Purple On The Rocks

From northern Ohio, Kenn writes: Okay, the name of the "Purple" Sandpiper is an exaggeration. The feathers just have a faint purple sheen when they're freshly molted, all right? But these birds are impressive for deeper reasons than just their color.

We were reminded of that during our day of birding the Lake Erie shoreline in blizzard conditions on Nov. 18. Kim already told you about our visit to Huron Harbor early in the day (see her post "Extreme Birding"). The highlight of the afternoon came at Headlands Beach State Park, east of Cleveland, where we found two Purple Sandpipers along the breakwater.

The Purple Sandpiper is an incredibly tough creature. Its nesting range straddles the Arctic Circle in eastern Canada, mostly in areas that few birders ever visit. It stays in that freezing Arctic climate until very late in the fall. Then it just comes south to the colder regions of the Atlantic Coast, where it spends the winter scrambling around on coastal rocks that are battered by the waves. On the map here, red is the normal summer range, dark blue is the normal winter range, pale blue is where winter stragglers are seen, gray is where migrants pass through. Notice how much of the winter range is up in Canada -- on the rocky edge of Newfoundland, where freezing spray coats the rocks in wind chills of 40 below zero. Notice also that Lake Erie isn’t on the normal route at all (the text that goes with this map mentions that this is a rare visitor on the Great Lakes). We were cold today while we were watching the birds, but I’ve never been warm while I was watching Purple Sandpipers.

Robert Hershberger spotted the birds first, ahead of us as we were making our way out along the huge jumbled rocks of the breakwater. We stalked them cautiously, but eventually we realized that they were coming toward us! Stunningly unconcerned about our presence, they kept coming closer until they were practically at our feet.


What remarkable birds these were! We could see every detail of their sleek plumage, their stout orange legs, their blunt orange-based bills. Clambering about on the rocks at the very edge of the water, they were sometimes wading belly-deep, sometimes submerged when another wave crashed against the breakwater. We were bundled up in as many layers as we could carry and we were still chilled through, stung by the sleet hitting our faces -- but these Purple Sandpipers, tough and beautiful, seemed oblivious to the freezing blasts. Another tough and beautiful creature, Kim, found that her camera batteries had died in the cold, so she walked back half a mile to the parking lot to get fresh batteries and then stood in the driving wind and sleet and snow to shoot the Purple Sandpipers. Conditions were challenging for photography (slanting lines of snowflakes cross all the images, and in some we can see sleet piling up on the backs of the birds), but Kim got her pictures.

Thinking about the extraordinary tameness of these birds, it occurred to me that they might not have had any prior experience of humans as something to be feared. They had come from a vast northern wilderness, and if they had come straight from the Arctic to this wild stretch of lakeshore, it was possible that we were the first humans they had ever seen.

Viva la Guia, Indeed! BEWARE--This gets kinda mushy!

Kim Writes: When Kenn and I first started getting acquainted, it was a loooong distance relationship that took place almost entirely by phone. He was still in Tucson, Arizona, and I was in Carey, Ohio.

I still remember the very first words he said to me when I finally got up the nerve to call him on the phone. In a very deep (and very sexy) voice he said, simply ~ “This is Kenn.” It took me a couple of seconds to recover and respond because my heart was saying, "This is the love of your life!" I love it when my heart's right!!

After the initial “wow moment” our conversations deepened, and we shared things with each other that we’d never shared with another soul. I was totally in love with him after the first two or three conversations---and then he told me about the Guia! He was fighting to get it published and facing some pretty serious adversity. The costs were mounting, and he sounded determined, but battle weary. I was incredibly moved by his vision and dedication (fueled by stubbornness) and I gave him every bit of positive energy I had and expressed my total -- all out belief in this book and what it could do! Well, obviously Kenn and good prevailed, the Guia became a reality, and I fell completely in love with this amazing man!

