Saturday, May 14, 2022

I love my deck birding!

 2022-05-14 Mostly want to let everyone know I am still around. Noticed I have not posted for years!

With my severe COPD and need for a continual high flow of oxygen, I am primarily hanging out inside at home. But I really enjoy my deck birds. I have my binocs and camera(s) within reach from my kitchen table and shoot many photos a day without getting up and spooking the birds. I feel a need to share, but mostly seem to lack the energy to do it.

Anyway, here are a few recent pics I hope you enjoy.

Want to share a couple Ruby-throated Hummingbird pics.
Finally got a pic showing its namesake. The lighting was not the best, nor the focus, but Ill take it. The second pic shows what you might normally see. Need to have the light at the right angle to the throat to see the blaze!






And here are a few pics of Baltimore Orioles that I like. I have literally hundreds to sort, select, crop, and so on, but need to find the time and energy. Some day I would like to do a long "monograph" of color variation in these birds.

Female gathering alpaca fur for nest material

Male flying off the edge of camera shot

Male Oriole in flight - lucky timing - I like this!

Anyway that's it for now. I just wanted to get something "out there". I will try to do better, but seem to have so much to do just "keeping on". Stay tuned...

Monday, April 17, 2017

Spring forth and Go Birding


When we last left the intrepid budding birder "Dr. Bob", he was announcing that he was on hospice. At this time, I want to mention that I am still extant and still birding, albeit more limited in scope. Mostly watching and photographing  my deck birds. Last spring and summer was the best ever for watching birds at the feeders. Call it serendipity, or a special gift to one in need, but whatever it was glorious! And, of course, I had much more time watching the deck birds rather than visiting other spots. I have been intending to produce a long photo-filled post on this - and still do - but for now I want to drop a couple pics to grab your attention, but basically just send two messages: 1) my
status update and 2) notification of this year's Biggest Week.

White-breasted Nuthatch


Rose-breasted Grosbeak male
1) I "graduated" from hospice on January 3 this year. Meaning that I did not fit the rigorous criteria suggesting passing in six months. Cool! I firmly believe it was through the hospice team that helped me get better as opposed to what is normally expected. Hospice does not treat or try to heal the affliction (in this case my lungs), but combining my positive attitude (mentioned in last post) with the support team (nurses, care givers, social worker, maintenance meds delivered by Fed Ex, delivery of durable medical equipment (DME) (like oxygen), even a musical therapist who came every couple weeks to play guitar for me! And yes, I was going to write a separate blog of the experience but have yet to do so. Switched to another program for DME and mostly home bound. So, anyway, I am still here. Watching for first spring arrivals. Hummer and oriole feeders out, but no takers yet. "Fur feeder" (alpaca fur in a suet cage) out for nest builders.

And I also want to thank all the others friends, family, and angels helping me in these tenuous difficult times! Really keeps the positive energy going!!!

2) I want to plug the Biggest Week in American Birding at Magee Marsh. Click the link for info. This has been our favorite annual trip for a few years, and I was honored enough to be an official blogger for the event. Please look at the list of my prior posts and click a couple to read my rambles. Go bird and explore there! Not just the boardwalk at Magee Marsh, but so many other areas nearby. Besides the birds it really is "family". A community of really great people with the same passion.



Here is one example of a past post. You can click on the year and titles on the right side of my main blog page to see others. http://drbobsbirdblog.blogspot.com/2015/06/

I hope to soon be a bit more active in posting my birdie pics. Just last week had cataract surgery on my second eye and the world is not only in better focus, but also so much brighter. Amazing difference. The prednisone (steroid) I have been taking really clouded my cataracts very quickly so working on computer was quite difficult.

Spring forth! Go bird!


Monday, July 18, 2016

Birding as an excuse. A year passed. I'm back - briefly.

Geez! It has been  over a year since I put up a blog post. Several reasons actually, but I will try to summarize.

Last year we were late getting down to the Biggest Week in Ohio due to a fall and possible concussion the week before. Had to get doctor clearance to  travel. Anyway, this made me really start to feel "old". My hips are not what they used to be; bunions make it harder to hike; holding up a large lens is harder; energy level is lower; etc. No not "old" mind you. I am still the kid I was. Also I am still all the other ages I have been. The brain is an amazing thing! We are who we are - and everyone we have ever been - all at the same time.

Anyway, after returning from Ohio I decided it was about time to start "taking care of business". I realized I had been using birding as an excuse to ignore doing so many things put off while seeking immediate gratification and reinforcement.

