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No salesman will call, at least not from us. Maybe from someone else.
Cornell Lab Bird Cams
The Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology has links to a boodle (less than a bushel, larger than a passel) of bird cams. Once they start for the season, they run for hours and hours, maybe even at night when you can’t see anything.
Here’s a link to their short film of the Bird Cam Highlights of 2018.
Their Bird Cam YouTube page is HERE. You can select from Ospreys, owls, bird feeders in Ontario and Panama (Toucans!), hawks, Kestrels, Cahows (Yes! Cahows!), California Condor, hummingbird feeders in West Texas, Laysan Albatross, and more! You need never do anything productive again.
[Chuck Almdale]
Save Big on State Park Day Use Fees
If you are over 62 years old, and I believe some of you are, then pay heed to the “Limited Use Golden Bear Pass.” For $20 you get a pass, good for the current calendar year, that gives you free parking at State Parks managed by State Park employees. The pass is good for off-peak dates, which means that from the Friday before Memorial Day until Labor Day it is not valid for most parks. For some parks, such as Salton Sea NRA, the opposite time period holds – the pass is good there when it stops being good at, for instance, Malibu Lagoon. (Yes, I know the Salton Sea NRA is not a State Park, but the SP documents specifically say the pass is good, in the summer season. I also do not have a list of which State Parks do not qualify because they are managed by other entities, such as some of our beaches.)
If you’re a birder, then off-peak seasons are the best seasons. Considering that the day-use fee is typically $12, just two visits/field trips pay for themselves. And the off-peak seasons last for nine months!
You can apply by mail or in person at some of the State Park offices, notably the one just past the guard house entrance to Malibu Creek State Park. By mail it will take a month, so keeping our next two trips in mind, maybe a visit in person is in order.
Click HERE to download the terms and conditions PDF.
Click HERE to download the application form PDF.
Voices: Common Loon | Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Experience the quintessential sound of the North Woods as described by Macaulay Library Audio Curator, Greg Budney.
A film from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. If no film or link appears in this email, go to the blog to view it by clicking on the blog title above. If the film stops & starts in an annoying manner, press pause (lower left double bars ||) to let it buffer and get ahead of you. The Lab is a member-supported organization; they welcome your membership and support. [Chuck Almdale]
Roadrunner Fun Facts
This is about real roadrunners, not that erstwhile new roadrunner species I wrote about some years back.
Roadrunner feeding the nestling
(James W. Cornett, Desert Magazine)
From the Desert Sun, written by James W. Cornett of Desert Magazine: “Why do Roadrunners disappear from the desert each winter. This ecologist has a guess.”
It addresses questions like:
- How many kinds of roadrunners are there?
- Can they fly, or just run?
- How fast can they run?
- What do they eat?
- How do they deal with snakes?
- Do they enjoy visiting humans in their homes?
- And most critically, do they migrate south for the winter, and if not, where are they?
You will enjoy it.
[Chuck Almdale]
Eagle Lays Egg
Have your little ones been pestering you with “Where do babies come from, Mommy/Daddy?”
If you think they’re ready for lesson one about the birds and the bees, and you want to start with the birds (bee reproduction can get really tricky to explain, what with all those sisters happily working for mom, and no men in sight) look no further.
Plop them down in from of the computer screen and let them read this. If the text is a little difficult, read it to them.
This comes from those friendly folks at The Raptor Resource Project.
Don’t forget to start the video of the eagle laying an egg so it buffers. It’s 34 minutes long. HINT: Start it at 6 minutes in. Nothing happens until then, when the bird is alerted by a car driving by.
HINT #2: If you looking for something that includes “Mommy and Daddy Eagle love each other very much, so they’ve decided to have a baby!” this is quite definitely NOT it.
This is technical stuff. Very likely they’ll never ask you for another explanation on anything.
You’re welcome. No gifts please. Virtue is its own reward.
[Chuck Almdale]
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