Pink Slugfest

The mother of a friend of mine is a breast cancer survivor. She is one of those uncommon stories where there is no family history. She got it anyway as cancer does not discriminate or care much about family stuff. A few days back, she got a letter inviting her to the Tiger's game today at Comerica Park. The plan was to get a bunch of survivors, proudly in pink, on the field before the game to increase awareness of breast cancer and the tremendous efforts of the Susan G. Komen Cancer Foundation. Four tickets were included with the letter and I got to go.

Pink ribbons were absolutely everywhere. There were ribbons tied to railings and ribbons painted on the field. Some electric signs were in pink, too. A promo on the big screen even talked about MLB games being played with pink bats! I'm surprised the beer wasn't pink!

Our seats were pretty good. We were only about 30 feet from the right field foul pole. Attendance was a bit light and the shade was a bit cool, so moving up a few rows into the sun was a good idea. On a day like today (never above 60 degrees), that warm sun can make all the difference.

The day was never hot, and at first, the Tigers were not either! It wasn't even the end of the first inning and the Tigers were down 5 runs to nothing! With all the moans and groans in the crowd, one could tell this had the potential to be a awful game, right? Well, word must have spread around town a bit about my vast sports knowledge. As you may recall, I bailed out both the Red Wings and Pistons earlier this year. Sure enough, my phone rang. My caller ID showed it was coming from the Tiger's dugout. It was Jim Leyland, Manager of the Tigers.

"Yeah! Jim! What's up?"
"Got a minute? Armando Galarraga is getting killed here. It's only the first inning. I was hoping I could get a few more innings from him. Nobody ever wants to pull a pitcher in the first inning. Whatta ya think?"
"Jim....buddy.....yank him.", I said. "He's done. Everybody knows your bullpen has been struggling and has blown a few games that should have been 'W's. If you keep him in, and the bullpen has its the now almost expected meltdown, you'll never stand a chance in this game. Get him out and hope your hot bats can get this game going again. Granderson and Santiago are rollin'. Let them do their thing. But get that pitcher off the mound or your doomed. "
"Thanks! Any chance you could help..."
"No way. I am enjoying myself here with this beer! You'll be fine!"

Within seconds, he walked to the mound and Galarraga was done. Bats boomin', and the slugfest continued. 8-6 was the score by the end of the 3rd inning. The Tigers held on to win 11-7. This is how baseball should be in my book. If you don't have the pleasure of watching a shutout or a no-hitter, then dammit, I want bats cracking, balls flying and outfielders earning their pay! This 3-game sweep of the Athletics, by the way, totaled 34-8. That is some mighty fine hitting!

The beer, for the record, was pretty good. Really! Somebody in the Tigers organization put their "thinking cap" on and figured out that there is more to beer than Bud Light. They figured out that fair-weather sports fans like myself enjoy real beverages at the ball park and a can of swill is not the answer. So, they figured out a plan that I think is a winner for sure - get the local breweries there! My beer was the Dirty Blonde (reviewed here) from the Atwater Block Brewery. Now maybe the local brewers have been there in the past, but I have never seen them. Now that I know they are there, they will have my business. Forever. Oh, and the prices were the same for the Blonde vs a Bud Light - $8.50 for a 20oz cup. Hmmmmmmm- same price for the same amount. One is pretty good while the other is basically on a direct feed from the Detroit River a few blocks away. Geeee, what should I get?!?! Hand crafted beer or river water?

All in all, a super day it was. Great efforts (on and off the field). Great weather. Great game. Great company.

Did I tell you it was great?

Birds and Brews

With a day off, a birding companion, and nice weather, I shot down to Crane Creek in Ohio again yesterday. 70 species was the total (I wasn't really trying hard) including 24 species of warblers. I even managed a new Ohio bird - a Least Bittern calling along the marsh edge. (Reports of an iPod lashed under the deck with wires running speakers near the bird's apparent location are totally unfounded. ) My Ohio list now stands at 220.

After a long day in the field, what can be better than a pizza and cold beer? The Maumee Bay Brewing Company was the place. The Oliver House pizza, with artichokes, pepperoni, mushrooms, and other goodies, was simply awesome. On top of that, the Ottawa Ale was a delight. 5 out of 5 for sure! Everything was there! A near perfect balance of malt and hops. Caramel tones on the palate. Great color (amber-ish). Excellent body and perfect balance. Perfection, people. Perfection.

While birding, I snapped a few pics. Enjoy.

Prothonotary Warbler

Magnolia Warbler

Cape May Warbler

Swainson's Thrush

Belles versus Drill Sergeants

Yesterday, here in Michigan, the weather was delightful. Unfortunately, I could not make it outside even though it was my day off. Some aches, some serious sniffles, and a general feeling of "Wow, I feel like hell" basically ruined my day. (You can add all the Swine Flu comments. later. I'm sure that wasn't it. I didn't grow a curly tail and I never "oinked".)

I also had today off, but opted to bird locally. Lake Erie Metropark was the place.

Prior to this morning, my park list stood at a solid 244 species. With that many birds on any given piece of property, adding new ones can be tough. It is like trying to increase your bowling average - the higher it is, the harder it is.

So this morning, camera and bins in hand, I casually went off down the trail. A few things here, a few things there. I even managed a photo of this handsome Yellow Warbler singing his guts out(shown at left). A Rose-breasted Grosbeak put on quite a show. Black-and-white Warblers were around, too. Ultimately, it was pretty slow.

Shortly, after taking the photo of the Yellow Warbler, I bumped into David and Kevin. It was obvious they were birding, too, so we stopped and exchanged info. (Birders, by the way, are generally great at the info exchange thing- no secret handshake and gang symbols required. One just needs a pair of binoculars.) We all agreed the morning was a bit slower than expected, but then they mentioned a bird that certainly put a spring into my step...

