Saturday, May 1, 2010

A New Home!

Remember this little guy?

We've had this Eastern Screech Owl visiting our home a number of times over the past year. While at the North Coast Nature Fest, the Doodles met Micah Moyer of A&M Galleries, a fine builder of bird houses...or is it bird homes...anyway, she decided it would be a good idea for me to put one up.

Please note, I said SHE thought it would be a good idea for ME to put it up...the guy with vertigo...and afraid of heights. Did you know you have to put those things up between 10 and 15 feet?! Jeepers that's high!

So far, no owl. I have seen a squirrel checking it out, oh yeah, and a few bats flying around the back yard...

So here I am, trying to hold up the owl box and the drill while keeping a death grip on the ladder.
I was up there for quite a while trying to figure out how to do all of that without falling like a rock.


That's my brother Jeff. He's laughing at me because I decided to put the box lower.
I couldn't climb any higher on the ladder, I tried, really hard.
Also note...Jeff wouldn't climb up the ladder either!


SEE! It IS high! And there's not much room between me and the tree behind...

I'm threatening the Doodles with that drill if she comes up with any more "great ideas" for me!


Amazing, done at last...all I have to do now is GET DOWN OFF THIS LADDER!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaarrrrggggghhhhhhhhhh!



By the way...has anyone seen Bob lately?









Wednesday, April 28, 2010

The Birds and the Bees...at North Coast...

Hey Rosie! Ya got something on your beak!

We had two days of fun at the North Coast Nature Fest this past weekend. Lots of good friends to talk to and lots of new folks too! I think we'll see a lot of new birders at the Magee boardwalk in a couple of weeks as we passed out a bunch of brochures for the Biggest Week in American Birding.

It was a little drizzly, a little sunny, a little cool and a little warm...followed by a little thundery! Everything in nature appeared for us, even the weather(other than snow, thank you!) Got to love mother nature!

We had beekeepers to our left...with a nice display of Honey Bees too!

How many blogs have a post of a bees butt? Ha, I am one of a kind!

Here's the Bee Keeper trying to remain calm while fiddling with the ever angering bees!

Oh yeah, there were a few birds to be seen out my window.
You can almost see the 'Red-bellied' part of this Woodpecker!


This Canada Goose was a little too close to the window for a full photo so, here's the head...

...and here's the, uh, 'business' end!
Hey look he's got a bracelet! I'll have to report that!


Our buddy Tom Bartlett was giving banding demonstrations...
and giving blood courtesy of this evil Black-capped Chickadee...


Speaking of banding birds...this Downy Woodpecker has a little bling courtesy of Tom.

And this Hairy Woodpecker has a bit of jewelry too!

This Hairy was doing the Linda Blair-Exorcist thing...pretty cool, huh?

Meanwhile back at the feeders...a female Red-winged Blackbird.

Nice cheeks!

I meant these! Look at the size of those! This guy puts Bob to shame...

Monday, April 26, 2010

"Birding with Bob" and the North Coast Nature Festival

This is me. I look confused because Bob is playing hide and seek...I always worry when he does that...

I spent this past weekend at the Cleveland Metroparks North Coast Nature Festival. As you can tell I had a booth displaying a 'few' of my photos...and hoping to sell some to pay for this insane habit of mine. Not to mention covering the costs of Bob and his havoc.

I love being at this show every year. It's a good time to catch up with all of our bird buddies that we haven't seen since last fall, or longer. I've met former co-workers from years ago and old neighbors. And then, every once in a while, a new birder stops by to browse...and they see a photo that sparks their interest and excitement. That's the real reason I enjoy being there! When you can get someone hooked a little bit more on birding, a little bit more interested in habitat conservation, THAT makes it all worth while.

Though it would be nice if they bought something too.

This is the first year Bob came along to the show. He would have preferred to sleep in, being a sluggishmunk as opposed to a chippermunk, but he heard a new friend wanted to meet him...and there was free food.

Bob's a lucky boy!
Joni Norris of the Metroparks gave him his own pair of binoculars!
Now he can search for birds...er...food on his own(as long as I can hold him up!)


Bobs new friend Chuck the Beaver. Chuck was jealous of Bob's bins...

Rather than listening to the ensuing argument, Joni made sure Chuck had a new pair of bins too!
Now everyone is happy...almost everyone anyway...

Bob and Chuck went to see our friends, Larry Rosche and Judy Semroc give a talk on birds and butterflies.
They're sitting with Chucks family, Paula and Jan.
They're smiling because they don't know Bob that well...


You can tell by the smile on Bob's face that he's enjoying the tickles from another new friend, Merlin, the bearded dragon.
Merlin's friend Pam of the N.Ohio Herpetologists assured us that he doesn't eat Chipmunks...


This is Bob and Muskie the Muskrat.
At the end of the day and after a huge meal, they were both feeling stuffed...


Ralphie the Rose-breasted Grosbeak said hi also...

I'll post a few of the birds that I spied through my rainy window at the Fest very soon!

*By the way...to anyone that saw Kimmay Kaufmans BSBO FacePlaceSpaceBook comment about my blog claiming that I am a "genius", I'm sorry...we all know better, don't we!