Archive for the ‘scuttlebutt’ Category

From around the ‘tubes

Thursday, December 2nd, 2010

There are a few items out there today on The Internet related to subjects that The Z Bird Birding Blog covers:

1) Here’s a short essay about birding at Attu, presumably back in 1998.  As you may know, 1998 is largely regarded as the spring with the best birding ever on Attu.  It isn’t mentioned in this essay, but I bring it up because it seems odd to me how many people apparently were there.  Whenever I run into someone who says they were at Attu, it seems 90% were there in 1998.  I think I need to get a trip manifest from Larry Balch to see if anyone is lying.

2) Birdchick talks more about The Big Year here.  There are a few more details about what’s in the movie.

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Another The Big Year update

Wednesday, November 17th, 2010

I was at the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival over the weekend.  I’ll write about the birds I saw in another post, but in the meantime I’ll pass on some information, some first-hand, some second-hand, about The Big Year that I gleaned while I was there:

- The release date is tentatively July 4.  If true, this means the studio has high hopes for the movie.  I guess another sign that there are high hopes is that it has three big name stars. 

- Speaking of big name stars, most of the budget was spent on them.

- The movie is a loose adaptation of the book.  So don’t expect any of the lead characters to be named Sandy Komito or Greg Miller.

- Some birders went over the script and recommended changes.  But I can’t say for sure if the recommendations were incorporated in the script.

I’ll pass on any other info as it becomes available.

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Has anyone seen a celebrity birding?

Monday, October 25th, 2010

A list of the 10 best celebrity birdwatchers appeared on guardian.co.uk.  I’m not sure what criteria were used to determine who was best, but there you go.  The list is almost entirely focused on British birders, which is understandable considering it was produced by a Brit for a British news source.

It got me thinking about American celebrity birders.  Yes, I’ve heard some names thrown around, but has anyone actually seen a celebrity out birding, other than perhaps Jimmy Carter?  I’m not counting birding celebrities, only celebrity birders, so Pete Dunne, Kenn Kaufman, and David Sibley don’t count.  (Sorry, guys.)  I realize being a celebrity is a lot of hard work, but if I had some Hollywood money, I’d probably be out there chasing a code 5 bird once and awhile or hanging out at some migrant trap for a few weeks.

Somewhat related, word on the street is that Drew Barrymore is currently filming a movie in Barrow, AK.  I wonder if she’ll take note of an Ivory Gull while she’s in town.

p.s. Steve Jones, if you’re reading this, I’ll give you a good deal on any tour you want.  This offer applies only to Steve Jones, the famous guitarist.   Offer does not apply to other Steve Joneses, including non-famous guitar-playing Steve Joneses.

p.p.s. Brian St. Clair from Local H, I have a similar offer for you, even though you’re much further down the celebrity food chain.  (No offense intended.)

Posted in Barrow, Uncategorized, scuttlebutt | 4 Comments »

ABA President News — This just in…

Wednesday, September 8th, 2010

My sources are saying the ABA President/Executive Director/whatever-you-want-to-call-it applicant pool has been narrowed down to four candidates.  I’ve learned the names of three of the four, but I won’t name names out of respect to those who ultimately aren’t selected.  However, those three are well-known BIRDERS.  [Editor's note: I mean well-known to those who are plugged into the birding scene, but these guys don't have Sibley- or Kaufman-level name recognition.]  There’s also a good geographical representation among the final candidates with one from the East Coast, one from the West Coast, and one from somewhere in the middle.  No word on the home base of the fourth candidate.

UPDATE: I have confirmation on the first three names, plus the name of the fourth, who is an East Coast resident.

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