Common Goldeneye

As the temperatures are starting to rise, we'll see the ice that formed along the edges of Lake Michigan start to break up. This is good news! We'll get a better chance to see a multitude of waterfowl that has been hanging around all winter long....

Before we start here, I'd like to explain an important identifying tool. Behavior. There basically two kinds of ducks, the divers and the dabblers.  Diving ducks will submerge themselves completely underwater in search for food. Goldeneyes, mergansers, Redheads, Buffleheads, and scuaps belong to this category. The dabblers tend to stick closer the the shore, feeding mainly on vegetable matter by upending on the water surface or reach out their necks out to graze the surface. Mallards, shovelers, teals, Gadwalls, and Pintails fall into this category.

The Common Goldeneye is one of the more common diving ducks that we'll see around here. Medium sized flocks have been reported all along Racine's shoreline. (I once counted almost four dozen at the Pugh Marina) Kinda neat watching them dive into the water....

To identify them, look for the iridescent greenish-black head and a distinctive oval white patch at the base of the bill, along with white sides and black back on the males. Females have the chocolate brown heads with slate gray back wings and tails. (See picture above). They can be confused with the Barrow's Goldeneye, but it is unlikely that any can be found around here.

Common Goldeneyes are often the last to arrive around here and among the first to leave back to the forested regions of Canada and Alaska. Like Wood Ducks and Hooded Mergansers, they will nest in tree cavities.

The picture on top was taken at the Pugh Marina on 2/13/2013. I like this picture because it does show the side by side differences between the male and female. The top bottom picture was taken on 12/29/2012 at the Festival Park Lagoon. Though it was captured during a light winter snowfall, I like the close-up shot here. The bottom picture was taken by Tender Heart on 12/22/2012 at the Lagoon as well. While Tender Heart was taking shots at at some Common Mergansers, I spotted a goldeneye making a landing into the harbor. I had said out loud, "That would have been a great shot!" Tender Heart just showed me her pics and said. "You think?" Talk about about irony....

 

Open Blog - Thursday

Everybody have a nice day, Mr. Egret.

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my snow cones!  How are you?  Wisconsin winter is back.  The snow is good for the drought.  What I really dislike is the subzero stuff.  We haven’t had too much of that this year and I’m not complaining.  Please, please be very careful walking and driving in this stuff. If you don’t have to go out, don’t.  Hip hip hooray for the plow drivers who remove the snow from our streets and roads. 

Señor Zanza bought us a snow blower for Christmas.  It’s a big one with knobby tires.  Junior loves it.  He couldn’t wait to go out and use it.  He has kept our sidewalk and driveway spotless.  I told him about some elderly and/or disabled people in the neighborhood who probably could use help in snow removal.  I thought it would be beneficial for Junior, too, to do some volunteer work for those less able than him.  Imagine my surprise when I recently learned that he’s been charging those people $20 an hour to remove snow.  Oh my.  His father wasn’t around much, but sometimes Junior acts just like him.

I also discovered that Junior calls Señor Zanza “Señor Xanax” behind his back because of his cool and calm nature.  Oh dear.  When I asked what he calls me, he mumbled something.  “What?” I demanded.  Junior said that “some” of his friends refer to me as a psychotic, rather than a psychic.  Childish, harmless name calling, that’s all.  Who will care this morning when “some” of Junior’s friends wake up quacking like ducks?  Tee hee.

I read that Mr. Ex-Mayor Becker has been released from prison and placed in Racine County.  Oh my.  The circus continues.    

I’ve also been reading Racine Exposed [http://racineexposed.wordpress.com/] and Racine in Ruins [http://racineinruins.wordpress.com/].  Triple oh my, oh my, oh my!  If I read too much of those, I get depressed.  Our local leaders actively work against us.

Here, instead, is an inspiring story to uplift your heart:

That’s absolutely beautiful. 

Thank you, dears, for stopping by to read my blog.  All readers are welcome: regular, irregular, and illiterate.  I love you all.  You make my day.

Junior’s snow blowing, cheap: madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com.

