oct 17
Hmmm, look familiar? This is another drawing from Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge. It is an American Bittern, and it resides in the collection of a certain blog commenter… this drawing is ink on paper, and 22 x 30.”
Should you find getting up at 4:30 to catch a 5:30 train to catch a 6:50 bus and riding out to the ostensible ends of the earth for the purpose of walking around in less-than-balmy breezes while staring at small, arguably similar brown birds for four and a half hours to be a pleasant experience, than you are among fine company here. Any sane person would find any one of the above activities a bit more pleasant than, say, a dentist’s appointment.
My bird list from today:
Location: Fort Tilden, Rockaway Penninsula, NY
Observation date: 10/17/08
Notes: w/ Starr Saphir - my new birding buddy and guru
Number of species: 54
Brant (multitudes)
Canada Goose (many)
American Black Duck (1)
Common Loon
Double-crested Cormorant
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk
NORTHERN GOSHAWK (1)
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer (HO)
Sanderling (distant, silvery flock of 30-50)
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull (American)
Great Black-backed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee (1)
Brown Creeper (HO)
Carolina Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
American Pipit (HO)
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Palm Warbler (Yellow)
Common Yellowthroat
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
EASTERN MEADOWLARK (1)
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
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That bittern reminds me of something…something important….I can’t quite put my finger on it (as I am upstairs). And to let you know, it is still THE CENTER of attention. I was just showing it to my older former boss at WAM, Jean Pond.
Nice list BTW, but note that there has been an outfall of SCOTERS of several species on inland ponds and reservoirs today. Typically when this happens, and it often does in mid-October-November, the big flocks of Black Scoters (lesser numbers of White-wings and Surfs) only stay a day. Scoters migrate at night and apparently see the moon/starlight reflected off the water from on high and put down. This is why sometimes loons and grebes are found in the middle of wet roads. All of this is to say, Catherine, that if you get a chance, hit some big ponds and reservoirs this weekend. OH: Red-necked Grebes popped up in inland ponds too. We will likely go to either Quabbin or Wachuset Reservoirs tomorrow. We have a class trip to WESTPORT Sunday. See Sheila’s blog for some snaps from this past weekend’s trip to same.
Mark,who has been birding in 25 degrees below zero F for hours and it was still better than 95% of dental visits. Nice save on the camera BTW. Apparently eating roach infested street food does not affect your reflexes. Good to know. Jess: I know that species of frog well and coveted one for a pet all through HS.
Fort Tilden… Haven’t walked around there, but have been nearby at Jacob Riis Park… very nice… takes forever to get to even in a car…
But, wow, fantastic drawing.
ONLY IN PROVIDENCE (#3255): I had my Mass Audubon IBA class out birding in the southern section of the Blackstone National Corridor this blustry and cold day. Birding was tough. In SWAN POINT CEMETERY, I took them to see H.P.LOVECRAFT;S grave, which is always worth a stop at this time of the year because of all the weird leavings that decorate it: rubber monsters; odd tokens, strange notes; goth ephemera. We were not disappointed, but we bacame alarmed and not a little freaked out when we discovered that right in front of the grave, touching it, was a large puddle of what can only be called opalescent putrifying flesh sunk into the ground. I am not kidding you. It stank to high heaven too and looked like Cthulhu’s afterberth or Howard’s flesh that had been crawling from the grave and then the sun rose. Did someone sacrifice an animal here? It looked more like maybe innards. Maybe batrachian. It was freakin’ weird, even for me, but a classic way to end one of my trips. Sheila took some photos, but she is very uncertain about posting them on her blog ‘cuz of the huge “yuck” factor.
Mark, yes HE “was Providence”.
EVERYBODY: Glad you liked the frog. Someday (speaking of rails and so on) I’d love for any of you who are interested to post some statistics about the (approximate) number of birds that you could identify on sight. Grist for the mill — I’ll put a birder in a story someday. Maybe the next one, for which I at some point over the next few months need to find a good source for as many English-language interpretations of bird calls (saying that a bird says “Charlie is my darling” instead of “chee-zobba-doop-doop” or “a low chirring followed by an upward trill ending in a glottal”) as possible.
