A quick 2-photo update on the Sandhill Cranes near the building I work in. Momma Crane has been sitting on 2 eggs for the past couple of weeks. She had a single egg earlier this year, but something happened to it; this is the Cranes’ second attempt. Poppa Crane is usually not too far away, foraging.
Continuing my adventures from Part 1, after walking McKinnon’s Way, I came out by a pumphouse just down from the Scrub Trail. The wind was doing some pretty funky things! These Mourning Doves were hanging onto this wire for dear life! But as you can see, sometimes the gusts seemed very localized. The bird on the left is really getting it, while the one on the right seems fairly unperturbed by the gust:
Hang on there, little fella!
From there, I headed to the scrub trail, along the jogging path.
I caught a very inexperienced looking Red-shouldered Hawk over a small clearing on the other side of some thick brush. It seemed to have a fair bit of white fluffy feathers near its tail, so I assume it was a juvenile (though the rest of the plumage was adult, and I have never seen that much puffy proliferation of feathers). It was odd, but it moved on after scattering whatever birds were present and sending the throngs of cardinals into a frenzy of chipping notes.
By this point, the wind was so bad, I figured my observing was over with for the day, but I heard more persistent “per-chick-oo-chick” calls from the White-eyed Vireos. While on one of the walks with Laura Erickson at the birding festival, she mentioned that if you see a warbler or vireo, scan around, because there are probably more birds hanging around.
She was right!
A benefit of birding alone is perseverance. When the group wants to move along, you can stay and wait it out. I could hear the vireo right in front of me, but I could NOT find it for the longest time. But in my scanning for it (both with the unaided eye, and with my binoculars), I caught a flash of yellow and black. It wasn’t enough to ID, but I stuck with it. After several minutes, not only did I catch another White-eyed Vireo, I got a glimpse of a male Prairie Warbler, a first for this year.
There was also some dusky looking small birds with faint streaking that I could not ID, and some very irritated sounding Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers.
From there it was off to the Scrub Trail, but the wind was really roaring by then, and apart from some vultures having a grand time of it, wheeling through the sky, it was time to go. Here are a couple of shots of the Scrub Trail.
Not a bad morning, especially considering the weather.
I also learned that getting snaps of birds is REALLY hard with the branches swaying like a drunken construction crane. Hopefully I’ll get some shots next time when things are calmer.
It was a wild day at Turkey Creek Sanctuary today. The NWS had posted high wind warnings in anticipation of a gusty cold front about to pass through our area. I didn’t get very many bird pictures with my new camera. It was just too windy!
The morning started out breezy and ended up crazy! I managed to have a pretty good time of it, though. I managed to dodge the pelting palm fronds, and getting bushwhacked by some sort of sedgy grass things at one point was fun.
I also took out the new camera (see last post) and managed a few test shots. I don’t have an SD card yet (local shops were out of class 10 cards).
I did the Sand Pine Ridge Trail first, since that area would be harder to do once the winds picked up. I immediately got some nice views of a White-eyed Vireo, as well a the usual Northern Cardinals and a Downy Woodpecker. From there I went to the boardwalk loop.
Boadwalk section at Tukey Creek Sanctuary
I didn’t have much luck along the boardwalk, except for a pair of Northern Parulas (a male and a female) and by then the wind had already started to pick up. At the canoe deck I practiced with the camera and caught this cutie down below:
A soft-shelled turtle!
There’s a nice sandy trail off the canoe deck called “McKinnon’s Way” that is usually pretty fun.
Some transitional vegetation near McKinnon’s Way
Overlooking the creek from McKinnon’s Way. This is where some sort of sedge stuff tried to beat me up!
More of my adventure in part 2!
What a crazy month, so far. Personal issues have prevented me from birding two weekends in a row now, and weekends are pretty much my only birding times right now, without taking vacation days.
[As an aside, does anyone know why I get these intermittent periods of phantom notifications on my tumblr dashboard? It’s very peculiar.]
At one point, at my parents house, I noticed a fair amount of Northern Cardinals, Northern Mockingbirds, Grey Catbirds, Palm Warblers, Common Grackles, and White Pelicans. Yes. Apparently, a decent contingent of 50 or more have been hanging around in one of the larger retention ponds in the large community my parents live in. I first noticed a flock of them the night before, flying over the house while my brother and I searched (unsuccessfully) for Comet PANSTARRS in the smoke-smeared twilight horizon. I’ve seen a LOT of White Pelicans this year.
Here’s my favorite White Pelican image, courtesy of I Can Has Cheezburger (some years ago):
Introductory pelican is introducing.
I saw my first Swallow-tailed Kites of the year today! I was in a job status meeting and looked out one of the conference room windows and there they were! The Great Blue Heron might be my spark bird, and will always hold a treasured, majestic place in my heart, but Swallow-tailed Kites are my most-looked-forward-to birds of all time. I love them!
Of course watching the pair of them did nothing for my concentration at the status meeting. Here are a couple of shots I found online showing you this truly majestic bird.
Spectacular!
Stupdendous!
Fittingly, I think this marks my 100th species this year (whew, took far longer to get here than I thought!)
