Happy Thanksgiving to allfrom the entire flock here at Bill of the Bir......
Bird Boxers
Birders need all kinds of gear for their activity. Photo © David Tipling.Bird watching has finally arrived as a viable market segment of society. Birders are consumers but it's only been in the past decade or so that the business world outside of our niche market has begun taking an interest. They have done so by creating products specifically aimed at bird watchers, and some of these products have really taken off. Witness the success of the iBird......
Traditional Welcome Ceremony
The birding tower at Indigo Hill as seen from the western side.When special guests come to our rural farm in southeastern Ohio, we welcome them in the traditional way of our people: we throw rotten pumpkins from the top of our tower. This is the primary reason we mortgaged our childrens' future to build this giant structure: to throw things off it that will go splat and make us laugh.That and because it increases our Big Sit numbers.From left: Kevin......
One Moment: Leaping Blackburnian
On the morning of September 11, 2009, my camera captured a young male Blackburnian warbler launching into flight from our side-yard sycamore tr......
Lack of Photo Ops & Chops
Roseate spoonbill.I've been in a dry spell for taking interesting bird photographs lately. Partly due to being busy with work, life, and other stuff (IS there other stuff?), partly due to the fact that I haven't been anywhere that offered decent photo opportunities, and partly due to my dissatisfaction with my modest skills. What images I have managed to snap have mostly had one problem or another due to "operator error." I know enough to know that......
Liam and the Gorilla
Last Friday, as part of his 10th birthday celebration extravaganza, we took Liam and his sister Phoebe, and two of their Columbus pals, to the Columbus Zoo. Liam really wanted to see the gorillas, though he assured me that the bison was still his favorite animal.So, after checking out several of the other animal exhibits (broken up into continental themes: Asia, Africa, North America, etc) we headed over to the Gorilla House to visit the relatives.......
Penyakit dan Pengobatan Pada Burung
Burung yang sudah terserang penyakit umumnya sangat sulit untuk di sembuhkan. Kalaupun dapat di sembuhkanburung tersebut harus tetap mendapatkan perhatian khusus dalam waktu yang relatif lama. Jika kita menjumpai burung terserang suatu penyakit sebaiknya segera dipisahkan dari burung yang lain yang sehat agar tidak menular. Berikut ini adalah penyakit penyakit yang sering menyerang burung: Gangguan Pernapasan Penyakit pernapasan sering menyerang......
Making More Podcasts
I've been spending some time lately in GarageBand, the nifty recording software that comes with all Mac computers. It's what I usually use to create my podcast episodes for "This Birding Life." Messing around with sound recording software and equipment is something that I really enjoy—in fact I wish I could do it more often. Way back in the early 1980s, before I went to college, I nearly went to an intensive recording workshop program instead. Why?......
Happy Birthday to Liam!
It's been a weekend cavalcade of activities to celebrate Liam's 10th birthday. One of which was a Friday trip to the Columbus Zoo. Here's the birthday boy rasslin' with a tiger sculpture.Today, the actual birthday, we're having his choice of food (cheeseburgers, sweet potato fries, salad with pesto-ranch dressing, and chocolate cake with orange icing). The family is converging here at the farm, so we're bustling around in preparation.Of the many......
Penangkaran Kacer
Pemilihan IndukanMemilih pasangan indukan Kacer perlu pengamatan yang cermat, karena ada beberapa ekor Kacer yang sulit dijodohkan. Untuk Kacer betina sebaiknya dipilih minimal berumur enam bulan, sedangkan yang jantan minimal satu tahun. Untuk Kacer betina sebaiknya dipilih yang agak jinak namun mempunyai sifat fighter yang cukup tinggi. Pemilihan indukan betina yang tidak terlalu jinak ini dimaksudkan agar tidak mengganggu proses pengeraman. Kacer betina yang dipilih juga sebaiknya merupakan hasil penangkaran atau yang pernah dipelihara sejak piyik. Pemilihan jantan tidaklah......
Signs Along the Way
I found this sign outside a fire department compound on the island of Tobago in the West Indies.Too many rules take all the joy out of livi......
Counting the Months Until Warblers
Male blue-winged warbler in our orchard.It's early November here in southeastern Ohio. Daylight Savings Time is no longer in effect, making the days seem shorter than they actually are. The air is cooler—verging on cold. The trees have lost their collective grip on their foliage, leaving dark spiderwebs of their naked branches etching patterns on (mostly) leaden skies.I already miss the warblers.Most years we have a dozen species of eastern wood......
Glimpses of Halloween
Calvin and Hobbes emerged from Indigo Hill this Halloween. Liam is TOTALLY Calvin, and God love Phoebe for indulging her brother and thinking it was a cool idea to team up. We're lucky that our kids mostly get along.First stop on the Halloween cavalcade of fun was the kids' elementary school (though Phoebe now goes to the high school) where we posed for a family photo. I think we'll send this one out with the Christmas letter this year.Next we went......
.jpg)
