Roseated Spoonbills at Stick Marsh

April 29, 2022 • 1 Comment

I had a total of 7 days in Florida to visit many different birding hot spots. The first morning I headed to Stick Marsh to see the nesting Roseated Spoonbills. This time of year they are actively gathering sticks to place in the nest. As far as I can tell, it must be a competition among them to see who can gather the largest stick. They will often fight over these choice pieces. The day starts, however, with gathering in the shallow water areas to feed and preen. They are very social animals and are almost never alone. The flattened bill is to help them feed on insects and crustaceans in the mud. In flight they can look rather ungainly. I watched many battles over who would get possession of this huge stick. This was the winner Another time, the birds were fighting over a long piece of grass, but it was still attached. One bird tried to fly off with it, but his efforts were thwarted. This piece of grass is long, but it should still be easier to place in the nest than a 12' long stick. The pink coloration in these birds is due to their diet of crustaceans and insects. A more practical stick gathering bird. It would be fun to see the chicks, but it did not happen on this trip. Another time!

Red-flanked Bluetail - her final days in Lake Forest Park

March 30, 2022 • 13 Comments

This little gem was first found in my yard on March 17th. She was likely here a lot longer than that. Once I figured out she was actually living in my yard, I set up a viewing area for the public. This worked out remarkably well, other than the fact that I had to spend days and days doing traffic control. There were several wonderful occasions where others offered to step in and help. I took one of those breaks to photograph the bird from my deck. I now had a better idea of where she might land. Her absolute favorite perch was a dead branch lying on the ground under the Forsythia. On occasion I caught her on different perches. Each perch had its own charm. I also started experimenting with video. I first got a good sequence of her on her favorite perch branch. For days I had been trying to get a photo of the Bluetail in the birdbath. On her final day in my yard, I got my chance. But the video of her is absolutely precious, but you will have to forgive my amateur cinamatography. The video of her in the birdbath had several wonderful moments. One was her shaking off the water, which I slowed up so that you can savor it. Little did I know that these would be some of my final shots of her. It is like she is waving goodbye and taking a bow. My other favorite moment was a surreal shot of her leaving the birdbath. This precious little bird is now making the journey of her life. She has to find her way to Siberia to meet up with the other Bluetails. This is a tough journey to make all on her own, and there is no way to determine if she makes it safely. But, she was fat and healthy from living in my yard, so I have every hope she will make it, find a mate, and have lots of chicks! Safe travels little one!

Red-flanked Bluetail a bit out of its normal territory

March 23, 2022 • 16 Comments

I have had the surprise of a lifetime this week. I spotted a bird in my back yard that I did not recognize. So, I posted a picture on a birding site on Facebook. There were many random guesses, but one gal thought it was a Red-flanked Bluetail. I laughed and decided to post my querie on the Tweeters Listserve for a "real" answer. Low and behold, the FB gal was right. For only the 3rd time in history, this bird has been spotted in Washington State. It is normally found in Asia and Russia. Here is the yucky photo that got the birding world in an uproar (shot through my kitchen window from 40 yards away): I honestly thought it it was some juvenile form of a Yellow-rumped Warbler. I had not yet seen the tail, as it was dark and rainy when I first spotted her. By late afternoon that day, I was well aware of the uniqueness of the find. By Friday, my neighborhood was overrun with birders. They were covering every spot they could get access to. The end result was that the Bluetail was chased out of my yard, and was not seen for the next two days. The main problem was that folks were trying to get a view into my back yard, so they entered my neighbor's yard (with permission) and flocked to the back fence. This was where the Bluetail hangs out, but was frightened off. I had to ask my neighbor to deny access to her back yard. Within one hour, the Bluetail returned and foraged in my yard for the rest of the afternoon. I then figured out a solution to this problem: I set up a viewing area in my side yard. This area is a safe distance from my back fence, and has a very clear view of the Bluetail's favorite foraging areas. Win-win. I put up a rope to keep encroachment at bay, and it worked very well. I put out a call on Tweeters that I had a viewing area set up for all to enjoy. This kept the gawkers from trying to look over my back fence. I had 40 to 50 birders show up on Tuesday, and every single one of them got a good view of the bird. The rule was that you had to leave once you got a good view to make room for those that had not seen it. This worked remarkably well since the Bluetail was out foraging all afternoon. It was also a beautiful sunny day, which helped.

