MENCETAK KENARI INDONESIA

oleh: Kian Sing

Setiap hari kita selalu mendengar istilah-istilah kenari: lokal, impor, AF, F1, F2 dan lain sebagainya. Beberapa penghobi masih bingung dengan istilah “F” di sini. Istilah “F” ini secara kasar dapat dikatakan sebagai “keturunan”. Bila “F1” ya berarti “keturunan kesatu”, bila “F2” ya berarti “keturunan kedua”, demikian pula selanjutnya. Tetapi lain lubuk lain belalang, demikian pepatah berkata, di daerah lain “F2” mewakili kenari hasil perkawinan F1 dengan F1. Di Yogyakarta pada khususnya “F2” berarti kenari hasil perkawinan F1 dengan jenis indukan F1 tersebut. Misalnya betina F1, hasil perkawinan Yorkshire jantan dengan betina lokal, dengan Yorkshire. Pada kesimpulannya, sayapun juga bingung mana yang benar, mana yang salah. Akhirnya saya tidak terfokus pada istilah, tetapi saya berfokus pada mutu keturunan. Inipun saya anggap masih menjadi misteri, keturunan atau kenari jenis apakah yang cocok dengan lomba di tanah air. Tetapi beberapa jenis kenari hasil persilangan Yorkshire dengan lokal telah membuktikan prestasinya. Apakah kita akan berhenti di sini? Saya pribadi menjawab: Tidak Akan Pernah? Beberapa bulan terakhir ini saya berpikir perlunya darah atau dapat dikatakan jenis atau dalam bahasa inggrisnya disebut dengan istilah strain.

Kalau kita mengawinkan F1 jantan dengan F1 betina maka kita lihat anakannya ada yang besar dan ada yang kecil. Hal ini dikarenakan F1 bukanlah Final Strain! Saya sudah menulis di buletin ini, bagaimana orang Amerika menemukan jenis kenari baru yang mereka sebut American Singer Canary, hasil persilangan antara Border dan Harzer. Inilah maksud tulisan saya! Saya mengajak para peternak dan kenari mania di sini untuk menciptakan jenis baru yang cocok di Indonesia. Tentunya yang Final Strain, yang bila dikawinkan dengan sesama jenisnya akan menghasilkan anakan yang bodinya seimbang antara satu dengan yang lainnya. Sebagai contoh kenari Yorkshire, bila dikawinkan dengan sesama Yorkshire maka akan dihasilkan Yorkshire yang ukuran bodinya telah dapat ditentukan.

Di lomba Indonesia dewasa ini dituntut lagu yang indah, volume yang keras, panjang napas yang mendukung, gaya yang menawan dan kerajinan bernyanyi. Penilaian saya kenari tersebut tidaklah berukuran BESAR, karena pengalaman mengatakan burung yang besar kurang rajin bernyanti. Sedangkan burung yang kecil kurang menawan dilihat dan para papburi mania menghakimi volumenya kalah dengan jenis yang lebih besar. Sehingga harusnya kenari ideal Indonesia adalah antara kenari jenis kecil dan jenis besar. Kita ketahui jenis kecil terbagi dari colorbred canary (masyarakat menyebutnya kenari holland, yang membuat saya bingung karena lahirnya di Indonesia alias pribumi tetapi warganegara holland dan kenari jenis tersebut adanya tidak hanya di Holland serta yang menemukannya juga bukan orang Holland!), Waterslager, Harzer, Lizard, Gloster, Taiwan, Fusan (Cina). Jenis besar dapat dikatakan terdiri dari: Yorkshire, Crested, Lancashire, Norwich, Border, Scotch Fancy, Belgi Bossu. Selain itu terdapat jenis Frill atau bulu balik dan variannya yang antara lain: Parisian Frill, Paduan Crested Frill, Fiorino, North/South Dutch Frill. Serta jenis-jenis kenari yang jarang atau belum dikenal masyarakat kita seperti Munchener, Japan Hoso dan lain-lain. Dari gambaran jenis-jenis kenari di atas maka dapat ditarik perkataan bahwa jenis kecil akan disilangkan dengan jenis besar, kita sudah dapat membaca jenis apa yang akan disilangkan, mengambil keunggulan ini untuk menutup kelemahan ini, dan lain-lain. Yang menjadi kebingungan saat ini adalah jenis apa yang harus disilangkan? Tentunya hal ini akan terjawab dengan eksperimen, teknik try and error harus dilakukan karena bukankan berbuat salah adalah manusiawi.

