It's All There

Pressed leaf checkerboard

 Dick and I joined 114 other enthusiastic interpreters who work at parks, museums, battlegrounds and historic sites, nature preserves and universities at the National Association of Interpreters Region 3 workshop last week at a wonderful state park near Nashville, TN. The workshops refreshed our own love of interpretation in many ways, and I left with the strong reminder that in an age of technology, interpretation is more important than ever to show us that it's still All There.

Tree of Heaven walking sticks

I told one of our officers that people have trouble understanding what I mean when I tell them I belong to this organization. "Oh, how many languages do you speak?" they ask, or "Do you know sign language?" He said he has the same problem, and answers with a quote from the first interpreter, John Muir, who said that he "interprets the wind and the rocks." He speaks for those important parts of our lives that either cannot speak for themselves, or are sadly misunderstood when they try to speak to us.

Wild Onion Puppet

Unfortunately, workshops and conferences are usually held in meeting rooms, and even interpreters fall prey to Power Point, so I don't have photos of much that we discussed. I most enjoyed those sessions reminding us to look for the stories and signs we see about us, which can be found with a little observation. For example, when people see the phrase "Reading Wildlife Signs," they usually expect to be searching for mammalian footprints in the dirt. But we had more fun looking for any signs of travelling, feeding signs, shelter and communication in a small area. In other words, the word "wildlife" can have a very broad interpretation, and should include much more than mammals.



Doug Elliott is a stellar interpreter using song, stories and an incredible amount of knowledge about nature and history to keep us all enthralled.

Doug asks, how do you find a story in nature (or anywhere else for that matter)? He often starts with an incident, an encounter, a problem or a question-something happens to you, you meet someone, see something, or you wonder about something. The narrative he tells is a journey of investigation, trying to figure it out. The incident is your hook, not only to your listeners when you're storytelling, but also to yourself as an explorer and an investigator. Then he lets curiosity be his guide. He starts asking questions. Any journalist will tell you your ability to get a good story is often directly related to your ability to ask good questions. The first and probably the ultimate resource is yourself. How do/did I relate to that incident, encounter, problem or question? How did I feel?

He started with a story about finding a bird's skull while walking in the woods with a Native American friend. His friend said it was the skull of a Peace Eagle, then explained that the Cherokee called the Turkey Vulture a Peace Eagle because it didn't kill anything, but resembled an Eagle in flight. That was the start of a wonderful discussion on the beauties and virtues of Turkey Vultures. He had me hooked right from the beginning! For the second part of the session, Doug led us out for a walk and had some song or riddle or saying about everything we saw. Would you understand the adage "Always be wary of vines that are hairy?"  We all returned to the building vowing to learn and use the Scat Rap!

Completed Walking Stick

Wren Smith, our great friend and mentor from Bernheim Forest, also gave a session, but they didn't give her enough time! We learned about foraging for food, fiber and fun - which plants are safe to eat or handle, and which are not. Children will remember more better if they do more than just look at a plant - let them touch it or smell it or make something from it.  We even made cordage from kudzu in one class, while Wren had walking sticks made from the invasive Tree of Heaven. Of course, this means I still have lots and lots to learn about plants (sigh).

Hallowed Ground First Person Interpretation

This is the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, and many battlefields and cemeteries from that era are found in Tennessee. First Person interpretation is especially effective here, and we had a session with a drama coach learning tricks of voice and body language we can all use in any interpretive setting.

Wood Sorrel - It's All There

Doug Elliott told us that the number six is sacred to the Cherokee Indians, because it represents north, south, east, west, sky and earth - the six directions. Wood sorrel looks like it only has three petals, but look closely and you will see each one is divided in two, so there are really six after all. It's all there... I left the conference feeling a bit sad that so many of these things in nature were known by almost everyone a hundred years ago, and now few people know them. So you see, in this age of technology, interpreters are more important than ever to remind every one that it's still All There.

Playing "Opossum"

Since this is the weekend for the Great Backyard Bird Count, I've kept an eye on the feeders out my window, with little luck. Few birds have come to eat in our yard. But a motion caught my eye, and when I focused, I saw a POSSUM!

I know they come to yards, and will eat almost anything. One time I found one in a garbage can in the garage where it couldn't climb out, and was proud that I did not scream. We had to turn the garbage can over and leave so it could escape. And, boy, did it smell!

