This silly ol' dance is perfect for two...

"If you live to be hundred, I want to live to be hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you.." ~ Winnie the Pooh

Thanks for this life, Cute Husband!

Happy Anniversary!

AT birdin'

Birdcouple is just back from our longest hike yet along the Appalachian Trail, 3 days and 2 nights starting just over the New York-New Jersey state line and heading south to High Point, N.J. On the Fourth of July, we walked through wonderful Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge (the only NWR that the AT passes through) and slowed our pace to enjoy the scenery and the birds, of course.

On this trip, we also saw our 100th species of bird along the Trail, adding at least three new ones - Yellow-Breasted Chat, Grasshopper Sparrow and Marsh Wren. Most of the birds we encounter as we hike are the expected woodland ones - Scarlet Tanagers, warblers, vireos, Wood Thrush and Veery, etc. But the trail also passes over mountaintops (good for raptors); along ponds, streams and canals; and through upland fields, where we get a whole different set of avifauna.

This hike's birding highlight was surprising a momma Wild Turkey and a half-dozen babies in an overgrown field near an old house where hikers stop to get water from a spigot. More soon about our adventure on Birdcouple's AT blog...

Mixed Feeding Flock #5

Wherein we share bits of important news and views about the environment and birds...

* In the better late than never category (hey, it's still June, at least on the East Coast of the USA!), here is the June issue of the Birding Community E-Bulletin, chock full of cool stuff like a Greater Sand-Plover seen in Florida; designation of the Chesapeake bay as a "National Treasure" and the potential addition of two species, Horned Grebe and Whip-poor-will, to Canada's list of at-risk species.

* On the subject of at-risk species, the BBC reports that a 30-year study of woodland birds has found catastrophic declines in many species. The Nightingale, which inspired odes from Britain's greatest poets, has declined by 95 percent, virtually vanishing from Britain's woodlands.

* In happier news, the American Bird Conservancy reports that a new effort, undertaken in cooperation with the Colombian organization ProAves, has established a reserve for Niceforo's Wren, one of the world's most endangered species, with less than 25 breeding pairs known to exist. We LIKE the A.B.C.

* Closer to home, and in today's mediocre picture category, Warren arrived back from Iran and discovered that summer had indeed arrived. He went hiking at Cedarville State Forest and, along with seeing and hearing many breeding warbler species, found a few damselflies:

W and L are off this weekend to do our first three-day hike on the Appalachian Trail, doing a bit of New York and finishing off New Jersey!! Somewhere along the way, we will cross the 1/4 mark of doing the whole trail! WOW! More info on BC and the AT here. And the Appalachian Trail Conservancy has a really cool new interactive map on their website....

I B Bloggin' Again on BC

Lisa has been keeping Birdcouple.com going (there could never be any question about Birdcouple itself keeping going), while Warren has been galavanting around the world. Well, to be more precise, Warren was in Iran for 10 days covering the election, which turned into quite another story ... but that's another story.

And then it took W about a week to recover, thanks to MORE work on Iran, jetlag, some Persian flu bug, etc, etc. So, mea culpa.

But Birdcouple is definitely a blog made for 2, and while June has been a bit of a wash out, here we go again!!!

Here are a few birds from Golestan Palace in Tehran, which was the seat of power during Iran's Qajar dynasty. These beautiful paintings look like doves for sure, but what species, I couldn't say.

Golestan actually has a very eco-friendly building, 200 years before its time, that is an architectural wind-catcher, designed to catch the wind and use it for natural cooling... Cool!

An Empaled Stork Solves Mystery...

This is the Pfeilstorch or the Arrow-Stork which can be found, stuffed, in the Zoological Collection of the University of Rostock.

The Arrow-Stork was discovered in northern Germany, alive and fairly well, in 1822.

The only problem was that it had an 80 cm long spear stuck in its neck.

A spear whose origin was Central Africa.

The discovery of the Arrow-Stork solved the mystery of where birds go each fall. Prior to finding the bird (who had somehow survived the entire migration in an impaled state) birdwatchers speculated that birds turned into mice or hibernated each winter - perhaps at the bottom of the sea.

This Pfeilstorche and the 25 other recorded pfeilstorches were the first proof that birds migrate long distances and don't nap away the winter months.

Thanks to Paul for sending us some Friday cool stuff.

Happy weekend!

Celebrating the Pollinators...

Yes, Cute Husband and I will take any opportunity to party!
And, this week we are in the midst of celebrating Pollinator Week!

There are about 200,000 species of pollinators which include hummingbirds, bats, beetles, bees, ants, butterflies, moths and even wasps.

Without the work of these creatures that transfer pollen grains and ensure fertilization we would have a serious lack of blueberries, melons, peaches, vanilla and almonds.