Bila kenari kecil hijau disilangkan dengan kenari besar kuning terkadang tidak ditemukan anakan yang berwarna kuning, sehingga dapat dikatakan bahwa kenari hijau tersebut mempunyai gen dominan dan kenari kuning mempunyai gen resesif. Jika anakan F1 ini saling dikawinkan sesama saudara sekandung (inbreeding) maka akan dihasilkan kenari warna kuning, hijau dan bont. Menurut teori Mendel, pada keturunan kedua (F2) ini, anakan kenari akan menyerupai sebagian induknya dan sebagian lagi menunjukkan penampilan yang baru. Secara genetika hasil yang didapat dari inbreeding ini adalah:
- 25% memiliki gen dominan dari kenari hijau
- 25% memiliki gen resesif dari kenari kuning dan menyerupai induknya
- 25% memiliki gen baru bont kuning
- 25% memiliki gen baru bont hijau

Jangka waktu untuk menciptakan strain yang kuat akan didapat pada keturunan kelima atau keenam, sudah tentu peternak diharuskan menyimpan beberapa ekor yang terbaik dan wajib bersabar diri. Pernah saya tulis di edisi sebelumnya teknik berternak American Singer Canary sampai mendapatkan strain yang kuat. Salah satu cara lain untuk mendapatkan adalah sebagai berikut:
1. Dua pasang kenari kecil dan besar akan menghasilkan keturunan kesatu (F1).
2. Anakan dari 2 pasang tersebut dikawinkan (jantan dan betinanya sebaiknya diambil dari indukan yang berbeda) dan menghasilkan keturunan kedua (F2)..
3. Keturunan kedua (F2) dikawinkan dengan salah satu induk keturunan kesatu (F1), penjodohan ini disebut inbreeding, atau dapat juga dikawinkan dengan sesama keturunan F2, penjodohan ini disebut line breeding. Dihasilkan keturunan ketiga (F3).
4. Keturunan ketiga (F3) dikawinkan dengan salah satu induk keturunan kedua (F2) dan akan menghasilkan keturunan keempat (F4).
5. Keturunan keempat (F4) dikawinkan dengan sesama keturunan keempat atau dikawin balik dengan F3 dan akan menghasilkan keturunan kelima (F5).
6. Keturunan kelima (F5) dikawinkan dengan salah satu induk keturunan keempat (F4) menghasilkan keturunan keenam (F6) yang merupakan fixed strain yaitu strain (jenis) yang mempunyai sifat-sifat permanen dalam hal warna, bentuk bodi, volume.

Dari tulisan di atas sudah pasti peternak dituntuk untuk mempelajari teknik berternak jangka panjang guna mendapatkan fixed strain kenari. Saya harapkan yang dijadikan bahan dalam berternak tidak hanya salah satu jenis kenari saja (misal: Yorkshire) tetapi juga mencoba jenis lain (misal: Border, Crested) dan induk yang lain tidak hanya kenari lokal (Colorbred Canary) tetapi juga mencoba dari jenis yang lain (misal: waterslager, gloster, lizard). Hal ini disebabkan belum tentunya jenis yang dipakai adalah yang terbaik. Satu pedoman dari peternak Belanda untuk saya adalah: Jantan menurunkan Size (Ukuran) dan Betina menurunkan Shape (Bentuk Badan). Tetapi di sana mereka berternak atas dasar bodi, berbeda dengan di sini yang selain bodi juga menginginkan faktor lain seperti volume. Sehingga apabila kita menyilangkan kenari kecil dengan kenari besar, diharapkan bodi atau volume kecil dari kenari jenis kecil akan ditutup dengan keunggulan kenari jenis besar. Demikian pula ketidak-rajinnya kenari besar akan ditutup dengan keunggulan lebih-rajinnya kenari jenis kecil.

Saya mohon kerjasama peternak yang berminat untuk mendapatkan strain yang kuat ini agar dapat berkomunikasi dengan Papburi karena saya yakin para anggota Papburi juga berminat mengikuti proses tersebut. Apabila telah ditemukan kenari fixed strain tidak tertutup kemungkinan Anda berhak memberi nama kenari tersebut karena berarti Anda telah menciptakan JENIS KENARI YANG BARU!!!

sumber:
http://kenarimania.multiply.com/journal/item/42/MENCETAK_KENARI_INDONESIA

Red Sky at Morning

The sky donned its Halloween costume at dawn this morning, dressing up as a huge serving of rainbow sherbet. While waiting to put Liam on the bus, we watched the ever-changing hues, tones, patterns.

The driveway oak shook off its leaves like it had no further use for them. Yesterday it wore an orange-brown dress. Today that dress lies scattered in several thousand pieces on the muddy ground. The oak is readying itself for cold weather ahead.

