Monthly Archives: August 2012

Social and curious sun-lovers

by Amy Posted on 29 August 2012

Black Vulture

Well, hello there! Long time no blog. We lost our beloved cat Arby on Monday after about eight weeks of slowly deteriorating health. It’s been a tough summer. I’m so ready for fall! Bring on September — which happens to start off with International Vulture Awareness Day on the 1st.

I find vultures endearing for several reasons. These pictures of Black Vultures, taken at Hontoon Island State Park back in June, show three of those reasons.

They are social.

Black Vultures

They are curious.

Black Vultures

They love the sun.

Black Vultures

How are you celebrating IVAD this year? Arthur and I will visit Disney’s Animal Kingdom (the park celebrates on the 5th), as we did last year. If you can’t get enough of vultures, you’ll probably like what we’ve done over at Birdorable – check out the new Birdorable vulture landing page.

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Posted in Behavior, Birdorable, Festivals & Events | 1 Comment

Saturday: Back to School @ Audubon

by Amy Posted on 15 August 2012

A fun program is coming up this weekend at the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey in Maitland. The Back to School Bash is happening this Saturday, August 18th.

Besides activities like Bird Olympics and Conservation Station, there will be a Meet & Greet area where, if all goes to plan, I will be introducing this gorgeous fellow to kids of all ages.


Newton, ACBOP’s education male American Kestrel

This event is free, so come on out to Maitland this Saturday from 10am to 12pm and learn about Florida’s magnificent birds!

The Audubon Center for Birds of Prey, located in Maitland, Florida, treats up to 700 birds of prey each year. You can follow them on Facebook here. This post reflects my own experiences as a volunteer; any errors regarding the Center and their patients or permanent residents are purely my own. Further, any opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ACBOP.

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How to Be a Better Birder

by Amy Posted on 13 August 2012

Lovitch writes in a familiar tone which makes even the most technical topics easy to follow and understand. Each chapter discusses skills that build upon previous concepts, tying everything neatly together in the end. […] I enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it to other birders who want to go further in this hobby.

Read my 4.5/5 review of Derek Lovitch’s new book here: How to Be a Better Birder.

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Posted in Aside, Books, Magnificent Frigatebird | Leave a comment

Like a Wet Rat

by Amy Posted on 2 August 2012

When one doesn’t have the chance to go birding as much as one would like, it is nice when the birds come to one.

During a heavy thunderstorm last week, Arthur called me to the window to watch a Red-shouldered Hawk feeding on something in our back yard. The bird was eating while standing completely exposed in the middle of the grass. It was soaked. After a few bites, the hawk grabbed hold of its meal, a rat, and flew to a post to finish the job.

Red-shouldered Hawk

Red-shouldered Hawk
OM NOM NOM

With not much remaining to the prey but fur and tail, the meal was finished and the Red-shouldered Hawk retreated to a nearby citrus tree.

Red-shouldered Hawk

I thought it might wait out the storm under the relative shelter of the tree, so I was surprised when the hawk took off and flew to an exposed perch, a metal bird feeder pole. There it remained for just a moment before taking off once again and leaving our yard.

Red-shouldered Hawk

Here’s a short video to give you an idea of the rate of rainfall during this encounter.

That’s a pretty hearty hawk, huh? Or perhaps just a hungry one.

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Posted in Behavior, Florida, Yard Birds | Leave a comment

Awaiting BGE

by Amy Posted on 1 August 2012

Back in January 2011 I wondered if The Year of the Bird Movie was upon us. Besides the highly-anticipated release of The Big Year, a handful of other bird-related titles were in the works.

One such film was A Birder’s Guide to Everything, which at the time was listed as having a 2011 release date on IMDb. The independent film had a different time table in real life, and recently began shooting on location in Westchester County, New York.

Prior to filming, the director, Rob Meyer, posted this promotional video.

A Birder’s Guide to Everything Sizzle from Rob Meyer on Vimeo.

This video “sizzle,” along with the added positive early word from Kenn Kaufman, makes me very excited for this movie! Today IMDb indicates a January 2013 release date, but we should probably take that with a grain of salt. Meanwhile filmmakers are updating the BGE official blog and BGE Facebook page on a regular basis.

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Posted in Movie | Leave a comment