Every once in a while I see something that makes me nuts and I just feel the need to spout off about it. Yesterday over at the reservoir was one of those days and there were two separate but similar incidents that I witnessed that made my blood boil. I've written in the past about OHV's (Off Highway Vehicles, a group which includes ATV's/4-wheelers and off-road motorcycles/"dirt bikes") and I don't have much love for them - or at least the percentage of users who are irresponsible. Truth be told, I wouldn't mind having a "4-wheeler" for some of my backcountry adventures. I was hanging around the trailer yesterday morning (see below), and would really prefer to get out to the reservoir earlier with Roxy since there are many more families on summer vacation infesting the area. There are some pit toilets near one the spots I take her to swim and that is where I saw the first object of my ire. A woman, presumably the mother, was parked outside the toilets with 2 children - a girl, aged 11 or 12, and a boy about 8 or 9. There were two 4-wheelers, which meant the mother must have been the driver of 1 and one of those kids would have to have been driving the other. Despite the fact there is a helmet law in this state for minors under 18, there was not a helmet in sight. To me this is just the height of stupidity, especially considering that they had to travel a road with blind corners that is also used by cars and trucks.

But it gets worse.

The second incident involved a guy, probably in his early thirties on a dirt bike that I saw just as we were leaving the "swimming hole". This idiot was riding around with his 3 or 4 year old daughter, also sans helmet, straddled across the fuel tank in front of him. The road they were traveling on is used frequently by pick-ups towing cattle trailers that I know for a fact fling rocks along this gravel road and have the chips in my windshield to prove it. We won't even get in to the possibilities of what might happen if he should lose control and her head were to hit the ground just "right". I simply do not understand the mindset that would put children in such a high risk situation and it makes me just a little crazy.

On a more positive note, in the past few days the Northern Flickers, who've been in the area since I moved over in April, have begun frequenting the bird bath. This is the male just before he dropped down for a little refreshment. Don't know where they've been getting water up to now, but it seems like the pattern was similar last summer, too. While I was waiting around for photo ops, the Williamson's Sapsuckers showed up as well, though they are exceedingly shy and very difficult to photograph. In fact, the female stayed on the backside of the dish, drinking from the overflow and only occasionally showing herself.

THEN I SAW THE GRAY FOX KITS!

Sorry for shouting, but I've never seen a Gray Fox before today and these two "babies" were my first. It was around dusk and photos, even if they would have been out where I could get a good views, would have been near impossible. Their "den" is a culvert under one of the park roads, which makes it kind of scary since it is a pretty busy intersection near one of the main viewpoints. They're also near a prairie dog colony though, being mostly nocturnal, the adults are probably preying on other rodents or rabbits. Pretty cool stuff, sure hope some pics are in my future!

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 06:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Thursday & Friday mornings, in between the chatter of flocks of Robins moving around North Campground, I heard some owls. Friday's was easy as it was a faint but familiar "hoot" I had heard many times before: Great Horned Owl. The call I heard Thursday morning was unfamiliar and turned out to be the source of a little frustration. What I heard was a slow "toot" (or "too", I suppose), and the first thing I did was run in and grab my Palm with Handheld Birds installed. I knew from other rangers that Northern Saw Whet Owls were present in the park so that was the first one I pulled up, listened to the recording, and determined that the cadence was too rapid for what I was hearing. I did a quick check of the park checklist and next up was the Northern Pygmy Owl, but it was still wrong. So was Long-eared Owl. Next I went to my computer and checked my Guide to Birds of North America software, still no match for what should be present in the park.

At that point I decided to see what my Sibley guide (the desktop version) had to say about voice and it turned out that Northern Pygmy Owls calls vary regionally. Maybe I should have checked there first or, in hindsight, checked the description with the Handheld Birds software because I would have learned of these differences there also. It does seem odd, however, that in 2 different software programs, they provide recordings of Northern Pygmy Owls from the smallest portion of the species range (southern Arizona). The really odd thing about Handheld Birds is the description:

Primary song is a slow, monotonous series of took notes. "Mountain" form from southeastern Arizona into Mexico gives paired phrases . . .