I finally had a chance to get some shots of my own, but she pretty much stuck to the dark shady areas, so my pictures are fairly grainy. Not that I am complaining! The Bluetail had a favorite perch under my forsythia. She foraged from there a lot (I call her she, but it may as well be a juvenile of either sex). This next photo is of her diving to the ground after an insect. One of my favorite shots was an out of focus shot of her flying away. It clearly showed the blue on her back. It took me two days to finally get a shot of her away from the Forsythia. She perched on a fence and on a brush pile. This last shot was the one shot I was waiting for. Not in the sunshine, but a bit more open. She is a beautiful bird, and I hope for a few more days to spend with her.

One of the most amazing side benefits of this surprising find was that I have met a never ending stream of amazingly nice people. I am glowing with joy from all the warmth from everyone! Thanks one and all for making this journey a warm fuzzy experience.

One last look at that beautuiful tail!

Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk

November 25, 2021 • 3 Comments

I was on Bow Edison Road in the Skagit Valley on Tuesday when I saw this Red-tailed Hawk. It is the most unusual coloration I have ever seen. The question was: is this a Harlan's, or something else. The identity was confirmed: it is a Harlan's. A first for me!

Green Heron Nest - fourth week

September 08, 2021 • 4 Comments

It has been a joy to follow this nest for the past month. The chicks are now getting ready to fledge and find their way in the world.

Day 22 - The chicks are still tied to the nest, but look how big they are!: On Day 22, I witnessed my first short flight. At this stage, they could only fly a very short distance, and only to a lower elevation: Since they could only fly down, they had to climb back up to the nest. This one was trying to navigate his way back up: Day 23, the nest was still their home base. They would return back for a rest after venturing to the outer branches of the nest tree: Day 24, they are becoming more aware of the world. In this case, a Kingfisher was flying by and making quite a racket: On day 24, the nest was still their home base: Another short flight, again, not yet able to fight gravity: Day 25 - This very proud little guy flew all the way to a floating log. It was my first time seeing them fly away from the nest tree: Drinking water, likely the first time, and learning how to hunt: One of the siblings was not as fortunate: it likely did not understand the properties of water, and learned pretty quickly that you cannot stand on it: This poor little one spent the next hour up on a sunny branch drying out its wings: Day 26 - The chick on the left had caught a Dragonfly, but the one on the right decided to try to steal it away: The were still hanging out pretty closely together, but no longer in the nest: Day 27 - When I arrived in the morning I could not find the chicks. I finally realized that all three were in the huge Cottonwood tree on the other side of the river from the nest tree. They all had the hang of flying a distance: Two of the chicks flew off, but one stayed to explore the tree and environs. First order of business was practicing fishing: One trick is learning what to fish for: As the chick proceeded to explore the tree, I set up my tripod nearby to follow its progress: It also afforded me a one time opportunity for closeups. As the chick explored the tree, it had no idea I was quietly standing nearby (about 20 feet away): At one point he stared right at me, but I did not move a muscle, so he did not get frightened off: The chick explored the tree for another 15 minutes, but when it was ready to leave, I got my first shot of a chick flying upward, now able to defy gravity: Day 28, one month old and still practicing that all important hunting skill: They were getting better and better at catching Dragonflies: By Day 29, they were venturing farther and farther from the nest, and therefore harder and harder to photograph. But I was left with the great satisfaction that I got to watch these three chicks grow from hatching to fledging. I will likely never get an opportunity like this again, since it is very rare to have good visibilty into a Green Heron nest. But, I will return to the area next year in my kayak to get to see the Herons again. Have a safe flight south little ones!