Category Archives: Birds

Midwest Bike Swap Meet

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Anne and I rode 10.01010101… miles and felt great. Felt great, really? Felt good? Just OK? How about, lost all feeling in our legs? What do you expect from cyclist’s that rack up irrational mileages? My apologies to Tom and Audrey, Anne made me do it. I couldn’t help myself? I’m just jealous of Tom’s big mileages? Who knows?

Anne and I drove across the river to Collinsville, IL and attended the annual bike swap meet. After we parked in the back lot, we saw a Cooper’s hawk. It was sitting on a lamppost and was calling out, so it was kind of hard to miss. I think that it was complaining that all of these people, these bikers, were invading its territory. In addition to bikes, bike parts, bike clothes and bike paraphernalia for sale, there were also a few classic bikes on display. For you non-bikers out there, think a classic car show, but with only two wheels per vehicle. I love the colorful row of Stingray bicycles, lots of chrome. Anne shot the picture of the Arch and the old cathedral, on our way home.

I bought new bike shoes and a few other things. My ten plus year old Sidi winter bike shoes are beyond hope. Both soles are split, just behind the cleats and although I have held them together, for that last few year, with super-glue, I’m not willing to stoop to duct-tape. They were great shoes though, may they rest in peace. The Maplewood salesmen described them as being “high-tech”, but I’ve always thought that he was being derisive. He seemed kind of old school. They had two kinds of buckles, which have both subsequently become common in the world of cycling shoes. One fastener is reminiscent of a ski-boot buckle. It makes a loud click-click-click sound when being fastened. Anne would sometimes hear it and call down to me before I set out on my pre-dawn sojourn. The other kind of fastener had a flip-up key that I would turn to tighten a length of plastic line, similar to thick fishing line. I always thought that this line would break, but it is still functioning fine. I replaced my old Sidi shoes with new Sidi, no fancy fasteners this time, just Velcro. They are jet black and beautiful.

Setting Suns

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The picture with this post shows a pair of Trumpeter Swans, backlit by the soon to be setting winter sun.  Photographed last Saturday, at the Riverlands, this picture paints a far different sunset picture than the one shown in today’s header.  That one is a summer sunset and is full of rich purples and reds.  It is both warm and luxurious.  It also paints a picture that is familiar and dear to many of this blog’s readers.  This only accentuates this photograph’s value, I hope to them, but certainly to me.

In contrast, the photo with this post shows a winter’s sunset.  It paints a cold and stark sunset scene.  Primarily black and white, there is only a hint of yellow in the clouds and little warmth.  Being an aerial shot, this photo has no recognizable landmarks in it to tug at the heartstrings.  Even the large, white and majestic swans look small in the sky and black.  They could almost pass as geese.  So why did I choose this photograph?  I guess, because it seemed to capture this season’s mood, cold, somewhat bleak, but still full of life.  Hang in there folks, spring is just around the corner.  The sun is setting later every day.

What launched me on this post’s monologue was actually dialogue, reader’s comments about the header photo, particularly a lovely one yesterday from Karen.  Comments are always appreciated; they are a blogger’s gold, payment for otherwise free services rendered.  An especially nice one is valued even more, but don’t be intimidated by Karen or her comment, she really is a nice person.  Put your two cents in too.

Speaking of birds and last Saturday’s excursions, Anne and I have initiated the field of forensic ornithological PhotoShopping.  Actually, we’ve been identifying birds using PhotoShopped pictures for some time now.  Last Saturday afternoon, while we were standing on the Chain of Rocks Bridge in the middle of the Mississippi River, we witnessed a bird strike.  Really, Anne witnessed it, I barely saw it at all, but I did manage to get a rather blurry photo of the event.  A larger white bird, some kind of raptor, struck in midair a smaller bird and carried it for a while before the smaller bird managed to escape its grasp.  After much research and even more PhotoShopping, we have convinced ourselves that the raptor is a Northern Harrier.  You’ll have to take our word for it, because even with all of the PhotoShopping, the photo still wasn’t blog-worthy.  I just thought that you might want to know.

