Let me start by answering my own question posed in the title of this post: are birders really buying 92% of duck stamps sold? Almost assuredly not. I hate it when people manipulate factoids to advance an agenda and I don’t want to sink to that level. But I’m willing to take a little heat for a provocative headline, because on Monday I had an experience that really got me wondering, and more than a little intrigued.

That afternoon, I went to Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge and bought a 2010–2011 Migratory Bird Hunting & Conservation Stamp, otherwise known as a Federal Duck Stamp. I’m sure the great majority of readers of this blog know all about duck stamps. They’re somewhat controversial in the birding community, principally because all the money raised by the stamp is, in many senses, “credited” to hunters, though clearly, many of those buying the stamps have no intention of hunting. In fact, some people I have a great deal of respect for as birders, conservationists, and thinkers have argued persuasively that non-hunters shouldn’t buy duck stamps, even though there’s no disputing the money goes to purchase valuable wildlife habitat.

I should also say that other people I have great respect for have been key players in campaigns to get birders and other non-extractive wildlife users to buy duck stamps, so I’ve heard good, impassioned arguments on all sides.

I do buy duck stamps, but I hasten to add that I’d be happier if there were data being collected about which user groups were buying how many stamps, simply so we could all have a clearer idea about who is truly contributing what to habitat purchase. I am emphatically neither anti-hunting nor anti-hunter. I have hunted before and happily would again, though I can’t ever see hunting constituting more than a vanishingly small percentage of how I choose to interact with birds. I consider wildlife watchers, photographers, hunters, anglers, and other groups to be natural allies, not antagonists, even if there are some areas where our opinions tend to diverge. In my view, we all want the same things: healthy populations of wildlife and plenty of places to enjoy them. But better, clearer data would benefit everyone in setting policy and more effectively raising funds for conservation.

So I was surprised and pleased that when I bought the stamp, the volunteer staffing the visitor center asked not only where I was from, but also if I intended to use the stamp for hunting. I said I was from Lewes, Delaware, and no, I did not plan to hunt. She dutifully recorded this in a logbook that was being kept behind the counter.

Well, let me tell you, a little light bulb went off in my head! I asked the volunteer if she could tell me how many stamps she had sold since they went on sale in July and how many had been bought by people identifying themselves as non-hunters. She paged through the logbook and reported, “We’ve sold 114 stamps since July, all but 9 of those to non-hunters.”

Yes, that’s right. Just over 92% were sold to non-hunters. Wow.

Of course, this is nothing like a definitive survey. Not every non-hunter is a birder. And I would guess that hunters would be much better represented at other outlets where stamps can be purchased.

But still, I couldn’t help feel just a little bit proud. And what’s really exciting to me is that this data is being collected. So, if you’re a non-hunter who buys duck stamps, why not do so at a place where they do keep track of how you intend to use your purchase? If they don’t ask, I suggest you politely ask them why they aren’t gathering this information.

NB: For the best video experience, I highly recommend hitting “play,” then clicking on the 360p button that appears in the lower right of the video player and choosing 480p instead. Also click the adjacent box with the four outward pointing arrows to go full screen. At the end, just hit the same box, which will now have an X, to get your screen back, or hit the escape key.

Liz and I spent Memorial Day afternoon at Slaughter Beach, DE, with Errol Webber, Jr. and Erik Yount of Host Our Coast, as well as our friends Carrie & Ella Samis, and Jim Rapp. We were all there to witness the horseshoe crab spawning and attendant bird and terrapin feeding and were not disappointed. Though the vast majority of the northbound shorebirds had already departed for points north, we had a great couple of hours enjoying one of our region’s weirdest yet most enchanting spectacles.

I wound up being the interviewee, which was fun, though I wish there had been room for others to appear on camera with Errol as well (there was a lot of talent and enthusiasm in that group, but alas, time is always short). I’m always a little queasy about seeing myself onscreen, but I have to admit, Errol and Erik did a nice job of editing things and I think I came off looking pretty good. See what you think.

If you haven’t been following Host Our Coast, it’s well worth your time. This year especially, as Errol and Erik are manifestly talented young filmmakers. Errol, in fact, was cinematographer for this year’s Oscar -winning Best Documentary Short Film, Music by Prudence. Pretty cool, huh?