While working for a living it was easy to ignore "stuff". The days were filled with get up, get ready, go to work, eat, sleep, get up and so on. "Stuff" came in. The immediate stuff like bills were acted upon, and piled, but never filed or cleared out. And then were all the articles I saved to pursue sometime. Places to go. Things to do. Things to learn more about.  Bags of stuff!

Then I started thinking about the weight of this baggage in terms of the fact that someone would have to deal with it when I passed. Yes, now thinking that I was over 70 and the inevitable would happen some day.

Similarly I had been putting off doctor appointments. Needed to schedule and follow thru on these.

Oh, it would have been so much more fun to keep avoiding responsibilities and just "playing" as always. Playing meaning actively pursuing learning and having new experiences like I have done my entire life. Before birding it was digital photography (which actually led me into birding as I started asking what the bird I had just photographed).

Before that, I include fishing, rock-hounding, fossil collecting, lapidary, great lakes freighters - on and on. Each chapter fascinating in its own right, and each with many stories that I may never have time to tell.  I started keeping files on a few books I wanted to write.

What I really need now is a "mentee" or a person who wants to learn fascinating things about the many worlds to explore. I would love to share my stories with someone! Even better if they would like to help me record them!!!

And I would like to pass along many of my treasures to someone who would really appreciate them. Projects I never finished. Just as a couple examples,  I have a couple cases of seaweeds from the 1890s. No data, so scientifically not valuable, but great material for art projects. A ton (literally) of documented collections of fossils in my garage. I was going to write a book, but some guy scooped me with one from the UM press. Chunks of wood from California that I never made anything from them. Old German mushroom teaching models from the turn of the century, Just "stuff" - but fascinating stuff. Probably all might just wind up in a dumpster on my passing. Would be nice to share before that.

I made quite a bit of progress over this past year! And, yes, I still had time for birds. I daily record my feeder birds. I try to put them on eBird, but seem to run out of energy as the spring brings back  more birds. I usually get to around the end of May, then never get around to entering the rest of the year.

Most records are "mundane" like my daily records of feeder birds. I put quotes around mundane because I believe there is a treasure trove of data here. Several years of consistently documenting the timelines of all my avian visitors. I have learned so much about not only presence/absence of the birds, but also have had a a great opportunity to study behavior!

But as for the "excuse" part of the title, I actually fought my urges that kept saying to me "It is a gorgeous day; let's go birding". Yes. In the past I had been driven outdoors on any lovely day with decent temperatures and humidity. And enjoyed the heck out of it! What a treasured life with my lovely companion wife Judy. We have fun!

But I did resist most (obviously not all) impulses. Maybe I am learning responsibility? Well ... somewhat perhaps.  I am still the kid who wants it all - and I still want it now.

But I really did make progress on the clearing out of stuff side! I sold my sports card collection. Eighty cases of sports cards!!! I had planned this to be a significant contribution to my retirement. Not so. Bought just at the wrong time when they started mass-producing millions of cards. If I had started collecting ten years earlier it would have worked, but not the stuff from early 1990s. I probably invested $25,000 and received less than $2000. Ouch!
But it did clear a huge area in the basement to allow attacking other things.

I fared financially much better with rock concert posters from the 1960s -  the good old days of peace, love and music. Most of these I took off telephone poles or received as fliers at the college. Wonderfully spacey artistic stuff! Fun to review and even to try to read (not so easy for many ...) the names of the bands they were advertising.

More recently I sold my vinyl record collection. Just a couple years ago they were practically worthless, but with recent revival of interest I was able to get a decent price. I had about 1400 records! First I had a dear friend drive up here and go thru the collection picking out her favorites. Several hours of chatting and sharing memories. A great day with records, followed by the next day of birding and a picnic at Kensington Metro Park with Donna, Paula and Judy. A wonderful life!

Then after many phone inquiries to local music stores, I hit the right place: People's Records in Detroit. It was quite fascinating to me that the young (early 30s?) man who drove up from Detroit actually knew more about some of the records than I did. Great conversations. This is what I am talking about when I say I need someone to share stories with!

I still have a HUGE collection of fishing tackle I would like to sell and share. Any interest?

How about lapidary stuff? Collectibles in general? What are your interests?

Now for other "stuff". Lots of articles I wanted to read; new things to explore. But amongst that, in the same bags, mostly crap. Bills and account records from a decade ago. Never disposed of any of that when working. And, how long do you really need to keep anything anyway? No one ever told me that. So lots of shredding, recycling and trashing. Bags of crap! But now significantly reduced!