MARK: Do you really own the bittern drawing? If so, the only person in the world I envy as much as you is the possessor of this:
http://www.joshsimpson.com/site/index.php?page=corning
Mark, I’m going to be away next weekend, but you should say hello the next time you’re in Providence. I can’t offer the picked-before-the-rain green teas I used to spend ten percent of my salary on, but I make a mean cup of coffee. I’d rather not put my number up on the Web, but Cathy can give it to you. Be great to meet you.
Jesse:
English language interpretations of bird songs: I love various mnemonic phrases that really are supposed to duplicate the rythum and inflection of certain calls but (for me) end up just being a weird reflection on the person who created them. My favorite is:
“If I see you I will seize you and squeeze you till you squirt!”
Warbling Vireo
Mark, whipping three bears
Catherine:
K? As in “Kilometers” or “Thousands”? You drove 100,000 miles???
Mark
The car has just turned over 100,000 miles.. I’m not far behind.
Warbling Vireo is my favorite for English translation - it just sounds sick and wrong, but it really is perfect for that song!
Whipping three bears or Quick three beers?
Re: yuck factor - I lost a lot of twitter followers when I posted yuck-based material. Just FYI.
Whip 3 Bears vs Quick! Three Beers: depends on whether you have bestial S&M tendencies or are a plain old alchoholic.
Here’s is one for you to guess (DON’T GOOGLE IT):
“Plow now–plow now–plant it–drop it–cover it up–cover it up–good boy–three cheers!”
Mark
Catherine: Congrats on the Dickcissel. Great city bird.
I was going through some old homework quizzes for my bird classes and came across a test in which students guess who authored which descriptive bird quote. Below is one of my favorite and (in a weird way) most evocative descriptions of a species. QUESTION: what species and who wrote it?
““The feeding of this bird at night with the large glow-worm (“toke-tipa” of the natives) is a very interesting sight. This annelid, which often attains a length of twelve and sometimes twenty inches, with a proportionate thickness, emits at night a bright phosphoric light. The mucous matter which adheres to its body appears to be charged with phosphorus; and on being disturbed or irritated the whole surface of the worm is illuminated with a bright green light; sufficiently strong to render adjacent objects distinctly visible. Seizing one of these large worms in its long mandibles, the ____________ proceeds to kill it by striking it rapidly on the ground or against some hard object. During this operation the bird may be clearly seen under the phosphoric light; and the slime which attaches itself to the bill and head renders these parts highly phosphorescent, so that, even after the luminous body itself has been swallowed, the actions of the bird are still visible.”
English translation of a birdsong:
“You-all get the heck outta HERE!”
= Bell’s Vireo
(with thanks to Gil Eckrich of Ft. Hood & Rich Kostecke, TNC)
Handclaps. I’ve stumbled onto/lucked into/locked onto two discs of songs taken from R. Crumb’s legendary collection of 78s from the earliest days of recorded music. Sevillanas No. 2, sung by la Nina de los Peines. Flamenco. I know nothing, but I think the gypsy influence is strong.
Quiet guitar strumming behind her, she gives you the theme: la-dee-dum-BUM, la-dee-dum-BA-dum.
Again, almost the same, the vowels so plangent it could be Portugese: la-dee-dum-BUM, la-dee-dum-BA-AH-day.
(Handclaps. Men, the musicians behind her, or the audience, or the waiters, saying mmm, ha-ha, hey!)
She sings it again, but this time, just when you think the line is going to end, she embroiders diversions, sea-gull capers, soaring and diving, hitting more notes, refusing to resolve it. And again: up and up and further out, you’re begging her to bring it home, to return to what you expected, la-dee-dum-BA-dum, and just when you think she couldn’t have any breath left, she does. And then she does it again. In something less than two minutes.
The only thing like it I can think of is a thirteen-syllable melisma on “amen” in an Elizabethan lyric. Unbelievable.
