Midwest Birding Symposium

Have you ever been to a birding festival? I've been to a few and enjoyed them very much. That's why in a couple of months I will be heading over to Lakeside, Ohio with my best birding friend Lynne, for the Midwest Birding Symposium. This will be the first time either of us have attended this festival, but because it's billed as "the world's friendliest birding event" we're looking forward to haveing a great time AND seeing some great birds!

We'll be meeting up with several of our birding/blogger/Facebook friends there -- some of whom I've never actually met in person before, but looking forward to this chance to meet and bird with them. If you're interested in attending this festival, registration information can be found at this link. Early bird registraion ends today (July 15th), but even if you don't have a chance to decide and sign up today, I would still encourage you to take advantage of "Ruthie's group discount code" if you're registering for the entire weekend (GROUPCODE MBS2011BB25). I've heard the meals are going to be fantastic too!

Life Bird -- Golden Eagle

Today my best birding friend Lynne and I attended a Golden Eagle seminar and field trip at The National Eagle Center in Wabasha, Minnesota. After an enjoyable lunch at the local Chinese buffet, we headed back to class at the Eagle Center where we learned about all the differences between Golden and Bald Eagles that would help us become proficient at Golden Eagle identification.

After about an hour of classroom time, we were ready to head out into Golden Eagle country and test our newly acquired ID skills. Hopefully the Golden Eagles would be there waiting for us........ After a short drive to the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi, the first pair of Golden Eagles was spotted perched together in a tree far across the valley. After driving a few more miles, another pair was spotted -- again, quite a distance away.

Fortunately for us, our teacher and Golden Eagle expert Scott Mehus was saving the best for last. On our final stop between 2 bluffs, we were treated to a flyover by not one, but a PAIR of Golden Eagles!As we were getting out of the car at this last stop, Scott said, "this is the place -- you'll want to get your cameras out and ready." "How can he know this?" I wondered to myself. "It's not like he has any control over the appearance of these birds, does he?" Skeptic that I am, I didn't have my camera out when the first Golden Eagle flew over the top of the hill, but you can bet that I scrambled my sorry butt double-time back to the car to get my camera out in time to photograph the second eagle when it flew over the hill a few seconds later!
Turns out Scott didn't control these birds, but he has followed them long enough to know that they roost overnite in this valley and the approximate time they arrive in the late afternoon each day. I snapped pictures until my fingers were numb with cold (it was only about 5 degrees). It was an awesome finale to a wonderful afternoon and I was thrilled to get such wonderful looks at these magnificent raptors. Only 4 days into the new year of 2011 and what a spectacular check-off for my life list!

Who needs TV when you've got Bluejays!

Last Saturday morning, I decided to whip up a batch of pancakes for breakfast. Before we sat down to eat, I filled the peanut wreath and hung it from a tree branch a few yards outside the dining room window. I think the bluejays actually watch for me to refill and hang that peanut wreath in the tree because they're flying in already before I even get back in the house. Once our pancakes are buttered and syruped, we're ready to sit back and enjoy the show right outside the big dining room window. Hope you enjoy this series of photos too!

The bluejays are greedy and hungry, but only 1 bluejay at a time is allowed to pick a peanut from the wreath. The rest of them must wait their turn.

It's not always an easy task to get just the right peanut out of that coiled wreath.

Selecting a peanut becomes even more difficult when there's only 1 left and it's securely lodged at the bottom of the wreath! This bluejay eyes the peanut and plans his strategy for securing that final peanut.

Now he's perched on top of the wreath, but obviously there's no way he can reach the peanut from there.......

well, maybe he can if he just streeeeeetches over the edge a little bit........

hmmmmm, no luck with that. So he decides to try it the way he's seen the nuthatches get a peanut........

Crap! that's not going to work either! Having a bluejay audience laughing behind you makes this especially difficult!

Bluejays are just not well-suited for clinging upside down to feeders! But they are persistent when it comes to peanuts......

Oops! So close....... Wonder what that other bluejay is thinking?

One of the bluejays eventually snatched that last peanut out of the wreath and the show was over. I especially like to fill the peanut wreath on weekends when I have time to sit back and enjoy the show. Early mornings seem to be the best time to attract the bluejays in large numbers. Once they spread the word that peanuts are being served, they all flock in to enjoy this special treat. This entertaining bluejay display is definitely worth the the price I have to pay for peanuts in the shell.

Happy Blog Birthday!

