Tape Recordings and Other Stuff.

Well it's not the best photo of a Red-headed Woodpecker but it's something new to share on this blog.

WOW lots of news to share and some thoughts and YES I am going to spill some thoughts out before I leave for Manitoba/Churchill this Thursday. I will be back on June 17th, just in time to resume my Little League coaching responsibilities at 7:00pm Sunday night.

Well the big news this week was the unbelievable "fall out" on Park Point last Thursday. Twenty four species of warblers were seen and I saw 18 species that day. Most if not all the activity was concentrated between the bath house/playground and the entry stone wall of Park Point. I missed seeing a Yellow-billed Cuckoo and a Orchard Oriole (county bird) but hey I made up for it by seeing a Common Moorhen at Indian Pt. campground! I had to go to work and missed most of the mid-day to afternoon sightings.

So that was Thursday and then Yellow-breasted Chats were reported at Black Dog Lake and all hell broke loose over birding ethics. There are some birders who are oppose of using tape recorders when it came to these YB Chats and then there are some who use the tape recorder/IPod/CD player to get the YB Chats out into view. I agree with Deanne Endrizzi ( old girlfriend and proud to say she is still a dear friend of mind) that 3 birders each using a tape recorder is pretty dumb to lure out a YB Chat. All you need is one birder playing a tape recorder and I am sure the YB Chat would of popped out for them.

Then some how some birders began to post that those who are using tape recorders are nothing but BIRD LISTERS! Yes those people who are worse than card carrying Al Queda members! You might of met those bird listers who walk around and boast how high their lists is and act so high and mighty! They brag about all the places they birded, all the birds they added to their lists, all the gas they spent to view all these birds and ect.. Than you have the other extreme group of birders who read "Birder's Digest" or "Birds and Bloom" You know these birders and their bird vests with patches all over them, the LL Beem clothing gear (khaki and green color combinations), Binocular harness wrapped around thier bodies, and those goofy birding hats! These folks are not into lists but are into the hobby because of the vibe they get in viewing birds. Its sort of a spiritual thing. These are the birding types that probably bought all the Stan Tiekala's books or saw all the Stokes TV shows. You know the type -- the weenies of the birding world!

Also someone said on the MOU listserv that "birders should not wear white shirts in the field because it will scare the birds off" Hmm I own probably 5-6 mock turtle neck long sleeve shirts and I found a ton of birds in the field while wearing them. So much for that theory -- myth busted!

The truth to the matter of using bird recordings is that there is NOT one DAMN piece of scientific evidence that using tape recorders/Ipod or anything to play bird songs in the field is doing any harm to the birds before or during the nesting period!! The only problem humans cause to birds before or during nesting period is approaching and disturbing the bird's nest over and over and scaring the adults off the nest but the main problem birds face is habitat loss -- NOT bird recordings! I ask anyone who comes to this blog and reads this -- To find one scientific article/paper published in some journal that proves using a tape recorder on birds is harmful to them!

Bird ethics are just requests from bird organizations or people who ask birders to follow these guidelines. One of the items on bird ethics is tape recording birds. Most ethics allow taping but they say not to tape sensitive species (rare, endangered or threaten). They probably say something to effect on not using them to much or not all at during the nesting period. During my search for evidence I read a article on Robert Ridgley who is a top birder in the tropics and while using a tape recorder he heard something new calling from the bush. He then recorded the calls and played them back and he found a new species of antbird!

Yes we need guidelines to keep birders of all types (listers and weenies) on the same page and yes I broken some of the guidelines. In fact I know a lot of birders who broke the guidelines to view a bird. Shit happens and were all human and prone in making bad decisions.

I am done with this topic and talking about weenies, what with these Stan Tiekala books? You can find these little books in some gas stations of all places! I do not understand why people bought them but they did. I know one thing if I ever give a talk to a group of children in school (youth mentorship talk) and they ask what kind of bird guide should I buy? Well the answer is easy "Peterson Bird Guide". A couple of weeks ago I was guiding some birders from Spain & Italy and one of the guys had the Stanley T. book "Birds of Minnesota" and I took the little book and I told him to get his money back and buy the Sibley or National Geo. He laughed and he agreed the book is lame and was sorry he bought it. So I took the book and tossed it in the back of my SUV. You see I cannot PR a book that is not good nor informative. I can't wait to see these Minnesota Audubon regional bird guide books. I am going to have a field day on them.

I am heading to Winnipeg and I am excited about the trip. I hope to get photos of Baird's Sparrow, Pacific Loons and breeding shorebirds. Hell I hope to get a lot of good photos and I am also bringing my Sony digitial video recorder. When I get back I'll try to put them in this blog. I been pouring over maps (Kim Eckert gave me a lot of information) and making maps. So I am ready to go.

Well that is it for now all you weenies!