For more information about horseshoe crabs, check out ERDG’s horseshoecrab.org site.

While I certainly intend to keep putting up blog posts when I have something that fits better here than elsewhere, if you’re interested in keeping up with what I’m doing, for now, Facebook is where I am. There’s a badge at the upper left of the page that you can click to find my personal Facebook profile and send me a friend request.

There’s also a badge where you can become a fan of Peterson Field Guides and I would appreciate it very much if you would do that. At the moment, the PFG fan page is, well, it’s me. But only in that I’m responsible for posting content there and serving as moderator. Like all things social media, it is meant to encourage interaction. And in only a week and a half, we’re already seeing a great response, with fans sharing their own photos and experiences.

Of course, I’m honored that the people at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt have asked me to take on the PFG fan page. It’s an opportunity to share a lot of great content from the Peterson vaults, create my own, and to have other interested naturalists share theirs. I’m especially pleased that we’ll be covering the vast range subjects of natural history that are featured in Peterson guides, though you can expect that birds will feature most prominently. I know it will be a big opportunity for me to learn, which is wonderful.

As an example of the kind of things I’ve been doing on the PFG page, below is a video I made and posted last week. It’s just a quick sequence of calling Spring Peepers, but I think it’s nice, especially if you haven’t been out and actually watched this classic sound being produced.

You can also click here to go to the HD version of the video on Facebook itself. It’s much better looking in HD, to say the least.

So, that’s where I am these days. I don’t know if six months from now Facebook will be over and we’ll all have moved on, but at the moment–most of the time–it feels like the place to be.

But please, keep this blog on your RSS subscriptions…or check back every once in a while, if you don’t do RSS. You never know when I’ll have something that only fits here. Thanks for stopping by!

The buzzy, ascending song of Prairie Warbler is the first “fancy” song I remember learning, as opposed to the songs of common yard birds. If memory serves, that would have been spring of 1977, at White Clay Creek State Park, under the tutelage of Winston Wayne. Below is a more medium-distance shot of this bird in his favored habitat of shrubby, regenerating forest, which apparently used to be referred to as prairie, thus lending the bird its name.

And here he is in some dead weeds, presenting a different aspect.

The topmost picture appears on page vi of the Eastern guide, set against an orange background. It was taken on 23 May 2009, near Georgetown, Delaware. Here’s hoping the weather is nice and the birds are singing wherever you are today.

]]> http://jeffreyagordon.com/2010/03/pictures-for-peterson-3-prairie-warbler/feed/ 2 http://jeffreyagordon.com/2010/03/pictures-for-peterson-2-red-knots-ruddy-turnstones/ http://jeffreyagordon.com/2010/03/pictures-for-peterson-2-red-knots-ruddy-turnstones/#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:40:51 +0000 jeff http://jeffreyagordon.com/?p=1077

The second of my photos that appears in the Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Eastern and Central North America is one of the big ones, spanning two pages, a treatment afforded only 3 shots in each book. It appears across pages ii & iii.

But the photograph has to share space–lots of space–with two text boxes and a map. Not only that, but the elements that float over it get to hog the most significant real estate, the central areas where one’s eye naturally goes, so the layout presents a bit of a challenge. Either you need a picture with the bird or birds in the lower left, or you need a flock shot, a wider picture where the birds become semi-abstract design elements and can be cut and blocked without destroying the overall flow of the page. In the Eastern book I went with the latter, much easier option. Here’s what it looks like unobstructed. Somewhat ironically, the bird most sharply focussed of the whole bunch, the knot just above and right of center, is almost entirely obscured in the book.

I took this shot on the evening of 20 May 2010 at Slaughter Beach, Delaware. Named for a family rather than a massacre, this stretch of coast is among the most productive along the entire shore of Delaware Bay for horseshoe crab spawning and shorebird feeding. If you’re unfamiliar with this annual May spectacle, the Delaware Birding Trail has a thumbnail sketch of it here and there are plenty more sources of info to be found with a little Googling.