Happy Birthday to the Nature Knitter Blog -- 3 years old today!

In honor of this special event, we shall eat chocolate cake!

Many thanks to all of you, my followers, fans, family and friends for spending a little bit of time with me and my blog. I've enjoyed sharing my stories and pictures with you for the last 3 years. It's been an amazing adventure and I've been blessed to meet so many new friends who share my love of birds, nature, and knitting. Looking forward to (at least) 3 more years and especially the chance to meet more of you in person.

Blogger Life List 2007 - 2010

Lynne (Hasty Brook)

Richard (At the Water)

Laura H (Somewhere in NJ)

Dee (Crane Lake Nature Blog)

Dawn (Dawn's Bloggy Blog)

Mike & Lizette (Mike & Lizette's Travel & Thoughts)

Penny (Penelopedia)

Sharon (Birdchick Blog)

Julie (Julie Zickefoose)

Bill (Bill of the Birds)

Emily (Dolendae Knits)

Virginia (Bees in the City)

Deb (Sand Creek Almanac)

Roger (Minnesota Birdnerd)

Mary (Mary's Corner of the World)

Heidi (MMATM Blog)

Steph (KTTC Weather Blog)

Mike (Colder By The Lake Birding)

Ray (Troutbirder)

Hap from New Hope (who's not a blogger, but a long-time

follower I was privileged to meet last summer!)

Sunday at the Sax-Zim Bog Winter Birding Festival

Valentines Day (Sunday) was our final birding day at the Sax-Zim Bog Winter Birding Festival. We were supposed to be at the Meadowlands Community Center by 6:30, so you can bet that we weren't looking forward to hearing that alarm go off at 4:30! After a short check-out delay while the hotel clerk tried to figure out our bill, we hit the road around 6:00 AM (already 15 minutes behind). But traffic was light, the sunrise was beautiful and while Lynne and I were solving the world's problems we actually missed our turnoff to Meadowlands! When we drove into a town neither of us recognized, Lynne pulled out her Garmin and we "recalculated" our way back -- YIKES, a 16 mile detour! Fortunately, there was plenty of coffee and donuts at the Community Center, so the rest of our birding party seemed more than happy to wait for us.

Our birding caravan was headed deep into the interior of the Sax-Zim Bog where we were hoping to see a Boreal Chickadee, Gray Jay, Evening Grosbeak and if we were really lucky maybe a wolf or a moose!


All during the winter, there were a couple locations in the Bog where feeding stations had been set up with birdseed and a deer ribcage attached to a tree in order to attract birds for viewing and photographs. We found out early on Saturday morning that some of the local residents had complained about this and the DNR felt compelled to come and remove the deer rib cages. I'm not sure why they couldn't have waited just a couple more days until the festival was over, but then again, this isn't the first DNR decision that's left me scratching my head in disbelief. Anyhoo, when we got to that first feeding station we found that one of the local nature photographers had taken it upon himself to put out some birdseed and dogfood and also attach another ribcage to the tree, so festival participants who wanted to take pictures could do so. (He also told us that when he left that day, he would be removing the rib cage and taking it with him.)

There were several Gray Jays visiting the dogfood that had been sprinkled on the ground. Unfortunately, this was the best photo of a Gray Jay I managed to get. They're really pretty birds, so you might want to look in your field guide to get an idea of what they really look like!

Lots of different birds were enjoying the deer rib cage, but the clinging birds (like this Downy Woodpecker and Red-Breasted Nuthatch) seem to have a definite advantage when it comes to enjoying this feast!

The seeds on the ground were being gobbled up by Pine Siskins, Purple Finches, and Chickadees. Here are a couple of Pine Siskins enjoying sunflower seeds.

During our tour of the bog, we also visited a couple of residences where the home owners had set up their bird feeding stations so people could stop by and watch the birds. Since I never see many Purple Finches at my feeders here in southern Minnesota, I was more than happy to take pictures of the Purple Finches I saw at these feeders. There seemed to be many more female finches than males, so I was particularly happy to get this photo of a handsome male.

A couple of female purple finches enjoying sunflower seeds.

Shortly after our lunch break, the snow flurries started and our bird sightings and visibility decreased with the increase of snow flakes.

We took advantage of a short break in the weather and had one of our trip leaders take a picture of Lynne and I with WildBird magazine so Lynne could submit it to Amy Hooper for the next issue.