Seems kind of silly to me that they would include a recording that isn't the "primary" song. The same could be said for the other software which - and this is arguably worse - doesn't even mention the fact that the song is variable. I'm sure it is hard to put every little bit of information one might need and one very good reason I rely on multiple resources. But this issue of voice is kind of critical, I think, and should be clearly pointed out, especially when a field guide, electronic or otherwise, is dealing with a family of birds (owls) that are frequently heard and not seen.

I could rant a little more about it (there are discrepancies between Sibley's "big book" and his western field guide, for example), but won't.

Two days later I still think it is pretty cool that I heard that little owl, even if I didn't see it.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 08:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I made the mistake of going through most of the 171 comments accompanying the article in the Orlando Sentinel I linked to the other day about the pro golfer who killed the Red-shouldered Hawk. The stupid in some of the comments burns (actually, not all the comments are from Floridians, there are a couple of examples from around the country here, too):

"Well The homeless need feeding who told wildlife to take the bird. It was a charity shot. Cook it up!!!!!"

"Maybe I could get him to aim at some of these sandhill cranes that are continually shrieking around my neighborhood."

Naturally, someone (there were a few) from the anti-abortion lobby in Florida had to chime in; while they are entitled to their opinion on the matter of abortion (as long they don't advocate shooting doctors or blowing up clinics), I fail to see the relevancy on this issue - killing this bird was an illegal act, abortion in this country is not:

"It's sad when an animal is killed there are fines, and jail time.Yet innocent Unborn Babies are Killed"

Many, like this one, have trouble with the language and even want to blame the whole affair on the bird (emphasis added):

"Wow! One out of 10. Great shot. I could hit golf balls at a bird for the next 50 years and not hit one. Watch out Tiger, this guy is comming after you. Stupid bird. He really didn't mean to kill it dead. He was most likely trying to hit close enough to scare it off. I bet he never dreamed he would actually hit that bird."

A supreme idiot, this one:

"Good I hate birds. I am going to share this story with my Bird Hating Club this is classic."

There's more lunacy (and a couple of comments from the more rational people) below the fold . . .

Continue reading "The Florida Mind" »

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 08:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

NASA held hearings yesterday as part of an environmental assessment associated with plans for a private launch complex at the Kennedy Space Center. As I understand it, one of the proposed sites would effectively shut down operation of Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Abandoned launch pads abound south of the present shuttle launch complex, so it is hard for me to imagine why they would have to destroy pristine habitat. There were two meetings yesterday and the overwhelming majority of attendees at them voice their opposition to this site proposal, as I would have been had I been there:

"That you would even consider it boggles my mind," Wes Biggs of Orlando told NASA representatives seeking public input at two back-to-back hearings in Titusville City Council chambers. "The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge isn't just another refuge. It's one of the jewels of the federal wildlife system, and it is known worldwide."

(You tell 'em Wes!)

"If NASA builds Site 2, NASA will become my enemy," Biggs said at the afternoon meeting. "Really, that's how I look at it. Just the idea that NASA would consider as a last resort building on Site 2 boggles my mind. I don't know if you've got an understanding what type of firestorm you'll get if you do this."

Besides the fact it is just a great place to go birding, I am especially partial because it is the place where I "discovered" birds back in 1999 and saw my very first wild Bald Eagle shortly after that. I love the space program but, like Mr. Biggs, I would be one very unhappy fellow if this went down. Nor to mention that it would probably kill the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival, one of the largest in the country - I just can't imagine the amount of money it would pull from the local economy. There are times when there's a long parade of cars winding their way along Black Point Wildlife Drive.

Another thing that concerns me is it sounds like this "Site 2" will be in pretty close proximity to the largest remaining concentration of Florida Scrub-jays. Listed as "Threatened" under the Endangered Species Act, this could be a bad thing for them, too. They have been squeezed out of other areas at an alarming rate and, at least with the last governor of the state, nothing much was done to help protect the "Scrubbies".