"We had a Louisiana Waterthrush by the Museum..."

"Are you absolutely sure?", I asked?

Louisiana Waterthrush is not a thrush, it is a warbler. As the name suggests, you would find them in the south. They can be found in Michigan, but knowing they don't breed here in great numbers, getting them in the Park is a challenge. In 14 years of birding Lake Erie Metropark, I have not recorded one, nor has anyone ever reported one to me. I know of only one person who saw one....once.....

Within minutes, the three us had staked out a position at the trailhead. Listening to a distant bird's song is hard when 30 kids on a field trip come trotting past. Besides, the bird sounded like it had moved north a bit, so we opted to head to another location on the trail. The distance was still pretty good, but if all was quiet, we should be able to hear the bird, right? Well, the House Wren 15 feet away never got that memo! It's song is here.

After an anxious minute or so, the House Wren moved on (I refused to take it's picture- perhaps it left because I insulted it) and the distant waterthrush was much closer. Take a minute and listen to the Louisiana Waterthrush vs. the Northern Waterthrush. The opening notes of the Louisiana are much more whistled and the notes downslurred. The Northern just chops right through 'em. That is all the key. Musical downslurs vs. staccato chops. A slower drawl from a southern belle vs. a harsh...I don't know....German drill sergeant? After a few more songs, we left to triple check the song on the CDs in the car. Dead on for a Louisiana. We, by the way, never saw the bird.

If you read this and say "Wow, you have a great ear for hearing that little difference!", I don't. Two things could have happened. A) The bird never sang when I was there. B) It DID sing and I wrote it off as the German.

In either case, all credit goes to Kevin and David. They found it. They told me about it. They deserve the credit. It's that simple. One of them (I don't recall who) mentioned he was home on break from Northern Michigan University. I am happy he mentioned that. When I first saw them, I honestly thought they were high schoolers! Perhaps my now traditional "A hat tip and a beer!" salute could be amended to "A hat tip and rain check!" - after all, I did not card them and I will not insult them with a "A hat tip and a Capri Sun!" Anybody who can pick out the Southern Belle versus the Drill Sergeant deserves a good old fashioned cold one!

With that, my Lake Erie Metropark checklist now stands at 245 species. My Wayne County checklist is now 271 species.

A New Favorite Bird

I don't have a single favorite bird. In many cases, my favorite is simply the one I am looking at. On Saturday, I added a new bird to my very long "favorite list" simply because I saw it, photographed it and it's name contains another favorite past-time of mine...

Like many birders in southeast Michigan, I have been known to leave the state during spring migration. That is not to say that Michigan doesn't have any places worth visiting - it certainly does. But one of the premiere places in the Midwest is only an hour from my home, so taking the short trek there now and then is certainly a worthwhile adventure. So, Saturday morning, I hit the road and was at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area by 7:45 am.

In the span of 6 hours or so, I recorded over 80 species. Among the goodies - Worm-eating Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, and Summer Tanager (thanks Chuck!). Those were among the best birds of the day simply because I had not recorded them in Ohio before. Adding a state bird now and then can be a tough deal, but 3 in a few hours? Not bad! (My Ohio list is now 219, by the way.) 17 total warbler species were observed. Admittedly, I wasn't birding hard. I took some time for photography, too. A few even sat nicely for me, like the Black-throated Green Warbler seen on the left.

But what was the most interesting bird of the day? The one I can't count, because it is not a species - it is parts of two.

First, a quick note on how a birding list may work. You see a species and you record it on your list. Ta-dah! An American Robin, a Red-tailed Hawk, and a Herring Gull would be three checks on the list right? Each is it's own species and therefore has it's own place on the checklist.

Sometimes, however, a bird is not pure. It is a hybrid. The parents are not the same species, but they are similar enough where they can breed, so in some situations, they do. The case in point is the bird on the left. Called a Brewster's Warbler, it is the offspring of a Blue-winged Warbler and a Golden-winged Warbler. If you look at the photo of "my" bird and compare it with the images of the parent birds, you can clearly see where it has marks that combine traits from the two parents. The gold head and wing-bars are from the Golden-winged, while the predominantly white underbody and black stripe from bill to eye are from the Blue-winged. While this photo does not show it, there is a dash of yellow on the breast which tell us that is an "F1" (first) generation. That can be rather important for field identification because the hybrid young can then go back and mate with "pure" adults in subsequent years, bringing on a whole mish-mash of trait combinations.

Ultimately, as Blue-winged Warblers move north into Golden-winged Warbler territories, the interbreeding results in the long-term loss of the Golden-wings. Their genes are lost as the more dominant genes of the Blue-wings take over. Interestingly enough, if you think about, it is not because they aren't breeding, it is because they are breeding. For the Golden-winged Warbler, the simple act of passing on one's genetic information is, in a sense, dooming some populations.

By the way, lets look at that name again: Brewster's Warbler. Brrrreeeeewwwwster's Warbler. Get it?

All this typing has made me thirsty....

White-faced Ibis at Lake Erie Metropark 4/25/09

Well, here it is!

First things first - a hat tip and a beer to Ed Smith for locating the bird!

But, upon closer inspection, Walt Pawloski and I believe this is a non-breeding White-faced Ibis, not a Glossy. I don't have all night here to lay out the details, but a few key things are noticeable in this cropped but unaltered photo:
- legs more or less uniform in color
- red facial skin
- pale white line around the face that goes behind the eye

If this was a Glossy Ibis, the legs would be contrastingly two-toned, the white line would not reach behind the eye, and the facial skin would not be red.

As noted in a earlier email, a White-faced Ibis and Glossy Ibis appeared together at Lake Erie Metropark on April 24th, 1996. Only one day difference...