nov 13
An odd swallow I photographed at Santa Ana NWR on Nov. 10:
http://birdspot.tumblr.com/
Field notes: this was a small swallow, perched on a line (never flew, may or may not have been favoring one drooping wing). White spot above/behind eye was bilateral. Throat was pale, chest was duskier, belly to vent were pale. Wings and back were dark, wing coverts darker. Primaries projected beyond tail. No throat band. Size and giss were similar to nearby Tree Swallows.
My current best guess is molting juvenile Violet-green Swallow. But then maybe an oddball or hybrid Tree Swallow. Or maybe something out of my range of experience. Meaning I don’t know. Any thoughts? Please post in comments! [Ed. note: after consultation and looking at the shape of the bird, all parties seem to agree it must be a Northern Rough-winged]
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Catherine:
RE: swallow photo: it is a puzzler, BUT I REALLY don’t think it is a hatch year Violet Green: far too much dusky on the underparts. SEE: this photo from Birds of North America on line:
http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/014/galleries/photos/MPR_073102_100029_S/image_popup_view
[ed. note: subscription is needed to BNA to view that link]
The head shape and giss seems wrong. Granted you have those blinkin’ white area above the eyes, but that may just be a function of molt and time of year. To me it looks like a NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW, cuz of overall color; underparts color (imm) and giss and headshape.
Mark
Yeah - I agree on all of the above. I guess the notched tail is the only thing bothering me for that.
N. Rough-wing was all of our (4 observers) first guess, I think. I even wrote it down as such. But then was puzzled by the tail. Its head-shape really looks better for Rough-winged, I agree. It was tough because it was really really windy and the bird was changing shape every time it blew. And it refused to fly.
RE: notched rectrices:
SEE THIS PHOTO: among others.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Northern_rough-winged_swallow_7435.jpg
When the birds perch, weird things can happen to tail shape.
Mark
Also at some time can you post FULL DETAILS of your pelagic. I knew they did Gulf pelagics, but I have never been on one and have NO idea what they are like; what special birds they look for (I know generally what to expect) et?
Mark
Funny - just did an image search and came up with similar.
CATHY: Sichuan is so good. Toronto had the best I’ve ever tasted: jellied bean curd soup loaded with chili oil, raw garlic, dried shrimp, and preserved vegetable pickle. I haven’t been back in four years, and all of a sudden waiting seven months (I’m going for a week around Memorial Day) seems impossible.
Great lep and esp. butterfly shots, Catherine! Like for the birds, LRGV is THE place to rack up a big list for US: lots of Mexican sp. that stray across the broder or even breed there.
Sat: just had BARROW’S GOLDENEYE (drake) at local res. Then the rain. On way out again.
Mark
That OF COURSE should have read “ODE and especially lep”. Barrow’s still present in between downpours. Sheila got some distant shots that are posted on her web.
Mark
Just found a Sandhill Crane, also had Golden Eagle (ad) Black Scoters in several ponds; and the state high INLAND count of Bonaparte’s Gulls.
Roast a bird?????
As in “I don’t wanna say Columba livia is a stupid bird, be he thought Upupa epox was a nestlings word for taking a giant cloacal dump!! Hey! What is this? Malta in migration? But seriously…”
Mark
CATHY: Captain Beefheart!
Maybe supreme in the pantheon of people whose work I’ve tried to like and still don’t.
Hi all - just sayin’ I’m still here, working on some drawings & new posts. Needed a week to recover from the Rio Grande Valley. Certain people of a certain age (you know who you are) seriously whooped my rear on that trip… don’t you need to SLEEP?
RE: CAPTAIN BEEFHEART: I actually saw him in concert at Clark. It was, as you can imagine, chaos. There was no context for real alt music in the early 70s, so he comes on stage with the “Magic Band” begins to play some atonal piece called “Spitball”. The audience, who was expecting a sort of more whacky Mothers, started to scream “BRING OUT THE TROUT MASK REPLICA!!!!” (from his infamous double album). At which point, 10 minutes into the “show” he walks off the stage cuz he cannot continue. The audience, tabbed to the gills and denied the big pay-off, begins to now scream: “MORE! MORE! MORE!” at which point, Don van Vleit in person, comes back alone and sings, accapella mind you, the entire song “More” from the film Mondo Cane (”Ti Guarderò Nel Cuore”). The audience stunned, shuts up for once. The Captain finishes, leaves. C’est tout!! Audience: totally screwed up, acid bummers galore.
It was perfect.
RE: TEXTING OBSERVATIONS:
1. RE; CAPTIN BEEFHEART of course BOTH could have been correct.
2. SOMWHERE there is another person texting observations on the “artsy-type” texting about the Beefheart quoter. Then there is the person(s) texting about observing THAT texter. And so on, and so on…Eventually we will be constantly commenting on every aspect of each others lives while they are observing yet other lives, all the time ad infinitum and sartori will either be achieved or denied. And then, someone will text a comment on that. And that will be Kaspar Hauser looking for Judge Crater.
Had a great conversation with Rosamond Purcell today. Love her, really love her work. [comment edited by request - ed.]
Mark
Mark, is http://wicn.org/podcasts/archive the easiest way to tune in to your interviews? If so, I’ll start listening soon (says Jesse, who neglectfully hasn’t done so yet).
Also love your thoughts on texting: observers being observed. Patricia Storace in DINNER WITH PERSEPHONE (great travel book) describes the Greek gaze as lowering down unto you “a net of unarticulated judgements”. There’s a synesthesia there that exactly matches my own experience of certain things.
Jesse:
Use that link, then click on “Inquiry” to access my shows. They scroll back to about a year’s worth. The newly added show on museums and returning antiquities is really interesting.
BTW: The station is in a bit in turmoil at the mo: Our well-liked DIRECTOR, Brian Barlow has left the station to join (of all places) the Worcester Art Museum as head of Marketing/Development. They made him an offer he couldn’t refuse, so despite my warnings to the contrary, he left. There is a movement afoot I was just made aware of, of drafting ME to at least temporarily/interim head the station. I am squelching that idea at its inception. NO. But changes are in the station’s future and it will be interesting to see what happens.
Mark
Because it’s now the day before Thanksgiving, and because things have been little rough, we must must include another monkey-ish thread video (thx to cuteoverload.com for this one, I’m slow this week):
We must also give thanks for upcoming Serge Gainsbourg biographies:
http://www.avclub.com/content/newswire/serge_gainsbourg_biopic_on_the
Happy Thanksgiving! Avoid brining. Avoid deep-frying. Avoid turducken. (The clue is in the first four letters.) Small bed of onions underneath, thyme and sage and marjoram anywhere and everywhere (when you baste, in the stuffing, under the skin), baste lightly with butter and port or butter and mead. Watch for the timer to pop. Happy Thanksgiving!
Of course, the immediately following thought is that we lack a Jane Birkin bio.
Sigh.
This just resurfaced into my life courtesy of the old WICN Alt Rock Department. It is what will be going through my head ad nauseum tomorrow after lemon meringue pie with the kids. I will feel EXACTLY like Peter Behrens looks in this vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMikAeK8rL0
Jane Birkin: in TopTen folks I would almost cancel a birding trip to interview.
Happy T-Day!!!!
Mark
Catherine:
BTW: WW CROSSBILLS are all over round here. I had 2 in my backyard, which was a first. Are there enough of the right conifers for them to appear in Central Park? In not, where is the closest stand of cone bearing conifers? Be on the lookout/ear-out.
Mark