Get Out Of Bed, Please Go Away, Get Out Get Out Get Out.

It's Saturday. Do as the Social Flycatcher and join members of your fellow species. Try to strengthen your weak ties to the few people that give you any hope in humanity. This should consist of more than bragging about what birds you have seen recently on facebook. As you are a birder, I will assume that is all you are capable of...but there is hope. Birders are capable of having full and interesting lives, if you only try...I have seen it myself, and it is with great humility, modesty and humbleness that I can claim to have been told that I am in the same boat. Having a fulfilling relationship with a fellow human can amount to more than a mountain of death. Now, go forth and mingle. Saturday night is an excellent time for consuming bourbon, after all.  

Mammally Goodness

Red Crossbill. You can see the pried-open cone he's been working on.

I left Billings, MT before dawn, hoping to make it to Yellowstone at a reasonable time. I failed to do this. Why? The incredible scenery you pass through en route boggles the mind. You must stop. You must bird. And after a few stops you keep telling yourself that you have to keep going, that you'll never make it to Yellowstone at this rate....but that doesn't work either.

The Gallatin National Forest's proximity to Yellowstone is both a blessing and a curse....it doesn't get the attention it deserves, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. As we all know, there is something to be said about roaming around on your own.

Not every day you get to see crossbill tongue.

The drive to Yellowstone took much longer than expected. A flock of Red Crossbills were fun to spend time with...to borrow a birder cliche, they were quite confiding. Of course, an old Midwestern tourist scared them all away, and I wished God's wrath upon him. Further down the road were American Pipits (not something most people are accustomed to seeing in summer), a hunting Red Fox, a Yellow-bellied Marmot and PIKAS. I couldn't believe it....I was getting stoked on mammals, of all things. How embarrassing.

If you plan on making a Yellowstone trip, be sure to check out the area between Cooke City and Red Lodge (this is the northeast access to the park), you will not regret it.

Golden-mantled Ground-Squirrels. Why do they have chipmunk stripes? Tell me.

Red Fox.

Foxy.

Marmot. Is nice, you like?

Pika pika pika pika pika pika.

Yeah, look at this thing. It doesn't even make sense. It's highly evolved to be cute though.

Botanists! Help me out! Cool flower at any rate.

So Long North Dakota...enshrouded in Lark Buntings....The Road to Yellowstone

This Tiger Salamander was crossing the road as I was leaving Lostwood for the last time. Nice smile.

Sleepy Lark Bunting.

The moment you have been waiting for has arrived. Not only am I unemployed, I am back in San Francisco where I have nothing but time. The halcyon days of five blog posts a week (is that overkill?) are once again within reach....as is almost anything the heart desires...this is San Francisco, after all.

Right. In the spirit of catching up, I left North Dakota a couple weeks ago as my seasonal job monitoring Piping Plover productivity (i.e. numbers of nests that hatch and chicks that fledge, for you nonbirders) was finished. Since I was going back to California, I decided it was best to make my way to Yellowstone National Park...alternately known as "The American Serengheti" (according to the National Park Service) and "A Fucking Zoo" (according to a friend, referring to the tourists).

Another Lark Bunting. Not something a Californian sees much of.

Juvenile Grasshopper Sparrows are pretty striking...for a sparrow.

After living in rural North Dakota for months, I was totally ready for large mammals and not afraid of tourists...I hadn't stood in a crowd all summer. Intrepidly, I set out westward, back through Montana...

And there was not much to tell about that. I took one random road in the hope of finding some McCown's Longspurs, which I haven't seen in a few years...I think I may have flushed some with a flock of Horned Larks, but identifying birds flying directly away from you is not a terribly accurate strategy. I did run into a bunch of Lark Buntings though, which are not very common in North Dakota, and a good number of Grasshopper Sparrows to boot.

Horned Lark. They don't usually appear so shrunken-headed.

The next day I was en route to Yellowstone, heading towards the northeast entrance, going through the facemelting Gallatin National Forest en route. The scenery was phenoms. And so began my constant wishing that I had more time to bird/explore the area...

More on all that next time. Until then, perhaps you should brush up on whats happening over at 10,000 Birds or at my friend Dan Maxwell's blog right here. He is living just a few miles from me on the Farallon Islands, but will probably see, how do you say, "hella" more rare birds than me this fall because that happens to be one of the best places to bird on the West Coast. Don't let his blatant misidentification of a Blackburnian Warbler put you off, he is typically not a sketchy birder.

Day breaks above treeline. Crushing scenery northeast of Yellowstone, easily comparable with whats in the park. Gallatin National Forest, MT.

A strange creature from another kingdom. Gallatin National Forest, MT.

Golden-mantled Ground-Squirrels. Squirreling. Gallatin National Forest, MT.

Are You There God? It's Me, Mountain Chickadee.

Hello humans. It's me, Mountain Chickadee. How are you? What are you doing this weekend?