Then there was catching up on the doctor appointments on  my to do list. Should have done these much earlier of course. But you know the drill. I kept taking the car in for regular maintenance (hey guys do the car first, right?), and I did have annual physicals, but never spent time with specialists. With Medicare and insurance it would have been cheap, but never pursued it.

Finally changed my heart doc. The prior one was maybe not a quack, but I could make the case he was close. My new one ran a series of tests -  mostly ultrasounds - and these plus a cardiac cath I had done a couple years ago showed my heart and associated tubes were in great shape. This made a great impression on me.  Maybe I will live quite awhile more. Let's get back  into better shape.

Went to a podiatrist. For some time I have had problems with a bunion, foot pains, and these in turn affected my hips. Hip MRI had turned up nothing serious. The podiatrist installed a special insole in my sneakers and cut a device to protect the bunion. Geez! I could walk without pain much farther again! Let's get back on the trails! Feels so much better!

My PSA (prostate indicator) had risen over he last three physicals, so I went to a urologist. He took twelve samples from the prostate. Two indicated neoplasia, but no big deal. Just something to watch.

I had a full body scan by a dermatologist. Did not even realize that was an annual option. All outdoors folks should have this done! Amazing the stuff you learn is available when you delve into it! He found two possible things to sample. My main doc had been missing these. One came back benign. The other was a basal cell carcinoma. I had this removed by a specialist trained in the Mohs procedure. Great way to deal with it!

Overall I felt very confident. Felt like I was really making progress. Getting rid of stuff. Looking good on the health front. Can I finally quit fighting my urge to deny myself birding (my excuse) and get out on the trails again? I was ready for  another decade or so.

My lung doctor ordered CT scans. Found 4mm spot on one lung, but it did not grow from one year to next, so was some artifact or something. I had been having breathing episodes for over a year, but usually a week of steroids would put me back on track. And, yes, I was cutting back on smoking and had even set a quit date. Damn life-long (over 50 years!) addiction. What the doctor did not tell me was that I had very little lug capacity left! Quack - or maybe just half-quacked. I would think that he might have looked at scans for the general health of the lung tissues besides just looking for cancerous signs.

In any case, I had an acute breathing episode at the end of April that put me in the hospital for 10 days. Some virus hit my lungs hard. Basically took out most of the good tissue I had left. Unfortunately lung tissue does not regenerate. Then (!) the same lung doc finally looked at the rest of the portions of the prior scans as well as an MRI I had at the hospital and determined that I should be placed on hospice care.

Hospice care basically says that two docs agree that a patient has six months or less to live. Whew! What a shocker! Hospice!

So that is the current story. I am on oxygen 24 hours per day. Some days are not bad. When it gets humid, I have trouble breathing. It is weird because with the oxygen, my pulse oxygen can be running 95%, but it is hard to draw a breath. At night I use a BiPAP machine that forces air to inflate my lungs, so I sleep comfortably. I just cannot exert myself very much and need to take more breaks. And I need to haul around oxygen tanks everywhere I go. Sure limits the distance and terrain I can travel! But I am getting used to how to handle this.

But I note that I keep a positive attitude in this like I have about everything in life. I think most people hear "hospice" and think someone is going to die in a few weeks. It does seem to happen that way. But maybe for a couple of reasons. One reason certainly could be a fast-acting disease. But another reason could be that maybe some people are on hospice for quite some time before they let anyone know until right near the end. On the other hand, my hospice team says that many people live much longer than the predicted six months. Well I still have a ton of things on my "to do list" (which by reference includes several more to do lists...) so I certainly do not plan to go easily!

I still record my deck birds daily, and being more focussed on them allows much better observations on behaviors and offers great chances at pics. I will try to share some of this thru my bird blog posts, but realize that my to do list must take priority before I use my birding excuse to ignore responsibilities. But I do have some great pics to share from "window birding".

I hope y'all have enjoyed my "rambles" and will continue to follow me. You can also follow me on Facebook where I tend to post most info. Facebook  is so much quicker to just pop up a note or pic. I do not have the energy or time for some of my longer "rambles".

I plan to start up a new blog regarding my physical experiences on hospice. Like everything in my life it is all about the attitude with which you approach it. I am planning on using my time productively. Too catch up on things I have put off. To prepare and plan. And also to have as much fun as possible along the way. I see it as a chance to "clear the decks" for the next phase.  And also to possibly provide encouragement to others. I am not sure how often I will take the time to do this, but I am well-intentioned.

Anyway, I now will return "Dr. Bob's Bird Blog" (the blog you are reading now)  back to its original titled intent and just post birding stories here.