As this one slowly walked across the yard, I wondered what it was doing out in the afternoon. A closer look found a distinct split in its left ear. Looks like it's been in a fight sometime.

In fact, this possum has a spot on its rear with very sparse fur, and a very raw, red, bleeding area. Either it's been in a fight, or got caught trying to squeeze under a fence. It sniffed around as I approached, camera in hand, but didn't seem too upset or panicky and didn't try to run away.

A quick look on the Internet found several interesting facts. Possessing a furry tail, the true "possum" belongs to the Phalangeridae family within the Marsupialia order and is primarily found in New Guinea, Australia, Indonesia and other islands in the Pacific region. With their signature bare tail, the "opossum" is North America’s only known marsupial; this means the animal carries its young in a pouch much like the Australian kangaroo. Both the possum and the opossum are nocturnal, nomadic omnivores and live on an expansive diet that includes insects, frogs, birds, snakes and fruits. The opossum is primarily dark grey in color but some resemble cinnamon, and white opossums are known to exist. The possum and the opossum are both hunted animals and possess an instinct to play dead, or “play possum” when threatened. I'm glad it didn't view me as a threat!

Eagle Weekend

Once the CQ Princess finally made its way out into Kentucky Lake around the wreck, we cruised up and down the lake shore looking for eagles. Kate Heyden, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife avian biologist, was our spotter and narrator for the trip.

We learned that no bald eagles were found in Kentucky 40 years ago. In 1980 they "hacked" 44 young eagles at the lake. Eagles return to the area where they learned to fly when it's time to breed, so birds from somewhere else are brought in, and kept in boxes until they are ready to fledge. Juvenile eagles are brown, with mottled areas of white, for about 5 years when they are mature enough to breed and get their white heads and tails. During those years, they wander all over. Kate described a program to track young birds with radio transmitters. The results are mapped online at http://fw.ky.gov/navigation.aspx?cid=958. By 2011, she reported, we now have 98 breeding pairs of bald eagles in the state of Kentucky - almost any good sized lake will have some.

Some of the birds we saw are permanent residents, and they are into their courtship behavior and early nesting. Others migrate to Kentucky from northern states when cold weather freezes the lakes and rivers, making it harder to find food in their home territory.  It rarely gets cold enough here to freeze large bodies of water, and barge navigation keeps the channels open as well should a cold snap arrive. On our cruise, we saw about 27 eagles. In other years, up to 50 or 60 have been found in the same time. This year has been unusually warm up north. I heard they canceled parts of the winter festival in Minneapolis for lack of snow.

Our weather over the weekend was wonderful with blue skies and a strong wind in the morning which died down by noon. Everyone had lots of opportunities to tell the difference between eagles and turkey vultures. Look at the straight line of the eagle wings. A turkey vulture flies with its wings in a V - a dihedral. And sometimes the juvenile eagles have so much white on their bellies, you have to look closely to make sure it isn't a red tailed hawk, especially when they are far away.

After lunch, we piled into four vans to drive through Land Between the Lakes looking for eagles and any other wildlife we could spot. During the weekend Dick and I saw a red fox and red headed woodpeckers. As the sun began to set Saturday afternoon, we came to a popular roosting area for the eagles. With spotting scopes and binoculars we got a great look at about 30 birds coming in to spend the night, but it was far away so I didn't get any closeup photos of them. Every white spot in this picture is an adult bald eagle, and there are many that don't appear in the photo.

LBL is a long neck of land between Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake, run by the US Forest Service as a National Recreation Area. Summer is the time when most visitors enjoy camping, hiking, fishing, horseback riding, etc. Programs include a planetarium, nature center, an operating farm called the Homeplace, and a fenced bison and elk prairie, while white tailed deer and fallow deer roam freely.

We enjoyed the raptor programs presented at these eagle weekends for years. Once we saw the Little Rock, Arkansas, Zoo do the program, and a docent spoke without actually handing any of the birds. "I could do that!" I thought to myself. So when I retired a few years ago, I joined Raptor Rehabilitation of Kentucky as a volunteer, to get involved doing programs. At RROKI, however, you learn to do everything required for the care and rehabilitation of birds. It was a special thrill to me to return to the Eagle Weekend as a presenter, not just a visitor! We had 174 people at our program on Saturday evening, and many of them came up afterward for more questions and to take photos. Where else do you have a chance to see these magnificent birds up close and personal!

