Sandy Jarred Something Loose

As I mentioned in my blog post from 31 October big storms like Sandy are usually followed by a short period of extreme birding excitement. In fact, many unusual and out of place birds showed up all cross the northeast part of North America in the week following the storm. Perhaps the most unusual of these was a Pterodroma petrel found under a mailbox in the middle of Pennsylvania. It was taken to a animal rehab center but died shortly there after. Pterodroma petrels are notoriously difficult to identify in the field and apparently they are difficult to identify in the hand as there is still some question as to which species of petrel this is.

Unfortunately I was unable to get out and see any of the storm related rarities. Instead, I lived vicariously through the email posting of others. One strange thing that I noticed after Sandy was concerning, not a seabird, but Golden Eagles. Most of the hawk migration monitoring sites post their daily totals to the local list servers. After the storm most all of them experienced daily and seasonal all time record high numbers of Golden Eagles.

Below are the numbers from the monitoring sites in the mountains. The coastal and piedmont sites didn’t see an unusual change in Golden Eagle numbers. I have often wondered about the winter distribution of Golden Eagles on the east coast. We have a fair number of them pass through in migration, as shown below. However south of here, observations are few and far between. My guess is that they stay in the mountains spread out over a large geographic area where there are fewer birders in winter. Whatever they do in winter the numbers below are exciting to see!

A Weekend at the Big Lick

This past weekend my friend from art school Gerry Bannan and his wife Betsy hosted a show of my paintings in their studio gallery in Roanoke, Virginia called BanG Studio. I have often heard that if you want to get anywhere in the art world (or any world for that matter) it is all about who you know. Well, let me tell you, if you are going to do anything concerning art in Roanoke you need to know Gerry and Betsy! Not only did I get the royal treatment and the honor of being the first painter to show at their new space, but I also got to witness power tool drag racing and a speech by former President Bill Clinton! The number one thing that I learned form the weekend is that Roanoke doesn’t suck! I’ll let you figure out why it was once called the Big Lick.

As I said Gerry and I go way back to undergraduates at the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia and we also traveled around Europe together in the summer of 1987. When I was at Tyler, I often wondered how I ended up in a school with so many fantastically talented people, and Gerry was surely one of them. See his works here. After we graduated from Tyler, Gerry went off to graduate school at the Pratt College of Art in NYC where he met Betsy, who is also a fantastically talented painter. See her works here. They married and eventually ended up in Roanoke, where Betsy’s family is from and have been there ever since. They recently moved their studio out of their house and into a formal studio space in downtown Roanoke.

This space is nothing but awesome! They use about half of it as a studio work space and the rest as a place to show art. I am honored to be the first painter to show work in their new space. This is especially good for me as I haven’t shown work in a gallery setting in about 25 years! Having over 30 of your paintings all in a row allows you to see and think about your work in ways that you otherwise can’t. The opening was great and well attended. I especially liked that mom and dad were able to come up and see it. It is nice to show them that my art school education is still working for me. I also want to thank all of Gerry and Betsy’s friends that came out to see it and made me fell like I was at home. What a wonderful art community you have there! I look forward to more visits in the future. Checkout photos of BanG Studio and the opening here.

The next day, Saturday, was one busy day. It started off with breakfast at Ernie’s with mom and dad in downtown Roanoke. We had planned to eat at Thelma’s Chicken and Waffles but they didn’t open until 9 AM. This was not good as we were hungry at 8 AM. Ernie’s it is. I’ll have to give Ernie’s the thumbs down as the grits that we ordered were instant grits. I could tell they were instant just by looking at them. It is a cardinal sin to serve instant grits south of the Mason Dixon Line! After breakfast we walked around the open market place and then mom and dad got on the road. I headed back to the Bannan house where we then promptly head off to the Power Tool Drag racing.

I must admit I was a little skeptical that these racers would race, or move forward in any significant way. On Thursday night we visited the workshop of Rob Humphrey the organizer and a racer in the event. Also there working away was Matt Ames, the race announcer and also a racer in the event. They tinkered away for a while and when they tested the Philosophy Inc. entry it didn’t move so well. I am happy to say that by race time all the bugs had been worked out of the system because these things moved like bullets! Check out the photos of the race here. 

After the racing Betsy, Gerry and I were feeling hungry. I made the point that it was after 9 AM and Thelma’s should be open. Gerry and Betsy mentioned that it was about the only place in Roanoke that they had never eaten. Decision made and we were off. Now, I have eaten lots of strange meals in my day but this was as simple as this; hashed potatoes with bacon (I’m also pretty sure the potatoes were cooked in all of the bacon fat), a big huge piece of fried chicken, and a Belgian waffle. Nothing green or remotely healthy, just southern comfort food at it’s best. It rocked!

