Exhibit No 2

The exciting news is that I have my 2nd exhibit in Grand Rapids, Michigan at the Ministry Center of my church.

All spring and summer, I have been continuing my education in printing my own photos, matting and framing them. I needed to develop standards in size and matte style, especially because buying in bulk is the only cost effective way. I experimented with all sizes and several styles with the great help of a friend (former photographer and framer).

I have over 2,400 photos on the web and it was hard to know where to start. I guess I really started with the bird species at the beginning of Sibley's Guide to Birds. I reviewed my loons first, then my grebes, then my herons and egrets, etc. If an image caught my eye, I would try to make a 4x6 print which fits in an 8x10 matte. Next, I made a print for a 11x14 matte. If I had enough pixels (I crop the original image), I would try a print for a 16x20 or 18x24 matte. Since I started taking pictures in 1999 on film, and have moved through 3 digital camera bodies, I often don't have enough pixels in the early images for the larger mattes.

After developing about 100 prints, I had to stop. I had too much stuff! Not all of the prints were good enough for an exhibit. Again, with my friend, I developed a way to evaluate a picture by giving each print a score of 1-3 for each element of color, setting, action and bird portrait. Using this method, we selected 45 frames with pictures of birds and bird eggs. Funny, all prints selected had a score of 10-12. (And now, I will waste less paper and ink and $.)

Some of my favorites are in 16x20 or 18x24 frames (scores of 12, too).

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
My favorite because it has humor.

Mute Swan
My best photo and luckiest.

Forster's Tern
My most artsy photo.

Mute Swan
My favorite pose and on the back of my business card.

Wood Duck
My favorite bird!

The exhibit has been on display since the middle of September and will hang until early November. If you would like more information, please send me an email.

The references and gear I used for this blog are:
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon EF100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS USM
Camera: Canon EOS 10D
Lens: Canon EF28-105mm F/3.5-4.5 II USM
Steiner 10x42 Predator Binoculars
The SIBLEY Guide to Birds

All images © MSCI

Exhibit at Big Bend NP

Wow, it has been a long time since I published a story. I know there are lots of excuses that you do not want to know but two of the excuses are related to photography.

First, since last fall, all the pictures, that I was taking with my big lens, were somewhat fuzzy (as if I was shaking badly). So, I did not have any pictures about which to write. It wasn't until May that they, my husband and a friend, did some tests on my camera and on my lens. They determined that the lens was no longer taking pictures with a sharp focus. I had had this lens since 1999 and it has been carried many, many miles and it needed re-alignment. I sent the lens to a Canon repair center. It is back and I am taking wonderful pictures again.

Second, I was busy learning how to develop and print my photos.

My husband and I spent 11 days in Big Bend NP in the spring of 2008. We met Dr Rob Dean, a ranger at Big Bend NP, at Post Park in Marathon where we all were birding. In the days following, we met Dr Dean several times at his work in the park. As a result, he viewed my website and subsequently, asked me for permission to use some of my photos in some posters for the Rio Grande Valley Visitor Center.

This was quite a learning experience because it is one thing to take photos with your digital camera, it is quite another to develop your own pictures as a print. With Photoshop CS3 and 7.0, I managed to print some very nice pictures, 43 in all. These became the basis for 3 posters of Doves, Red Birds and Black Birds in the visitor center. The entire project took 5 months and was finished in December.

Below is a picture of the 3 posters.


The Rio Grande Valley Visitor Center was opened in November and at the close of the season in May, Dr Dean wrote:

...we exceeded 13,000 visitors this year. We feel that the success of this season is due to two things - our theme being birds and your images being the dominate draw. The posters highlighting black birds and doves were the dominant features over our bird book display. Adjacent to that was our digital image picture frame which rotated through your images identifying each bird by name. In the viewing room, we hung 18 of your images in black picture frames with the picture of you and your gear and a key identifying those images. These will remain as a permanent fixture in the viewing room and we have others that we will hang to augment those already on the wall.