That afternoon, I had gone to Slaughter Beach with Kevin Fleming pictured below with two of his cameras, both Nikon D700′s, the left with a 600mm Nikkor lens and the right with a 200-400mm Nikkor zoom. Kevin and I spent a lot of time last spring shooting together, him working on his upcoming book, Wild Delmarva, and me doing the Peterson shots. Kevin was kind enough to let me use the 200-400mm rig on quite a few occasions and 6 of the pictures reproduced in the Eastern book were taken with it. A seventh was taken with Kevin’s 200-400 lens and a Nikon D300 body.

Looking over the barrel of the 600mm lens, you can see the shoreline crammed with shorebirds, with plenty of Laughing Gulls flying overhead. By slowly and carefully approaching the birds, staying very low to the ground, we were able to get close enough for satisfying photos without disturbing the birds’ frantic foraging and feeding. It’s a real thrill to see such gorgeous animals, massing here almost in my backyard.

As the sun dropped toward the western horizon, the birds were lit in beautiful, if strongly directional light. I shot hundreds of pictures, trying to get group shots, portraits, interesting behaviors, on and on and on. Below, a Red Knot lifts a bonanza from the sand, a marble-sized mass of several dozen fresh horseshoe crab eggs. Having flown in from South America and soon to depart for the High Arctic, the knot needs the calories these eggs furnish if it is to arrive on its breeding grounds at all, let alone nest successfully. A Ruddy Turnstone looks on, perhaps jealous of the knot’s find. I believe those fluffed feathers may literally be raised hackles–an aggressive display, perhaps in hope of scaring the knot into surrendering the goodies. Watching these shorebirds, one sees quite a bit of inter- and intra-species aggression. It’s no picnic for these guys, it’s a matter of survival.

A different turnstone strikes a more sanguine pose, with a pair of horseshoe crabs coming in to spawn in the background.

Another looming pair of horseshoe crabs provides a backdrop for a sleek Red Knot.

Being shorebirds, the turnstones, knots and others took flight fairly regularly, most explosively when a Peregrine Falcon strafed the beach, perhaps in search of a meal or maybe just some sport. When the birds took wing, Kevin and I would rapidly switch gears and try to fire off as many flight shots as we could manage. It was one of these that ended up being used. Below is a more wide angle shot of shorebirds coming back to the beach after startling.

If you’re looking for a way to help preserve beach habitat for this globally significant phenomenon, may I humbly suggest a donation to the Delaware Bird-a-thon? I’ll be competing again this year and would love to have your support. I’ll be posting more about this event as it draws closer.

]]> http://jeffreyagordon.com/2010/03/pictures-for-peterson-2-red-knots-ruddy-turnstones/feed/ 1 http://jeffreyagordon.com/2010/03/pictures-for-peterson-1-scarlet-tanager/ http://jeffreyagordon.com/2010/03/pictures-for-peterson-1-scarlet-tanager/#comments Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:43:28 +0000 jeff http://jeffreyagordon.com/?p=1052 I’m beginning with the first of my bird photos that appears in the Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Eastern and Central North America, hereafter simply, Eastern. It appears on page i.

Obviously, it’s a male Scarlet Tanager. It was photographed 19 May 2009 near Georgetown, DE. When I accepted the assignment to provide 30 photographs for the new Eastern and Western books–more about how that came to pass later–I knew that I wanted to turn in a selection of images that were appropriately varied: some songbirds, some waterbirds, some common and widespread, some more restricted in range and/or abundance.

I figured, though, that I would lean somewhat toward birds that were pretty or otherwise visually striking. After all, the Peterson bird guides are designed to be attractive, eye-catching, and accessible for beginners, but with enough detail and accuracy to give more advanced birders something to chew on, too. So I was aiming for a lot of favorites, but hoping to slip in a few that were a little offbeat. Clearly, Scarlet Tanager is in the former category–as predictable as Sousa at a 4th of July concert. But then, there are good reasons why some things are classics. Here’s that same shot, cropped from full-frame, but before being put in the final layout.

Moreover, there was the issue of timing. I took on this job in April of ’09, with a deadline of July. I wanted to mostly use new photographs, so I knew I wouldn’t be shooting many Snowy Owls against winter dunes. Clearly, the birds depicted were going to be mostly from spring and summer. And though I knew I would need to–get to–do some travel, the less time and money spent on that, the better. Given all these factors, a photo of this species seemed essential–they’re spectacular, popular, quintessentially “eastern,” and common in the breeding season near where I live. Here’s an alternate shot of the same bird on the same perch, but in mid-song, with that impressive bill wide open. It’s not as sharp, and it’s a somewhat unexpected pose, but still fun, I think.