But, I did want to let you all know "the story". And especially I want to let you all know how important you are in my life. I have felt so very welcomed in the birding community! I am energized, fascinated, delighted, and downright humbled by the many friends I have made while birding. And I thank you all for this!!! Yes! You are so very much appreciated! And, yes, I have SO many memories of friends and trips to share I will never run out of rambles on the past! I will not be able to share most, but do know that I have daily flashes of  pure joy in my memories!

Catch y'all on the "flap side"!

- "Dr. Bob" Setzer - 2016














Friday, June 5, 2015

Senior Birding at The Biggest Week in American Birding

[Note: This is part of my imagined "eBook" about the Biggest Week. My last post recalled and linked some previous blog post memories I summarized for y'all (Hey! Check out the links!). I think possibly the "book" might be mostly for me, but I know some of y'all enjoy sharing our senior citizen adventures. Thanks for looking!  

I hope as I keep on going with this "book" it records the later years that Judy and I experienced in one special place in our lives.  Yes, we do lots of other stuff as well, but our Ohio trip in spring is now our "main adventure" annually.  It is so cool that the many manifestations of the internet allow me to record and share our lives! I truly wish my parents had had, and had used,  this opportunity so I would know something about their lives beyond what I saw day to day as they raised me! 
And ... I truly hope my son and grandkids will appreciate at least learning a tad about my life and perhaps become inspired to blog themselves! And, I hope that Judy's kids will also enjoy knowing a side of her that they never have yet shared! Such is another blessing of the internet for both of us and our descendants!

So first I just gotta put up one pic from the 2015 Biggest Week now to get your attention, but the real message is in the words that follow! Be assured that this year's birdie pics and more "rambles" will appear as I continue working on my "book"...

These are three of the five fox "kids" born at the den just behind the restrooms by the Windows on Wildlife  at Pearson Metropark this year. Yep! We love all wildlife and these were SO special!!! Easy access and how amazing!!! They do this every year, I think! We did see some kids last year as well! And we were able to share it with our friend Kristina who came over from Port Clinton to meet us there! SO great!!!



 ----

OK, here is the "story"/"ramble"/"chapter":

So weird how "life" works!

I started this post about senior birding prior to the Biggest Week in American Birding in May this year (2015). My hips had been acting up again, and I was just feeling "old".  Well, I am 70, so guess it goes with the territory! Much better than the alternative!  :)

Shortly after making the draft post, I went downstairs and fell totally backward in the kitchen! Boom! Hit head and had a minor concussion! Life changes SO fast!!!

Anyway, after a visit to ER and a CT scan, and a follow up a few days later, I was able to get down to the Biggest Week. Lesson here: If in ER and with Medicare and supplemental insurance, the CT scan is covered by insurance right then - albeit with a long wait ... The follow up requested by my doc (to see possible changes in the discovered brain "artifact")  before I traveled only took fifteen minutes to get in and get out, but took three days for approval! And this with Medicare ... but with the BCBS-N supplemental insurance driving the delay... So, we lost a few days, but still made it! Missed a few great events, but still had a great time! I add some 2015 pics here for the "book chapter" and will share most 2015 memories as separate posts.

SO ... here starts again what I started and never posted. It is just that more pertinent as I was quite slowed down in Ohio this year. Much of it is now past tense, but the info is still useful! It includes the former words in  my post (hate to "waste" typed words because I do not know how to type) - to which I have added many more words and especially pics tonight. I started off with an anecdote about getting around as an older person. Maybe just because I wanted to share a few really cool pics? Actually, no. It was about the minor struggle just getting out and about on some days. Yes, I know everyone feels this sometimes, but it really IS harder as you age. Then I move on to the seniors at Biggest Week story.
_______

OK.   I thought I would put up some comments about birding The Biggest Week in American Birding as a senior citizen.

I think it will help some seniors with more limited mobility, but suspect it will also help others (and just not seniors!) who are down-right tired after a few days or many hours of birding!

Many people would just not understand if you told them that birding was hard work, but if you have ever stood for hours with things hanging around your neck like binocs and cameras, you will understand! It is like back when I was fishing bass tournaments. I would come home exhausted! "Why are you tired? You were just fishing." Well, if you have ever ridden inches above a turmoiled lake at 60 mph, then stood up on a rocking platform and flailed the water incessantly for eight hours you might understand! 

Similarly (albeit not so taxing) birding. After a few hours of walking - or even standing- while constantly twisting your neck into contortions that you would never try at the gym, then you know! Darn birdies just do not sit and pose!!! 