I guess all the work going on around the house and farm is our way of dealing with the changing seasons, particularly the onslaught of winter. The feeder activity has increased noticeably this week. Fox sparrows got in yesterday morning, and the junco numbers have tripled since last Sunday.

As we walked out the drive, I spotted a red bat foraging overhead. The Chinese believe that bats are a sign of good fortune, and that a red bat sighting signifies "vast fortune." I certainly hope so.

Then there's that old rhyming bit of folk wisdom:
Red sky at night, sailor's delight
Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.

I'm hoping that this morning's red sky was just a simple blessing.

Midwest Birding Symposium Memories

Whether or not you made the scene at the 2009 Midwest Birding Symposium, held in September in Lakeside, Ohio, you now have a chance to experience (or revisit) the MBS on the Web. Audio files for most of the speaker presentations, a photo gallery, comments from attendees, links to blogs about the MBS, and links to pre-register (as an attendee, sponsor, or vendor) for the 2011 MBS are all available at the event's new landing page: http://www.midwestbirding.org.

The audio files of the speaker presentations will only be available for a limited time, so take a few minutes to explore the offerings we've put together. And, if you like what you see and hear and read, make plans now to join us September 15 to 18, 2011 at Lakeside, Ohio for the NEXT Midwest Birding Symposium.

A final thank you to our fabulous sponsors:
Audubon BirdCam, The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Swarovski Optik, Field Guides Birding Tours, and RRI Energy.

Plus:
Leica Sport Optics, Wild Birds Unlimited, Eagle Optics, The Ohio Division of Wildlife, Lake Erie Shores & Islands, The Marblehead Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and Scotts Songbird Selections wild bird food.

Their generous financial support made the 2009 Midwest Birding Symposium possible.

Autumn Views from the Tower

North.

South.

East.

West.

Opportunistic Anis

Smooth-billed ani.

Last July I was on a digiscoping trip to Trinidad & Tobago sponsored by Leica Sport Optics. On the second day of the trip, we left the friendly confines of Asa Wright Nature Centre for a bit of birding afield. We drove down out of the mountains to the Aripo Agricultural Research Station, where, after turning off the highway into the station's entrance, we encountered our first interesting birds.

A pair of tiny green-rumped parrotlets was exploring a natural cavity in a tree by the roadside and we stopped our vans to try to get photographs of them. We snapped a few shots, but needed to disembark from the van to let everyone see the birds. As happens so often, our stopping and unloading spooked the birds into flight. Even though hundreds of cars and trucks pass right by this tree each day, few of them probably stop by this tree. And our stopping was enough to encourage the birds to flee. We thought they might be nesting in the cavity, so we removed ourselves a bit and waited, hoping they would return.

Green-rumped parrotlets.

About this time a crew of workers down the road 40 yards started up their weed-whackers. The noise immediately over-rode all other sounds around us and the tall grass which they were cutting down began to fly, in pieces, in all directions. Along a fence line behind the workers a flock of smooth-billed anis began dropping down onto the ground and flutter-walking over toward the weed whacking action. I did a double-take. Conventional wisdom would have had the birds fleeing at the start of the noisy, smoky, grass-destroying trimmers. But these birds were attracted to the noise and activity.

Anis in my experience almost always look disheveled.

And then it dawned on me. The anis were after an easy meal. Just like bald eagles waiting below a dam spillway in winter, grizzly bears gorging on post-spawn salmon, or the barn swallows that follow my tractor when I mow, these anis had made the connection between weed whacking and easy-to-catch insect prey. The string trimmers (called, I once was told, "strimmers" in the United Kingdom!) cutting down the grass were disturbing and maiming lots of grasshoppers and beetles and other yummy bugs. Smart birds.]

Here's a short video of the opportunistic smooth-billed anis:

Judging from the height of the grass, the trimming had not been done here for a long time—maybe a few months. Yet the anis knew to associate the sounds and activity with an easy meal. Isn't that interesting?

Smooth-billed anis are reasonably common birds in the central part of their range: from the islands of the Caribbean, south throughout South America. But they reach the united States only in central and southern Florida, where the species seems to be declining rapidly. Where you find one smooth-billed ani, you are likely to find others since they spend their lives as a part of a noisy flock of a dozen or more birds.

Speaking of a flock of anis. I wonder what the term of venery for a flock of anis is? A showtune of anis? A yawn of anis? A Yanni of anis (for the horrible noise they make)? Your suggestions are welcome here.

