More birding on Facebook...

Great birding site on Facebook http://tr.im/birds Have a look.

John Allen floating down the Colorado.

"I am just back from a great trip to Arizona and a rafting trip down the Colorado River with some friends, including an experienced birder. Some of the species seen were snowy egrets, great blue herons, mallard, bufflehead, goldeneye and teal ducks, violet green swallows, yellow warblers, a peregrine falcon, and California condors (really really big). It was a fantastic trip and made all the more interesting by my new found pastime (though since I did my best work sitting on a raft with a beer in hand, I think it was still technically “bird watching” as opposed to birding). "

Nancy Vanstone, new neighbors

Here is a picture of the blue jay nest that sits safely on Nancy's back deck; you'll soon have baby b-jays to enjoy... As for the Challenge list Nancy wrote, "This morning I did get the white throated sparrow... a raven... if only a falcon would swoop down over my deck this afternoon!"

Thanks Nancy, good luck with your new neighbors and with the rest of the Challenge.

Sandy Greenburg of Razzmatazz...

"...saw a common loon ... My backyard has yielded lots of American goldfinches and two white throated sparrows."

Lindsay Jones article in the Weekly News

http://www.halifaxnewsnet.ca/index.cfm?sid=249074&sc=608

State of the birds report.. watch it!!

http://www.stateofthebirds.org/

Bird Superstitions

Chained to this desk as I am, I'm not getting to go out looking like the rest of you lucky ducks (yes,that was deliberate. There will be more bad puns, brace yourself)... so my contribution is just some fun side-interest things.

Don't pigeon-hole me, I do other stuff too!

Has anyone seen an albatross? Did you know they carry the souls of dead mariners? You'd think the pelican could carry more. Just saying.

Blackbirds nesting on your house are good luck. Starlings nesting in your vents are a nuisance... trust me, I've got experience with that one.

Bird flying in the house means a death will happen... or bad luck (I suppose death could be considered bad luck)... or a wedding is on the horizon. Depends on whose grandma you listen to.

Learn more fun bird folklore and superstitions:

http://www.shawcreekbirdsupply.com/folklore_superstitions.htm
My favourite on this page: "Valentine’s Day was thought to foretell the occupation of one’s future husband. If the first bird a girl saw were a goldfinch she would marry a wealthy man. A bluebird signified poverty. A black bird foretold marrying a clergyman. A robin told of a sailor, a woodpecker an old maid."

I would personally think a woodpecker should indicate a carpenter, but I guess that's just me.

http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/bird_superstition
"Children will grow a pimply face if they touch a wren's nest." Especially if it's full of chocolate bars.

http://www.birdnature.com/may1898/birdsuperstitions.html
"Great numbers of Jay or Missel Thrushes feeding upon the berries of the hawthorn betoken the approach of a very cold winter, and their Grackle-like calls bring fear to the heart if the meal be low and the peat be scant in the little tenants cabin." Note the garrulousness of this site... the text is apparently from 1898, before the Great Internet Word Shortage of the 2000s.

Happy Birding!