Finally it was time for us to think about turning the car south and heading for home. We said good-bye and thanks to our trip leaders and all of the good people who worked so hard at making the Sax-Zim Bog Winter Birding Festival another rousing success. I would strongly encourage anyone who's interested to plan on attending this festival someday (always the second weekend in February). We had a great time and I know you would too!

Here's the list of birds we saw during this festival.

For more stories and much bettter photos, please check out Lynne's blog also (just click on this link).

Day 1 - Sax-Zim Bog Winter Birding Festival

Hello from Duluth, Minnesota! This morning I caught the shuttle bus from Rochester to the Minneapolis/St Paul Airport where Lynne picked me up. It was the first time I had ridden the airport shuttle with another knitter! She was knitting up a pretty little pink scarf with a lovely angora/wool blend yarn.

This morning was really foggy, but the skies cleared up around 10 AM and it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day. After lunch at Art's Cafe in Moose Lake, we were ready to head up to Hasty Brook. We arrived to find that Lynne's neighbor had the driveway all cleared out for us and the birds were there and waiting for the birdseed Lynne had brought along. Here's what I saw at Lynne's beautiful Hasty Brook retreat:

A sweet little Red-Breasted Nuthatch (one of my favorites!)

We were both thrilled to see these Snow Buntings fly by and then perch in a nearby birch snag. Can you see all three of them in this picture?

Pine Siskins were there too.....

Black-Capped Chickadees and Common Redpolls were also visiting the birdfeeders, but I wasn't quick enough to snap any photos of them.

Lastly, here are a couple views from the balcony of Lynne's Hasty Brook Retreat....

Isn't it beautiful? This is the second time I've been there and both visits have been during the winter. I hope I get a chance to visit again someday when everything isn't covered with snow! Thanks Lynne for sharing your beautiful Hasty Brook homestead with me!

Tomorrow morning we set off at 7:15 for our day-long birding tour of Duluth. Hopefully I'll have some good photos to share with you tomorrow night (and hopefully I'll be able to stay awake long enough to post them!) Stay tuned!

A Practice Post

I'm calling this a practice post because it's the first post I've ever created using my Toshiba Netbook. This coming Friday morning, my best blogging friend Lynne and I are heading north.....no, not to Alaska, but to Duluth, Minnesota for the 3rd Annual Sax-Zim Bog Winter Birding Festival. I'm taking my netbook along with the hope that I'll have some time to do posts of all the great birds I'm anticipating seeing over the weekend (and also because I can't bear the thought of being "off-line" for 3 whole days!) I'm taking a shuttle bus from Rochester to the Minneapolis airport where Lynne will pick me up. Amazingly enough, the shuttle service offers free Wi-fi, so if I don't feel like pulling some knitting needles and yarn out of my backpack, I can always pull out my netbook and check out what my friends are doing on Facebook or get caught up on some of my blog reading. Should be an interesting trip.....

So anyway back to this practice post.....I was able to plug the USB cable of my little SanDisk CF Card Reader and use the Windows Live Photo Gallery software to edit the photos I took this afternoon. I think they turned out just as good as photos I normally edit in PhotoShop and the software is pretty similar.

If you haven't heard, we had a little snow the past couple days. Of course our almost 8 inches certainly can't compare with what the East Coast has had dumped on them, but it's still enough to close area schools and make our morning commute a bit more thrilling than usual.

Here's another view from the deck. There's still an awful lot of snow around here. We had a couple above freezing days a few weeks ago, but they really didn't do anything towards melting the snow at all. And as I'm writing this, I can hear Mr. Johnson firing up the snowblower and preparing to go out and open my paths to the backyard birdfeeders again.

If you click on this picture to enlarge it, there in the center you can see only the tiniest remainder of the backyard dog statue above the snow. I'm guessing there's probably at least 18" on snow piled up there in the backyard now.

And here's a pretty decent drift that always grows on the garage roof when the wind blows from the northwest. It was a really light and fluffy snow, so it didn't take much wind to create a snow sculpture like this. (It also didn't take much effort with the shovel to remove it either!)

So, it looks like I'm all set to do some blog posts from the northwoods. I've already checked the Duluth forecast for the weekend and it sounds like we should have some pretty decent weather with daytime highs in the 20's and mostly sunny skies. Sounds like perfect birding weather to me! Maybe I'll even get a chance to see that Varied Thrush that Lynne's seen near Hasty Brook. Be sure to check back here this weekend for photos and stories of another excellent birding adventure......

