Hollywood Mallard

Rebecca at Operation Desert Dove needed a photo of a Hollywood Mallard for her recent post so I thought I would throw a couple of photos up here for her.

Odds and Ends

I have been lacking coherent thoughts with anything unrelated to work (some would argue that my thoughts at work are no longer coherent either) so here are a few odds and ends I have been meaning to post about for a while.

The first item is a chance to help out with a small scale conservation effort directed at an endangered grassland bird. Earlier this year Charlie at 10,000 Birds was birding in Kenya and happened to get some good photos of the Endangered and range-restricted Sharpe's Longclaw (a bird that looks remarkably like our familiar Western Meadowlark). He posted his photos to 10,000 Birds and added that if anyone would like to use the photos for conservation of this species, he would be willing to provide them. One thing let to another and Charlie and 10,000 Birds is now trying to raise a small amount of money for conservation work on this species. Below is what Charlie as to say about the project he worked up or you can read more about it here. Please consider donating to this project (I did). I believe it is one of those instances where a little bit of money can go a long way and thanks to Charlie for recognizing the need and organizing this effort.

Sharpe’s Longclaw (Macronyx sharpeii) is an Endangered and highly range-restricted East African endemic species in the Motacillidae (pipits and wagtails) family. As with so many grassland endemics, this attractive bird is threatened by habitat destruction and is in serious trouble. To promote awareness of the plight of the species, and to help raise funds for research and conservation, the popular blog 10000 Birds has set up a project called the “Small African Fellowship for Conservation”. 10,000 Birds aims to raise US2000 (or more!) by a simple - and secure - online fund-raiser system called Chip In. ALL the money raised will go directly towards a one-year fellowship for field surveys and public awareness campaigns on Kenya’s Kinangop Plateau (one of only three sites with viable populations of Sharpe’s Longclaw) conducted by an inspirational local birder called Dominic Kamau Kimani. The entire project and the distribution of funds to Dominic is being coordinated by the National Museums of Kenya.

This really is a worthwhile (and achievable) project to help save a rapidly disappearing species. Chip in, or read more about the project and Dominic at http://10000birds.com/sharpes-longclaw-10000-birds-and-the-small-african-fellowship-for-conservation.htm"

Photo of a Sharpe's Longclaw courtesy of Charlie at 10,000 Birds.

The next item is a chance for you to provide a voice in how one of the largest National Wildlife Refuges in the lower 48 states will be managed. The Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge is currently working on producing it's latest management plan, called a Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP). They are currently soliciting comments on their range of management alternatives and I encourage you to check out information on this plan here. The latest publication on the planning efforts can be found here (PDF, 2.66 mb). The cover has a great photo of a beautiful lady and her young son with a pair of rather large binoculars glued to his eyes and there are a few more photos of a group of birders in the document that may look familiar to some of you. One thing I have learned since working on federal planning and review efforts is the power of good comments so please take time to review the documents and consider sending the refuge your comments on their plan.



Next is a link that I was given by a friend of a friend after a few email exchanges and the revelation that I have a Flatcoated Retriever (Addie is still here and her usual Flatcoat self. I haven't posted about her in a long time but maybe now that bird season is here...) Anyway, the link is for a Flatcoat breeder not that far away from me with similar interests in dogs and birds. I need to get in touch with Andy and Liz but if you would like to see some photos of their gorgeous working Flatcoats check out their website here.

Addie earlier this spring.

And last, but certainly not least, is a photo from the first day of school for my getting taller-by-the-minute oldest son Benton. Plus a photo of Benton and Crean from earlier in the summer just for fun.

Food Meme

Tai Haku at Earth, Wind and Water just posted a meme that I too couldn't resist. It is a list of foods that you cut and paste then bold the ones that you have tried. The original instructions suggested crossing out the ones you would never try but there just wasn't anything on the list I wouldn't consider tasting and some I definitely look forward to trying. Like Tai Haku, I added a few comments in parentheses behind some of the foods.

1. Venison (pronghorn, mule deer, white-tailed deer, caribou, bighorn sheep, elk, moose, bison....all made into many fine dishes. My favorite recipe might be reconciliation chile made from pronghorn. You can find the recipe in Steve Bodio's book On the Edge of the Wild.)
   
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros (I think I know what I might have for breakfast tomorrow!)
   
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile (I marked this one even though technically it was alligator not crocodile)
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp (Dad made great fish cakes from carp when he was still bowhunting for fish)
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi (Made this at home after watching Bend it Like Beckham - the DVD came with a recipe and a great clip of the director making aloo gobi with her mother and aunt).
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, huckleberries.. I miss being able to pick and eat wild berries - one of the drawbacks of living on the prairie. Oh and my grandmother's wild blueberry pie - a favorite memory of late summer trips to Minnesota)
    
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn - otherwise known as head cheese.
    
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava (I won the Men Who Cook contest one year with a recipe perfected by my wife)
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar (even better is number 45 with a very good cigar! Haven't done that for a long time).
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat (not yet but it certainly sounds good.)
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat's milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more (mmm..)
    
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
    
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald's Big Mac Meal (SuperSize Me pretty much ended any lingering desire to do this one again)
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini (Laura's favorite)
    
58. Beer above 8%
    
59. Poutine (a couple months on a French Canadian Icebreaker? - you bet)
    
60. Carob chips (only made me appreciate #90 even more)
    
61. S'mores
62. Sweetbreads (surprisingly mushroom like - got to try this one thanks to Steve and Libby)
    
63. Kaolin (Like Tai Haku I am not sure why this one is on the list. I just know it as a type of clay and I am not real geophagic)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian (been intrigued for years - one of these days I just have to try it)
    
66. Frogs' legs
    
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost or brunost (not sure about this one but probably. The more I say the name the more it sounds familiar. Many of the original homesteaders in this part of MT were Norwegian and lutefisk and lefse are well known foods around here so there is a good chance I have had this cheese before. In fact, there is a small lefse producer, the Lefse Shack, located in Opheim, a small town just north of here on the Canadian border, that makes and distributes lefse throughout the country).
    