I was in Seville once, and they were some of the saddest days of my life, but I remember what the people said: “The best things in life are to be a man, to be a man in Seville, and to be a man in Seville when the girls are passing by.”
I just have to share this: Twitter followers/followees EcoTravelTV have posted a funny video on French gesture-making: SFW, good for light-hearted midday amusement:
EcoTravelGuide.tv
Jesse: the Seville quote is great. I wish I were a man in Seville watching girls. Or, maybe not being a man. Or watching girls, even. But I would like to be in Seville.
re: Quick Three Beers: I’m probably more of a plain ole alcoholic.
Also, check out Betty’s photo of a Coachwhip about to molt:
http://birdspot.tumblr.com/
Catherine et alia:
1. BELL’S VIREO: glad I have it on my MA list.
2. BIRD CALL = BROWN THRASHER. I don’t get it, don’t see it, maybe you or someone can enlighten me, but it does go back to Thoreau era which give sit some cred. BIRD DESCRIPTION = BROWN KIWI, my most wanted bird in der woild. After Gremlin passes (cat with serious heart condition), NZ will be my next trip AFTER Madeira. Right now, we don’t dare wander far.
3. Jesse: never went to Seville, I have my hair done locally. I did spend a lot of time in Catalonia, which rocked. Andorra was hilarious and I do have an Andorran bird guide and list. Never have seen Flamenco, but did see Flamingos in Spain (true) and spent far too much time watching tango in Argentina. It’s about the most artful crotch grinding I have ever seen.
4. Reading a great book by an economist about the art market. Art Speigelman tomorrow: I have to be the absolute last person to talk with him.
5. QUESTION FOR YOU ALL: if you could interview anyone LIVING in arts/history/science, who would it be and why?
Mark, zarzuela ubber alles
Want to write and answer Mark’s question, but today there’s no time. All I’ve got is this quick smile:
http://tinyurl.com/6da2c2
thx Jesse - I tweeted it for lolcat followers..
Catherine: RE: Twitter post: SEE film of: CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF. Best usage, ever.
M
(referring to using “mendacious” in a sentence - C)
CATHY: So, what did you end up buying at the Apple store?
I’m out of town until Wednesday night, so I may not be e-mailing much (then again, there are computers everywhere at this conference), but I think the short answer for Mark is that Patrick Leigh Fermor breaks the tie with Ursula K. Le Guin and Lisa Gerrard because of his advanced years. Not only a hero of mine but someone from another age.
I’m still thinking of an answer… well, actually, I’ve been spending my weekend playing with my new itouch…
HALLOWEEN APPROACHETH: POST 1: THE PLEASURES OF DRESS-UP AND ASSUMING IDENTITIES:
http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&resnum=0&q=pizzicato+five&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title#q=pizzicato%20five%20la%20regle%20du%20jeu&hl=en&emb=0Jesse: PLF: absolutely brilliant choice, though I have no idea how he would do by phone: he’s 95+ AND he JUST switched to a typewriter instead of using longhand.
Catherine: a woman left to her own devices.
Mark
Wait: that link is wrong: this should be the link:
Mark, P-5 fan
Re: dressing up: one of the best things during a visit to MOMA yesterday was a 1975 video by THE RESIDENTS.
Also, heard two French boys singing “Laisse Tomber Les Filles” in Soho the other day…
Barely two minutes to type…
CATHY: Great choice with the Touch. That’s where I’m headed next.
MARK: You know PLF! Awesome. One of my heroes. I probably would’ve gone on about him longer, but I (mistakenly, I guess) thought I’d talked about him here before. I wrote to him less than a year ago and he stunned me by writing back.
CATHY AGAIN: Laisse Tomber? You’re kidding! The whole universe is starting to re-order itself according to the content of this blog. Two guys, though — doesn’t match the original. If I heard a woman singing LTLF on the street, I’d probably propose.