Woodson Art Museum & Birds In Art 2009

Boy where does the time go? I can't believe how fast last week went by. Now that bowhunting season has opened again, my free time has become even more limited. So before any more time goes by, I figured I'd better finish telling you about my and Lynne's last day in Wausau, Wisconsin.

Late Saturday afternoon, we drove over to the Woodson Art Museum just to make sure we were able to find it for the next day. It's a beautiful place, smack-dab in the middle of an historic residential neighborhood. We were able to do a quick run-through of the Birds in Art exhibit for the final 15 minutes the museum was open that day. Lots of good stuff there and we couldn't wait for Sunday when we'd have more time to enjoy the exhibit.

Sunday dawned sunny and warm once again. Our plan was to check out of the motel early and head over to the Woodson museum by around 11:00. Lynne had gotten in touch with Julie Z. via Facebook on Saturday night, so we planned to meet her at the museum around noon and spend some time with her before she was scheduled to speak at 1:00.

(Don't forget -- you can click on any of these pictures to enlarge them!)

The Woodson Art Museum is surrounded by beautifully landscaped gardens with lots of trees and even some wildlife. I spotted this cute little red squirrel having a snack.

The gardens also contained a variety of beautiful bronze sculptures. I'm sure most of you have probably seen that e-mail that contains pictures of horses a woman in California makes with driftwood? That's exactly what this horse sculpture looked like. We weren't supposed to touch the sculptures, but this one got the best of me.......I had to tap it with my finger to confirm that it really was bronze and not driftwood.
I liked this sculpture of a pair of wolves.

This fountain of a little child holding ducklings was pretty cute. If you look close at the base the child's standing on, you will see there are ducks there too.

I loved this towering sculpture of cranes. You can't tell from this picture but it was probably about 15 feet tall.

Close to the museum entrance was this sculpture of wood ducks. It reminded Lynne and me of some of the wood ducks we had seen during our Birders Who Blog, Tweet and Chirp outing a few weeks ago.

My favorite was this sculpture of wild turkeys. If I was rich, I would like a sculpture like this in my front yard!

Here's Lynne and me with Julie. What a warm welcome she gave us. It was fun to have a few minutes of her time as she gave us the "artist's tour" of the Birds in Art exhibit. It was really neat to hear some of the stories about her artist friends and their work. Julie's original art works were on display too, so she also shared some stories about her own art with us. We really enjoyed hearing her speak and seeing all her wonderful pictures. It's one thing to see and read the stories on her blog, but hearing her speak in person was really cool. She even gave us special recognition for coming to see her, knowing full well that Chet Baker would not be in attendance!

You can read Julie's blog posts about the Birds in Art 2009 exhibit at this link.


The museum didn't allow cameras into the exhibit hall, but we were able to purchase a beautifully printed catalog of all the artwork displayed in this year's exhibit. Because I'm no artist and can barely draw a stick man, I have a true admiration of artistic talent--especially my favorite theme, birds and wildlife. In closing, I want to share a few of my favorite pieces from the 2009 Birds in Art exhibit.

Duel

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This is a bronze sculpture! I loved it especially since I once saw a pair of ring-necked pheasants fighting like this on the edge of a soybean field.

Late January Afternoon

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Even though Cindy created this painting from turkeys spotted in her New Hampshire backyard, I've enjoyed seeing this same scene with real turkeys during a southeastern Minnesota winter.

Sowing Seeds

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You're going to think I'm nuts, but I've let some of these thistle plants grow in my backyard for goldfinches and butterflies (the flowers are a favorite nectar source of tiger swallowtail butterflies). This scene looked so real I almost expected to see the goldfinch fly right out of it!

The Red, Red Robin
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I first saw this large block of wood and when I walked around to the front, realized it depicted a corner of a gravestone with a robin perched on top--all carved of wood!

Mountain High

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These beautiful mountain bluebirds are carved from basswood and the juniper branch they're perched on is made of metal. This was the most amazing sculpture I've ever seen and the detail was unbelievable.


After working in an art gallery for several years, I acquired a much greater appreciation for art. During that time I was fortunate enough to meet Thomas Kinkade and see some of his original works of art. Limited edition prints are wonderful and my house is full of them, but there's really nothing like seeing an original work of art up close.

The 2009 Birds in Art Exhibit will be touring the United States until January of 2011. Shown below is a listing of future dates and venues for this exhibit. If you see that the exhibit is coming anywhere near you, I urge you to take some time and go see it.....I guarantee you won't be disappointed.