I spent most of the day May 19th photographing, devoting much of it to Scarlet Tanagers. I had some luck with 2 different males–the bird above, and another, near Laurel, DE. The “winning” male had a couple of advantages: he was bathed in low angle, late afternoon light against a dark green background of pine needles. Beyond that, he seemed like an almost perfect specimen, whereas the other individual had some issues. Here’s a shot of that other male.

Not a bad shot, perhaps, but not as good as the one I went with. For one thing, I used fill flash on this guy and while it’s within my tolerance of looking natural enough, it’s missing the quality of light that flattered the other bird. This guy was photographed more towards late morning, in full but open shade.

But there was another issue  with him and it’s one that you might find interesting. Look at the crown, about 11 o’clock from the eye. See a smudge there? That’s a slapdash cloning job. If cloning is something you only know from genetics labs, here it’s a sort of digital airbrushing and it’s a controversial technique, one that I use sparingly if at all. People often will say an image has been, “Photoshopped,” but I wasn’t actually using Adobe Photoshop here, so I’ll stick with the more accurate term. What was I concealing? Whoever heard of a Scarlet Tanager that needs a makeover? Well, take a look at another shot of the same bird.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this bird has a tick. No, not an habitual muscle spasm, but an arachnid ectoparasite. A big fat one. Sorry to perhaps mar your image of life in the treetops, but birds, even pretty birds, do get ticks and other nasty things. You can also see that this guy, in addition to having his flank feathers fluffed as Scarlet Tanagers often do, isn’t in quite complete alternate (breeding) plumage. There are some yellowish patches here and there. He’s just not as perfect as the other bird. I’m pretty sure that this guy is a male in his second summer; i.e., he was hatched in summer, 2008, and is back for his first breeding attempt. The other male is older–back for at least his second breeding attempt. If someone with more banding experience than me can confirm or disprove these theories, by all means do so in the comments. I think the wing feathers are sharp enough to allow for accurate aging.

Sometimes, a heavy parasite load can cause a bird to be unable to molt into full breeding plumage. In fact, some ornithologists theorize that attaining full breeding plumage is one way birds signal to potential mates that they have a low parasite load and are in generally good reporductive condition. But again, I think this is just a young buck with a tick.

Interesting, though, that we humans would rate a male Scarlet Tanager’s attractiveness using many of the same visual criteria that a female Scarlet Tanager would. Simply put, the winning male is not only better photographed, he’s just better looking.

]]> http://jeffreyagordon.com/2010/03/pictures-for-peterson-1-scarlet-tanager/feed/ 5 http://jeffreyagordon.com/2010/03/les-petersons-nouveaux-sont-arrives%e2%80%9d/ http://jeffreyagordon.com/2010/03/les-petersons-nouveaux-sont-arrives%e2%80%9d/#comments Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:57:08 +0000 jeff http://jeffreyagordon.com/?p=1041 A few days ago, something besides another foot of snow fetched up against our doorstep. Two big brown heavy boxes, all the way from Indianapolis.

Sure enough, they were the brand-new Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Western North America and the similarly titled but quite distinct, Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Eastern and Central North America. That’s right, fully updated Peterson bird guides are once again available in a more portable size and narrower geographic scope. Liz snapped a shot of me unboxing this bounty, attired in my très très chic walking outfit.

At last, here they were in-hand.

These new volumes are exciting to me for a couple of reasons, particularly in that they feature my photography. Now, don’t get too upset…they’re still very much Peterson bird guides, with RTP’s paintings, digitally revised by Michael O’Brien and Michael DiGorgio, as in last year’s continent-spanning Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America. But where last year’s model featured fifteen bird photographs by Roger himself, employed as decorations for title pages, section headings, and such, these two volumes each contain fifteen shots by me. Me. Me? Me! Cool, huh?

Over the next few weeks, I’d like to share those 30 photos with you, along with a few stories about how and when and where they were taken.

PS: I know it’s been months and months and months since my last post, but I find that there are few things more boring and less necessary than bloggers apologizing for how they haven’t been blogging much lately. Readers, if your’re still here, thanks. If you’re new, welcome.

