BirdsEye for iPhone

Apparently, we have a new iPhone app with birding in mind. There have actually been quite a few out of the 100k apple says are available on iTunes. Now, I haven't tried it out so this review of mine is pretty much completely uninformed. It combines GPS with a databases of what birds have been found in your area. I then ties into eBird for a field guide. There are some other little things in there like life list integration. I already have iBird Plus and LOVE it. BirdsEye is a compelling app to purchase for my phone, but not for $19.99. Get it down to $5 and I would try it.

God does it again...

In what is being described by advance marketing materials as "the first divine creation in more than 6,000 years," God Almighty, Our Lord Most High, introduced a brand-new species of bird into existence Monday.

Ealges Hunting Dogs?

Heard about this article from a co-worker, Cybil. It is of little value. But, the part about the Bald Eagle hunting dogs and then the residents outrage of it "snatching...baby swans" is interesting. I find the part about the dog hunting unlikely. Though the story reeks of urban legend, there could arise a situation where an eagle and a dog could have slugged it out.
But of all this, the best part is that Cybil, who lives in Annapolis, near Quiet Waters Park, said that her neighbors are now attributing vanishing cats to these Bald Eagles. Based on this article, no less.

Neighbors heard the barking but thought little of it. When Trubee got home, the racket was still going on. He went out back to find his dachshund Dicky in a rage, barking into the woods, and Moby, his Jack Russell, cowering on the ground, bleeding.

When Trubee probed the tree line to investigate, out hopped a young eagle that took flight for safety. The Jack Russell had more than 20 puncture wounds from repeated eagle attacks, Trubee said, and appears to owe its life to the brave dachshund that fought off the intruder.
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The eaglets weren't done marauding. A few weeks later, I'm told, folks down on the Heron Pond watched in horror as they snatched up a whole family of baby swans.

NRA Lobbyist Speaks Up On FL State Bird

I love when people humanize the behavior of a non-human to rediculous levels.


NRA lobbyist shoots down rival birds

Whenever someone suggests changing the Florida state bird, the National Rifle Association takes aim at the new critter. Well, not really the NRA, but Marion Hammer, the group’s chief state lobbyist and a definite capital powerhouse.

This time the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission asked schoolchildren to pick a new bird. More than 20,000 voted for the osprey, a raptor also known as the fish hawk.

That didn’t impress Hammer, who loves mockingbirds. And the fact that they are willing to fight larger birds that threaten their nests. “They are very protective of their family and of their territory,” she said. Hammer notes that in this dispute, she is talking for herself, not the NRA, even if she does use NRA-sounding arguments.

In 1999, more than 10,000 schoolchildren signed a petition to change the state bird to the Florida scrub jay. Supporters boasted about how it will eat peanuts right out of a person’s hand.

Hammer was unmoved. “Begging for food isn’t sweet,” she testified in a committee hearing. “It’s lazy, and it’s a welfare mentality.” Scrub jays had lots of other bad habits that disqualified them to represent Florida, she contended. “They eat the eggs of other birds,” she told lawmakers. “That’s robbery and murder.”
Posted by John Chamless at 04:54:52 PM on September 8, 2009
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Is Sibley Wrong?

The Sibley Guide To Birds Has Clearly Misidentified The Dark-Eyed Junco
From The Onion

I don't understand it. How could it have happened a third time? They've had two opportunities to correct it. But there it is, once again. The Sibley Guide To Birds, third printing, page 488: "The dark-eyed junco, a familiar visitor to wintertime bird feeders throughout much of North America, is a species of the junco genus of American finches."

Birds of Britian

found by Brent Burt

Warblers at work

The weather today is chaotic. Thunder storms and showers with sporatic moments of sunshine.
At the same time, the birds outside of the office, in woods that surround, were full of song. I couldn't help but take a peak with the binocs. So I found Common Yellowthroat, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, American Redstart, lots of Grey Catbirds. Also heard Red-eyed Vireo and Ovenbird.