Again, be careful out there, my dears. In less than a month, it’s spring. Keep a watchful eye out for signs of the season.  We all need encouragement.  Bedizen!  

"The Honest Coca-Cola Obesity Commercial"

Download it before the lawyers take it down.

Good or Bad?

Open Blog - Wednesday

Is that a penguin with butterfly wings?

No Computer Generated Imagery

Can't. Look. Away.

Open Blog - Tuesday

Fruit is good for you.

Northern Hawk Owl

Sometimes you have to go to the distance.....

As of this posting, there are only TWO Northern Hawk Owls in the state of Wisconsin. One in Douglas County near Poplar. That's in the northwestern part of the state near Superior. The other owl is at the intersection of Hwy 57 and Co. Q near Sister Bay in Door County. The one in Door County has been first spotted sometime in early December and has been hanging around there since. After reading dozen upon dozen reports, Tender Heart and I elected to make a journey to see this beautiful bird in Door County. Who knows when this bird is going to fly back home to Canada?

Hawk Owls are not rare, but their forays into Wisconsin are extremely rare. Only a handful of sighting have been reported since 2009, which makes this a special opportunity... Hawk Owls generally don't migrate, however, they are known to "invade" the northern U.S. during the winter on an irregular basis. The exact reasons are debatable.

Little is known about the Northern Hawk Owl due to a sparse population in a widespread range, but here is what we know.... Hawk Owls are a partially a diurnal hunter, meaning they basically hunt during the day. They feed mostly on small rodents and Red Squirrels, however they'll take down small game birds like grouse. They have keen eyesight and exceptional hearing. Other words, they WILL find that vole in the snow a half a mile away! They can be found perched on top of a spruce tree in partially wooded areas with an easy access to a clearing.

Hawk Owls are medium sized, about 17 inches long with a 32 inch wingspan with a white face with a black borderline. They have a dark crown with white spots, while the backside and wings are brown and black with white spots. To top it all, a thick brown barring across the chest and belly. Pretty much unmistakable...

These pictures were taken at the intersection of Hwy 57 and Co Q near Sister Bay, WI on 2/9/2013. Tender Heart and I traveled a three hour journey one way from my folk's place in Pickeral, WI to this location. The owl wasn't an easy find at first. We had expected to find it on a wire or a tree close by. Not there. Searched a couple of miles of road each direction. Nothing. Maybe it left already... Just when we were about to give up, a lady in a truck pulled along side of us and told us where the owl was. (Must of seen me with the binoculars). Sure enough, there it was! Perched in a tree next to a farmhouse! That made my day!

 

"Woman Receives 13th Citation For Driving With Suspended License"

From Caledonia Patch:

"A Racine woman misjudges the driveway into her workplace, and winds up in a running stream of water, but then gets her 13th citation for driving with a suspended license from the Caledonia Police Department."

Read more: http://caledonia.patch.com/articles/woman-receives-13th-citation-for-driving-with-suspended-license


Be sure to check out the comments on the above story:

 

"Let's see if one of the judges has the orbs to put her in jail!"

The orbs?  The orbs?

I'm not taking that as a compliment.  However, I appreciate the usernames Tuco (the ugly in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly") and Django Freeman ("Django Unchained," Quentin Tarentino's latest contribution to the Django ethos, starring Jamie Foxx).

A song from my era.

I turned 18 in May and graduated from high school in June; 5 DAYS after graduation I received my draft notice from the military.

 

This was in the heat of Viet Nam “confrontation”. This was the time when the US started to ‘escalate’ Viet Nam to calling it a war and everyone was going

 

Donations

Open Blog - Monday

The same to you and everyone else, Tinker Bell.

"RACINE RAIDERS SIGN FORMER GREENVILLE COLLEGE STANDOUT, DOM KEGEL"

"(RACINE, WIS.) - The Racine Raiders are pleased to announce that former Greenville College quarterback Dom Kegel has signed with the team for the 2013 season. Kegel was a standout player at Greenville College before playing football in Europe.