And I note I am not talking all seniors here. Many seniors with the active outdoors lifestyle can hike rings around  "city folk"! But I guess I am speaking as one who sat in cubicles for a few decades and last winter had been cooped up during one of the coldest winters in the Midwest.

On Wednesday the last week of April, Judy and I went to a free Senior Day at the Detroit Zoo. Twice a year the zoo offers free days for seniors. Great stuff!  Free parking, free tram rides, and other stuff. We had only gone in the fall before. It is a tad better in the fall - shortly after the kids are back in school - because the train is running and is free. This means you can walk one way to the end of the zoo, and get a free ride back to the parking lot. Especially important when the weather is hot! (Hint: Just do not wait until near the end of the day to get in line - it might take an hour or more!)

But my main goal this spring was to see the nesting Black-crowned Night Herons (BCNH)  near the Arctic Cafe. I had been reading about these birds for a few years on the Michigan Birding listserv, but by fall they are (of course)  gone. These are "local birds" and count in eBird. I counted 78 BCNH  birds and I am sure I missed any more hunkered down on nests in the rookery. Totally amazing sight! A few trees were involved, and we watched mostly nest building, but with only cameras, I am not sure what else might have been happening!

Anyway, point here is that we walked darn near the length of the zoo to get to my selected destination! I felt it the next day. Yes, the walk back was hard, and I needed to rest, but the many available benches with zoo critter views made it just fine.

Three great photo ops made it well worth the time for the day! Besides the time spent at the BCNH rookery, we found a spot with a lovely male peacock showing his wares for "anybird" interested! He flashed at a female and chased the male and female mallards out of the way! The mallards scooted, but not too bothered, and the lady peacock just kinda ignored him. Well, he tried! It was the first time Judy ever saw a full display - complete with the shaking and rustling! Wonderful!!

Black-crowned Night Heron at Detroit Zoo - converted to black and white

Black-crowned Night Heron at Detroit Zoo - "red-eye special"
Male Peacock at zoo. I never saw the "fancy hat" before!
Looks like a painting!


Anyway, back to the message in the title ...

In my "younger days" on the west coast (my 20s/ 30s), I hiked the Sierras: Yosemite; Kings Canyon; the site of the oldest living trees - the Bristlecone Pines - and more! And I DID see the oldest Bristlecone: "Methuselah"! (And no, I would not tell the exact tree to you even if I remembered exactly where!) A tree over 4000 years old!!! Double the age of Jesus Christ! Oh, the stories that tree could tell!!!

Indeed, I treasure my "old days"!!! But now I find that I am quite old as well! Yes, I am now in my "old days"!  No, not even approaching any age records, but  really slowing down and feeling it.

Somewhere in more recent years, I met some (actually many!) special people after I had become a birder following decades of being secluded in a cubicle during my later working years. While enjoying, but still figuring out social media, I asked a new friend Dawn Simons Fine if she might consider me as a blogger (so what is a blogger? Me, now - I guess!)  for the Biggest Week. Amazingly, she said yes! I barely knew about blogging, but did have some computer skills so felt confident. (Actually it does not take many skills to blog! Ask me how if you want to start sharing your memories with family and friends.)

So, now I blog.

And so ,.. again back to the title story (y'all know I "ramble"). I am posting a few thoughts about how accessible the Biggest Week is for seniors.

1) Access is the main thing for me. And, I am not talking access due to permits or any of that. I am talking access to easily get to where I can enjoy birds! I am thinking about my hips that could use a "tuneup"!  I cannot walk as far as I used to (by a long shot!). I have never visited any sites in northwest Ohio that required special permits. Cool! (Not sure about their state parks, but everything else is fair free game!)

Is it flat? Well most of the sites are! Not too much elevation change around any place in the Midwest, but especially near this area at lake level. The Magee Marsh boardwalk is flat. Also the boardwalk at Maumee Bay Nature Center (across the parking lot from the Convention Center where conference registration and events happen). These examples are perfect - as are so many more like in the Metroparks and near other centers like Ottawa NWR and the Magee Sportsman Center.  But even the "unimproved" (I use quotes because they are not paved - but really they are greatly improved...) trails in the area are mowed, well-maintained and mostly flat! 
Maumee Bay Nature Center boardwalk


Maumee Bay Nature Center boardwalk

How far do I have to walk?  I really feel this one in my hips! Really not very far! I offer several examples.