Kenari stafford

1. ASAL MULA KENARI STAFFORD
Pada akhir tahun 1970an di Inggris, tepatnya di daerah Staffordshire, sekelompok pecinta kenari berkumpul dan membincangkan kemungkinan mencetak jenis kenari baru hasil persilangan, yang dinamakan crested red/rose bird. Pada waktu itu ditetapkan untuk mencetak jenis burung kenari yang baru red/rose dengan panjang 5 inch dengan jambul yang sempurna seperti jambul pada burung kenari asli Inggris lainnya. Mereka sadar bahwa jenis ini telah ada di daratan Eropa (Deutsche Koife). Secara sederhana, Stafford Canary adalah kenari berwarna merah dengan adanya corak Crest. Pakem kenari ini telah dibuat untuk membantu dan mengarahkan pecinta dan peternak kenari sebagai standar yang perlu diciptakan di jenis baru ini. Pecinta maupun peternak jenis ini termasuk peternak terkenal yakni Peter Finn, Jack Askins dan lain-lain.

Pada tahun 1987 Zoe Finn (kemenakan Peter Finn) mengkonteskan di Perry Hill di kota Birmingham, Inggris. Waktu berlalu dan sesudah itu kenari ini dikenal sebagai Stafford Canary. Kenari ini diternakkan berdasarkan artikel yang dimuat di majalah Cage and Aviary Birds.

Tahun 1990, Stafford Canary Club (SCC) mendaftar untuk menjadi anggota Canary Council of Great Britain dan kenari Stafford dimasukkan dalam kelas jenis baru. Kenari ini adalah kenari yang diterima menjadi kenari jenis baru setelah jenis Fife Fancy pada tahun 1950an.

Awal tahun 1990an adalah era yang berpengaruh besar pada para peternak di dunia, termasuk peternak Amerika yang ingin membantu perkembangan jenis kenari Stafford. Adalah George Gay yang selalu berkoresponden dengan SCC dan George Gay akhirnya mendirikan Stafford Canary Club of America dan menjadi ketuanya.

Juga di awal tahun 1990an, gambar asli tentang standar kenari Stafford dibuat oleh Dr. Achmed El Soussi. Dia membuat 6 gambar tangan tentang hal ini, tiga di antaranya kemudian dipresentasikan dan diangap sebagai standar SCC, yang otomatis juga dipakai oleh SCCA.

Rasa ingin mengembangkan kenari Stafford bertambah seiring dengan waktu dan kenari Stafford terlihat di kontes utama di Inggris dan Amerika, hal ini ditandai dengan semakin bersatunya para peternak dengan menjadi anggota SCC. Pada tahun 1991 National Cage Bird in America, kontes burung tingkat nasional di Amerika, mengadakan sebuah rapat penting bagi para pecinta dan peternak kenari Stafford. Hasil menggembirakan diraih ketika di tahun berikutnya, standar baku kenari Stafford telah ditetapkan untuk Amerika, yang tentunya mengadaptasi standar SCC.

Sepanjang tahun 1990an, standar selalu mengalami perubahan untuk kemajuan, termasuk standar baru untuk betina kenari Stafford warna mosaic. Akhir tahun 1990an, disetujui untuk memperbolehkan kenari Stafford yang tidak mempunyai jambul (plain head) di arena kontes, sebelum itu hanya kenari Staffor berjambul yang diperbolehkan mengikuti lomba. Penny Berrill-lah yang menggambar standar kenari Staffor plein head. Di Inggris, kenari Stafford plain head boleh mengikuti lomba untuk meraih penghargaan di kelas jenis plain head, tetapi tidak dapat meraih Best Stafford Award, penghargaan ini hanya akan dimenangkan oleh jenis crest.


2. STANDAR STAFFORD CANARY

2.1. APA ITU STAFFORD CANARY

Beberapa tahun seperti yang telah ditulis di atas, standar Stafford Canary selalu diperbarui untuk kesempurnaan. Hal ini tentunya akan membingungkan dan dapat mengakibatkan kesalah-pahaman bagi peternak yang belum berpengalaman.

Proses standarisasi adalah sesuatu yang akan berguna, membantu untuk mengurangi kebingungan dan kesalah-pahaman. Stafford Canary Club mendeskripsikan standar yang dapat berguna secara tertulis atau verbal untuk mendeskripsikan apa itu Stafford Canary.