Some of the photos on permanent display:

Inca Dove

Ash-throated Flycatcher

Common Raven

Cooper's Hawk

Blue-throated Hummingbird

Greater Roadrunner

The references and gear I used for this blog are:
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon EF100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS USM
Camera: Canon EOS 10D
Lens: Canon EF28-105mm F/3.5-4.5 II USM
Steiner 10x42 Predator Binoculars
The SIBLEY Guide to Birds

All images © MSCI

Bird Songs

It has been a long cold winter in West Michigan, again. But, despite the cold, spring can be heard in the air.

Yesterday, while sitting at breakfast with my husband, I heard a Red-winged Blackbird. I was lucky, too, since the temperatures were in the 50's and I could and did open my window and listened to them sing ALL day. A little later, I saw 6 blackbirds in our willow tree. These birds are the early scouts establishing nesting territories with song, posturing, and other aggressive behavior. Their songs, though, give me great joy and I never tire of listening to them.

Then, this morning as I ran in the rain to get the mail, I heard just one short melodic call. I hurried inside to tell my husband that the American Robin was back (or should I say home). Shortly, afterwards I saw 6 robins on the lawn. All summer long, I have robins singing in the early evening. I have learned to identify individuals by their song. Once, I had a young robin, practicing its songs and he could not reach the high notes. (definitely an alto)

Reflecting back on the other bird comments made in this house, I realize that we hear the birds first, and then we know to watch for them. I heard my first Sandhill Cranes in mid February but only saw them this week.

Even though many birds winter here, their songs are different and happier in the spring. Last evening in the dark, the Canada Geese were flying overhead, calling to each other, and looking for a place on open water on the lake. (a most welcome summer sound.) Since early February, despite the near zero temperatures, the Northern Cardinals, Tufted Titmice, and Black-capped Chickadees have been singing their love songs to each other.

Despite the weather, bird song is in the air and spring is around the corner.

Hope you hear them, too.

The references and gear I used for this blog are:
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon EF100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS USM
Camera: Canon EOS 10D
Lens: Canon EF28-105mm F/3.5-4.5 II USM
Steiner 10x42 Predator Binoculars
The SIBLEY Guide to Birds

All images © MSCI

Bird Name Abbreviations - AOU

In my previous posting on Feb 4 2009, I gave you the rules for a 6-letter code system developed by Bruce Bowman, Ann Arbor, Michigan and the 16 exceptions to the rules for the American Birding Association (ABA) list of birds.

In summary, here are the 4 rules for the ABA list.
1) One-word names -- use the first six letters or entire word if less than six characters.

2) Two-word names -- use the first three letters of each word.

3) Three-word names (hyphen creates a new word) -- use the first two letters of each word.

4) Four-word names (hyphen creates a new word) -- use the first letter of the first two words and the first two letters of the last two words.

The 5th rule is used to resolve any conflicts that remain. If the conflict occurs between species in the ABA list, then both species get a new code. If the conflict occurs between species in both the ABA list and the American Ornithologist's Union (AOU) list of 2048 species, then the AOU species gets a new code while the ABA species keeps the original code. If the conflict occurs between species only in the AOU list, then both species get a new code.

I also applied these rules to the 49th supplement of the AOU list. There are an additional 39 species to memorize with Bowman's rules. These fall into 2 groups.

The first group is where the conflict occurs between species in both the ABA and AOU lists. And as the 5th rule states, only the AOU species gets a new code. There are 13 species to learn and it is always the AOU species. I have placed the ABA species with which the conflict occurs in small print.