You Can't Get There From Here Anymore

Missing Bridge Span

Every January, the Kentucky State Parks sponsor Eagle Weekends at the three state parks near Land Between the Lakes in western Kentucky. Both resident and migrating Bald Eagles can be found via a cruise on the water or van rides to bays popular with these wonderful birds. Raptor Rehabilitation of Kentucky was asked to do the Saturday evening program at the Barkley Lake weekend, and I gladly volunteered. I became interested in doing raptor programs at just such a weekend several years ago, so now the circle has turned back to the beginning.

CQ Princess - Eagle Tours

However, when we arrived on Friday afternoon after a 4 hour drive from Louisville, we learned that an accident had occurred on the lake the night before. Normally it takes only 20 minutes to drive across an old bridge spanning Kentucky Lake between Lake Barkley State Park and Kenlake State Park where we would board the CQ Princess for the eagle cruise. The weekend planners tried to contact everyone who had signed up, and many cancelled out altogether. The red mark on this map shows where the bridge was, and the blue line the extra hour and a half detour we took to reach the Princess.

Land Between the Lakes - Western Kentucky

Kentucky Lake was created by the TVA in the 1940's when they dammed up the Tennessee River, making it navigable to barge traffic. All traffic must pass beneath a two-lane narrow bridge built in 1932. I've always hated that bridge! If a semi comes across, there is hardly room for my car! Two sections of the Eggner Ferry Bridge, were destroyed by the northbound Delta Mariner, a 312-foot ship carrying rocket components from Decatur, Ala., to Cape Canaveral in Florida. This ship is much much taller than the normal barge traffic. A fully-loaded barge is 1200 feet long,  but the tow boat is the tallest part.

Delta Mariner

During the dark, it tried to pass under one of the smaller spans designated for recreational traffic, instead of the larger span nearby. The local news said that two local pilots were on board. One can only speculate what the pilots and captain thought they were doing as tons of steel and pavement descended right in front of them. Fortunately, no motor vehicles went down into the lake when the road disappeared - one of my personal nightmares driving over bridges! The steel and pavement were easily seen draped over the bow of this huge ocean-going ship.

Coal Barge going under remaining bridge

Of course the Coast Guard closed the lake to all water traffic while barricades blocked vehicular traffic. At first, we thought our eagle cruise would have to go south along the lake, while we always went north in previous years. By the time we boarded the boat, the Coast Guard decided the bridge wasn't going to fall into the water, and started allowing the backed up barges and our tour boat to pass under the bridge. The bridge carries about 2,800 vehicles a day between Marshall County and the Land Between the Lakes, including many who travel to nearby Murray State University on a daily basis.  For us, the detour was a slight inconvenience, but those folks will have a very difficult time getting to work and school. The hard part will be deciding what to do after they remove the ship and debris. It makes no sense to me to "repair" an 80 year old bridge that was inadequate to begin with, but how will they find the money to replace the bridge with something big enough for traffic to go under it?

Yes, we saw eagles, and I'll show more about them in the next post!

Hell's Angels with Wings

Looking out the kitchen window, I was surprised to see a gang of Hell's Angels with wings instead of wheels. Our feeders have been invaded by 50-60 Common Grackles, mixed in with another 30 or so European Starlings. I had not filled any of the feeders yet, and delayed doing so until the mobs went elsewhere after demolishing the few remaining peanuts.

Common Grackles are large, noisy, and gregarious birds that often flock with other blackbirds, cowbirds, and starlings, especially in winter. At feeders they tower over other birds and push them aside to get at food. Grackles typically forage on the ground and roost high in trees or on power lines. All our regular birds - the Cardinals, Chickadees, Nuthatches, Wrens and woodpeckers - stayed safely out of range of these iridescent bullies.

They pointedly looked at me as I watched through the door. "Hey you! Get with it and bring out the seed!"

One or two moved over to the creek for a drink...

...followed by most of the others, drinking and splashing vigorously in the cold water. Hmm, that reminds me. It's time to get out the heater and put out some shallow water that won't freeze for the smaller birds, since the creek is too deep and too fast for their taste.

"The Birds"

I have never heard anyone say that the European Starling is their favorite bird. After all, they are noisy, they poop all over your car, they eat most of the seeds in your birdfeeders, and they devour a farmer's crops. In the winter they gather in huge flocks, and sometimes you have to wonder if they are just birds, or something else altogether.