"'It's an honor to have this opportunity and contribute to the level of excellence this club has maintained for decades,' said Kegel. 'The Raider family has already been a blessing to me; I hope I can bless them in return.'

Kegel was a 1st Team All-Conference selection in 2006 and 2007 and was named Conference Player of the Year in 2007. He was a National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) All-American and ranked in the top 25 in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in all-purpose yards in 2007. He was a seven-time conference player of the week.

After his stellar career at Greenville College, Kegel quarterbacked the Basel Gladiators to the Swiss Championship in 2009. Following his championship season in Switzerland, Kegel worked out for several teams in 2010, including teams in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL) before playing indoor football for the Omaha Beef in 2011.

"Kegel again flew across the Atlantic Ocean in 2012 to play for the Seinajoki Crocodiles in the Finnish Maple League, the highest of four American football leagues in Finland. He navigated the Crocodiles to a 9-2 record and the semi-final game. He was named the Maple League Most Valuable Player.

“'I’m thrilled to welcome Dom to our football team,' said head coach Gino Perfetto. 'Not only does he possess great football skills but he’s a young man of high character and will be a great addition to the organization.'"

For more information on the Racine Raiders, please visit http://www.racineraiders.com. 
For more information on playing for the defending national champions, please visit http://www.playfortheraiders.com.

Useless Information

Did you Know:

A jar of Vaseline is sold every 39 seconds.

Hmm...

Black History Month

"Chester Commodore (August 22, 1914 – April 10, 2004) was an African American cartoonist, both of political cartoons and comic strips. Born in Racine,Wisconsin, Commodore was always interested in drawing. His parents and sisters moved to Chicago in 1923, but Chester and his older brother stayed in Racine with his maternal grandmother in her boarding house until he moved to Chicago in 1927.

"While still in high school, he tried to get a job with the Chicago Defender, one of the country's most notable African American newspapers, but its publisher, Robert Abbott, told him to finish his education first. Following school, he worked as a chauffeur and a mechanic, and got a job with the Pullman Company. He was always drawing, and posted his drawings on company bulletin boards. He was recommended for a staff position with the Minneapolis Star in 1938, but when he showed up for the interview, he was told that there was no such job.

"Finally, in 1948 he went to work for the Defender, doing layout, but soon started drawing cartooons for the paper. His first strip, in 1948, was called The Sparks . He took over Jay Jackson's strip Bungleton Green in the early 1950s and contributed to the cartoon features The Ravings of Professor Doodle and So What?. When Jay Jackson died in 1954, Commodore took over his role drawing editorial cartoons for the paper. From 1974 he drew a weekly full-page caricature for the cover of the Defender's weekly arts supplement, Accent. The series lasted for more than five years.

"Commodore and his wife retired to Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1981, but from 1992 he resumed work for the Defender, contributing a weekly cartoon until his death in 2004.<sup>[1]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester_Commodore


Born in Racine.  I never heard of him before.</sup>

Save the date...

hi all :)
I'm working on our next get-together, 

so far, only have the date -

Saturday, March 16th. 

More info to follow soon. (via email)

Dodgeboy, I think you are the only one I 

do not have an email address for.
Would you please shoot me an email so

I can keep you in the loop as well?

lizardmom@jtirregulars.com

If anyone has changed their email address

lately, please also send an email so
I can update. I wouldn't want to 

miss anyone :)

Open Blog - Weekend

We can dream, can't we?

Vince Gill - It's Hard To Kiss The Lips At Night

Four for Fridays

Hello everyone and welcome back! It's been a long, long week for me... I can honestly say, "Thank God, it's Friday...." Looking forward to sleeping in for a change. Anyways, some questions for you....

1) What is your favorite Star Wars movie?

2) Your worst Star Wars movie?

3) If you where a police officer for one day what would you do with the authority? 

4) Are you more like your mother or your father?

Enjoy your weekend!

Womenisms

"Put Your Number In My Phone."