Black-banded Woodcreeper = BLBAWC ... (Black-backed Woodpecker = BLBAWO)
Black-chested Sparrow = BLCTSP ... (Black-chinned Sparrow = BLCHSP)
Black-crowned Tityra = BLCNTI ... (Black-crested Titmouse = BLCRTI)
Black-faced Grosbeak = BLFAGB ... (Black-faced Grassquit = BLFAGR)
Blue-chested Hummingbird = BLCTHU ... (Black-chinned Hummingbird - BLCHHU)
Golden-crowned Spadebill = GOCRSB ... (Golden-crowned Sparrow = GOCRSP)
Gray-headed Chachalaca = GHCHAC ... (Gray-headed Chickadee = GRHECH)
Green Hermit = GRHERM ... (Green Heron = GREHER)
Ivory-billed Woodcreeper = IVBIWC ... (Ivory-billed Woodpecker = IVBIWO)
White Tern = WHITTE ... (Whiskered Tern = WHITER)
White-tailed Trogon = WTTROG ... (White-tailed Tropicbird = WHTATR)
White-throated Spadebill = WHTHSB ... (White-throated Sparrow = WHTHSP)
White-thighed Swallow= WTHISW ... (White-throated Swift = WHTHSW)

The second group is where the conflict occurs between species in the AOU list only. And as the 5th rule states, both species get a new code. There are 26 species to learn.

Blue-black Grosbeak = BLBLGB
Blue-black Grassquit = BLBLGQ

Cinnamon Becard = CINNBE
Cinereous Becard = CINEBE

Cuban Parakeet = CUBAPK
Cuban Parrot = CUBAPR

Gray-crowned Woodpecker = GRCRWP
Green-crowned Woodnymph = GRCRWN

Green Manakin = GRMANA
Green Mango = GRMANG

Hispaniolan Parakeet = HISPPK
Hispaniolan Parrot = HISPPT

Rose-throated Tanager = RETHTA
Rosy Thrush-Tanager = RYTHTA

Rufous-breasted Wren = RUBTWR
Rufous-browed Wren = RUBWWR

Ruddy-tailed Flycatcher = RDTAFL
Rufous-tailed Flycather = RFTAFL

Strong-billed Woodcreeper = SGBLWO
Straight-billed Woodcreeper = STBLWO

Strickland's Woodpecker = STRKWO
Striped Woodpecker = STRPWO

White-fronted Quail-Dove = WFTQD
White-faced Quail-Dove = WFCQD

Yellow-billed Cardinal = YWBICD
Yellow-billed Cacique = YWBICQ

This really is an excellent system, if you are into using code.

All images © MSCI

Bird Name Abbreviations

Six Letter Code for Birds

Wouldn't if be nice if you could write down your list of birds quickly and accurately? Or you are birding and forgot your notebook, and only have one small napkin from breakfast and must write very small to save space? Many birders walk with notebooks in their pockets and make some sort of list of birds that they see. Some birders keep only a life list; some keep lists by state or county or place; some keep lists by day or year. The Yellow-rumped Warbler is seen all over North America, and I think that many birders would like a simple system of standard abbreviations for writing this bird and others on their lists.

I have known for quite some time that bird banders use an alpha code to identify the birds in their work but I have not researched this code. The US Fish &Wildlife, Breeding Bird Survey (BBS), developed its own system. Recently, Bird Watcher's Digest (BWD) published an article on this subject by Kenneth M. Burton in its issue of March/April 2007. Burton made reference to work done by Peter Pyle & David DeSanete of the Institute for Bird Populations (IBP) and in his article he described the rules for the IBP codes. All three of these systems use 4-letter codes.

I wrote some database code to apply the rules (1st order) from the IBP system to the Common/English names of birds in my own database. I discovered that with just the American Birding Association (ABA) list of birds (957 species) there are over 90 instances where two species have the same code, which is 10%. There is another set of rules (2nd order) in the IBP system for dealing with these duplicates or conflicts, and still, there are some conflicts for which there are more rules (3rd order). So, you have to learn all the rules or memorize the list of over 90 codes. (Table 2 in BWD is incorrect.)

Now, these coding systems only use 4 alpha characters and are used for scientific study where the fewest number of characters is important, because the primary constraint is putting characters on a small leg band. But you and I are birders (and probably listers if you are reading this) and we just need a simple set of rules to make our lists quickly in the field, and where we can decipher our notes days or months later. With more research on the web, I found two 6-letter code systems developed by John Shipman, Zoological Data Processing and by Bruce Bowman, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The simplest rules are by Bowman and I am recommending that code system.