75. Roadkill (why not - the pheasant wasn't there when I went to town and there when I came back a short time later. Great meal and the when the rest of the ferret survey crew found out where I got it, I didn't have to share with anyone!)
    
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong (one of my favorite teas - probably has something to do with the same taste buds that cause me to like the smokey, peaty scotches too)
    
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict (my favorite breakfast)
    
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef (would much rather have good Montana grass fed beef anyway)
    
86. Hare (Montana surf and turf - Walleye and Cottontail Rabbit - I know, technically not hare but close enough)
    
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate (Criollo, Carenero, Trinitario, Forestero, ahhh. If you are interested in chocolate check out The New Taste of Chocolate: A Cultural & Natural History of Cacao with Recipes)
    
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano (I was first served mole by a fellow ferret researcher from Mexico. She made some for us one fall and I have loved it since.)
    
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee (sounds like something I will have to try)
    
100. Snake (My research partner Rich Reading and I tried Prairie Rattlesnake one summer to see what the fuss was about. It was about nothing.)
     

I could add a few to this list like giant barnacle or picorocos (at a dockside restaurant in Puerto Montt Chile - it tasted like lobster) and other assorted animals of one type or another. Like Tai Haku, I am not going to tag anyone, but take a shot at the list if you would like.

Bowdoin NWR

Marbled Godwit

After too many days of too much work and not enough time for myself, I was finally able to spend a few hours at Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge just east of Malta, MT. I dropped Benton off at school and had until I needed to pick him up from school to get away.
I have been visiting this refuge for over 3o years. I used to visit a bit more regularly when I was younger. Dad and I would drive the hour long trip at least a few times a year. We often visited the refuge alone but I do remember also spending time there with P.D. Skaar and one time I remember meeting Helen Cruickshank there too.

Yesterday was a wonderful day to be out. The seemingly ever-present prairie winds had diminished for the day and the temperature was in the relatively mild mid-80's range not the 100 plus we had experienced earlier in the week. Despite the nice weather viewing conditions were not the best as most of the places I was finding birds to look at were located south of the access roads so I was looking into the sun much of the time.


Red-necked Phalarope

Red-necked and Wilson Phalaropes were common throughout the refuge.


Stilt Sandpipers


White-faced Ibis


White-faced Ibis


White-faced Ibis


Merlin


Merlin


Olive-sided Flycatcher

Olive-sided Flycatchers are rare migrants from boreal forests to the north. I found two catching insects near the refuge headquarters.


Baird's Sandpiper


Lesser Yellowlegs


Least Sandpiper



This last photo is a dead Red-necked Phalarope. This was one of the shorebird casualties I found. There appears to be an ongoing outbreak of avian botulism at the refuge and I found quite a few dead and dying waterfowl along the south end of the refuge. Green-winged and Blue-winged Teal seemed to be the most common duck species affected but I found at least one representative of all the duck species commonly found on the refuge this time of year dead on the beach during the casual quarter mile survey I conducted. There were a few shorebird carcasses scattered along the beach as well including the phalarope above and Least Sandpiper, Bairds Sandpiper, and a few other unidentified shorebird carcasses. Vultures are apparently immune to the effects of avian botulism and one was found gorging itself along the shoreline.

Avian botulism is a common disease infecting migratory waterfowl and shorebirds throughout the west and is can also be knows as Western Duck Disease or Alkali Sickness. The bacteria Clostridim botulinum produces a toxin that is lethal to birds and induce death through paralysis, hence the other common name - limberneck. These bacteria are commonly present in these environment but outbreaks of bird deaths generally occur when temperatures are high in August and September. Outbreaks are propagated when flies lay their eggs on infected birds. The resulting maggots concentrate the botulism toxins and when other birds feed on the maggots they get infected, causing an exponential growth in bird deaths. Outbreaks generally last until cold weather breaks the chain of infection, but the extent of the outbreak can be lessened by removing the carcasses of the dead birds. I spent a few weeks in the late 1980's at Bowdoin doing just that - picking up waterfowl carcasses during a botulism outbreak. I suspect that budget cuts at the USFWS have limited their ability to mobilize enough personnel to deal with these problems and hopefully cooler weather will interrupt this deadly cycle before it grows too much larger.

August evenings

It is the time of year when there are Mourning Doves all over the place. At least until the first real cold front moves in to push them further south. We found a number of dead nestlings and eggs on the ground after summer storms this year and despite large losses of nests and nestlings they still produce a lot of young while they are here.

Sunflower

Rocky Mountain Beeplant

A few days ago I actually got out of the office for a bit. I checked a couple of reservoirs built specifically for wildlife (many of the reservoirs are built to provide water for cattle). Along the way I found this plant blooming on the shoulder of a remote gravel road. I didn't have my plant ID books with me and had to send a photo to Dad for ID. He identified it as a Rocky Mountain Beeplant (Cleome serrulata). It certainly lived up to its name. In addition to the bees there was a circus of insects on each plant - beetles, flies, butterflies, wasps, and ants. There were probably more species of insects on those beeplants than the total number of bird and mammal species I had seen that day combined.