Secara sederhana untuk mendeskripsikan Stafford Canary, dapat menggunakan kalimat di bawah ini:

a. Lihat bentuk kepala: Apakah crested (berjambul) atau non-crested/pleinhead (tidak berjambul). Jika berjambul: apakah jambulnya sama dengan warna badan (clear), apakah jambul mempunyai dua warna seperti ubanan (grizzled) atau berwarna gelap tetapi badan berwarna terang (dark)?
b. Apakah warnanya frosted (ada warna putih di ujung bulu) atau non-frosted (tidak ada warna putih di ujung bulu)? Jika non-frosted, idealnya tidak ada warna putih di ujung bulu. Jika frosted, berapa kadarnya: ringan, sedang atau pucat sekali?
c. Apakah burungnya clear (berwarna cerah tanpa ada warna melanin pada bulunya), ticked (ada flex) ataukah variegated (di sini disebut bont yang banyak warna cerah)?
d. Warna dasarnya red atau rose?
e. Jika berwarna melanin (biasa berwarna gelap – di bulu ada warna hitamnya, missal: bulu hijau, di tengah bulu ada warna hitamnya), apakah self (satu warna), foul (burung warna gelap yang mempunyai maksimal 3 helai warna cerah di sayap atau ekornya) atau 3/4 dark (di sini disebut bont yang banyak warna gelapnya). Yang termasuk warna melanin adalah: Brown, Bronze, Agate, Isabel, Pastel, Ino, Opal, Satinette.
f. Apakah berwarna mosaic?

2.2. KELAS YANG DIKONTESKAN

Di arena kontes burung kenari jenis Stafford Canary membuka beberapa kelas, yaitu:
- Clear Crested
- Grizzle Crested Clear Bodied
- Dark Crested Clear Bodied
- Variegated Bodied
- Self Bodied
(petunjuk bisa dilihat pada gambar di bawah)

Selain hal di atas, kontes juga dibedakan dengan warna bulu Stafford Canary:
- Non-frosted
- Frosted
- Dimorphic (mosaic)

Juga dibagi lagi dengan kelas flighted (pernah mabung bulu besarnya, biasa berumur lebih dari 1 tahun) dan unflighted (belum pernah mabung bulu besarnya, biasa berumur kurang dari 1 tahun)

Sehingga kelas yang dikonteskan menjadi banyak karena terdapat 5 kelas tipe kepala (jambul dan tidak) dengan 3 kelas tipe warna bulu. Melihat beberapa kelas yang dikonteskan yang disyaratkan maka ada petunjuk cara berternak untuk mencetak Stafford Canary yang ideal, dengan menganjurkan untuk berkonsentrasi berternak warna non-frosted dan frosted bagi peternak tingkat pemula dan menyerahkan warna dimorphic (mosaic) kepada peternak yang berpengalaman karena hal ini lebih sulit.

Pasangan yang bagus dalam hal ini adalah mencoba berternak dengan menggunakan:
1. Jantan plainhead non-frosted x Betina crested frosted
2. Jantan crested non-frosted x Betina plainheads frosted
3. Jantan plainhead frosted x Betina crested frosted
4. Jantan crested frosted x Betina plainhead frosted
5. Dimorphic x Dimorphic

Dengan berternak nomor 3 dan 4 akan menghasilkan anakan double frost, hal ini harus diingat agar anakan diternakkan kembali dengan kenari non-frosted karena bila tidak akan menghasilkan warna frosted yang terlalu pucat. Warna terlalu pucat ini tidak akan mempunyai warna cerah, baik di tipe frosted ataupun non-frosted. Jangan sekali-kali menjodohkan kenari berjambul dengan kenari berjambul karena 25% anakan akan mati. Kemungkinan lain, beberapa anakan akan mempunyai jambul yang tidak sempurna.




Sumber:
http://kenarimania.multiply.com

Attention Digiscopers!

Bird Watcher's Digest has partnered with Swarovski Optik for this year's "Digiscoper of the Year" competition. Swarovski has offered this competition for several years, and each year the images submitted get more and more interesting.

You can read the rules here.
And you can see some of the images uploaded so far for the competition by visiting the DOTY homepage.

The good news is this: If your image is chosen, you could win some sweet Swarovski binoculars. Images taken using ANY spotting scope and camera combination are eligible (in other words, you don't have to be a Swarovski user).

Here's one of my digiscoped images: a Savannah sparrow in New Mexico.

The not-so-good news is: The deadline for entries is October 31, 2009. You can upload your images in a jiffy online using the form at this link.


Winners of the North American competition will automatically be entered into the international Digiscoper of the Year competition, also sponsored by Swarovski.

Memulai ternak kenari 2

Perkembangan kenari di indonesia sangat menggembirakan. Beberapa tahun yang lalu pasar-pasar kewalahan melayani kebutuhan akan permintaan burung kenari. apalagi saat burung kenari mulai di lombakan. Yang dari tahun ketahun perlombaan burung kenari ini semakin ramai.

Untuk memenuhi permintaan pasar kenari yang begitu besar banyak juga penangkaran lokal yang mulai dikembangkan, namun masih saja belum dapat mencukupi kebutuhan pasar. Sehingga masih juga dilakukan impor burung kenari ini, dan disaat doalr sangat tinggi maka harga kenari inipun menjadi semakin mahal.