And if that isn't scary enough, pollinators are also necessary for the healthy production of coffee and chocolate.

The chocolate part really scares me.
The pollinator of chocolate is but a tee tiny fly that is no bigger than a pinhead. So say Hooray! to the next little bee or ant or fly you see!
The best way to bring pollination right into your own habitat is by planting continuous blooming nectar laden plants and avoiding pesticide use.

Perhaps I can talk Cute Husband into celebrating the week with a little chocolate... and wine....

No New Year Birds from Iran....

Cute Husband returned on Wednesday from covering the election in Iran.

His work (said his proud wife) can be found here:


Apparently he was a little busy and didn't get a chance to add anything to the BirdCouple year bird list....

Sigh. So good to have him home...

Birding tomorrow morning, Love?

3 Hours of Birding. Not One Bird.

Yes. You got that right.



Three solid hours of birding with Dan Haas of Nervous Birds fame and not one dang bird.

Dan helped me do a Nightjar Survey coordinated by the Center of Conservation Biology at the College of William and Mary because Cute Husband is off doing important journalism and because I am afraid of wandering around in dark potentially sketchy places alone.


So, we started at moonrise and stopped 10 times along a route strewn with strip malls and parking lots. Two of the stops had some habitat potential for Chuck-will's widow and Whip-poor-will and various other stops looked good for Common Nighthawk.


We heard nothing.


Not one squeak, tweet, hoot, peet.


For 3 hours.


So, after a disappointing run, we decided to make for the "sure" spots for Chucks, Whips and Owls (it is now 11:30 PM).


We heard nothing.


It was so quiet I remember wishing for a strange mammal to cross our paths just for a little excitement.



So, I drop off Dan and get home at 12:45AM and hop into bed when I hear this tiny squeaking and wings beating all over the LoveNest bedroom.


Hi Mr. Bat.


I tried everything.


I opened windows and doors.
I turned off and on lights.
I tried to speak bat to politely ask him to return to the wild.


It was actually oddly beautiful to watch him fly about and occasionally dive bomb me.


It was also somewhat unnerving.


I decided to find the crab net (which is a typical tool in the house of any Annapolitan) and see if I could help him without injuring him.

When I returned from the garage, there was no sign of him.


Perhaps he decided to roost in between the stones of the fireplace:


Perhaps he was resting behind a curtain:


Could he be hanging out behind this cute picture of Cute Husband?

Or maybe....


Can someone please explain to me why this crazy stuff happens only when manly Cute Husband is away?

The Most Romantic Place on Earth...

Ok, Paris is nice too!

But nothing beats an old fashioned swamp in the spring!

Birds singing over territories.

Frogs calling from the trees and croaking from the wetland.

Bugs of all diversity eating or being eaten.

Sigh.

Yes, there is nothing like a romantic date in a swamp, preferably right after a soaking rain...

While the Cute Cat is Away...

The girls played!Ok, not exactly girls gone wild...

My gal pal, Patty (who is missing her guy too) and I played bee inspectors to see if everything was blissful in the backyard bee garden. It was Patty's initiation into all things bee and I could just tell she was pretty excited about the cool outfit she got to sport while checking out the gals.

I could also tell she was super intrigued by the nifty tools that are made especially for bee keeping!Yes, yes, beekeeping has super boss clothes and accessories, but the bees are what it is all about.

I'm opening up the Artemis hive above.

And, I'm feeling a little sorry for her shabby paint job and her condemned building look now that I see it up on the computer screen.

Artemis, make it through the winter and new digs for you next year!

This is a frame from Artemis.

Notice the disturbed look on my face.

This is girls gone wild or at least honey comb gone wild...

I either read somewhere or someone told me in bee club that if you put a short frame (such as the one above), you can reduce the pesky mites that bees get by removing the drone comb in the spring, as that is where mites like to hang out.

Um, that didn't really work to my expectation.

It was actually super sad because Queen Artemis laid eggs below the short frame which were in the larvae stage and were violently ripped off when I took the hive apart.

I really hate hurting my bees.

The trouble with beekeeping is that honey bees are not native to North America. They are susceptible to a range of diseases and mites. On top of that, tiny creatures of all sort love to find a weak hive and nest in their honey and wax and ruin the whole production.

There are a variety of pesticides and medications that can be applied to bee hives.

I won't do it.

I only use natural stuff, like powered sugar, to fight off bee hive invaders. And, I try every idea that I can learn about to manage the hives so that the bees are less susceptible to disease or pests.

Unfortunately, I fail often in my quest for a genetically strong hive that can fight naturally against all things bad for bees.

Ugh! It is so hard caring so much for a bunch of insects!

I'm not quite sure if Patty is up life as a beekeeper..... One or two rogue bees from the Hera hive chased her around the yard....

But, she sure looks swell in the outfit!