Your Banana Killed A Bird

(click below before you begin to read this post... it's the Robin's song)

It's spring and there's nothing better than sitting on my front stoop at sunset and listening with my daughter for Robins to sing.

"There's one!" she'll say as we hear the bird's lilting tune.

But the experience has also become bittersweet.

Because as we listen to them sing, I know that songbird populations are decreasing rapidly, and I wonder if she'll have the same opportunity to enjoy a quiet sunset with her child someday, just listening for a song in the breeze.

Don't ever get so cynical to think you can't make a difference. Every purchase you make can influence events and the decisions you make are the power you wield. Wield it well.

Maybe tomorrow when you have that cup of coffee and banana, this will give you something to think about.

And when you hear the birds singing this spring, take an extra listen.

Weekend Open Thread

I'll be waking at 4am to go owling tomorrow for my local CBC, so I'm posting this Open Thread a little early.


Eastern screech-owl, red-morph. Photo courtesy of the Raptor Trust, New Jersey

Now is a great time of year to go owling. Next time there's a full moon, check with your local Audubon Society chapter and see if they're planning an owling trip. It's something that you won't forget.

Fall Migration

I haven't thrown a bird post up in awhile, so here goes!

The thing is, I used to bird pre-market. I'd wake and get down to the beach and study the mud flats between 6:30 and 7:30 looking for shorebirds. Right now, if I went down there I'd probably see hundreds of Tree Swallows. They gather at the barrier beaches with a nervous anticipation getting ready for their impossibly long migration flights. It's really a beautiful scene.

Surfing has taken over my morning time slot (temporarily?) and so I haven't been out birding. However, I've long read a great blog about birding and I'll share the link here in case any of you are interested.

The guy lives in Brooklyn. Since many of you are probably located around the city, it is a great blog for you to follow since these bird observations are happening right on your doorstep. The name of the blog is Citybirder. I'm also updating my blogroll with it's inclusion.

Children & Pesticides

I'm a bird guy, I love birds and so I hate pesticides because they directly or indirectly kill many birds.

But I'm also a Dad and I really love my daughter. I can't believe how many people in my neighborhood still spray their lawns weekly to kill off such minor nuisances as canker worms or gypsy moth caterpillars. As a Dad, it really pisses me off because me and my family have no choice but to breathe the stuff in.

The laws simply aren't strong enough to protect neighbors from pesticide use.

It amazes me because while they are saving their trees, they are directly causing harm to their families. "But the worms may kill the trees." Whatever! The pesticides are slowly poisoning your family!

Certain types of pesticides are now being directly tied to the amazing increase in autism (1 in every 160 children being born have autism now... that's crazy!) and in Parkinson's disease.

Read more about it here. Think before you spray.

Birds In Decline

Dinosaurs hate watching things go extinct.

Check this list of birds that are in decline. Can you imagine waking up and not hearing birds? It would depress the hell out of me.

Anyway, before you remove that tree or spray that pesticide, please think twice.

141

That's the number of bird species I saw yesterday while taking part in a local "faunathon" to raise money for an environmental advocacy group.

We were out in the field by 3am searching for noctunal birds (like Chuck's Will-Widow and Barn Owl) and ended in a field at 8pm watching American Woodcocks display.

It was an amazing day. However, I'm completely shot today and I think I may be forced to trade very lightly.