More amazing SEO pictures

More incredible photos graciously provided by Kyle..

WOW!

Amazing: Short eared owl pictures

One of my blog readers sent me a link to some pictures of Short eared owls taken in NY state. The amazing part of the story is that Kyle is only 15 years old and using a relatively inexpensive setup! I'll be posting a couple more photos in a bit. All of these photos are being published with Kyle Bardwell's permission and are copyrighted.

The 1% rule

The 1% rule is pretty well known concept when it comes to developing engaging online training/community programs. The rule is based on statistical research and states that for any online programs, 90% of users will read-only, 9% will make limited contributions (comment) and 1% will actively contribute content. I would assume that this rule would apply very accurately to blogs and I often wonder what the 90% of the readers think of my blog and what attracts them. I regularly check out my FEEDJIT traffic map to see where people are coming from and what search terms brought them to my site.

Today’s search terms were:

• great horned owl box
• getting screech owls to use boxes
• mike hendrickson sax zim
• Short-eared Owl canon 400mm 5.6
• bird box
• screech owl" nesting boxes
• how to track down owls
• screech owl boxes

Wow, sure looks like there are a lot of people looking to build some owl boxes this winter – lucky Screech owls. I wish each of these visitors told me their story, I bet there are some amazing stories floating around on the internet….

Do you ever wonder about the 90%? Do you track your visitors? Are you part of the 90% ;-)?

Super Bowl of/and Birding

It looks like all the arrangements are falling into place and soon our blogging team will be getting together to participate in the Super Bowl of Birds. In case you missed the announcement check out this very funny post written by Corey at 10,000 birds in which I’m described as “a fearsome half-owl, half-human, whose affinity with those nocturnal predators will come in handy when tracking down hard-to-find owls”.

In line with the Superbowl and birding, we now know that a bird will be in the real Super Bowl this year. The four teams left are the Pittsburg Steelers (my backup team), Arizona Cardinals, Philadelphia Eagles and the Baltimore Ravens. I decided it would be fun to see who you think will win the Super Bowl. To cast your vote please check out the survey in the right hand navigation bar of my blog. If you’d like to improve your odds, you can wait until it’s down to the final two. I’ve been terrible at calling games this season, but I’m calling for the Eagles vs. the Steelers with the Steelers winning. What are your thoughts? Drop me a comment, I’d love to hear from you.

Wordless Wed: Winter scene

Round Valley Scenery Pictures

I swung by Round Valley Reservoir recently to see if could find the Eared Grebe that has been sighted there over the past few days. I struck out on the Grebe, although I had a good time taking some random scenery pics.

I just saw a great Gray Owl!

Well on YouTube! I have MAJOR Geographic envy at the moment! The folks in MN are seeing a whole bunch of Great Gray and Hawk Owls - so I figured I would share the beauty with you. There is NO WAY you can tell me that this owl isn't MAGNIFICENT. I would compare this bird's beauty to that of a wolf hands down - wow.

Garden bird #76 - Bald Eagle!

Today I had to run home real quick and as I was pulling into the driveway I noticed two raptors circling in the breeze above the house. Something told me they weren’t Turkey Vultures and as one circled, I noticed a white tail. I zoomed into the driveway and jump out of the car. I looked up and saw two magnificent Bald Eagles circling right above me. I sprinted up the stairs, burst into the house past a very puzzled looking dog and grabbed my camera. I figured the Eagles would be gone by the time I got back out. As luck would have it they were just starting to make their way out of here. I did manage to snap a few ‘evidence’ pictures. I guess this means that garden bird #76 will be a Bald Eagle – not too shabby!!!