I’ve Got a Nap for That

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Saturday was a busy day.  We finally got the last of Christmas put away, except for a few miscreant ornaments to be found later.  The weatherman called for falling temperatures through the day, so Anne and I launched upon our bike ride in the AM.  We bicycled 10 miles.  The temperature was 34 °F, but it felt like 24 °F with the wind chill.  It was cold.  I noticed that in yesterday’s Wordle word cloud graphic there was absolutely no mention of, biking, bicycling or bicycles.  I hope that this paragraph corrects that oversight and bicyclists, cyclists and other bike related terms appear in future blog related word clouds.  ;-)

I lured Anne out onto her bike partly with the promise of lunch, but it soon became apparent that this would be a survival ride.  We did see more than the requisite six other riders out there, sufficient to ensure our own smug sense of sanity, but I suspect that we were still on the fringe of lunacy.  We returned home and then launched again, this time by car.  I made good my promise and we went to La Pizza, at the intersection of Delmar and Old Bonhomme.  La Pizza is another gem of a restaurant.  My good friend Barbara had told me about it.  So, in the space of a week, we’ve been introduced to 2 new Italian pizzerias, La Pizza on Saturday and Pizza-A-Go-Go on Ivanhoe, a week ago Friday.

Anne and I each had the luncheon special, a slice of pizza, salad and a soda.  I had my salad with the house Italian dressing and managed to slop some of the oil onto the face of my iPhone, to which, Anne punned, “I’ve got a nap for that.” and then handed me a napkin.  Later, when I was being rude and playing with the iPhone at lunch, she punned again and covered my screen with her napkin and said, “I’ve got a nap for that too.”

After lunch, we drove up to Eagle Days at the Chain of Rocks Bridge.  The only eagles that we saw there were little black specks.  We then drove north on Route 3 and across from the National Great Rivers Museum (NGRM), the same museum that we saw the quilter’s Rambling River Project, we saw a pair of Bald Eagles that are the dream come true for this bird paparazzi.  They’ve nested there for years and are back again this year.  Bald Eagles eat fish, primarily shad, so this nesting location is just so-so el primo.  Adjacent to the NGRM is the Mel Price Lock and Dam, the largest and most southern lock and dam on the Mississippi.  Mel Price ensures two things, ice-free water and stunned shad.  The water shooting through the dam sprayed waves that would have stunned any fish.  As the raven realtor told these eagles, “location, location, location.”  On to Riverlands we drove and got the rest of the bird photos with this post.  By the end of the day, Anne was on the couch, but she had a nap for that too.

Happy Birthday Cousin Anne!

Riverlands’ Birds

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On Sunday, Two days after New Years Eve, Anne and I thought that maybe we should call the boys and wish them a happy New Year!  Dan had left on New Years Eve, but we hadn’t seen or heard from him since then and we hadn’t heard from Dave either.  She first called Dan and then called Dave, but neither of them answered.  This was around 10:30 AM.  A minute later Dan texted her back, he couldn’t speak on the phone, because he was in a movie theater.  It turns out that he was watching the movie, Tron and tickets are cheaper in the morning.  He called Anne back later and gave her his full itinerary and was home on the couch, when we returned home later in the afternoon. 

Sunday evening, right after kickoff, I tried calling Dave again and got him.  I figured that he was watching the Rams’ game and he was.  What I hadn’t figured out was where he was watching it.  It turns out that I caught him while he was in NYC’s Grand Central Station.  He was waiting there for his connection back to DC.  I think that he was returning from upstate New York, but before I could ask him anything more, he told me that he was waiting for a phone call.  Later I asked myself, ”A call more important than me?”  [Story Developing …]

Sunday afternoon, Anne and I went up to the Riverlands conservation area.  I want to try out my new camera and it was too cold to go biking.  I have selected the following six photos, although only the gull, swans and heron were photographed with the new camera.  I’m still learning how to use it. 

