Bill's Bronzed Cowbird photo published by Cornell's Birds of North America

Hey all,

I am very pleased say that my photograph of a male Bronzed Cowbird was recently published by Cornell University's Lab of Ornithology on their Birds of North America website.

This image came from an April 2008 photography trip to the Rio Grande Valley organized by my dear friend Ashok. On this Friday morning we were among the first to arrive at the blind next to the feeders at the Laguna Atascosa NWR, and these cowbirds were really putting on a show.

Support environmental education and our birdathon team

Dear friends and family,

As we did in 2008, Mary and I are gearing up to participate in our local “birdathon” next week and we are writing to ask for your support.

A bird-a-thon is a competition among teams of birders. Each team picks a day, a route, and a goal. On the chosen day, the team gathers hours before sunrise to listen for owls and then cruises the county until after well after sunset, looking for as many species of birds as they can find.

Ok, so that's what we’re doing. Now, why should you help? Because the Spring Birdathon is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society and all your donations are used for local environmental education programs. This means your donation pays for field trips, nature walks and hikes for children who might otherwise never get outside of their neighborhood or mall. Kids connecting to nature become voters protecting our open spaces and bird habitats.

There are two ways you can pledge your support – per species seen (remember, we're going for 150 this year!) or as a fixed dollar amount. Assuming all goes as planned:

* 20 cents per species becomes $30
* 33 cents per species becomes $50
* 60 cents per species becomes $90

And we promise to match your contributions one-to-one. To get our final species count, tune into birdwalker.com shortly after the big day for a full report.

You can give by check or by Paypal. Send your donations by check made out to Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society (home address: 2138 King Court, Santa Clara, CA 95051). Send your Paypay donations using http://tinyurl.com/cvbu9k – this is the birdathon donation page. Please “Make a secure online donation” after selecting Bill Walker from the popup list.

Please get your donations in by May 15th so we can submit them in a timely manner. We will be very grateful if you are able to contribute. SCVAS is a small organization and every dollar really does count. Last year, eighteen teams raised over $50,000 and we are hoping to beat that total this year.

So here's the summary: Please help us support environmental education in Santa Clara County because connecting kids to nature is the first step in conservation. We're going all-out, kind of like those crazy dance-a-thon participants in the 1940's black and white films, to convince you we are serious about this cause. Can you make a donation?

birdily yours,
-Bill and Mary

Flight School

Tree Swallow
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Ashok and I spent some quality time near Sandy Wool picnic area today with Red-winged Blackbirds, Bluebirds, and Tree Swallows skimming the water. A good opportunity to practice on flying birds. After a few hundred exposures, I got this one keeper.

Dipper Quest!

American Dipper
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Equipped with rubber boots, better beemers, and a hot tip, we drove the bridges above Stevens Creek County Park in search of American Dippers. We watched them zooming up and down the creek in pairs, and finally managed to catch this bird foraging for a few minutes. It was pretty cooperative, but definitely didn't want to come into the sunlight. Sometimes flash is the only way to go.

Barrow's Goldeneye!

Barrow's Goldeneye
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

After many false alarms and mistaken identifications, I finally captured some images of Barrow's Goldeneye at Shoreline Lake in Mountain View. Most times, I'd head up there after reading other people's reports and just not find the bird at all. Other times, I'd come home with what I was sure were images of Barrow's only to be told that I had photographed Barrow's x Common Goldeneye hybrids. So, it's nice to have found the unmistakable stubby, all-orange bill on this female. It's also nice to have had my birding gurus confirm my diagnosis (Thanks, Bob). Whew. Now if I could just get a decent picture of a Sharp-shinned Hawk!