If I can find a link for written comment, I'll post it here because this is such a monumentally stupid idea.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 08:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday I had to move from where I had been staying for the last 6 months because it was time to shut that campground down for the season. Once I had the trailer in place I it took quite a while to find a hole in the trees to aim my satellite dish so I would have access to the internet. Then when I went to reboot the system once the alignment was complete, the modem crashed. Hard. I am writing from the laundromat where I can link into the hotel's system outside the park. With luck I will have a new modem on Friday - otherwise it will be the first of next week. If you don't see a "Bird Quiz" this weekend you will know why, though I will try to get to one of the 2 sources I know of for access.

The photo was taken yesterday morning at sunrise from Inspiration Point.

One thing I do find a little humorous about having to use other sources for my internet is that, apparently, here in the reddest county in the reddest state of the country, I cannot access DailyKos. It is where I go for political chat and on this system the site does not exist. I can't help but wonder if it is being blocked by the provider. All the more humorous when we note that a just out Zogby Poll has the incumbent pretzelnut at 24% approval - about where Tricky Dick was when he resigned. Ha.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Okay, not really.

We all know it's really a fawn and, though I've been seeing them for the past couple of weeks, this is the first time one has been out in nice light. Every other time they have either been in heavy shadows, overcast ,or on the wrong side of the road to the direction of the light. I say "they" because this is one of a pair of twins that have been hanging around with mom in the same general area.

Soapbox Time: I know that in most (all?) areas of the country people speed on a regular basis - 5 to 10 MPH over the speed limit (or more). Now, it is bad enough that people litter in our protected places (a gripe for another day), but earlier this week I flagged down one NASCAR wannabe and probably saved a deer's life - then tonight waved and yelled at another after I'd just seen this family preparing to cross the park road. The idiot tonight was really flying and barely stopped in time - from my vantage point he looked to be within 10 or 15 feet of hitting the doe. He waved to thank me and I have a feeling he knew what was going to happen if I hadn't let him know (not that I gave a rat's a$$ about him - my concern was for the doe and/or her 2 fawns). The park's already lost one Mule Deer to a speeder this week and I know the L.E.'s are doling out tickets but, with limited resources, there's only so many of them to patrol the whole park (and some are away helping with fires out of the area - which makes things that much tougher). People visiting the park(s) just need to chill out, show nature a little respect for a freeakin' change, and leave their stinking "mad rush lifestyle" back in the big city.

(I'm done now. Enjoy the fawn.)

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 10:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

This morning on my way to "town" to pick up a few things I spotted an animal just off the highway in the ditch. I noted as I drove by that its head was up yet certain that it wouldn't be just lying down in that location. After turning around to get a better look I headed out of the canyon to where there would be a cell signal in order to make some calls and try to locate a wildlife rehabilitator who might be able to help this animal. Sadly, what I found out was that in this state - still hopelessly mired in far too many ways in the 19th century - it is illegal for a rehabber to try to help certain animals.

Reluctantly, I chose the only other real option: contact the State Division of Wildlife Resources who would then send out an officer to "take care" of this creature. Though it brings tears to my eyes, better that than know that this beautiful Red Fox would otherwise lie there, suffering, until the final moment inevitably came.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 01:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Texas Wildlife Refuges Fast-Tracked for Border "Fence" is a diary well worth reading over at DailyKos. This idea is another glaring example of the complete ineptitude of the current administration.

Personally, I agree with one of the commenters in the subsequent discussion: If you want to stop the flow of illegal immigrants into this country you won't accomplish anything with this "fence". The answer (though it is unlikely it would ever get past the corporate controlled politicians - and even if it did the pretend cowboy would just veto it) would be to impose serious jail time (5 years minimum in max security prisons - no "country club" jails - with no possibility of parole) for private business owners or corporate CEO's who hire illegals. Eliminate the market and the problem will go away. Just wild speculation but an added bonus just might be that the annual cost of enforcement could potentially be less than the annual cost of trying to maintain well over a thousand miles of fence.

Posted by Kevin, F.C.D. at 08:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)