Just before sunset, I drove to Jeffersonville, IN, just across the river from Louisville, KY. Last week I saw a "blob" of birds, but couldn't take a photos since I was driving across the bridge at the time. You would agree that photographing birds while driving falls under the same category as texting while driving-- something that should not be done. Tonight I returned for some shots taken while NOT in a moving vehicle. The birds starting moving into neighborhood trees by twos, then tens, then dozens, chattering constantly. They make a variety of noises, none of which could be called melodic by any means. For no reason I could discover, they would all fly out of the tree at once.

Starlings can fly in large numbers, forming a "blob" in the sky, that appears, darkens, then disappears, depending on which direction the birds turn while in the air. In fact, coming up with a descriptive term is a challenge itself. Is it a blob, a flock, a swarm? Actually there is a term I'm not familiar with - a murmuration. How about that one! But it's hardly scary enough, and they certainly do not murmur. I always think of science fiction movies or horror stories at this sight.



Alfred Hitchcock's movie The Birds comes first to mind. Should I hide underground when the birds start swarming like this? How about the locust invasion in The Ten Commandments? I'm sure many a farmer thinks of them this way. Is it some super strange storm cloud, or how about an alien invasion?  As the cloud of birds changes shape, expanding and contracting, I wonder if it is some large overgrown amoeba-like organism. My imagination runs away quickly!

Why are all these birds flying over the middle of the Ohio River? Apparently they decided that the center span of the bridge (which now carries traffic for three interstate routes) is the best place to spend the night. They jostle each other for a spot on the girders - the girders that we just spent millions of dollars getting painted recently!

The sunset was beautiful, but driving home across the bridge was a little spooky as the birds continued to fill the air above, below and beside all the vehicles. I expect that any low flying bird went splat against a semi.

Vulture Visitors

Anyone who has followed my blog for long knows that I love vultures. I first saw them at the Falls of the Ohio, and love telling our visitors more about vultures than they ever want to know. At Raptor Rehab, we have two Turkey Vultures among our educational birds, and the wild vultures often come to  visit. The first time I saw this, I panicked, thinking that EO had escaped from his cage! How many vultures do you count in the trees above the Center?

Black Vultures are smaller than Turkey Vultures, with a 5' wingspan instead of 6'. They have black heads, of course, and a white patch at the tip of each wing. Their tails are shorter, and they have to flap more often than the Turkey Vultures, but they are still good fliers.

They don't have a good sense of smell, but find their food with their excellent eyesight. While a Turkey Vulture can find food by smelling it through the trees, the Black Vulture tends to hunt in river valleys, lowlands and open areas where they have a better field of vision. When dead fish wash ashore at the Falls of the Ohio, the Black Vultures descend for the feast. Black Vultures watch Turkey Vultures to follow them to a carcass found by their sensitive sense of smell. Then the Black Vultures chase them away from the meal. Black Vultures have also been known to actually kill newborn calves.

Baby vultures are cute and fluffy, just adorable! Since their parents don't actually build a nest, people find them on the ground and assume that they have been abandoned by their parents, when the parents are just out looking for a nice smelly carcass. Thinking they are saving these cute little birds, the people take them home, and the bird becomes "imprinted" on people. In other words, the chick think it's a person, and looks to people for food, help, etc. In a few months, of course, they are no longer cute little chicks, but full grown Black Vultures.

This fall we received two such imprinted Black Vultures at the Raptor Rehab Center. They are perfectly healthy, but can't be released into the wild because they really don't understand how to be wild birds. Vultures have bad reputations as a general rule, since they scavenge carrion. But Black Vultures have worse reputations than Turkey Vultures as they tend to be more aggressive.  All vultures will bite, and our Turkey Vultures don't like me. Our directors are trying to find another licensed raptor center that would like to have a nice imprinted Black Vulture for their program, but so far we've had no interest. John decided to put jesses on them this week to start the "manning down" process, and I got to help!  As you can see, I was very excited to work with this bird! It didn't bite me even once, although our director reminded me that they get more bitey when they start producing hormones.

So if any of you know of a LICENSED rehabilitator who would be interested in adding a Black Vulture to their cast of birds for educational programs, please get in touch with Raptor Rehabilitation of Kentucky, Inc.