1A(1)  Near entrance at Magee Marsh!  Will I see many birds without going far down the boardwalk? Indeed! Lots! (I am not sure if a majority of interesting species for your life list, but experience tells  me a huge number!) Over the last couple of years, we have picked up several warbler species not seen on the rest of the boardwalk, and a special thrush or two; and most notably the Prothonotary Warbler posing so greatly the last couple of years (probably the most photographed bird there ever!)! And a "lifer pic" of a Scarlet Tanager!
Prothonotary Warbler near entrance to Magee boardwalk


Scarlet Tanager near entrance to Magee boardwalk!
1A(2) Window birding! When Judy and I get really tired, we sometimes just go sit at the "Windows on Wildlife" at Pearson Metro Park. It is a short walk from the parking lot, has restrooms (yes, another consideration for me) and the feeders there draw in great birds. We have seen many "lifers" there! Including Indigo Buntings! (Judy calls these her "blue birds" because they are really blue!) There is a convenient ledge for writing notes and holding your gear.
Our friend Kristina Smith and me at the window at Pearson MP
1A(3) Car birding! You do not even have to get very far out of your car! We especially like Metzger Marsh (near Magee) and the auto tour at Ottawa NWR (open every day during the Biggest Week (and normally on  weekends).  Keep the binocs on your dash! Keep your camera handy! Wonderful chances at new birds. And darn  near anywhere else in the area you can happen upon the many Bald Eagles that nest around there! And, muddy fields offer interesting shorebirds! Birders will tell you ... Last year  we got lifer Golden Plovers in a farm field that birders at Metzger told us about!
Here is a pic from the Ottawa Auto Tour I took last year of Great Horned Owl kids! 


Camo Great Horned Owl kids on the Ottawa NWR Auto Tour.
1A(4) Chair birding! We have seen many birders in folding chairs (yes, bring some!) just sitting at the edge of the forest near Magee Marsh watching for  birds! Get out of your car and set up right there! Yes, it is great for eating lunch, and a great way just to get off your feet relax any time. And there is always a chance to see a "lifer"!!! This year we also encountered a birder with another great idea. Take a lightweight folding chair on the boardwalk. Just sit and observe! The birds are always moving, so just sit and wait! We have also seen the kind of "walkers" that have built-in seats. Great idea!
Yep! I gotta do that!
There are benches along the boardwalk,  but this idea lets one sit anywhere!
Maybe with straps to make it a backpack? Cool!

1A(5) Ladder birding! And speaking about just sitting around looking for birds, I offer  that a charity "Big Sit" happens one day each year during the Biggest Week. Hey this guy (Tom Bartlett) sits atop a ladder all day just peering onto the forest and skies near the entrance to the Magee Boardwalk and recording all the birds he sees! Last year we were there as a flock of White Pelicans flew over midday! He recorded these as his 100th species for the day! 100 species! Imagine! Just sitting! And he was not done yet.  Indeed! You do not have to work those aging hips too far!!! Hey if Tom can sit atop a ladder and get over 100 birds, y'all can certainly get a lifer or two from your chairs! You can see he has quite a following!





2) Is it wheelchair accessible? Most if not all of the birding sites are wheelchair accessible! And all allow electric "scooters" as well!  Including BSBO, the Sportsman Center at Magee Marsh, the Nature Center by the BWIAB Headquarters at Maumee Bay Convention Center, the Windows on Wildlife at Pearson Metropark  and the Magee Marsh Boardwalk! Birders are extremely respectful of all with disabilities! Be sure you get your close special parking nearby if you have a handicapped sticker. From my experience, everyone is much more respectful of the handicapped parking here than (for example) in your local supermarket! And, birders and law enforcement are especially diligent about enforcement!
Magee boardwalk. Plenty of respect and opportunities for all!


"Mayor Bob" on Magee Boardwalk
If you see this guy, hang around him awhile. He knows everything about the Boardwalk!!!
We learned on our first trip there that the locals call him "Mister Mayor" We greet and honor him with this title
as we meet him every year. He likes being recognized. Great birder!

3) "Facilities". My bladder is not what it used to be ... and yes, I think about these things!

During the Biggest Week,you will find many "porta-potties" at Magee Marsh including several larger ones with handrails inside, and at the end of the road at Metzger Marsh. Both places have handicapped accessible (the big ones). They also have hand-sanitizers inside. For the water-available flush ones, I suggest Ottawa  NWR which has the best facilities (and also Dyson hand-dryers - these are SO great  I just really enjoy on new better inventions !)  and also the Magee Sportsmen Center.

