Love Science Friday when I am home! I miss it, tho I could probably search it out online. Thanks, Patti. (Anyone ever see TBBT episode when Sheldon was on SF?)

I can't listen on Friday when I'm at work, so I subscribe to the podcast via iTunes and listen at my convenience.

I heard an interview on Science Friday (NPR) some time ago where a scientist was talking about being able to implant electrodes in insects' brains in order to control them remotely...the implication being that these insects could be loaded up with certain types of chemical sensors and then sent into caves, buildings, etc...essentially using them as spies.  This particular technology was still being developed...but maybe bird spies aren't so far-fetched 

What a productive birding experience!  Do you know why warblers tend to congregate in that area?  I enjoyed seeing your fine photographs.  Thanks Patti!

Gayle

I don't know if there is anything special that makes the area particularly enticing for warblers.  It's a "migrant trap" in general...

The birds, by the time they hit Lake Erie, have been flying over an agricultural desert for a long time; they hit the lakeshore, and decide to settle down and refuel for awhile before crossing the lake.  In that way it's similar to many other well-known migrant traps where some natural obstruction or feature (mountains, like Hawk Mountain), bodies of water like Delaware Bay (Cape May, NJ), etc. causes migrants to stop or at least funnels them in a particular direction. 

At the festival I attended a talk by Chris Wood, who works at the Cornell Lab or Ornithology as project leader for eBird (among many other credentials) on the current state of the science around bird migration.  One of the things he pointed out is that birds have different migration paths to/from the neotropics; some cross the Gulf of Mexico and some fly around it, etc., and this area of northern Ohio is right where those paths converge for birds flying north to nest in Canada's boreal forests.

There is a narrow band of green space (state parks or wildlife areas, several national wildlife refuges, and privately run conservation areas) on the lakeshore that was preserved when the rest of what used to be called the "Great Black Swamp" was drained for agriculture.  It's green, moist, and swarming with the bugs that migrants love to eat!  The day that I managed to get the best photos was a day that it was also cold and windy, so the birds were feeding lower in the trees.

I attended the Biggest Week in American Birding festival (northern Ohio near Toledo) a couple of weeks ago, and got the photos organized.  It bills itself as the "Warbler Capital of the World."  There are lots of warbler photos here and a few other birds as well.

http://photos.bellhanley.com/Birds-Bats-Butterflies/Wide-Wide-World/Lake-Erie-Birding-2013

Patti
 

That post did go overboard...but the research is serious...and cats' impact on birds and other wildlife is substantial.  It's one of the reasons I keep my little killers indoors (that and it's better for their health).

Happy Birthday, Patti!  Hope your day was filled with all manner of wonderful birds sightings and other good things!

Gayle

Sorry for the delayed response; I was out of town and was disconnected...so nice to be mostly free of technology for awhile.  Gayle's wish for me definitely came true; I was in northern Ohio at the Biggest Week in American Birding festival...seeing migrating warblers out the wazoo!  Thanks for all of the birthday greetings!

Mother Nature's Cleanup Crew...
What more natural than quick recycling?
Carol
WV

You may call me weird, but being a nature geek, I've often thought that it's too bad we don't allow more "natural" burials like this...I'd definitely opt for it.  One of my earliest memories of lessons my father taught me on some hike in the woods: showing me the tree that had fallen a long time ago, and how you could pick up handfuls of its rotting wood; explaining that it was becoming the soil that had nourished it, and it would nourish new plants...

I like the idea of giving my body back to the earth, having taken so much from it, and that's certainly the most efficient way to go about it.  If it were just up to me...

The only problem is that the folks you left behind might be squeamish about it...

Below is a link to some photos I took at "Thunder Over Louisville", which is an enormous event that kicks off the Derby Festival.  It includes an air show and a fireworks show, and this year, included a couple of fly-bys:  Bald Eagle and Peregrine Falcon!  By the time the peregrine came around it was nearly dark, so the photo isn't real great, but it was the big excitement of the day for me.

http://photos.bellhanley.com/Around-Town/Thunder-Over-Louisville/Thunder-2013

And little animals come out when you click on the holes in the ground/mountain.

I love the undignified shot of the owlet with the long tail hanging out of its mouth.

I took Cornell's Courtship & Rivalry in Birds course this winter. A young male sneaking into an established pair and adding himself into the gene pool is quite common in smaller birds. Before so many pefas were banded, who knows how often this might have happened.

I've been reading a book called The Nesting Season (subtitle: Cuckoos, Cuckolds, and the Invention of Monogamy) by Bernd Heinrich that discusses this and many other facets of bird reproductive habits.  He's an academic, but I find the writing accessible to the lay-armchair-naturalist.

This pair of KY falcons have five hatchlings, and they've posted a whole set of "milestone videos" including hatching, feedings, egg-layings, etc.

http://www.lge-ku.com/falcon/milestones.asp

Displaying endangered grouse are on my bucket list, but are not necessarily Bogie birds, by your definition.  Since I haven't really tried to see them in a dedicated way, I haven't given them the opportunity to "get away" from me. 

However, Cerulean Warbler is kinda up there on my list of missing-in-action.  And I wouldn't complain if I stumbled across a Painted Bunting or an Evening Grosbeak...

The birds I really hoped to see in Alaska, but didn't, are Harlequin Ducks in breeding plumage.  I saw some in Yellowstone this year for the first time, but they were already wearing their non-breeding colors.

Bobbie, cranes are quite easy to see if you go where they are known to winter, or gather in large numbers during migration.  If I make only a moderate effort I can see them reliably just an hour from my house during February.  I didn't make the effort this year; the month got away from me.  I did hear a flock flying overhead one night when it was too dark to see, but the calls are unmistakable, and they chatter constantly while they're flying.

Three of five eggs have hatched so far...here's a feeding video:

Mill Creek Falcon Cam- Adult Female Feeds Three Young on April 4, 2013

Two seriously endangered species in one day!  I'm so excited for you, but envious!  Somewhere on my bucket list is a trip to one of the places where endangered grouse do their mating displays (I've been thinking Sage Grouse in Wyoming, but your Prairie Chickens look pretty cool.)  Aren't red-headed woodpeckers stunning?  I've seen a bunch around here and they never fail to make my eyes pop out of my head.