Birds Brews and Blither

Another Hedwig

2012-01-30T10:11:00.000-05:00

By now, you have to be aware of the invasion of Snowy Owls that has captured the attention of birders, non-birders,and Harry Potter fans alike. Big, white, and beautiful, they have invaded the Lower 48 in numbers not seen in decades. Suggesting once again a telepathic link between bird and man might exist, my buddy Don found yet another one. Just outside of South Rockwood in extreme northern

An Egyptian Curse? #1166

2012-01-29T21:25:00.002-05:00

It is good to be among the living again. Maybe it was the Curse. It had to be... After successfully painting my kitchen, I shot out to the Oak Cafe for drinks. With a stellar amount of world beers, the choices were numerous. Ta Henket, from Dogfish Head was available The beer is an amazing mix of brewing dedication, story-telling, creativity, and fun. As I understand it, the brewers

Calculating Visitor

2012-01-17T21:15:00.000-05:00

This winter has been a joke so far. What little snow we had is now gone. Temps have been in the high 40s and even 50+ range a few times since mid-December. I swear I am waiting for someone to fire up a lawn mower or leaf blower. Despite the lack of winter, some birds simply are going to do what they do. When their brain says "Migrate!", off they go, even if the destination is feeling more like

They Said What?

2012-01-10T21:54:00.000-05:00

Ya gotta get the news. You have to do it. Read it. Listen to it. Watch it. It is a must. Sadly, every once in a while, their word choice is just awful. Take what happened a few days ago... On a local expressway, a fellow faked a flat tire. It apparently gave him a chance to pull over and get out. With cars zipping by at light speed, he walked into the lane and went prone. Multiple cars

Ahhhhh....Spring Birding

2012-01-07T12:00:00.001-05:00

Ahhhh, birding in April. Er, I mean January. The photo is of my car's dashboard. We WILL pay for this. - Correcting a post using BlogPress from my iPhone

A Board And The Stone

2012-01-03T20:37:00.000-05:00

A boy-king lived a long time ago, In a stone, he found a sword, to smite his foe.Not just any sword, mind you, it had a grand name,It was called, "Excalibur", it was legend and fame. Arthur was the boy, but the king of the land,Ruled it he did, with the sword in his hand.A gentle ruler he was, but strong, when needed,His friend was Merlin, whose advice he heeded. For years he ruled, with a sword

#1,151 - Enormously Good

2012-01-02T19:19:00.001-05:00

After getting a bit stir crazy these past few days, I thought I would head on our for a drink. Fort Street Brewery released three beers on New Years Eve. I had two of them but I wanted to get the third one before it was gone. By my thinking, it should have been gone in seconds... Barrelnornous (#1,151) is the Beernormous aged in a bourbon barrel. If you like that sort of thing, you will

Watch Yourself, Mr. Illitch

2011-12-30T20:35:00.000-05:00

The jolly fat man was good to me a few days ago. (That sounds awful. Lets try again.) Christmas gifts, were, as usual, very generous. Lots of good stuff, including cook books, a field guide to houses, a wonderful antique coffee mill, and what is clearly the most awesome gift ever - the gift card. It absolutely blows me away when I read that 41 billion (with a "B") dollars in gifts cards

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-24T18:00:00.001-05:00

Yup, This Sums It Up!

2011-12-21T20:46:00.000-05:00

So I am here doing some final paperwork for the Anchor Bay Christmas Bird Count. I wrote about it here. It is such a long day. Fun. But, horribly long. A few moments ago, I ran a Google search for "Anchor Bay Christmas Count." I was just interested in whatever I could find. A few images popped up that might summarize the event. This is how I feel at the beginning of the day if I don't get

Rollin'......And Not

2011-12-19T15:15:00.000-05:00

Christmas. It can be so much to so many. Bad family photos. Superstitions. Eating too much. Drinking too much. Horrible wastes of electricity. I could keep going. I wont lie. The gift exchange is nice. I like getting gifts. I know what I want for Christmas this year. More on that later. For some, like me, the Holidays are also a time to do some birding. Maybe I have mentioned it

Arctic Gnomes

2011-12-09T10:36:00.000-05:00

Texas can be quite a hot place. This past summer, they had a horrible stretch of days with temperatures over 100 degrees. I have visited there in the past and I am telling you the place can be brutal. The combination of high temps and high humidity will suck the life right out of you. Yesterday, I sent a picture to my buddy Neal. He lives in Texas. Here it is. I told him there was a Snowy Owl

Good 'Guini

2011-12-07T21:02:00.000-05:00

A few nights ago, I opted to try a new Jamie Oliver recipe. I'm not sure what got into me, but I whipped up his Crab Risotto with Lemon, Herbs, and Fennel. Not bad, to be honest. I think the Pea & Shrimp and Asparagus & Pesto Risottos are much better, but whatever; I tried it. One little problem. The recipe called for a "small bunch of parsley". That can't happen in a grocery store. There is

Black-tailed Gull: Take 2

2011-11-28T19:22:00.000-05:00

Last week Wednesday was a not-so-fun day. With reports of a Black-tailed Gull in Ashtabula, Ohio, we opted to head off in the dark. Trust me. It was totally worth it. The Black-tailed Gull is normally found in East Asia. Japan, Korea and the like. That makes it a Code 4 rarity for those of you familiar with the codes established by the American Birding Association. One was only three

The West Comes East: A Michigan Pacific Loon

2011-11-26T20:05:00.000-05:00

After a rather frustrating few days (unsuccessful bird chases to Ohio, flat tires on a holiday weekend, and other frustrations (including the knowledge that the dregs of society will pepperspray and shoot each other at a Wal-Mart on Black Friday), today was just plain pleasant. Good birds have a way of making that happen. True to its name, the Pacific Loon shouldn't really be here in Michigan.