Just a quick update on the Sandhill Cranes mentioned in my last post. On the way home from work today, the cranes were doing some pair-bonding dance moves. First, the male would bow and leap, flapping his wings and kicking his legs out. Then, the female would do the same. They did some synchronized bows and leaps, too. It was neat to watch. When I passed by their pond on the way to get dinner, they had settled in for the night; I saw them quietly standing side by side in the pond, silhouetted and shadowed by the headlights along the road.
With work being as it has been, I’ve not had much opportunity to check out the bird life around me. Luckily, with the landscaping and proximity to some nicely forested (if, at times ATV infested) woods, I can catch a few neat-o sightings on my way into the building I work in, or by glancing out at the retention ponds.
Today, there was a very manic looking Snowy Egret along the western edge of the large courtyard pond. I am not sure what he hoped to find, as facilities ruthlessly “manages” the pond with herbicides and other chemicals. I think if he didn’t hang around long, he’ll escape any lasting damage.
The bird celebrities on the work campus here are the mated Sandhill Cranes that call the front landscaping/retention pond home. The female had a single egg a couple of weeks ago, and it was cool to see her sitting on it, sometimes napping with her head tucked under her wing. The male was always foraging nearby. But something has happened to the egg. The nest is bare and both male and female are again foraging together. A co-worker did see some.. ‘hem.. “amorous” activity the other day, so perhaps another egg is due soon.
Sandhill Crane pair at a nearby location
I had my first Turkey Creek outing of the year today. I got to the sanctuary just as some of the morning fog was lifting. I decided to start on the upland sand pine trail before doing the boardwalk loop, and ended by doing the scrub trail and the jogging trail before heading home.
[Note: The photographs in this entry are royalty free images I found to illustrate the blog. I did not take them myself]
This is my first official outing with my new Carson 8X42s as well. Solid performance from my optics!
The first bird I got a visual ID on was a Brown Thrasher. I don’t normally see them around; the last one I saw was at my parents’ house several years ago. There was a Grey Catbird nearby, but the main backdrop to all this was the persistent call of the Northern Parula and the occasional “Per-chick-wee-chip” of the White-eyed Vireo.
While trying to stalk those birds, I ran up on the inevitable hordes of Northern Cardinals that roam the sanctuary. At one point while close to homing in on the Parulas, I was surrounded by an entire family of angry Cardinals. I must have been too close to some nests or something. So I quickly moved along.
I finally caught my first White-eyed Vireo – most likely an immature, given it’s black eyes, but he seemed happy enough, singing and flitting about.
White-eyed Vireo
A good number of trees are stating to leaf out, which made finding the Northern Parula a bit more difficult. But I probably would not have seen them (or as soon) if I hadn’t bumped into another birder on the boardwalk. Frank is an older gentleman who seems quite familiar with the sanctuary and has been birding there a long time. He had a lot of tips about when and where to see various birds. I wrote those tips down, of course.
Blue-headed Vireo
When I first met him, I was getting a good look at some vireos, but was only able to see the shape and the bottom halves of them. He asked what I was tracking and so I told him. He was watching the same birds, but from his vantage point, he could see their heads, so he told me they were Blue-headed Vireos. We watched them together for a few more minutes, and I did get several good full views.
We moved along and could hear some Northern Parulas singing in a live oak. Eventually, I caught a good look at several in the tree. Mostly males.
Northern Parula
We parted ways a bit after that, and I continued on to the scrub trail and jogging trail.
Here’s a list of birds for today, mostly in order of sighting:
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Brown Thrasher
Grey Catbird
Carolina Wren
White-eyed Vireo
Blue-grey Gnatcatcher
Green Heron
Blue-headed Vireo
Northern Parula
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Heard but not seen:
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Fish Crow
Northern Mockingbird
Undifferentiated warbler spp.
All in all, an nice and tidy morning of birding!
This morning while waiting for my ride to work (yay, carpool!), I took a few minutes to concentrate on the bird songs and calls in the neighborhood.
Apart from the usual cacophony of grackles, I could hear 2 species of dove singing simultaneously (Eurasian Collared and Mourning), at least one American Robin (alarm calls), a Red-bellied Woodpecker (call), what was most likely a Northern Mockingbird (might have been masking a Carolina Wren, but I am not certain of that).
In flight, I saw some terns flying overhead. I usually see them heading inland, toward the west in the morning. I don’t know why that is. I wonder if they are heading toward Lake Washington? A pair of cormorants were heading east, and a pair of White Ibises flew over the house to the south.
Not bad for a few minutes just looking and listening.
(4th time trying to post this)
I saw 6-8 Hooded Mergansers on a retention pond yesterday. The were all males, which was unusual. I think they are so comical, with their out-sized crests. First sighting of this species this year.
On the way to an appointment I saw a Great Horned Owl being harassed by a mockingbird. Judging by its size, I believe it was a female. I love seeing day-flying owls; it’s such a treat.
(The above images are not mine, but from public domain sources…I need a camera!)
I also saw an unidentified raptor over a pond at work. It’s strange, though, because although I got a very good look at it, I could not place the field marks. Time for some research later, I think.
That brings the official species count to 97 this year!
Lonely Birder 