by hunting small animals in the grass, you better have terrific eyesight.



Rough-legged Hawk

Movie Review: The Big Year

Most birders have endured the process of explaining their birding obsession to non-birders. Most people have a difficult time understanding our passion for finding birds. Now we have a movie that will help us to explain our passion to our friends and family. That movie is The Big Year which opened this weekend.

Three obsessed birders decide independently that this is their year to do a big year-- to see as many species as possible in one calendar year. Wealthy contractor Kenny Bostik, played by Owen Wilson, is the current record-holder with a previous big year mark of 732 birds in North America. The ruthless and arrogant Bostik is on his third marriage, and throughout the course of the movie we come to realize he has chosen birds over this marriage as well. The other two characters are much more likable. Martin plays Stu Preissler, a recently retired corporate executive who just relocated to a mountain home in Colorado. The third character, played by Jack Black, is recently divorced, and attempts a big year in spite of being employed full time and practically broke.

The supporting cast produced some very fine performances by some very fine actors. Brian Dennehy is superb as Jack Black's father. Rashida Jones stands out among all the birders who show up around the main characters. Jones also catches the eye of Jack Black's character, and the two have a wonderful on-screen chemistry. Angelica Huston plays an excursion boat captain named Annie Auklet, a long-time nemesis of the abrasive Owen Wilson character.

The Big Year is really a movie about obsession. The obsession, of course, is birding. The movie shows how three men let their obsession take control of their lives over the course of a year. They each make great sacrifices in terms of personal and business relationships. The suspense that grips the viewer is not how many birds the men will see, but rather how will their family, marriage, or job survive the pressure of the big year. In the end, we see each of them face moments when they must make hard decisions. Some of those choices turn out well. Others do not.

I was concerned about possible inaccuracies in bird identification or nomenclature. I don't think there are any glaring errors. The only disagreement I have is with the pronunciation of the word plover. In the movie it was pronounced ploh-ver. All birders I know pronounce it pluh-ver. That was a minor aggravation, however, because overall the movie took great pains to depict birds correctly, with the right vocalizations, and in the proper habitats.

The Big Year does not contain any sex, violence or vulgar language-- something quite rare in a movie nowadays. There are a lot of funny moments in the movie. After all, it is about three nuts who put their normal lives on hold in order to do something most people think is really weird. However, the humor is not forced or contrived. It just seeps out naturally during the course of the story.

So, how does the movie rate? Well, I have never actually reviewed a movie before. I will just say that it is as good as I had hoped, and much better than I had feared. The movie makers took a great story and did it justice. And really, that's all we can ask. Go see it yourself. You will enjoy it.

Owen Wilson, Steve Martin and Jack Black star in The Big Year

South Dakota Sunrise

South Dakota Sunrise: October 12, 2011

The sunrises have been absolutely beautiful out on the South Dakota plains this week. Each morning on my way to work I have stopped to take pictures of the dawn colors. Yesterday I was startled by two Bald Eagles that took flight from their roosts in a tree just as I snapped my first photo. You can see the silhouette of one of the eagles in the photograph below. What a great way to start the morning! 



South Dakota Sunrise: October 14, 2011
Silhouette of Bald Eagle taking flight visible at right center

"The Big Year" Opens Today!

The Big Year features actors Owen Wilson, Steve Martin and Jack Black

For several months I have been looking forward to October 14th, and it has finally arrived. This is the day the movie, The Big Year, opens in theatres.  Several years ago I read the book, The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature and Fowl Obsession, by Mark Obmascik. It tells the true story of three birders who each decided to try for a North American Big Year in 1998. All three men ended up with well over 700 bird species for the year. I have been an obsessed bird nut for the past seven years, and my life list is only at 375, so you can see how amazing the number 700 is for just one year. The book is absolutely delightful as it takes the reader on adventures all over the continent. Tomorrow I am going to see the movie, and then I will let you know how the movie compares to the book. To whet your appetite, here is a link to a preview of The Big Year. Go out and see the movie and let us know what you think.



Movie poster for The Big Year

A Hike on Spearfish Canyon Trail

Spearfish Canyon in the morning mist

 Last week I took a hike on Spearfish Canyon Trail.



The start of Spearfish Canyon Trail

The trail begins behind the Latchstring Inn Restaurant.

Spearfish Falls

The reward for following the trail clear to the bottom of the gorge is this view of Spearfish Falls.


Juvenile White-crowned Sparrow in Spearfish Canyon

This juvenile White-crowned Sparrow was pleased to have its picture taken along the trail.

Hanna Campground Birds



Hanna Campground in the Black Hills of South Dakota

I had always heard that the Hanna Campground was a good place to find birds in the Black Hills. It's true! On my first visit there last week I saw plenty of birds.



Red-breasted Nuthatch

Red-breasted Nuthatches and Song Sparrows were the only birds at Hanna Campground that were very cooperative at posing for pictures.



Song Sparrow

The Falls of Spearfish Canyon



Spearfish Falls



"He makes springs pour water into the ravines;

it flows between the mountains."

Psalm 104:10 



Roughlock Falls



I spent a few days last week in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Strong winds and cold rain made birding difficult, so I concentrated on scenery instead of birds. I spent quite a bit of time in Spearfish Canyon, and took photos of three of the beautiful waterfalls in that wonderful place.



Bridal Veil Falls



50,000 Visits!

Purple Finch visiting my feeder

Over at the right hand side of this blog is a little gizmo that keeps track of the number of visits to this site. When I looked at it this morning, it was at 49,905. That means sometime later today visitor number 50,000 will click on this blog. They may be looking for pictures of Big Bird. They may be trying to find the logo of the Rochester Redwings baseball team. They may be looking for information about birds. Or they may be looking up a particular Bible reference. Folks get to my blog every day while doing those types of searches. So, no matter how you got here... THANKS FOR VISITING!

Mr. Harris Visits My Yard

Harris's Sparrow

This week is the height of the sparrow migration. Due to one thing or another, I have not been able to get out much to look for sparrows. It turns out I didn't have to go far to see one of my very favorite sparrows. Just before dark tonight, a Harris's Sparrow showed up in my backyard. He posed long enough for me to get this picture.