Here are the rules for the Common/English names as found in the ABA official list.
1) One-word names -- use the first six letters or entire word if less than six characters.
e.g. Bananaquit = BANANA, Osprey = OSPREY, Sora = SORA

2) Two-word names -- use the first three letters of each word.
e.g. Elf Owl = ELFOWL, American Crow = AMECRO

3) Three-word names (hyphen creates a new word) -- use the first two letters of each word.
e.g. Little Blue Heron = LIBLHE, Red-eyed Vireo = REEYVI, Florida Scrub-Jay = FLSCJA, Whip-poor-will = WHPOWI

4) Four-word names (hyphen creates a new word) -- use the first letter of the first two words and the first two letters of the last two words. That is 1 - 1 - 2 - 2.
e.g. Northern Saw-whet Owl = NSWHOW, Black-crowned Night-Heron = BCNIHE, Black-and-White Warbler = BAWHWA

In the ABA bird list, with Bowman's rules, there are only 16 species to memorize:
Barn Owl = BARNOW (uses 4 - 2)
Barred Owl = BARROW (uses 4 - 2)

Blackburnian Warbler = BLBUWA (Blackburnian is treated as two words: Black Burnian)
Blackpoll Warbler = BLPOWA (Blackpoll is treated as two words: Black Poll)

Black-throated Gray Warbler = BRGYWA (Gray = GY)
Black-throated Green Warbler = BRGNWA (Green = GN)

Common Redpoll = COREDP (Redpoll is treated as two words: Red Poll using 3 and 1)
Common Redshank = COREDS (Redshank is treated as two words: Red Shank using 3 and 1)

Green-breasted Mango = GNBRMA (Green = GN)
Gray-breasted Martin = GYBRMA (Gray = GY)

Leach's Storm-Petrel = LEACSP (uses 4 - 1 - 1)
Least Storm-Petrel = LEASSP (uses 4 - 1 - 1)

Wilson's Warbler = WILSWA (uses 4 - 2)
Willow Warbler = WILLWA (uses 4 - 2)

Yellow-breasted Bunting = YBREBU (uses 1 - 3 - 2)
Yellow-browed Bunting = YBROBU (uses 1 - 3 - 2)

I also applied these rules to the 47th supplement of the American Ornithologist's Union (AOU) list (2041 species). There are an additional 39 species to memorize with Bowman's rules.

There is a 5th rule used in resolving conflicts. If the conflict occurs between species in the ABA list, then both species get a new code. If the conflict occurs between species in both the ABA list and the AOU list, then the AOU list gets a new code while the ABA species keeps the original code. If the conflict occurs between species only in the AOU list, then both species get a new code. No user needs to remember this rule because it is only used in resolving the conflicts.

Let's be realistic. As birders, we are not required to use alpha codes when we bird, but it will speed up writing our notes and provide consistency in our abbreviations. Therefore, most of us will only use codes for the birds we see frequently. Secondly, when learning the code system, I think that adding a hyphen between the abbreviations for each word will make deciphering very simple. e.g. Black-crowned Night-Heron = B-C-NI-HE, Red-eyed Vireo = RE-EY-VI, Barred Owl = BARR-OW. The hyphen helps me see when a new word begins. These hyphens are optional and should be ignored when entering this data into any computer program, but I think you will be able to interpret your lists months later without error (if you can read your hand writing).

I will never need to learn the AOU list and will probably use only 7 codes from the ABA conflict list. The rules are easy to remember, too, when you state them this way: take the first letters of each word, totaling up to 6 letters for all names with three words or less, and then learn the rule for four-word names (which is 1 letter, 1 letter, 2 letters, 2 letters). There are no five-word or longer names in the ABA list. Lastly, 6-letter codes are easier to read than 4-letter codes.

Bowman's 6-letter code system for the ABA list is documented at http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bbowman/birds/sixlettercode.html.

I have been looking for a coding system that is consistent and easy to remember. THIS IS IT!

All images © MSCI