3) Famous birders. This event draws famous birders from all over the world!!! You will encounter amazing birders from all over the world!!! Besides the local birders (like my friends and heroes Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman) you might meet many of your Facebook birding friends! I find this one of the most rewarding and special aspects of the festival! And be sure to talk to the "Yellow-hats" (the volunteer guides)!!! These people are experts on birds from around the world! They volunteer to guide at The Biggest Week! They generally offer guided trips in their part of the world, but really do know birds from everywhere!!! I will be doing another post about the birders we meet there! But I put up one special pic of an encounter at the entrance to the Magee boardwalk now. Judy and I had met Richard Crossley at Cranefest in Michigan last year. It was unplanned and so great to meet him again as he was leaving the boardwalk on his "birder's holiday" at Magee!

And bring your birding guides to be signed!!! I have books signed at the Biggest Week by Kenn Kaufman, Richard Crossley, David Sibley and more. This year I had Don and Lilian Stokes autograph a few books for me. If you do not have the books, usually you can pick them up at BSBO (and if you join BSBO, you get a 10% discount!). Here is a pic of the "locals" (happy to say they are also my friends!) who had just published a new book only a few days before. It will certainly be another best seller for the Kaufman Field Guides!
L2R: Jeff Sayre, Kim Kaufman, Kenn Kaufman - authors of the new guidebook on Nature in the Midwest
(With me as a "photobomb" while they were signing my books)
And ,.. again back to the title story (y'all know I "ramble"). I am posting a few thoughts about how accessible the Biggest Week is for seniors.

4) Photographs. As amazing as it sounds, you can really get great pics with just  a "point and shoot"! Even with a cell phone camera!!! These poor birdies have in some cases flown for thousands of miles and they are starving! Most have many more miles to go and they are just pausing before they cross a big lake! They went south to find food during our winters, and they now are coming north to do the other birdie thing. 
Sex! Yes, sex! Hey, what's it all about besides food and sex? :) And, indeed,  what matters? First personal survival! Survive! Eat! Then survival of the species! Have sex! 
Sounds great until you figure out the costs to the species just trying to survive ...  Just imagine if you had to go thousands of miles to find food in a better "store" during the winter. And, then you had to go back thousands of miles to find food again and have sex!!! Amazing - totally amazing! - how this all happens so that birdie life goes on!!! They do it! 
And yes, you will be "up close and personal" with hungry horny migrating birds!!! With digital photography, just shoot lots of pics and I will guarantee you will have captured memories of a lifetime!!!

I just put two pics here now to illustrate that you do not have to go to far to get a very special bird.  I have a "ton" more pics to use for more blog posts, but wanted to drop an example! This one was maybe 100 yards from entrance at Maumee NC Boardwalk! SX50 "point and shoot" camera. 
Eastern Screech Owl - red phase
"Owl be looking at you..."
Maumee Boardwalk - flat travel and fairly close to entrance
Here is another from that special place I told you about - not far from the entrance to the Magee Boardwalk.
Bay-breasted Warbler posing nicely.



5) I want to meet you there! And ...here is another thing. You get a chance to meet ME! Indeed, my ego said to put this in the post, But, I just gotta tell you that it means a whole lot to me when someone walks up to me while I am out birding and asks "Are you Dr. Bob"?! It happens and I love it!!! It means even so much more when wife Judy is by my side. She is always amazed! Yes, less now than before because it has happened many times and I now know so many birders, but she still records every encounter in her diary! Hey! You really want to make her/our day? When you see me birding with any pretty lady at my side, just walk up and ask her "Are you Judy Setzer?" Heck, even if not Judy at that moment, I know she and Judy both will understand ...  :) And, of course, I will certainly love it!!! Here is a pic of my lovely wife for reference.  
Lovely wife Judy sporting annual Magee Marsh buttons on her hat.
Be sure to say "Hi"!
And a reference pic of me taking "Flat Stanley" to the boardwalk in 2014. I hope global Flat Stanley is still recognizable to parents! A great international communication starter for school kids!
Flat Stanley visits Magee Marsh wearing his BSBO "Birds Rule" t-shirt. 
And ... I need to add many thanks to lovely Judy (my wife and "biographer") who shoots lots of people shots as we bird together and deserves credit for many pics herein. It sure adds to the story, Judy! Thanks!



Thursday, May 7, 2015

Recap of birding "The Biggest Week"

I am working n a couple of new posts about the Biggest Week in American Birding. One will be about what I call "senior birding". My hips just do not like hiking and standing as much as they used to and the event and area offer so many things that do not require extensive effort.  Another will be showcasing photos I have not shared previously. "Stay tuned".