Beberapa tahun terakhir ini banyak sekali orang yang mulai tertarik untuk menangkarkan kenari ini. Bukan sekedar karena suaranya yang bagus tetapi juga mempunyai nilai jual yang lumayan juga. Namun memang harga kenari lokal ini masih berada di bawah harga kenari Impor.

Sebetulnya dalam beternak kenari ini yang paling utama adalah kita menyukai, bukan sekedar untuk mencari profitnya saja. Karena sesuatu yang kita kerjakan dengan senang hati dan sepenuh hati maka nilai profit akan datang sendiri.

New Feeder Shots

The new feeders I set up two weeks ago, outside the west kitchen window, are getting lots of traffic now. All the usual suspects are in the chow line rotation, which greatly enhances the daytime view from the seats at one end of the kitchen table.

I used a tripod clamp to attach my Canon 30D with the 300mm lens to the table, so I can sit there working or eating or reading the newspaper (remember those?) and be ready to snap off some frames if there's a good opportunity.

I STILL need to spend some quality time learning how to take good bird images. But here's what I grabbed from the new feeders one afternoon earlier this week.
A male red-bellied woodpecker, lured in by the peanuts. He's still not too sure about that large gun-like object I'm pointing at him.

Nice to be able to see the actual red belly on a red-bellied woodpecker.

The American goldfinches are losing their summer colors, fading to their winter tones of drab yellow-green.

A new tube feeder filled with new seed got the GOFI's attention.

The northern cardinals had a phenomenal breeding season—there are dark-billed youngsters everywhere. Even the adults (female above, male below) are looking a bit different as they molt out their summer feathers for a new set of winter duds.


There are some additional enhancements I need to do to the feeding station to make it a bit better for bird photography. I need to add a couple of perches for our mutual convenience. And I may try to add another feeder or two. With our weather set to take a turn for winter, I'd better get cracking!

Here's wishing everyone a birdy weekend.

Big Sit 2009 Afternoon/Evening Report

As the day came on and the fog lifted, we began to tally lots more birds from the top of the Indigo Hill birding tower. The feeders got busier and netted us our expected American goldfinches and white-breasted nuthatches, plus three woodpecker species, and both of the common red finches: purple and house. Either one of these could have been a miss.

The list zoomed up into the 50s. At 10:22 am I posted this on Twitter and Facebook:
Indigo Hill Big Sit is at 56 species, just in time for the mid-day doldrums

11:52: Cape May warbler is number 61 for the Indigo Hill Big Sit. Nine more and we break the record!More people began arriving, too. And Phoebe, the social butterfly that she is, came up top fully suited up for the cool air. Unfortunately for this year's Sit, mid-morning was also when we lost Julie as a participant. She had to drive across the state to Dayton to give a talk, so we waved goodbye to her about 11 am. Jules is right up there with Jim McCormac in the birding skilz rankings, so her departure made the rest of us redouble our efforts.
The raptors put on quite a show in the afternoon, as rising warm air made soaring easier. Kettles of turkey vultures, numerous red-tailed hawks, and nice numbers of sharpies and Cooper's hawks were spotted by our keen-eyed sitters. In the photo above, the crew is watching a PO'd male sharp-shinned hawk dive-bombing a large female Cooper's hawk. This show went on for about 10 minutes out over our meadow, south of the tower.

I should apologize here for the lack of bird images. I did not drag my Canon big rig out at all during the Sit. The birding action was too good and, well, with all the Sitters, it was kind of tight up in the tower. It'd be just my luck that I'd drop that expensive piece of gear over the side. As it was, I lost only a pen, a glove, and a few beverage bottles and cans over the tower's edge.

As afternoon surrounded us, the air warmed, a light breeze kicked up, and adding a new bird to the list began to get much harder.
3:00 pm: Species 64 is a fly-by osprey at the Indigo Hill Big Sit.

By late afternoon, the sun had swung around to the southwest of the tower and our shadow was getting longer, stretching out to the northeast.

4:17 pm: Wild turkey, ruby-throated hummer, yellow-throated vireo gets our Big Sit to 67--two from the record for this site.

Here's the view from the tower, looking north, during the afternoon.

Sun dogs appeared late in the day, giving us something to marvel at since the birding was incredibly slow.

The Dirty Stay-ups are the birders who stay until dark.

And we NEVER QUIT birding!

Darkness takes control once more.

The final rays of the sun setting on yet another Big Sit.

And then, it was dark and everyone was gone. I posted one more update for the 2009 Big Sit.

8:09 pm: We'll man the circle 'til the bitter end but it looks like the final tally will be 67. Respectable, but two off the record.

