Here are some more bird photos that I have taken in the past year. Take a close look at Hutton’s Vireo with Chick. Though it is well camouflaged, there is a baby in the nest with mom. The Bewick’s Wren is also attending a nest deep in the cavity of the tree.
Please click on caption to see image at higher resolution!
Three years ago, we visited South Africa. Afterward, I shared many images, mostly of the abundant and beautiful wildlife. Though I published some landscapes and seascapes, I have many that I didn’t publish. I thought I’d go back and share some of them now. There will be more in the future.
Note: Please click on caption to see image at higher resolution.
I shared some scenes from our trip to Canada last July.
Today, I am going to share a few more. These are mountain peaks along the
Icefields Parkway.
I included two images of something out of the ordinary for
me. I am a closet lover of railroads and trains. Kicking Horse Pass crosses the
Big Hill west of Banff, AB in Canada. It sets on the Continental Divide and on
the Alberta/British Columbia border. When British Columbia joined Canada, a
railroad was built across British Columbia. Crossing the Rocky Mountains presented
a significant obstacle. The best solution at that time was to send the railway
up Big Hill and over Kicking Horse pass. But that meant ascending and
descending 1,070 feet on 4 ½% grade; i.e. for every 100 feet of horizontal distance
the hill rose/fell 4 ½ feet. The doesn’t sound like a lot, but it is. Pay
attention to the grade signs on highways when you drive. When in use, there
were many accidents on this hill. The Canadian government eventually contracted
to build the “Spiraling Tunnels”. The Spiraling Tunnels is a set of 2 tunnels
and connecting roadbeds under the mountains to make the ascent and descent more
gradual[i].
The images I have included shows a train entering one of the tunnels and later
as the locomotive exits the tunnel while part of its train is still entering.
Over the course of the current year, I have been busily photographing
many birds; so many that I have gotten behind in my posts. Over the next few
months I’ll do my best to catch up, interspersed with some other interesting
aspects of nature such as the golden leaves of the aspens along the eastern
sierra. In this post, I’ll start with sharing some birds that I find especially
beautiful.
The Bullock’s Oriole (Icterus bullockii) is found in the
western part of North America. They like open areas near trees where they can
find caterpillars, fruit and nectar.
The Hooded Oriole (Icterus cucullatus) is
found in the southwestern United States. However, in breeding season they
reside in western California also. They live in more open areas, and especially
like palm trees. They like fruit, nectar and the sugar water in hummingbird
feeders.
The Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorumlives) can be
found across much of the United States. They are social birds that flock
together in trees. Their preferred diet is fruit and berries but sometimes practice
the aerobatics of flycatchers chasing insects. Waxwings get their name from a
waxy substance they secrete from their wingtips.
Here in the Sacramento area, we see the waxwings in the winter and the orioles in the summer.
I have mixed emotions about squirrels. I enjoy watching
these industrious creatures foraging for food. I love watching them chase each
other. I especially like their alarms when they rapidly shake their paw and
cluck loudly. But, they do consume a lot of food meant for the birds at our
backyard feeder. So, for the most part, I enjoy them.
As I have travelled, I have learned there are a large variety
of squirrels. There are tree squirrels like the gray, red and fox varieties who
live in nests in trees. There are ground squirrels who nest in burrows under
the ground. Chipmunks and marmots are a type of ground squirrel. It has been
many years, but I’ve even seen flying, or more appropriately, gliding
squirrels.
One of the more interesting squirrels in this post is the
black morph of the Eastern Fox Squirrel. I’ve done some research on these
squirrels and learned that there is evidence that black squirrels were once the
most common. But as we settled North America and cleared forests, evolutionary
pressure selected the lighter colored squirrels. To me, they are uncommon, but
I have spoken with some folks who are aware of places where they are more
common.
Here are some of the squirrels I have seen in my travels over the past year.
Note: Please click on caption to see image at higher resolution.
We recently spent a few days on the beach at Waldport, OR.
It is located in Oregon Dunes area of the coast. Just outside of town sets a
beach amongst a craggy, old volcanic lava flow. It is a beautiful beach with
many tidal pools left teeming with wildlife as the tide recedes.
On this visit, the birds really took center stage. We saw
some seals, but they were offshore and all I could see were heads bobbing. So,
they weren’t photo worthy. But we found some Pelagic Cormorants (Phalacrocorax
pelagicus); one with a chick on the nest. We found Western Gulls (Larus
occidentalis), many of which were recently fledged juveniles.
The Pelagic Cormorant is found along coastal waters and eats
fish and marine invertebrates. It roosts and nests on steep, inaccessible rocky
cliffs. It swims and dives for food.
The Western Gull is the common gull that you find on US West
Coast beaches. They like fish, marine invertebrates, bird eggs and jelly fish. They
will also scavenge on carrion and human refuse.
Our experience with the Western Gull brought some amusement. The juveniles were in the water and along the shore. When they wandered too far inland, an adult would chase after and send it back to the shoreline with the others. In the early morning, we even saw adults force the young into the tidal pools to splash and bathe. It was great fun.
Note: Please click on caption to see image at higher resolution
Last May, we visited some family in the San Diego area. On
one of those days, we visited some spots along the shore that teemed with
wildlife. It was a great time.
Please note that the wild Red-crowned Parrot is a wild bird. Pet releases and other incidents have allowed a colony of these birds to establish themselves in the San Diego area.
Note: Please click on caption to see image at higher resolution.
I’ve been traveling a lot this year. In my travels, I have seen and photographed many interesting birds. I just haven’t made the time to share them. Here are a few of them. Others will follow.
First up is the Gray Jay. It is a corvid like other jays but
is smaller and has a much less raucous voice. In November 2016 the BBC reported
that Canada adopted this bird, also known as the Whiskey Jack, as its national
bird.
The other Jay in this collection is Woodhouse’s Jay. Those of us in the west don’t see Blue Jays; they are eastern birds. Mostly, we see the scrub jay. At one time, the Scrub Jay was just called the Western Scrub Jay. But recently, it was split into 3 separate species: the California Scrub Jay which we see here west of the Sierra Nevada mountains; the Island Scrub Jay which is only found in the Santa Cruz Islands, and Woodhouse’s Jay which is seen between the Sierra Nevada mountains and the Rocky mountains and from Southeastern Oregon into Mexico.
I found the Horned Lark and the Black-throated Sparrow at
Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. Ash Meadows is an oasis, a marshland in
the Mojave Desert that is fed from springs that draw from an ancient aquifer.
You’ll find it in Amargosa Valley, NV . It is a great place to visit, in the
early morning.
The Yellow-headed Blackbird is a common bird in much of the western US. It thrives in marshes among the reeds and cattails.
Note: Please click on caption to see image at higher resolution.
Earthwatcher 