#pets4plovers

 

 The reason Pip doesn't have Piping Plover or some other shorebirds on her life list is because she isn't allowed on beaches. Laura loves living in a world that is filled with adorable dogs and adorable birds, and wants to keep it that way.

New lifer--Barred Owl!

Sunday, February 3 was what I call Superb Owl Sunday. Last year Pip and I got skunked--zero owls at all!--but this year made up for it. Three of the owls we saw were already on Pip's lifelist, but somehow she'd never before seen the most common of them, the Barred Owl! 

This was Pip's Barred Owl roosting when we first saw it. We got closer looks of the same bird (pictured above, too) later in the afternoon.

Northern Hawk Owl

Great Gray Owl

Our one Snowy Owl wasn't as cooperative photographically speaking. 

My husband Russ was along, so when we hiked, he held the leash. But Pip HAD to stay right at Mommy's heels. 

Varied Thrush!

Pip saw a lifer today! I don't know if today being Groundhog Day is relevant—Varied Thrushes spend almost as much time on the ground as groundhogs do, but they don't hibernate, and I kind of doubt if this vagrant being here in February means anything in terms of when spring will begin. But seeing him warmed my heart. Pip took it in stride. 

Tufted Duck!

Pip got a lifer today—a completely unexpected treat of a Tufted Duck. Kim Eckert spotted the adult female in Canal Park hanging out with the Common Goldeneyes near the lift bridge, and John Richardson verified it. I was late for an appointment and had to rush, but grabbed Pip so she could add it to her lifelist. 

I've seen an adult male Tufted Duck at Lake Merritt in Oakland, California at the end of my Big Year in 2013, and I saw several of them in Austria and Hungary during my one and only trip to Europe in 2014. But today's was my first ever for Minnesota (I'm not counting the one that appeared somewhere around the Twin Cities quite a few years ago. I saw it, but the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union Records Committee decided it was not countable), and today's bird was an actual lifer for Pip. 

For a while, birders will be debating whether the bird got here on her own power and whether she was truly wild or an escaped captive bird—the final decision by MOURC will make a difference for my own state and year lists. But Pip's not all that fussy about her lists—she is a dog, after all. 

Pip meets Dr. Daniel Klem

Dan Klem is one of the real heroes in ornithology. Way back in the 1970s he was the first one to research how dangerous glass is for birds, and through the decades was the John the Baptist of bird conservation, a voice crying in the wilderness. He painstakingly built the scientific case about this one issue that takes out on the order of a BILLION birds every year. Pip was thrilled to meet him!! 

Pippy Longspur

For the past 10 days or so, people have been reporting Smith's Longspur here and there in my area. I've only seen this species once, in Arkansas in 2006, and badly wanted to see one for my Minnesota list. So last weekend Russ and I went to Two Harbors in search of one, but without luck. Another turned up this week at the old Stella Jones Pier in west Duluth. I missed it there on Wednesday, but yesterday, Russ and I headed there during his lunch break. Of course, Pip the birding dog came along.

I had a tricky time finding the one little buffy outlier among a few large flocks of Lapland Longspurs. I got two excellent but quick looks before it flew each time. The first time it flew just as I was grabbing my camera; the second time I kept it in view through my binoculars in flight and got a great look at but no photos of the wider amount of white edging the tail compared to the other birds—Smith's Longspur has two white outer tail feathers while the Lapland Longspur has only one.

Lapland Longspur

I'm sure Pip has been with me at least once before when I've seen Lapland Longspurs, but I've somehow neglected to add that fairly common species to her life list until yesterday. So her new total is now up to 270! She seemed happy when I told her that, in the same way that she's happy when I tell her the Cubs won, or say, "Look, Pip! It's stopped raining!" or "Look, Pip! It's raining!"

Unexpected Lifer!

Pip was along to see the first EVER Lewis's Woodpecker reported in Bayfield County, Wisconsin!

Lifer!

I haven't been doing a good job of posting Pip's new birds, but today she saw her first White-winged Scoters. I don't know about her, but I'm pleased as punch!

Pip is confused

Santa!

Pip gets a lifer and a World Series win!

 

 At 12:47 am EDT on November 3, 2016, (it was still before midnight on November 2 here in Duluth), the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. Pip had watched all seven games with me. She and I are usually in bed before 11, but I was so elated that I couldn't tear myself from the television, watching the celebration, for over an hour. When I could finally turn the television off and settle down for bed, I took Pip outside first. And in our backyard, what should we hear but a Boreal Owl—Pip's lifer! My education owl Archimedes was calling back and forth with it, too. What more proof did we need that Nature itself approved of our beloved Cubbies finally taking it all?

 

Pip the Amazing

Pip is such a good little dog! We had a book signing at the Village Bookstore in Grand Rapids today, which lasted three hours. She sat at the table the entire time, greeting people and giving them high fives. She makes these events so much more fun for me! She's so well-mannered and calm—I've had several wonderful dogs in my life, but never before had one who could last for so long in anything like this without getting the least bit antsy.

A book with good taste!

Pip's with her!

Before and after the grooming

Pip the Chicago Cubs Fan

Pip doesn't understand the fine points of baseball, but she loves anything that makes me happy.

Pip's Perfect Birding Manners

On Sunday, Pip and I went to the Western Waterfront Trail where some Soras were calling within a lovely little marshy area. I got close and knelt down, in hopes I could see one. Pip came down and sat right next to me, and next thing I knew, this Virginia Rail came skulking out. I didn't make a sound, but Pip intuitively knew I needed her to stay put, and she stayed at my side, moving her head to track the bird as I photographed it. I was almost too close—the photo above is not cropped at all.



 On Monday, we headed to Port Wing, Wisconsin. From the car, I got some great photos of a very close Hermit Thrush. Pip looked out the window with me, and was clearly watching the bird, but she didn't bark or do anything that would frighten it. It spent its time rooting through the leaves looking for food, ignoring us.

 

When we walked along Big Pete Road, some Pine Warblers were singing back and forth, probably new on their territories, and Pip was so good they ignored her completely.

 

 Great birding dog, or the greatest birding dog?

Pip gets a haircut

Waiting patiently....

Robins are singing outside, and I'm getting impatient for Laura to take me birding again! 

Pip sees an Ivory Gull!

Pip got to see her LIFER Thayer's, Iceland, and IVORY Gulls on New Years Day—her lifelist is now up to 244! The Ivory Gull has made front page news in Duluth two days in a row now, and we were sort of at the epicenter of some of the news. I wrote about the exciting saga on my own birding blog.