I went downstairs, fixed the kids dinner, and got them into bed. After some clean-up of the kitchen and hauling down of gear, I felt the tower calling me back. So, at about 8:45 pm, I climbed up into the cold, damp night air for a little bit more listening, just in case three new birds for the list flew overhead, calling out their readily identifiable vocalizations.

In my quietude, I heard more Swainson's thrushes, a veery, a chipping sparrow, the barred owls in the east woods, a distant great horned—all birds we'd had earlier in the day. And I heard the echoes of my friends' voices and laughter, reminding me that this event—The Big Sit!—is as much about the people as it is about the birds.

Sixty-seven species is our second-highest total ever, topped only by last year's record-setting 69! It was a valiant effort and a great day of birding (but is there any other kind?)

You can see the results from dozens of other Big Sits from around North America and beyond by visiting the official Big Sit website.

Of course, the following morning there was a male ruby-crowned kinglet taunting me from the birches outside the kitchen window. A jumble of house sparrows took off from the forsythia, laughing that they'd skunked us on Sunday. And I heard the sweet sputter of an eastern meadowlark from the neighbor's hayfield as I walked Liam to the bus this morning.

And yet, I still love The Big Sit like no other birding event I've ever experienced.

Big Sit 2009 Morning Report

Looking like Bazooka Joe at the start of 2009 The Big Sit.

Last year I blogged from the Indigo Hill birding tower throughout The Big Sit. This year my trusty laptop was off getting a new brain put in, so I was reduced to sharing reports via my iPhone on Twitter and Facebook. This was much easier for me, but perhaps not as informative for those of you on the receiving end, since Twitter limits each "tweet" to 140 characters.

I ascended the tower stairs at 11:48 and set myself up to start the 2009 Big Sit. Coats, headlamps, checklist, pens, gloves, my iPod, and miscellaneous other items went up the last set of stairs. The night air was cool and damp—but still, which would make hearing nighttime flight calls of migrants easier. The tower deck and rails were wet with dew, so I spread out a towel to keep my gear dry.

At the stroke of midnight I sent our this tweet:
Good luck and good birding to all Big Sit circles around the world! First bird here in Whipple: Swainson's thrush!

The thrush, and at least a dozen of his friends were flying overhead, uttering the flight call that sounds just like a spring peeper. Within minutes I had great horned and barred owl calling in the nearby woods. The half moon rose in the East, blood-red then tangerine then pale-butter in color as it climbed into the inky night.

My next tweet reflected my frustration at the other sounds of the night:
Heard: E. screech owl, gray catbird, wood thrush, Chevy Cavalier sans muffler, coonhound, 12-gauge shotgun, unidentified sparrow.

At 12:25:
There go the coyotes! Sounds like two packs. Eerie! Falling star tally: 3. Last new bird: Savannah sparrow.

By 1:15 am, things had quieted down, so I went back downstairs for a few hours' sleep. From past experience I assumed that the best time for additional nighttime birding would be in the two hours before dawn, when nocturnal migrants would be flying at lower altitude, prior to landing after dawn for foraging and rest. I set my alarm for 5 am and settled in for a bit of rest myself.

I made it back to the tower at 5:30, a bit bleary-eyed, but excited. Coffee was brewing and I had the whole Big Sit stretching out in front of me. It was still almost completely dark. Other Big Sit circles around the U.S. sent out tweets and text messages, comparing notes. We'd be in touch throughout the day, which was very cool.

By the time I heard the crunching gravel of the first fellow sitter to arrive at Indigo Hill, the list stood at 7 species. The early arrival was Jim McCormac, who'd driven down from Columbus, Ohio. Jim is a great birder and his eyes and ears would net us several new birds for the Big Sit list. As good as Jim is at hearing and identifying soft, distant bird noises, he does not have a realistic idea of his own noise making. Jim thought he'd been sneaky—driving up our long, gravel driveway slowly, without headlights. Stopping next to the garage he proceeded to play a recording of a Chuck-wills-widow. Somehow thinking I'd be fooled into believing this prank. Silly man.

6:12 am. First fellow sitter arrives: Jim McC. We are mired temporarily at 8 species. Just added chipping sparrow.

Soon Zick joined us up in the tower, as did house guests Anton and Nina Harfmann. In the hour prior to actual daylight, a heavy fog rolled up from the valley, enclosing us in its wet embrace.

Jim, Zick, Nina, Anton in the fog.

The resident birds soon began to wake up, and the list began to grow. Slowly at first, then in a fast jumble.

6:44 am Indigo Hill Big Sit is now in double figures. Field sparrow and saw-whet owl! Take us up to 12.