Bill Thompson III (aka Bill of the Birds) asked me to take on a rather deadline-intensive project: collecting photos from a bevy of volunteer photographers that were dispatched to all corners of the festival and organizing them on the spot into a presentation that would serve as a pleasant recap and farewell at the close of the festival Sunday morning.

As a result, I didn’t get as much sleep as I would have liked between Saturday evening, when I received well over 1300 images, and Sunday morning, when I showed just under 380 in 25 minutes. Mind you, I’m not complaining–events like this are built on sleep deprivation and I had surely among the lightest burden of any of those who helped out.

As the photographers gave me their memory cards, I downloaded their pictures to my laptop. Meanwhile, I took each photographer out to the front of Hoover Auditorium and shot a quick series of portraits of him or her in ambient light. I used the photos as a list of visual credits at the end of the presentation.

I think these photos are a reminder of one of the most basic pleasures of photography: the chance to regard the face of a fellow human at leisure. I know many people are uncomfortable being photographed, photographers often especially (and paradoxically) so, so I try really hard to present them in ways that are flattering, yet still accurate. I think they all look great. Well, Geoff Heeter is kind of in his own category, but that’s no surprise.  ;-)

Here they are, in alphabetical order.

Dana Bollin

Ernie Cornelius

Geoff Heeter

Ethan Kistler

Judy Kolo-Rose

Loopy Lewis

Bernie Master

Ric McArthur

Liz McQuaid

Deb Neidert

Renee Tressler

Of course, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to all the photographers and to the MBS staff that helped coordinate. I’m also sorry that I let Sherrie Duris get away before I got a photo of her. Looking forward to seeing you all in 2011!

On Saturday, July 26th, I attended a half-day photography workshop hosted by Wil & Donna Hershberger, a couple of dedicated wildlife photographers and sound recordists who live in eastern West Virginia. The workshop was held at Lilypons, a unique nursery for aquatic plants just northwest of Washington, DC. I went expecting to concentrate on water lilies, but ended up being captivated by lotuses. It’s easy to see why this huge flower is a favorite object of contemplation–its easy to lose oneself in it hues and its geometry.

Shortly after sunup, we fanned out along the dikes containing the lotus ponds. What follows is a sampling of lotuses in various stages of their bloom cycle from bud to seed. If you’re having a distracted, harried sort of day, just turn on some nice soothing music, feel your breath, relax your muscles (but not so much that you can’t use the scroll wheel) and join me for a little trip through lotus life. You can click on any image for a larger view.

Cool plant, huh? Thanks for stopping by!

Self-portrait by Matthew Sarver

Good news for all of you who enjoy well-written, thoughtful, authoritative, and nicely-illustrated blog posts (and if that’s you, what are you doing here?). My buddy Matt Sarver has been cultivating his web presence, including launching a new blog, appropriately called The Modern Naturalist.

Matt’s a great birder, naturally, but he’s also lamentably talented in just about every field of natural history. Did I say lamentably? I meant laudably. Just a little jealous here, sorry.

Being afield with Matt is a little like drinking from the proverbial fire hose. It seems like he can put a name to everything that flies, crawls, or photosynthesizes. And usually not just a name–he almost always has some interesting tidbit to share about the life history of each animal or vegetable, turning an ordinary walk into something educational and entertaining. Last Sunday, he showed me a bee which despite all appearances, was not a bumblebee. He went on to tell me that this non-bumblebee specializes in eating the pollen of hibiscus flowers. This was just one of dozens of cool critters he alerted me to that day. I was impressed.

Matt’s a hands-on kind of guy. He manages a property he owns in southwestern Pennsylvania, striving to improve the quality of the habitat there. And now that the governor of Pennsylvania has given his blessing to fire as a management tool–look out. I expect to see some pretty hot posts coming out of that. He’s also a sailor, crewing on the Kalmar Nyckel, our friendly neighborhood tall ship. Some say he got that gig in classic high-seas fashion–by sleeping with the captain–but I’ll leave that to him to confirm or deny.

Though he’s only been in Delaware for a couple of years, Matt is already making quite a mark. He and his Captain already keelhauled us in the Delaware Birdathon this year.

I’m betting that Matt will quickly become a star in the nature blogging sky. So click on over and say hello.