New term and idea that I really love: Pecha Kucha, which involves sharing 20 PowerPoint slides on as many topics as you want and talking about each for 20 seconds. I thrive on freewheeling stuff like that.
TOP 3 WORDS TO SAY ALOUD OBSESSIVELY
1) Jukka-Pekka, popular Finnish first name
2) Serafina Pekkala, a Philip Pullman character
3) Pecha Kucha
Jesse: Gutta percha?
My oral surgeon goes on AT LENGTH, while I am having a root canal, about his patented gun that squirts gutta percha right where it belongs. This with my mouth filled with enough paraphenalia to keep Rube Goldberg happy.
Catherine: I have lots of Residents stories. They were “top o’ the pops” at the old ‘ICN, so typically we, en masse, went to see them, INCLUDING a time when someone STOLE one of their eyeballs and it was replaced by a darkened huge skull. DISKIMO: classic ‘ICN bathroom break song: in our old, old studios the bathroom was outside the offices and DOWN THE HALL. It was DISKIMO or WILD WOMEN WITH STEAK KNIVES (Diamanda). And don’t leave your keys on the turntable!!!!
INTERESTING JUXTAPOSITION:
Google “I-Touch”: the vid intro to the gadget is right next to the vid for the DiVinyls “I touch Myself”.
Deeper meanings.
Mark, disturbing, yes, but eerily true
HALLOWEEN APPROACHETH: POST 2: Dressing up can be therapeutic:
THE FASCINATION WITH LOOKING AT THE TINY: see: dwarves in Renaissance courts; miniature bibles; ships in bottles; flea circuses, and Antony van Leeuwenhoek.
Mark (actual size)
MARK: Gutta percha is a perfect fit. I don’t know much about the Residents, but I used to play their video game, BAD DAY ON THE MIDWAY. Impossible, but fun. Whenever you met fellow midway weirdoes (the tree-woman, the fire-eater, the psychokiller) you could click on their eyes and actually become them, complete with relevant neuroses. Your last link isn’t working, Mark, but I’m looking forward to it. I don’t have any particular interest in tiny stuff, but I have a beautiful little hardcover book about the size of my thumbnail.
Record cold here in Orlando. Actually overheard: “Mo-om, I can’t wait to get back on the bus where it’s wa-arm, can you?” At Disney!
“A MUSEUM CAN EITHER BE MODERN OR IT CAN BE A MUSEUM, BUT IT CANNOT BE BOTH”: Gertrude Stein on behalf of Sham-Wow!
HALLOWEEN APPROACHETH: POST 3: THE CREEPY, EERIE, DISTURBING, FREAKY OR EXISTENTIALLY: “Frygt og Bæven” OR “Sygdommen til Døden” OR “Nausee”. Halloween isn’t all clowns and hobos, though THAT would be creepy too.
Mark, wishing he was zygodactylic.
I just came across the following sage advice in THE $12 MILLION STUFFED SHARK: THE CURIOUS ECONOMICS OF CONTEMPORARY ART (Don Thompson): He quotes NY dealer David Nash: “Paintings with cows never do well. Never.”
Mark: Dogs/Buddha-nature: “MU!”
Mark: Paintings with cows would require quite large canvases, wouldn’t they? And don’t most painters use a brush of some sort? A cow would be rather unwieldy….
(Perhaps only the tip of its tail?)
HALLOWEEN APPROACHETH: POST 4: COSTUME AS MANIFEST DESTINY (and a nice career):
Mark, “An intellectual carrot? The mind boggles!”
BETTY: Of the 5 common domestic mammals (goat, sheep, pig, horse, cow) I would venture it is ONLY the cow you can paint with. I mean with a suitably trained “wrangler/assistant”, you could easily back the cow to canvas, dip the tail in the paint, release the bin ‘o flies and VOILA, before you can exclaim LA VACHE QUI PEINDRE, you will have a bovine version of a Hirst spin painting and a warm glass of calcium-rich moo-juice too. Try that with a GOAT!!! Or Hirst for that matter.