Inspired by an idea "borrowed" from Tucson Audubon, I developed a Guia donor program through the Observatory. BSBO purchases copies of the book from the publisher at a special rate. People "purchase" a book at a special donor rate of $12, sign a name plate identifying them as the donor, and BSBO ships the books off to several partners across the U.S. and Mexico to be used in programs that reach out to our Latin American brothers and sisters. The whole idea is that if we can create awareness and appreciation for birds among this huge audience, it's that much more support for conservation. You can learn more about the program--and donate a book!--through the BSBO website.

One of our biggest partners is the Sonoran Joint Venture. Through their Education and Outreach Coordinator, Jennie Duberstein, we have arranged for hundreds of donated books to be shipped to SJV. SJV has offered a number of training workshops over the past few years, focusing on topics such as how to be a bird guide, basic bird identification, and bird monitoring. The following is an excerpt from an article written by Jennie for our Observatory newsletter. Jennie writes: Initially we went to these workshops armed with a stack of ten copies of the English version of the Kaufman Guide to the Birds of North America (generously donated by the Houghton-Mifflin Harcourt Company), a hodge-podge of other English language North American field guides, and a handful of donated pairs of binoculars of varying quality.

Although having field guides in English made it challenging, workshop participants still gained basic skills in how to use a field guide and binoculars to identify and monitor birds. But when you don't have your own field guide or binoculars, it makes it very difficult to put your new skills to use.

The publication of the Kaufman Guía de Campo a las Aves de Norteamérica has provided the SJV (and Spanish-speakers everywhere) with a fabulous new tool. Participants in our workshops are now able to not only look at the pictures in a field guide, but read about habitat, behavior, diet, and other important life history information about birds. And thanks to the generous donations of members and supporters of Black Swamp Bird Observatory, the SJV has been able to provide each workshop participant with his or her own copy of the Guía.

How cool is that?!! I feel so blessed and so honored to play a small role in getting the Guia out there and into the hands of people who might just change the world.

To date, more than 500 copies of the book have been donated! 500 copies!! A huge thank you to Kenn, Jennie D, Black Swamp Bird Observatory, Tucson Audubon, and all of the donors who believed in this book and its potential enough to be a part of our mission!

Sea side

Seaside is a perfect place for family fun, romantic getaways, outdoor enthusiasm,

Viva la Guia

From Cloud Nine over Ohio, Kenn writes: Lisa White, my editor for the last several years at my publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, e-mailed me a short while ago with some very good news.

First, some background. From the time my field guide to North American birds was published, in October 2000, I had this ambition to bring out a version of the book in Spanish. I'd been living in Arizona, traveling a lot in California and Texas and Florida, and I knew that I heard a lot of Spanish being spoken on the street. The latest census figures at the time showed that something like 28 million U.S. citizens spoke Spanish at home. Of course, I knew that most of those individuals were bilingual, and could use an English-language bird guide if they really wanted to. But my whole aim was to get more people interested in birds. So I figured, why not give them a bird guide written in the language in which they were most comfortable?

The opportunity came a few years later. The publisher decided to change the cover design of the book (the first edition had had a Scarlet Tanager on the cover), and they gave me the opportunity to make changes to the interior of the book as well. Since they were having to reprint it anyway, they gave me the go-ahead to get the book translated into Spanish, to bring that edition out at the same time as the new English printing.

It was, I admit, a time-consuming and expensive project. I found a great translator, Patricia Manzano Fischer, who works on bird conservation in Mexico. We enlisted great help from the Mexican ornithologist Hector Gomez de Silva. Still, I had to edit all the Spanish text to fit the page layout, and I put up the money to pay for the translation myself. I definitely lost a lot of money on this project, but I wasn't trying to make a profit, I was trying to make a difference. And we've had some great feedback from the border regions and from northern Mexico, indicating that thousands of people are actually using the book and getting a lot out of it: students, biologists, park rangers, naturalists, teachers. At least in some measure, the Guia de campo Kaufman a las aves de norteamerica is achieving its goal of bringing more people into an appreciation of birds.