  • Backyard Mourning Dove – Shot out through our bedroom window, this dove was hunkered down in the lee of the house when I first saw it.  The dove only became more alerted as I continued to approach it.
  • Hovering Seagull – This gull was one of many such seagulls that were flying to and fro, all the while looking for fish.  They made for a good stress test for the new camera’s fast focus capability.
  • Six Trumpeter Swans – This [wedge | flock | bevy] of swans flew over us while we were photographing seagulls.  I think that the new camera did a pretty good job considering how much action was in this shot.
  • Great Blue Heron – Anne spotted this heron and then generously showed where it was, so I could “steal” her shot with my new, high-priced, big gun.
  • A Pair of Bald Eagles – Anne shot this picture of these two eagles.  They were just two of the more than a dozen that we saw that day.  Anne spoke with one guy that had seem almost fifty eagles, but he had been on the river since seven in the morning.  And you thought that we were bird brains?
  • Eagle’s Nest – Anne took this picture through our less than clean windshield.  This is just one of two nests that we saw.  They are both from last year.  Right now the bald eagles are just dating and haven’t yet settled down to raising a family.

Sunday night, we watched the Rams lose to the Seattle Seahawks.  I can’t really say that the better team won, because neither team is very good.  Let’s just say that the Rams are no better than the Seahawks and the rest of the NFC West stinks too.  While the Seahawks have another game ahead of them, the Rams have a whole season.  I think that the Rams chances in their next season are brighter than the Seahawks chances in their next game and don’t get me started on how an official should spot a football. :roll:

Our Best Bird Pictures of 2010

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At this time of year, all of the “real” media outlets are spending a fair portion of their bandwidth looking back over the ending year.  I thought that I could easily emulate this trick.  After three hours of PhotoShopping, I am just now starting to actually write this post, so much for a quick and easy blog post idea.  The “picture” with this post is an animated GIF.  As such, it may not actually play on your computer if your security settings are too tight.  I don’t think that it will play on the iPhone either.  I’m sorry folks, but my talent just cannot be constricted by limiting technology.  ;-)

 Assuming that you can actually see it, the following picture shows twelve pictures of birds that I have taken in 2010, one for each month.  Last year, I published a calendar and many of its months featured bird pictures.  I will not be making one this year.  In lieu of that production, I plan on blogging several more of these photographic catalogues of the year 2010.  Next week, I’ll be off from work and will have the time to devote to these projects.

  • Trumpeter Swans in Flight, the Riverlands, 1/27 – This is the first and probability the best picture that I took this year.  I love the etherealness of this picture, three off-white birds sailing through a grey cotton sky.
  • American Bald Eagle, the Riverlands, 2/26 – The Bald Eagles nest along the big rivers in winter.  When the weather turns cold and even the Mississippi freezes, they tend to congregate near the lock and dams.  When they do so, they become relatively easy to photograph.
  • King Vulture, Saint Louis Zoo, 3/21 – Photographing birds in the zoo is a lot like shooting fish in a barrel, highly productive, but not very satisfying.  Occasionally though I have been able to engage the zoo’s inhabitants and this photo is an example of this kind of success.
  • A Snowy Egret Performs a Mating Dance, Forest Park, 4/11 – It is springtime and a young male bird’s thoughts turn to love.
  • Mallard Ducklings, Forest Park, 5/26 – If April is the cruelest month, than ducklings that survive to May are just ducky.
  • Fluffed Up White Crowned Sparrow, Point Lobos, CA, 6/28 – Just a sparrow, but still a bird projecting personality.  Projecting its thoughts about a cold and windy day.
  • Some Sort of Grouse, Grand Teton, 7/20 – We saw a lot of birds on our Yellowstone/Grand Teton vacation.  I’m sorry that I had to pick just one.
  • All the Young Gulls in Paris Are Wearing Crayfish this Fall, the Cabin, 8/17 – This gull once had this crayfish in its mouth, but the crayfish escaped its beak and latched on to the gull’s breast.  It hung there until it was able to slip back into the lake and escape.
  • Four American White Pelicans, the Riverlands, 9/24 – The pelicans are the fall migratory bird specie at the Riverlands.  They herald the winter species to come.  Now what the helican is that pelican rhyme?
  • Red-tailed Hawk, Grant’s Trail, Saint Louis, 10/16 – Anne took this photo.  She takes many good photos, but the little point and shoot that she likes to use, doesn’t usually have the telephoto chops to get a decent bird picture.
  • Anna’s Hummingbird, Monterey, CA, 11/5 – In this photo I demonstrate that I can take an non-blurry photo of a hummingbird.  The secret, just find where it roosts and then just wait.
  • Belted Kingfisher in a Sycamore Tree, Forest Park, 12/18 – I was worried that I wouldn’t have anything to show for December, until last week.