"This was so easy to film...hopefully this was a good way to teach guys not to care to much and be straight forward and p.s 25% of girls rejected us or had a boyfriend! Please Share!! :)" 

Read more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mRM1VwUiYA


It's incredible to me that so many women would give a complete stranger their phone number. Are they just young? Naive? Stupid?

Open Blog - Friday

Hurray!

Tucson Snow

Yesterday in Tucson, we had a rare snow. First time since I moved there I had seen snow actively falling where I was (not counting snow on mountain tops where I wasn't of course...it snowed once in 2007 but I was out of town that weekend).  Here are a few shots from the day.

I took a few early in the evening.

About 11 at night, we got another round of snow so I went out to Saguaro National Park East to take some pics. It was kind of creepy. It was close to freezing so there was the constant noise of melting snow dripping off the cactus.

We kind of freak out over minor snowfalls. Don't judge us!

Gas Prices

Dyson Vac

"Jamie Berry Feat. Octavia Rose - 'Delight' (JSM)"

That's great. I can't dance to save my life.

Winter Driving

Don't you just love drivers like that?

A tip of the hat to BL Basketcase for the image.

Open Blog - Thursday

YOU, TOO!

"To This Day Project - Shane Koyczan"

"To This Day Project is a project based on a spoken word poem written by Shane Koyczan called 'To This Day,' to further explore the profound and lasting impact that bullying can have on an individual."

Read more: http://tothisdayproject.com/

"Becker to be released — Former mayor at end of three years in prison"

http://journaltimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/becker-to-be-released-former-mayor-at-end-of-three/article_7525fac0-7b54-11e2-b524-001a4bcf887a.html

The pedo will be released next Tuesday.  He has to live in Racine County. Maybe he'll be your new neighbor.

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my frosty friends!  How are you?  I’m not feeling so well and that’s why this blog is late. This winter has been hellacious to my health and well being. I’m going to keep this short so I can go back to bed.

I received an email this week from Mr. (Mrs?) andromodo77.  The email was entitled World Domination:

My dearest Madame Zoltar:

Imagine a world free of the petty bickering by the uneducated, the spoiled, the jealous, the greedy.

Imagine a nation free of politics and religion.

Imagine a nation free of debt, free of enemies, free of pollution

Imagine a nation that is energy self sufficient

Imagine a world who would listen to your wisdom, your experiences and your vision of the future.

Can you imagine with me?

Can you imagine the power of the great and wise Madame Zoltar working with the Andromdoians to bring the world back into harmony?

IMAGINE?

Dear andromodo77, you post a pretty picture of our world if only all the idiots and criminals would disappear.  I’m with you. 

I’m not very familiar with the Andromdoians. Do you have some sort of power for world domination?  Are there Andromdoian psychics?  What do they charge?

Thank you everyone for reading my abbreviated blog this week.  I’m still here and I still love you.

Send your questions to: madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com.

Watch out for the ice outdoors.  I used to think that snow was my nemesis, but now I think it may be ice.  I have been slipping and sliding the winter away. Haruspex!

Open Blog - Wednesday

"Humday" for a humdinger of a day.

Open Blog - Tuesday

Looks like Tuesday is as gaudy as it is happy.

Pine Siskin

Another invader from Canada.... The Pine Siskin.

A widespread and conspicuous small finch from the coniferous forests of Canada and Alaska that invades Wisconsin's forests and feeders during the winter months. The Pine Siskin makes irregular and variable journeys to our parts, depending on the food supply of seeds. Often seen in large flocks mixed with Common Redpolls, American Goldfinches and American Tree Sparrows.

Identifying them is rather easy, especially if you know what you're looking for. Pine Siskins are are smaller than the goldfinches. Brown they are, with a heavily streaked belly and two white wing bars. The most identifiable characteristic are the yellow tips of their wings

The top picture was taken at the feeder behind the visitor center at Richard Bong State Recreational Area where I have seen dozens at a time feeding there. I like this picture because it shows the yellow wing tips quite well. The pictures below was taken by Tender Heart at my folk's place up in Pickeral recently. I really like how she captured the essence of the birds with the snow on their beaks.