It is amazing how many HUMAN artists have risen to the challenge mentioned above:
http://www.artistrising.com/shop/tags/cattle.htm
But do they SELL?
Catherine: You have my deepest, sincerest empathetic feelings if you are having PC trouble. It always makes me feel so helpless and stupid. Hang in there!
Mark
Re: Bowie, Massive Attack, and Dresden Dolls (oh, especially Dresden Dolls): there was an article today on programming music/audio for private spaces. If I were wealthy, I would keep Mark on 24/7 sound programmer/DJ (with copious birding time, nat).
The NYT article: http://tinyurl.com/5ht7q9
re: computer troubles: after nine hours of solid struggling with blog spam/hacking, setting up a recalcitrant new wireless network, and then reconfiguring one of my email addresses, I am reminded of something an old college friend used to misstate with complete sincerity:
“I’m beginning to see the end of the light at the tunnel.”
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! : END GAME: sometimes all that is left is your costume because you are GONE, GONE, GONE.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m229hY3Onak
NB: Just in case you don’t know Nash: This is actually how Nash looks. I got to know him when I was head of WICN’s “alt rock” department. He is Canadian. On stage he is totally alone and his face bandaged a la the “Invisible Man” like you see him here. He plays an electric violin and electric mandolin and a bank of cobbled together old style synths. He alternates between wild covers of 60s American songs like SMOKE ON THE WATER (retooled as “Dopes on the Water”) and IN A GADDA DA VIDA. with positively stunning instrumentals and originals. His version of the “Count Five”s 1965’s PSYCHOTIC REACTION features dramatic readings of the letters John Hinckley Jr. wrote to Jodie Foster. I saw a show where he started OFF by showing the entire film of UN CHIEN ANDALOU (1929) by Bunuel and Dali, playing his original soundtrack live. He was a HUGE favorite of the WICN staff. His identity is unknown to most, and I will say that the Wikipedia entry is (as usual) wrong wrong wrong. Sheila and I have met him several times sans bandages and he was part of a classic ’60s band. I am sworn to secrecy. I am not kidding. He is still playing as I write this and I am trying to have him on my show. He makes Laurie Anderson look like a prude.
Happy Halloween!!!!!.
Mark , preparing for the 400+ trick and treaters that descend on his house.
re: Life on Mars: Mars Phoenix is at its end-game, and shutoff is either imminent or has already happened. Thanks for all the Twitter updates, little guy.
Article: http://tinyurl.com/67fsw5
So so so tired but Friday and Halloween and happy. Thoughts maybe not related to anything:
MALWARE: My machine at work is currently suffering from some really evil code that (1) has permanently changed my desktop pattern to a “Warning! Spyware detected on your computer!” message that I can’t change and (2) hijacks Google, so every time I click a link that Google serves up, I get sent to a spam site. So mean and rotten.
ANIMAL ART: The graduate dorm I lived in while in Toronto (really a pretty amazing place that always made me think of an underground bunker crossed with a Zen garden) had an inner courtyard with a water garden. One day, they plunked down this horrendous sculpture that traced the outline of a moose in rusted iron, right in the middle of the water. Another one appeared elsewhere on campus a bit later. Maybe harmless, but it just struck me as dumbed-down, lowest-common-denominator “yup, you’re in Canada now, and we’ve got some big mammals!” stuff.
BANH MI: There’s a place in Providence that makes them now. And they’re great!
What’s that last emoticon, 2/3 of a spine?
CATHY’S ARTICLE: What a job to have! Great mix tapes are thaumaturgic things. I’ve still got a bunch of them from high school: slimlined, curve-edged cases, recognizably 90’s, artwork always a cut-out National Geographic image, titled imaginatively.
The last one I made (CD, not tape) was for my brother-in-law, last year: LOVECRAFT CITY ANTHEMS as the title, and on the cover the OK Soda image (see the second can from the left in the row of four, not the solitary can)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ok_Soda
that’s exactly what I looked like when OK Soda debuted in 1994.
look at the emoticons on my Twitter site:
http://twitter.com/birdspot
Check Sheila’s blog for Lovecraft’s grave:
http://gremlinthecat.blogspot.com/
Just back from Quabbin: MUST. GET. READY. FOR. THRONGS.