The first printing came out in 2005 and has been selling slowly and steadily since. What Lisa White told me today is that this book, this Spanish-language bird guide, is about to go back for a second printing. Right now the economic climate is really tough for publishers, and it means a lot to me to know that Houghton Mifflin Harcourt believes in this book enough to invest in another printing.

雲頂高原之猛鬼酒店

雲頂高原離開吉隆坡市約 50 公里，海拔 1,600 多米的山上建有幾間大型酒店和一個機動遊樂場。

香港人對雲頂高原也不會陌生，相信不少人曾經在它的賭場流連忘返。

馬來西亞雲頂高原的酒店之靈異事件，曾記載在一本敘述亞洲猛鬼酒店的靈異系列叢書中。書中有這一番記載，也許是事實，或許只是道聽途說。

在酒店和賭場開張前幾月，十來個孕婦從越南被帶來雲頂，並分別住進酒店的不同房間裡。孕婦個個大腹便便，似乎即將臨盆。房間窗口都用上厚重的窗帘遮蓋，不讓陽光投射進來，而孕婦足不出戶，一切衣食都由一越南男子代理。

過了預產期後，那些孕婦們一個個離開了酒店。只見她們個個身材苗條，像是未曾懷孕一樣，也沒有任何嬰孩跟隨。據一職員透露，在預產期間，也沒聽到任何嬰孩哭聲，或見到孕婦嬰孩進出房間。

那些孕婦住過的房間，都在窗口掛上了一串風鈴，並在房中置放零食玩具。

據書中透露，其實那些孕婦的腹中胎兒已經巫術施咒，成了小鬼並養在風鈴中。這些小鬼被訓練蠱惑房客，引起賭欲，到賭場一擲千金。如此這般，賭場可說是客似雲來。

有一男子到雲頂來談生意，住進一間掛著風鈴的房間。一到夜晚，耳邊竟響起一細微的聲音：「反正閒著，不如到賭場博殺一番，發一筆橫財…」他心想也對，就到賭場去了。

運氣真好，玩了幾手竟贏了幾千元。正想收手，耳邊又響起與之前的聲音：「運氣真好，繼續玩下去，說不定就不用替人打工了﹗」俗話說：「十賭九輸」﹐接下來幾手﹐男子輸盡身上任何一分錢。正想打退堂鼓，那邪惡的聲音又在腦海響起：「不是還有公款？就用它來翻本，就不相信運氣會黑下去﹗」就這樣越陷越深，賭得昏天黑地。

當他回過神來，已把公款輸得一干二淨。男子在懊悔及氣憤之下，竟在酒店跳樓自盡。
自男子自殺後，酒店住客屢次投訴深夜有小孩哭鬧聲，擾人清夢，但總找不到那罪魁禍首。而且掛在房裡的風鈴，常無緣無故砸落在地上，累酒店得多次更換風鈴。

後來有員工和住客報告管理層，曾深夜見到一衣著破爛不堪，面目猙獰的男子，在走廊上拿著樹枝追著鞭打全身赤裸，哭叫的小孩。有人想追上阻止，一拐彎就不見蹤影。有眼尖的人認得那男人就是不久前跳樓身亡的賭客！

想必是那男子死于非命後，冤魂滯留在酒店，發現這些害死他的小鬼。於是夜夜砸爛風鈴，把小鬼趕出風鈴外，追打他們一泄心頭之恨。

就此原因，管理層下令拿下全部風鈴，以免再人心惶惶。

但可要小心！！當你入住雲頂高原的酒店時，也許還有些房間的風鈴忘了拿下來。

Boobs Up

Vietnam... 0h... Vietnam

Vietnam Before the Storms

I trekked through the northern Vietnamese region of Lao Cai from the capital Hanoi in aid of charity. Both Hanoi and the Northern region have been hit by floods over the last three months – its worst rainfall in the last 35 years. These pictures serve as a visual memory of life before the floods.