Peregrinations And Speed

2011-11-15T20:02:00.000-05:00

Dictionary.com defines "peregrination" as a course of travel or journey. While the definition is not very detailed, I think it is fair to say that many would conjure up the idea that the journey might be a long one. Sure, one could argue that a half-mile walk to the party store would be, by definition, a peregrination, but it just doesn't sound right. Compare that with a walk to a party store

Nice Day

2011-11-11T09:10:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday, I had the chance to spend some time in the park. A few highlights... On the drive in, I found this Red-tailed Hawk perched in a tree. He just sat there without a care in the world. They are usually quite jumpy. Looking at his left leg, you can see the band. Believe it or not, part of it is readable in my original photo! I contacted one of the local banders and it turns out

Happiness

2011-11-05T21:24:00.001-04:00

I'm at a wedding in Detroit. Ghettoblaster in bottles. Motor City Brewing Works. Happiness. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Birds And Physics

2011-10-25T13:51:00.000-04:00

October has been a bit of a drag. Sure, we have had nice days, but many have been far from nice. Relentless clouds. Rain. Pretty depressing days in general, if you ask me. So, it was with quite a bit of joy I was able to spend my Saturday at the Hawkwatch. All of the sloppy weather had basically backed up the bird traffic. For the better part of the day, birds were on the go. Not just a few,

Life And Limb For Flood Victims - #1,106

2011-10-20T08:51:00.000-04:00

A few days, a friend of mine and I had a chance to split a killer beer. It wasn't until I checked my "This Day in History" iPhone app a day or two later I realized how odd of the whole situation was. Life and Limb (# 1,106) is an oddity in the beer world so far as I can tell. Rarely, at best, will two brewers get together for the common goal of brewing something awesome. In my limited

#1105 - A Train Wreck? Hardly!

2011-10-11T21:45:00.000-04:00

In the modern lexicon, "train wreck" has come to be known as a disaster. I could go on and on on this one... The economy. A train wreck. The oil spill in the Gulf. A train wreck. Rick Perry as President. A train wreck. (I have a crystal ball. Trust me on this one.) Ever wonder about the origins of the name? With trains being huge and somewhat fast, the 'ole F=MA equation holds true, for sure

One Fair Photo

2011-10-09T08:35:00.000-04:00

So I had a memory card in my camera that needed to be checked. A few days at the Detroit River Hawkwatch usually means a few pictures, right? With luck, I can secure a good one, right? Well...uh...wrong. Dozens of photos were taken. Most are somewhere between junk and trash. Bad light. Soft focus at best. Poor position on the bird (a head turned the wrong way, for example). All my whining

It Can't Be Just Me

2011-10-05T11:06:00.001-04:00

Am I the only one who thinks this is funny? I thought we had an obesity epidemic!I am currently at Taco Bell getting lunch. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Tashmoo - Part 2

2011-10-03T21:18:00.000-04:00

Detroit is getting exciting! The Tigers are doing well! Hell, the Lions are, too! Who woulda thought that, eh? But, of course, we have our troubles. We all know it. Unemployment. A stagnant economy. Forclosure rates. I could on. What can we offer that might offset some of that bad? Beer. While "Tashmoo" might mean "meeting place" for some or be a sidewheel steamboat to others, it is

Tashmoo

2011-10-02T19:00:00.001-04:00

Live at Tashmoo! I'll babble later!- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

My Phoebe

2011-09-26T20:53:00.001-04:00

Walks on the Trapper's Run Nature Trail at Lake Erie Metropark can be very relaxing. Strolling the one-mile loop dozens of times during spring and fall migrations, with binoculars and a camera in hand, can always turn up the unexpected. As you might suspect, you can also turn up the expected. Take this fellow, for example. An Eastern Phoebe (PHEE-bee) seems to greet me every time I'm

Now We're Talkin'

2011-09-22T19:10:00.000-04:00

Perhaps you saw this picture a few days back... If you are anything like me, you noticed a few things. First, the White House buys patio furniture at the grocery store. Cripe, I have patio furniture almost exactly like that and I DONT have a multi-trillion dollar budget! Two, "Commander in Chief" can also mean "Casual in Chief." (Fine by me. Seriously.). Third, and most important, two

More Proof

2011-09-22T07:48:00.000-04:00

Yup, it is true. Vampires exist. We knew it a couple of years ago. More evidence has come to light. Cage must be a good vampire. If not, Old Abe would have lopped his head off.

Black Lotus Brewing Company - Part 2

2011-09-10T21:21:00.000-04:00

Time to babble now. If you saw my post from yesterday, you knew I was at the Black Lotus Brewing Company. For no particular reason, it seemed like a neat place to go. I had not been there and, as always, have an interest in new beer. As you may have read, I was concerned about the beer quality vs. traffic. Long drives for crappy beer would be, I suspect, about as much fun as pruning shears

Black Lotus Brewing Company

2011-09-09T18:47:00.001-04:00

I'm on site at the Black Lotus Brewing Company in Clawson. Hopefully, the beer is better than the traffic getting here!I'll babble later...- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Pacific Northwest Day 14 - One More And The Wrap-Up

2011-08-30T08:22:00.000-04:00