We have not only Stephen Barnard again, but a new contributor (see below). Barnard sends photos of a female eagle and a pair of cinnamon teal. The bald eagle chicks may have hatched, but they aren’t visible yet.
His captions:
Mama eagle vigilant on the nest.
Cinnamon Teal BIF. [JAC: I didn’t know what “BIF” meant, but there’s an explanation here.]
Reader Ed Kroc sends photos of herons from the city of Vancouver:
Here are three pictures of a mated pair of Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias) engaged in billing behaviour atop their nest. In the first photo, one of the pair opens its beak while the other arches back before stabbing his/her beak forward to clasp its partner’s. Their bills are tightly clasped in the second and third photos. It’s of course difficult not to anthropomorphize this behaviour, but nevertheless I have heard that it strengthens pair bonding. I watched this particular pair bill for 5-7 minutes, keeping each other’s beaks tightly clasped for 10-60 seconds at a time, then repeating the process.
I wonder if this is where the phrase “cooing and billing” comes from.
Ed adds:
These are just one pair of maybe 50 or 60 at the famous urban heronry between the Stanley Park tennis courts and the Park Board Office building in Vancouver. In this small area alone there are at least 50 or 60 nests in ten or so tree tops. For some context, I’ve also attached a picture of the immediate area.
I don’t whether you’re joking with the “BIF” link. Just in case, or for others who might not know, it’s photography speak for “bird(s) in flight”.
Ha ha ha, I hadn’t thought to click through till you mentioned that! (I automatically read “birds in flight.”)
Well thanks for that, I was wondering WTF obesity had to do with these clearly very fit birds!
Love the Herons. I found one stealing small fish out of our back yard pond once. He was perched on one of our deck chairs.
Blue herons once claimed our pond at our old house as their territory. We saw one clinging all night to a neighbour’s swing set, throughout a bad rainstorm, keeping vigil over the pond. They’d snatch out huge goldfish, and then perched on another neighbour’s fancy wood gazebo to eat. Unfortunately, they sometimes left dead fish and offal atop the structure. Phew! As for the plastic heron deterrent, that had no use whatsoever. It was most interesting to watch a heron swoop into the garden and do its stealth walk towards the pond. Our now-departed guard/bouncer cat even went after one.
Can anybody identify for me that strange white stuff clinging to the background landscape in the photo of the teals? I’ve seen clouds before, once or thrice, but not so low and not shaped like that.
b&
Nobody sKnows what it is…
That white stuff is the stealer of happiness.
Snow-capped mountains
What is this “snow”? Some sort of polymer? Is this that Christo guy at work?
b&
Happy to announce that this is the first day since December there hasn’t been any of that stuff in my yard.
If it makes you feel better…Monday’s high here was 89°F, and may well be our last day with a sub-90 high until October….
b&
In some places, that is known as ‘barf on the coos’.
برف بر روی تپه
Wow, those herons look so much more fancy than the inner city punk herons you get walking around in central Amsterdam.
All lovely photos. I hadn’t seen teals before. I wish winter would go away here so I can see some birds. I missed the tundra swans (they flew when I wasn’t looking that day) as they migrate north.
Diana, the same dumbass robin who divebombed our dining room window from dawn to dusk all last Spring seems to be back. I’ve lived in this house for 30 years and last year was the first time this happened. We’ve put up strips of translucenr Contact paper which helps a tiny bit. Haven’t seen any herons yet, though.
Robins and red winged blackbirds and grackles are back at the feeder. I haven’t seen herons either. The chipmunks occasionally wake up to eat some seeds.
I get dive bombed by annoying barn swallows.
We have one cute little chipmunk I think back from last year. And one very small ( red?) squirrel who bullies the chipmunk and a bunch of much bigger grey and black squirrels. The bunnies seem to have eaten most of my incipient crocuses ( croci?) so i’ve sprinkled cayenne pepper thereabouts, which is supposed to help. No sign of last year’s foxes yet, but have heard coyotes howl at night. Poochie’s getting a bit deaf so she no longer howls back.
Meanwhile, just outside Pittsburgh, MaIggle is plucking a pigeon for her brood.
I don’t think Professor Ceiling Cat was able to see the first episode of Your Inner Fish last night, so we won’t have a post for it, but I know Neil Shubin reads this website, so I hope he will see this:
Your Inner Fish had, in one episode, more interesting science than I have seen in four episodes of Cosmos. Also, Neil shares the spotlight with other scientists who are actually alive and doing science today, including *gasp* women scientists!
Kudos Neil, I can’t wait to see the next episode.
Remember, they’re both Neils. 😉
Haha, good point!
That didn’t occur to me, actually I give kudos to Neil DeGrasse Tyson, too.
Fun co-inky-dink. 🙂
You GO Neils ( not Nils..). Have taped Inner Fish ( had a concert last night) and greatly look fwd to it.