Hanoi is a bustling, metropolitan city, but at the height of the floods approximately 100 neighbourhoods were under a foot of water. Bikes are the only way to get around Hanoi, even to go to school. In 2005, 60 per cent of the Vietnamese population was under the age of 30, making life-expectancy figures poor.

Cars are hard to spot in the capital city, with millions of mopeds and motorcycles cramming the streets.

Tourists, children, market goods and even fruit and vegetables are transported by bicycle. Despite the number of bikes on the road, pollution is heavy in Hanoi and smog is a daily occurrence.

Crossing the road is a hazard, even before the flooding, with hundreds of motorbikes lined up in race formation.

These soldiers take a break in the grounds of the Ho Chi Minh Museum. The nearby mausoleum is home to the body of Ho Chi Minh, former President of Vietnam, which was embalmed after his death in 1969.

After an overnight train journey from Hanoi city, travelers reach the outskirts of the Sapa Valley, with its winding mountain tracks and natural streams.

Sunrise is the best time of the day to catch the morning mist as it settles over the Sapa Valley and rainforest.

Rice growing is the main agricultural venture of northern Vietnam; these watery fields have doubtless been washed away with the flooding that has to date left 92 dead.

Nestled in the mountainous region are numerous villages – some unconnected by road – such as this tiny village of Ban Ho.

Streams and waterways play a vital part for the farming industry in Vietnam, irrigating rice paddies and providing water to the villages that don’t have water systems installed in houses.

The Sapa Valley ridges are thick with rainforest – which is interspersed with lagoons and huge slabs of thick rocky terrain. Villagers bathe in the lagoons, or play as these teenagers are, but have to check each others legs and arms afterwards for leeches.

Remote villages are virtually cut off from the rest of the world. Northern Vietnam is populated by a number of tribes, including the Hmong, who speak the Hmong dialect. Villagers walk into the main Sapa Valley town on a daily basis, to sell their handcrafted embroidered items.

Every village in the region has a school, which always flies the Vietnamese flag. While some of the schools are poorly maintained, education is provided for all villagers.

Discipline is a must for these school children, who are lining up ready for their classes. As many of their families work the farms and rice fields, older children look after younger siblings, caring for them in the classroom.

Waterbuffalo play a pivotal role in village life – providing transport, meat, milk and leather.

Houses are built using huge bamboo stems and dried leaves from the rainforest’s abundant trees. Although the steep slopes of the Sapa Valley seem stable to the eye, land and mud-slides are common – often taking entire villages down the hillside.

Village children are curious of the tourists that trek through the valley, and they often pose for pictures whenever visitors pass through their land. Some villagers are very poor, living on the fruits of the valley soil.

Hmong tribesmen are extremely agile and nimble. Climbing up and around the slopes of the Sapa Valley is seemingly easy for them. Although appearing black, their clothes are dyed with Indigo, using traditional methods. The material is actually a deep shade of blue.

After the rice is harvested, the husks are burned to the ground. This age-old technique apparently improves the soil for the following year’s crop.

In the farming villages everyone lends a hand. This young girl was leading a herd of waterbuffalo to graze, after a morning at school.

The rice terraces are unique to the Sapa Valley landscape throughout Vietnam. With such heavy rainfall, these carefully-constructed mud terraces are likely to have been completely destroyed.

Neighbouring Trung Ho is a larger village, with a number of tarmac roads. Although the village is larger, it is expected to have been hit just as hard by the flooding and torrential rain. Villages such as these are often left helpless by the force of landslides originating at peak tops.

Villagers with transport stop off at some of the home-made market stalls offering mainly goat meat...

...from the abundant rambling stock. Some villagers take jobs in the city of Hanoi. The capital also has a thriving market scene – both permanent and temporary – with everything from clothing and textiles, to meat, fruit and vegetables and even ladders.

A close-up of village life – with no communication to much of the outside world, the fate of these young girls after the floods is uncertain.

And then life changed drastically for Vietnamese... flood and death came to haunt them. A flooded street in Hanoi offers just a glimpse...