I’m back in the saddle again …

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I’m back in the saddle again
Out where a friend is a friend
Where the longhorn cattle feed
On the lowly gypsum weed
Back in the saddle again

I got back in the saddle again on Saturday and rode 15 miles in the Park.  I haven’t bicycled since before Thanksgiving, almost four weeks.  First there was the trip to Michigan, then there was the cold weather and work, don’t forget about work.  I got plenty more excuses if you need to hear them.  No?  Anyway, when ever I get back on the bike after having been off of it for a while, it feels a little odd.  Yesterday was no different.

In addition to riding, I also took a few pictures.  I lucked out and was able to get close enough to the Belted Kingfisher to get a pretty good shot of it.  They are usually a very skittish bird and I have found that normally it is impossible to approach them.  On the other hand, with their penetrating rattle call, they are also pretty easy to track.  I actually recorded the following audio off of the iBird iPhone App.  It had better audio quality than the real thing.

Saturday was the first time that it made it above freezing in about a week.  I expected to see more cyclists than I did.  I barely made my sanity quotient of six other cyclists.  I can’t remember how I arrived at the number six as a sign of sanity, but fewer than six is a sign of mental instability and the fewer and fewer that I see indicate increasing levels of mental disorder, until I ‘ve become a crazed cyclist, a cycle-path.  Fortunately, Kaldis’ teammate, Dr. Mad. pushed my quota over the top as my number six rider.  Some may question the efficacy of relying upon a mad doctor to make ones sanity quotient.  Maybe I need to make an adjustment or better yet ask Bill to make it for me?

If Pigs had Wings

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If pigs had wing, we would need a bigger birdfeeder and way more birdseed too.  As everyone in Saint Louis already knows and as anyone in the eastern U.S. should suspect, baby, it’s cold outside.  Sunday morning while the winter storm was moving through town, I took pictures of the multitude of birds at our feeders and also of the ones that sit in the snow below the feeders and feed off the droppings (food, not the other type) that the messy eaters above send forth.  The below, stylized photo captures this scene.  

Planning this post, I had planned to riff off of the Frank Loesser duet, Baby, it’s cold outside.  The lyrics in that song were designed to be heard as a conversation between a female and a male, marked as “mouse” and “wolf” on the printed score:   

Mouse – I really can’t stay
Wolf – but baby it’s cold outside
Mouse – I’ve got to go away
Wolf – but baby it’s cold outside

Our birdfeeders are intended to feed the birds, but out neighbor’s cat, the Alpha Predator, views them as his personal birdfeeder too.  I had planned on rewriting Loesser’s lyrics to fit this post’s birding theme and recast Mouse and Wolf as Bird and Cat:

Bird – I really can’t stay
Cat – but birdie it’s cold outside
Bird – I’ve got to go away
Cat – but birdie it’s cold outside

Anyway it was just a thought.  It is still cold outside and now the birdfeeders need to be refilled.  So baby, is it cold outside?

I’ve already supplied enough dribble to fulfill any normal post’s needs, but dear fans I cannot stop until I have shared this with you.  I’m speaking of a confidential communication, no, not some wikileaks about Ahmadinejad or his ilk, but something special from the fourth grade.  Anne intercepted the pictured note above; here is the note’s text:

Should we do notes?
Yes      No
The teacher is knitting

It is a very pretty note, but not very conducive to covert activities.  Anne caught the note on its return run.  The yes was already circled.  Anne is wondering why she didn’t see the first student so creatively color the note’s envelope.