But in thinking about it, I realize that most of y'all have not seen (or just do not remember) my previous posts about the Biggest Week! In MY mind it is all the same book! I just keep adding chapters thru posts here. But I also realize that I now have so many more followers and birding friends than I had when I started that my previous words (posts) bear repeating - especially with the Biggest Week on now (May 8 thru May 17). The birds are there NOW. And so are the birders! Go there! Do it!

So, tonight, I post links to my previous posts. I was there! I did that! I saw that! I experienced that! I was as excited then as now (maybe even more so then as now since I was a newbie then - but I doubt it! I am hooked! I am an addict!)  Besides just the famous boardwalk at Magee Marsh, you will see that there are many other opportunities. 


NOTE: I am not placing lots of photos in this present post because they are embedded in the previous posts. You DO need to click on the highlighted links (please ...) to go to these posts and see the pics and read the "ramble"! It's cinchy. Click and away you go! Then just use the back arrow to return here.

2010:
My first post was from 2010, the first year we went there. 
MY  dumpster!

Many great memories! But still a high point was seeing the Black-crowned Night Herons feeding at a dumpster by the Marathon station where fish cleaners threw the (mostly walleye) carcasses. (BTW, Great walleye and perch fishing there!!!) Sad to say, the last few years they now have a covered receptacle so the BCNH are not present! 


2011:
I never finished the 2011 post ... something about getting out birding locally and being overwhelmed with the amazement  of it all! Too many pics!

2012:
A better story in 2012, but never processed the many pics.Same thing happens every year! So many pics! So many memories I have not shared! But I try to get better!

2013: 
I was accepted as a Biggest Week blogger in 2013, and feeling the pressure to produce made me a much better poster!

And, this year also had the first ever "Meet and Greet" for Facebook 
followers of the new FB group Birding Ohio (thanks Jeff Loughman!) ! We met SO many great birders at Porky's Pizza in the area! They had a second FB Birding Ohio the following year, but now in 2015, the event would take a stadium to accommodate the guests! Indeed! Birding there has grown!!

One post (click the link!) really tells how one (like me!) might become hooked on birding! It is not just about birds, but also the folks you meet!

Another 2013 post included local road detour conditions then, but also recommended places to go there. 

Other 2013 posts are:

This year (2015) there have been THREE of these wooden-like critters up much closer and personal than I ever saw before! FB is alive with pics of these "lifers" for most folks! Cool birds!

It is always a highpoint for us to record the license plates we see in the area during the Biggest Week. And, it is really enhanced by seeing the maps that they have at registration that also include the entire world! It is truly an international event!

Another amazing treasure! Many (maybe most?) folks only know woodcocks from hearing their mating flights. Not so here! You can almost be guaranteed seeing a woodcock somewhere near the Boardwalk! And, for the past two years now, we were privileged to see the new chicks!!! It is more than just a "lifer" - it is an intimate glimpse!

I think this was the prelude to the blog post I have in the works for seniors. I was having trouble with my leg/hip. But there are a great many alternatives around there that do not require extensive walking! It also mentions what you might learn by attending the many seminars at the BW! Like ... what's a covert?

2014: We went down early. Geez, should have done so this year (2015)! My buddy Chuck Owens and so many others have been posting great pics for over the last week ... But, no matter; whenever we go,  there are great birds and great people! We can only afford so many travel days ...

It is really amazing to seethe parking lot empty!

Another reason why I am working on a senior blog post. You do not have to interact with big crowds or go far to have life experiences during the Biggest Week. This was the first time we ever saw a fox in the "wild"! I think they habitually "nest" at Pearson MP in Oregon OH!

And, if you can ever see a parking spot at the Black Swamp Bird Observatory (BSBO) at the beginning of the road to Magee Marsh,  jump on it! We just lucked onto one! There is a ton of stuff going on there! There is a great optics tent where you can try out a huge variety of binoculars and scopes in all price ranges. The BSBO store has a ton of books, t-shirts and other bird-related merchandise, many great staffers, and a window looking out at their feeders. But, foremost is the bird banding! You get to see the birds as they are caught in mist nets and, after banding, are brought before the audience before being released! Amazing! All done by professionals and trained birders, and all lending more to understand our lovely feathered friends!

YES! It is all true! 

really like my "rambles" and hope you do too! No pics, but I put pics into each of my previous posts.  SO, you just gotta "click" on the embedded references to see the "chapters" in the "book" I am writing! Do it!

Hope you enjoyed! 

2015:

It is YOUR TURN!  Go for it! Spring birding during migration is all great! See you there!!!