As for me...I'm just going to hang out in this forest. Hopefully it won't burn down. That would be bullshit. I've met a lot of other chickadees the last few days that have come from other places, they say everything is on fire. You people and your decades of idiotic fire suppression did this to us. And now, you people can't even put out a fucking camp fire. You make me sick.

Not all of you of course. I'm not angry, I'm a chickadee. I don't really dwell on emotions for very long, life is too short! Literally. I'm 3 years old and that's like middle age for a chickadee. A hawk can come eat me any day. I've noticed a lot more Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks around recently, which is worrisome. A lot of them are juveniles though, and there is no freaking way they can get anywhere close to me. I'm pretty smart for my size.

While I'm out in the woods eating bugs and seeds, you people are probably doing some ridiculous shit. Getting drunk? What's that? I don't even know what it means. And sex? You're always trying to mate on the weekends. Why? We mate a couple months a year and that's good enough for us chickadees. Humans don't even lay eggs. What's with that?

Sorry about all the questions. Us chickadees, as you may know, are quite curious.

Ok people. I'm going to go crawl into a hole and sleep for the night. I hope you all have a good weekend and say hello to a chickadee. We are all very friendly.

Cheeseburger-cheeseburger-cheeseburger.....

- Mountain Chickadee

Cigarettes And Shame

Eastern Kingbirds vying for a perch. Lostwood NWR, ND.

Well, well, well....there's nothing worse than putting in an hour of brilliant blogging just to see it all deleted for no reason at all. So instead of getting a heavy dose of my acerbic wit and needle-sharp tongue, I will simply tell you that I survived Las Vegas and am back in my native Californian habitat. Next week I'll get back to some regular posting again, but in the mean time there is a lot of unpacking/repacking to do, as well as seeing some legendary bands down at FYF Fest in LA.

Interestingly, it seems my former employer is cracking down on Gibson Guitars for allegedly using endangered trees in their instruments. Pretty bizarre. More power to Fish and Wildlife if Gibson is indeed guilty...I wish I knew more about it.

Right. Here's another barrage of pictures from out Midwest. Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Human Birdwatcher Project ("Birders Are People Too") coming soon. Bird onward.

Blackpoll Warbler. Lostwood NWR, ND.

Black Tern. Des Lacs NWR, ND.

American White Pelican. Des Lacs NWR, ND.

Redheads. Lostwood NWR, ND.

Cedar Waxwing. Lostwood NWR, ND.

Coyote. Lostwood NWR, ND.

Richardson's Ground-Squirrel. Lostwood NWR, ND.

American Redstart. Lostwood NWR, ND.

Barn Swallow. Medicine Lake NWR, MT.

I Drink Bottom Shelf Bourbon To Ease My Pain

The last few days have really taken their toll on me, so I'll keep it short. Yellowstone National Park is great. Grand Teton National Park is great. They are great for different reasons. Go to both. More on this later.

Today I'm Vegas-bound. Car trouble that started yesterday will keep the ride over there suspenseful and interesting, not to mention lend a touch of The Fear. Bat country is not someplace you want to break down...especially if one is lacking Medicine.

Felonious Jive's A Birder's Guide To Indoctrination is up now at 10,000 Birds, read all about how he and I have tricked you into going birding with us over the years.

Yours, From A Strangely Undecorated Motel Room Somewhere In Utah,

Seagull

We'd Drink Until We Couldn't Talk

Western Grebe. Des Lacs NWR, ND.

This is officially it. The last blog from North Dakota. I am weeping with joy. I will miss living on the Lostwood Refuge though, some of the people here, the intense mellowness and having nature right outside. Thank you, various deer, squirrels, rabbits, robins, Chipping Sparrows, Eastern Kingbirds, Cedar Waxwings, Yellow Warblers, Least Flycatchers, etc etc. for being good listeners. As is usually the case when I am living someplace bizarre, I involuntarily end up talking to the wildlife a lot after a while. This disturbing habit is something I developed at Midway Atoll (documented here, to be exact), and I suppose it suits me.

Broad-winged Hawk being assailed by a Purple Martin. Lake Metigoshe, ND.

As I mentioned probably too many times before, I'm leaving tomorrow for points West...Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, and then onto Las Vegas. A week full of bourbon, bastards and birds, hehe. The blogging is going to be slim for a bit, but you can at least rest assure that I am having more fun than you.

Fare thee well, gentle souls of the internets. I will be back soon!

Piping Plover nest...I think this one hatched, but the chicks did not make it. Lostwood NWR, ND.

Willet. Des Lacs NWR, ND.

Franklin's Gull. I'm pretty stoked on this picture. Des Lacs NWR, ND.

Baird's Sparrow, one of my new favorite birds. Never thought I'd be able to get a picture like this though. Redmond Lakes, ND.

Brown-eyed Susans? Turtle Mountains, ND.

Tennessee Warbler. Lostwood NWR, ND.

American Avocet. White Lake, ND.

Swainson's Hawk. Sex with talons. Near Camas NWR, ID.

Vesper Sparrow. Redmond Lakes, ND.