The saw-whet was a surprise. We'd never had one on the Big Sit before. But this bird was consistently calling a descending wheeeer from the north woods for a couple of hours just before dawn. We took this as a good omen

Jim and Nina at a slow shutter speed..

The fog dulled the power of the day-bringing sun. For nearly an hour we were bathed in a misty blue light.

Still too early to see much, but plenty to listen to. Photo by Julie Z.

Hearing birds, but straining to spot them in the fog made us wish the sun would hurry higher into the sky.


Only the closest trees were discernible. We wondered if the fog helped us by forcing migrant birds lower, or if it hurt us by hiding flyovers we might otherwise see.




Soon the fog began to clear, and we could see both the trees and the birds zipping in and out of them.


Chet Baker came up to the tower, once it warmed up a bit. From there he could see everyone arriving. He wore his letter sweater for warmth but it also made a nice fashion statement.

8:26 am Red-shouldered hawk and redtail. We now have more birds than birders. Current total 45 species!

More folks arrived with the daylight. Our ridge top came out of the fog by about 9:00 am. People arriving at our farm described pea-soup fog in Marietta and along the highway. We had clear skies and birds to watch. The 2009 Indigo Hill Big Sit was about to hit full stride.

Plum Nice Birding

Today I got a chance to go birding at a world famous spot in Massachusetts: Plum Island. This is the general name referring to the coastal habitats that include Parker River NWR and Joppa Flats, where Massachusetts Audubon has a wonderful new visitors center. My companions on this adventure were several folks from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, led by editor Lisa White.

After visiting the Joppa Flats center, we stopped at an ocean overlook where we got great side-by-side looks at red-throated and common loons. I was sorry I forgot my digiscoping rig.

Scanning the ocean for gannets, scoters, loons.

Plum Island is a migrant and vagrant trap north of Boston. It gets great birds both because of its great habitat and because so many bird watchers cover the dunes, woods, flats, and marshes so thoroughly.
At this spot we had a mess of sparrows, including song, swamp, white-throated, chipping, and Savannah. We missed the salt-march sharp-tailed sparrow, though. Other feathered highlights: hundreds of yellow-rumpeds, a big female merlin, bald eagle, northern harrier, Cooper's hawk, all three scoters, many northern gannets, and about four billion double-crested cormorants.

That's Taryn, Katrina, Lisa, BT3, Theresa, Tim and Kevin (in front).

It was only a little cold and windy. Still we persevered to a total of 60 species, including a notable uncommon yellow-billed cuckoo.

More Preparation to Sit

That's our birding tower in the photo above. And that's me taking a newly assembled feeder tree over to the side yard to augment our feeding station. Well-stocked bird feeders can be a huge asset on a Big Sit (oh, that does not sound very good, let me re-phrase). Well-stocked feeders can make your Big Sit more attractive (better?) to birds.

I give up!

The point I'm making is that I spend a lot of time scattering seed and placing feeders and water features with the specific intent of luring an additional species or two into view so we can count them on The Big Sit (which is this coming Sunday, October 11, 2009).

Last Saturday I got a wild hair and decided to devote the entire day to work around the farm. This was a welcome break from my normal work (at Bird Watcher's Digest) which, though fun, seems never ending. Think about it: You finish the November/December issue and it's time to start working on the January/February issue. I am in my 21st year of BWD issue cycles (and I still enjoy it!).

Back to my Big Sit preparation (H). I started by assembling the aforementioned feeder tree and adding some new feeders to it. These are the feeders that can be seen from the giant studio windows where Julie works.

Then I decided to add an additional feeding station cluster on the deck outside the big kitchen window, a vantage point from which all of us can watch the activity. I found a few new, unused feeders in the garage left from a bird store shopping frenzy last September, at Nature Niche in Berkeley Springs, WV. These went up on a set of feeder hooks I cobbled together from spare parts.

Sunflower seed, peanuts, and a songbird blend.

I still wasn't satisfied. Then I remembered the gray birch tree trunk that broke off a few weeks ago. It would make a perfect snag. So I set about preparing the trunk and digging a hole deep enough to support the snag's weight.


Once the snag was in place, carefully adjusted so no bird poop would drop directly into the bird bath, I went inside for a frosty cold refreshment, and to appreciate the results of my work. It's nice to do a job, see the progress and completion, and know that that's it! It's done!

The new feeders outside the kitchen window. The first brave feathered soul to visit them was a female American goldfinch. Since then we've had cardinals, titmice, Carolina chickadees, white-breasted nuthatch, and downy woodpecker as visitors. I suspect this station will be very popular as the season progresses. And I expect these new augmentations to net us at least one additional species for the Big Sit—maybe a pine siskin or a purple finch!

But I'd settle for any new, unexpected species, like this blue-crowned motmot! That would be sweet!