It IS sad about MARS/PHOENIX, but what a cool place to turn off, as was posted. Wish I could do that!
Mark, from Ibizia to the north of Broads.
THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM:
Did I also mention there is a HUGE block party (chili, burgers, dogs, cocoa, cider the woiks) just down 3 houses from us JUST before the kids start, and they feed the kids all night too!! (folks who own Polar Soda)
ONE LAST LINK FOR THE NIGHT:
What is cool about this is I learned a new hand gesture. Tengu are mischievous Japanese mountain goblins, part man/part bird and masters of martial arts. The hand gesture refers to their beak, or when they become semi-human, their very long nose.
Mark, “You’re so very TENGU, you probably think this song is about you.”
FANTASTIC! This has been way too much fun.
And, finally, I will do an actual post tomorrow…
POLL REPORT: Our polls opened at 7AM. We got there at 6:15AM, and there were already a few people there. By the time it opened, there were well over 100++ and the line was out of control. No one directing it, where to park et. (we are in a Unitarian Church next to a private school). We use PAPER ballots and markers. You fill in/COLOR IN a lozenge-shaped loop. It’s as old school as you can possibly get, so please tell all those complaining about how old their voting machines are to SUCK IT IN. The advantage is: no chads, dimples et; no chance for a machine malfunction. Perfect paper trail. It’s just you and a pen and a ballot, channeling your inner child to stay within the lines. The staff was completely unprepared for the number of people descending on them which was considerable as we left. Other folks at the station COULDN’T vote yet as the traffic and crowds prevented them from getting near the polling place. BUT things seem to have settled down as the morning progressed. Spent most of my morning talking Russian icons.
Mark
Ours were the old steel-clad, red-lever variety. I thought I was on Lost. It was very Dharma Initiative.
My experience is identical to Mark’s but for Episcopal instead of Unitarian and slightly smaller turnout. Cathy’s reminds me of what I knew in Providence as a kid. Twenty-four years ago, when I was in third grade, my parents and I made an election booth out of a refrigerator box and some paint and donated it to Mrs. Neubauer, my teacher. First was a mock-election where we voted for Lila Sapinsley and Ferdinand St. Germain and the other RI notables: good lesson in the workings of the electoral process. Then we held some sort of an election of classroom officers: good lesson in the workings of popularity contests.
Mark, could you hold forth on icons at some point? I don’t have any religious interest, but I’ve always wanted to know more about iconography, especially the Greek Orthodox variant.
The randomizer just brought up (impossibly) a Dead Can Dance song I had on my hard drive but hadn’t listened to yet:
“A wide blue sky is very near
Soon, soon, soon, soon, soon”
Utter, certain knowledge that I’m being sung to and consoled about the past eight years.
We can do this.
Jesse:
This may seem hard to believe (and it was for me) but the LARGEST AND MOST SIGNIFICANT collection of Russian Icons outside of Russia is in the tiny old factory town of CLINTON, MA (about 20 minutes east of Worcester). I just interviewed the Curator, Kent dur Russell. The story is that the owner of Nypro (Clinton native) had been collecting for decades, and recently founded this state of the art musuem, which already has a show from Russia that will appear no where else in the world. It’s an amazing world class museum in the middle of Clinton (a place I drive through often while birding). They are totally endowed for life and don’t have to worry about fundraising. I have hence learned a LOT about icons, too much to put down here, but most telling is that the artists who create icons have for hundreds of years been called WRITERS, not ARTISTS, because the icon tells the story of the orthodox spiritual relationship of the faithful to the divine. It is also deeply weird and wild to have a museum with objects that are considered deeply sacred to the point of miraculous.
here’s a link to the musuem:
http://www.museumofrussianicons.org/
CATHERINE: best chigger remedy? Nail polish remover? What? God, chiggers drive me nuts!
Mark