It was my original plan to head back to West Chester at about this time, however, Betsy and Gerry somehow convinced former President Bill Clinton to come speak just blocks away from their house. How could I leave after all the trouble they went through to get him to come and speak to me? I couldn’t, so I stayed.

No matter what you think of Bill Clinton, he is one of the most iconic figures of our time and one of the greatest orators ever. And just incase any of you are unaware, I am a dyed to the polar fleece, union loving, latte sipping, progressive, liberal democrat. Needless to say I was very excited to see President Clinton. The event started at 7 PM and we got in line at 4, and it was worth it! He was as a dynamic speaker in person as he is on TV and we enjoyed every minute of it. Check out the photos of the event here.

Woo. What a weekend. Sunday I got up early and had a very uneventful drive back to West Chester.

Thanks Betsy and Gerry, and the rest of the Roanoke crowd for a wonderful weekend!

Russell

Post Sandy, Doing Dandy

This is just a quick update to let everyone know that everyone at 302 N Franklin St in West Chester PA is doing just fine. We were very lucky in that it seems that we missed the worst parts of Sandy. The places here that took the brunt of the strom were low lying  and coastal areas. We hardly had a flicker with our electricity nor did we get any basement leaks. 

This was a good test for the basement. When I arrived here last summer the basment walls only seemed to slow down the water. I spent the first couple of months here doing a lot of work trying to find the leaks an dry out the area. I am happy to say that I could not find a single drop of water down there at all. 

Now, don't get me wrong, Sandy was not a good thing for many reasons which I need not go into now. But I can tell you that as a birder and ornithologist, events like this are very exciting. Why? Well, birds have wings and storms like Sandy will send animals with wings to far off places that you would never see them otherwise. 

Over the last two days ther has been an absolutely unprecedented number of oceanic and coastal bird throughout Pennsylvania. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Pennsylvania's geography, we have neither coast nor ocean here. Large numbers of Leach's Storm-Petrels, Jeagers, Terns, Oyster-catchers and other such birds have been seen throughout the state. Unfortunately for me, I have not been able to get out and see anything myself, but it has been terribly exciting to see the reports of others. The best report that I have seen so far is of a Red-billed Tropicbird (photo above salvaged from the web) which found alive in southern New Jersey. It is only the second record for the state ever! 

Stay dry!

Russell

The Last Game of 2012!

Well, the last game of the Philadelphia Union's 2012 season was yesterday. They played the New York (New Jersey) Red Bulls (pink cows). We had high hopes that the Union would put a hurting on them, but in the end, they put a hurting on us: Union 0, Pink Cows 3. 

This season was hard for the Union fans, the team went through many painful changes and their performance showed. That said, Steve and I had a blast going to the games and yelling obscenities at the opposing team (and sometimes at the home team). We missed the third member of our party, Enrico, who only made it to one game this year. He was faced with a big decision, soccer or art. He chose art. Who could have guessed that his studio/gallery Parallel Art Space would be such a success! Congratulations Rico! (Just for the record, Steve and I have devised a alternative soccer plan for 2013 that he will not be able to back out of).

I wanted to thank Mary for allowing me to slip away a couple times a month to see the games. Also, thanks to Rico for allowing us to bring some friends to the game every so often in his place. Steve and I are already looking forward to the 2013 season. We have moved our regular seats from the supporters section to a corner section. Mainly because in the supporters section you must stand for the entire game. Steve and I both turned 50 this year and we have discovered that sitting down is a good thing! 

See some photos of the last game here. 

Doop, doop, doop, do, do, doop, doop, doop! 2013!

Russell

The Stroud Preserve, 26 October 2012

Today’s walk was by for the calmest of the season. I’m thinking it is the calm before the storm and it seemed as if the birds know what is coming our way. I did manage to see the Cackling Goose again. It (I’m assuming it was the same bird as yesterday) was in with about 300 Canada Geese that lifted up from one of the fields in the Preserve around 9:30 AM. They are very easy to pick out of a crowd being half the size of everyone else. Here is the rundown on the day.

Stat time: 8:45
End time: 10:45
Temp: 57
Wind: none
Skies: overcast
Species Total:
 