Holiday Wishes

It's nice to take a break from Christmas shopping and cleaning and planning, and go birding instead. December is a good time for birding, since the birds are easily visible in the bare branches, but quickly moving weather systems make photography a challenge. The sun comes and goes on mountains of clouds.

Louisville set a record for rainfall in 2011. Can you tell what this photo is? Small trees reflected in the standing water look like some abstract art to me.

Some times a variety of ducks float on the temporary ponds at Garvin Brown Preserve, but today only Mallards were there, cruising in for a landing.

This little Kestrel can be seen often, but he's wary of people, and flies off whenever I try to sneak up for a closer photo. The gray sky reduces the light available, so I get good silhouettes, but not much for closeups.

As I followed the Kestrel across the field, a Red Shouldered Hawk called from beyond the fence row. He must have felt more self-confident and didn't fly off till I walked completely beyond his perch. I always hope that none of the raptors I see flying wild will end up at the Rehab Center.

Robins are not deterred by bad weather, and large numbers of them ate the crab apples. Apparently the fruit was just ripe enough for them!

Finding enough to survive the cold must be a high priority in the life of a bird, no matter where they live. I read that Chickadees can lower their body temperature from 108 degrees Fahrenheit to a low of 50 degrees Fahrenheit at night. It takes a lot less energy to keep a chickadee's body at 50 degrees than at 108 degrees. The birds in my neighborhood make their rounds of the feeders together. Either I have no birds in the yard, or lots of them! I fill the feeders with good sunflower seeds and peanuts, and by the next morning most need filling again. I saw a mystery bird and the field guide identified it as a tan morph White Throated Sparrow. Don't think I've ever seen one of those before.

Earlier this month I bought a wreath with fresh greenery from Creasey Mahan Nature Preserve. Weeks later though, much of it dried and fell out, so I cut some new from our yard - pine, coral bell seeds and oak leaf hydrangea!  All my other decorations are artificial, so I'm very pleased with this wreath.

I hope you have enjoyed this break from frantic holiday preparations. We are so blessed and all our family will be home this year, including our new grandson and a new daughter-in-law to-be, along with Brian's mother and brother. I wish the best to each of you too!

There's more, much more to Christmas

Than candle-light and cheer;

It's the spirit of sweet friendship

That brightens all the year;

It's thoughtfulness and kindness,

It's hope reborn again,

For peace, for understanding

And for goodwill to men!

                                                       - Anonymous

How to Stay Warm

It's December, and the Weather Channel is starting to show some really cold temps. Not in Kentucky, thanks goodness, but we will get our share of the cold stuff before long. So I thought this would be a good time to share some tips on how to stay warm. Our feathered friends would immediately say to "Keep your feathers fluffed up." This collects body heat, and makes you look really tough!

Eating properly is important too.  This brave bird ducked behind the icicles one winter to get plenty of good oil sunflower seeds. The fat in seeds and suet is important to avian metabolism in the winter. Of course, people like it too - disguised as cookies!

If you don't have feathers, a fluffy tail serves the same purpose. Just curl up in your nest and wrap that long tail around yourself to keep warm.

Hydration is important in the cold too, but someone has to keep the heater plugged in for the bird bath. For humans, a hot shower feels great when you come in from the cold.

Pippin and Binx say you should always find someone warm to sleep with, and a 19 pound furry cat makes a terrific chair warmer. Sometimes I see Pippin with his "arm" over his smaller buddy Binx.

But, if all else fails, Binx goes for the mechanical heaters - such as the cable box. There's always enough heat coming from the box to make napping comfortable even if the surface is hard.

Of course, as an experienced birder, I recommend dressing in layers when you have to go out in the cold - long underwear, wool socks (I get mine at Bass Pro), boots to keep your feet dry, sweater, fleece lined jacket, gloves, and hat. Keeping out of the wind is always a good idea too.  A warm fireplace when you get back inside is delightful - just remember to close the flue when the fire goes out! I like to pull a double thick fleece blanket up to my neck when watching TV.

To help warm up the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra Chorus this season, they asked Calgarians to tweet their tips on how to keep warm in Calgary's winter wonderland, and put them all to music - Carmina Burana, one of my favorites.  It's a good thing they added subtitles though!



If you have suggestions for keeping warm, please comment to this post with them, and thanks! We can use all the help we can get.