Double-crested Cormorant – 6, overhead
Great Blue Heron – 2
Turkey Vulture – 2
Canada Goose – approx. 300
Cackling Goose – 1
Wood Duck – 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk – 2
Red-tailed Hawk – 2
Herring Gull – 1, Bird of the Day! Only my second for the preserve
Rock Dove – 3
Mourning Dove – approx. 30
Belted Kingfisher – 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 2
Downy Woodpecker – 5
Blue Jay – approx. 40
American Crow – approx. 50
Tree Swallow – approx. 15, just when you think they are gone, they show up again
Carolina Chickadee – approx. 10
Tufted Titmouse – approx. 20
White-breasted Nuthatch – 5
Carolina Wren –  7
Golden-crowned Kinglet – 2, heard only
Ruby-crowned Kinglet – approx. 15
Eastern Bluebird – approx. 60, I really can’t figure out if these are migrating or just milling around. Either way, there are a lot of them.
American Robin – approx. 300, flying to the southwest
European Starling – approx. 20
Yellow-rumped Warbler – approx. 25
Palm Warbler – 2
Song Sparrow – approx. 50
Lincoln's Sparrow – 1
Swamp Sparrow – approx. 10
White-throated Sparrow – approx. 150
White-crowned Sparrow – 2
Dark-eyed Junco – approx. 10
Northern Cardinal – approx. 25
Red-winged Blackbird – approx. 75
Purple Finch – approx. 15
House Finch – approx. 40
American Goldfinch – approx. 40

The Stroud Preserve, 25 October 2012

Today was a good day as I added three new species to the preserve list! The Preserve list is now 161 and my personal list is 141. Green-winged Teal, Cackling Goose, and Black-capped Chickadee. The teal, eight in all, were amongst the first birds I saw when I arrived as they were sitting down stream from the bridge over the Brandywine. They were still there as I left. The chickadee was at the old farm pond. I have suspected that there were probably a few mixed in with the Carolina Chickadees, but wasn’t really sure until today when one was singing and calling. That removed all doubt. The bird of the day however was the Cackling Goose that flew in over the preserve with about 45 other Canada Geese. These are considered rare on the east coast of North America and are pretty easy to identify, especially if they are with Canada Geese as the Cacklers are about half their size.

Here is a complete rundown of the day’s observations. Notable species in bold.

Stat time: 8:45

End time: 11:15

Temp: 57

Wind: none

Skies: overcast

Species Total: 45
 
Double-crested Cormorant – A flock of about 200 flew over around 10:30. By far the largest flock I have seen here.
Great Blue Heron – 1, observed from a distance of about 25’ were it caught and consumed a shrew.
Turkey Vulture – approx. 25
Canada Goose – approx. 100
Cackling Goose – 1, Bird of the Day! New species for the preserve.
Wood Duck – 2
Green-winged Teal – 8 on the Brandywine. New species for the preserve.
Bald Eagle – 1, immature
Sharp-shinned Hawk – 1
Cooper's Hawk – 1
Red-tailed Hawk – 3
Rock Dove – 4
Mourning Dove – approx. 50
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 5
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 1, heard only
Downy Woodpecker – 5
Hairy Woodpecker – 2
Northern Flicker – 1
Blue-headed Vireo – 1, at bridge over stream from old farm pond. Same location as other observations.
Blue Jay – approx. 40
American Crow – approx. 30
Carolina Chickadee – approx. 15
Black-capped Chickadee – 1, new species for the preserve.
Tufted Titmouse – approx. 20
White-breasted Nuthatch – approx. 10
Carolina Wren – 7
Golden-crowned Kinglet – approx. 20
Ruby-crowned Kinglet – approx. 15
Eastern Bluebird – approx. 50
American Robin – approx. 250
Northern Mockingbird – 4
European Starling – approx. 100
Yellow-rumped Warbler – approx. 40
Palm Warbler – 1
Eastern Towhee –  approx. 10
Field Sparrow – 4
Song Sparrow – approx. 40
Swamp Sparrow – approx. 10
White-throated Sparrow – approx. 100
White-crowned Sparrow – 1
Northern Cardinal – approx. 30
Red-winged Blackbird – approx. 40
Purple Finch – approx.30
House Finch – approx. 75
American Goldfinch – approx.30

William's New Smile

Today was a big day. First off all three kids had an orthodontist appointments in succession this morning. The only one of the three who was really excited to be there was William, and it was all because his braces were coming off! Emily was there just to have hers tightened and Paddy was there to get sized up.

On the day that the braces come off, they give the kids a big back of candy that they were not allowed to have while they were wearing them. William got home from school and immediately ran over to the bag and started munching. A few minutes later he came over holding out his hand in it was a small white lump that looked like it was covered in blood.

“What’s that?” I asked. He points to his mouth and opens it. There’s blood everywhere. I said “Is that your tooth!” He nods his head yes. “William! We just went through all those braces and you break off your tooth with in the first 8 hours of having them off!” I look at it and think that it kind of looks like a molar baby tooth. I called the orthodontist and asked. They said “oh yeah, he still has his baby teeth back there. Woo. That was a relief!

William’s smile looks great. Paddy’s, however, is going to need some attention. He has a real issue as one of his front incisors is coming in behind his lower incisor. As I told Dr. Burkland, I’m not dentist, but that just doesn’t seem right. Dr. Burkland told me that I had great instincts for dentistry.

Check out other photos of our day in orthodontics here.

Russell