Well, I have two new batches of photos, plus one for Sunday that I hope John Avise will send today. But the situation remains desperate: please send in your good wildlife photos.
Today ecologist Susan Harrison helped us out with a new batch of bird photos from Oregon. Her captions and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them:
Is it OK to play the call of the wild?
Earlier this summer on Mt. Ashland in Oregon, I heard the distinctive low booming of a male Sooty Grouse (Dendragapus fuliginosus) advertising for a mate. Having never seen one, I followed the sound until it came from close by—yet he remained invisible. Finally it dawned on me that the booms came from high above. These birds, it seems, sing from well-hidden perches atop tall conifers.
What could I do but return at dawn the next day and play the whinnying sound of an interested female Sooty Grouse? A crashing sound then announced the male’s sudden descent to a lower branch, where he stared at me, booming and puffing out his yellow air sacs and red eyebrows, for several minutes. Wow!!!
Displaying male Sooty Grouse:
This was my first time using a small portable loudspeaker to “play back” a bird’s sounds, as guides have done on the guided bird trips I’ve taken. Playback is debated in the birding community. Some believe it should be avoided entirely because it’s stressful to birds, while others advocate using it judiciously – for example, not using it in heavily birded areas, too close to the bird’s nest, or too loudly or incessantly. For now I’ve adopted the latter approach, consistent with the American Birding Association’s Code of Birding Ethics.
Here are some other birds I photographed this summer in Oregon with the help of judicious playback. Some of these species are pretty elusive.
Mountain Quail (Oreortyx pictus):
MacGillivray’s Warbler (Geothlypis tolmei):
Black Rosy-Finch (Leucostricte atrata):
Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens):
Canyon Wren (Catherpes mexicanus):
Rock Wren (Salpinctes obsoletus):
Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa):
Hutton’s Vireo (Vireo huttoni):
Lazuli Bunting (Passerina amoena):
Steens Mountain, OR, the scene of some of these photos:
Wow! Is right. Thank you, as always, Susan. Btw, I am still impressed that your Davis Math colleague does outdoors. It’s not just the biologists in California.
Nice photos, especially the Sooty Grouse! I feel as you do about playback. I don’t think judicious playback is harmful, as males challenge other males’ territories constantly in nature. In fact, in some colonial species whose populations are artificially low, people have suggested that playback actually helps raise hormone levels and increases breeding activity. This speculation arose in relation to the endangered Black-capped Vireo. I don’t know if it has been proven.
That is really interesting, and even makes sense – thanks, Lou! I suppose when the playback stops, all the birds say ‘way to go, Fred, you scared him off!’ and his ego and testosterone swell accordingly. 😀
Beautiful. And you’re lucky that the goosed up Sooty Grouse didn’t land on your head!
Beautiful landscape and terrific photos. I was interested in your explanation of the debate about playback.
Wow! All of the species in this collection are extremely difficult to find, let alone photograph. I’m especially impressed that you were able to get such beautiful photos of MacGillivray’s Warbler, the Rosy-finch. and the Golden-crowned Kinglet. These are all very special rarities!
Thanks, John. The Rosy-finch required a 4-mile hike to a mountaintop with patches of snow, and was a thrill to see.
Lovely pix! I was struck by how much in the last photo the terrain resembled the famous Horseshoe Bend formation in the Southwest. Water does what water will do, I guess.
That’s a glacier-carved valley, so frozen water will also do the trick! 😀
Cool photos!
And very cool: Steens Mountain! I’ve crossed the Alvord Desert at the foot of Steens Mountain several times. But this fall I plan to go up the mountain. Very few people know about Steens Mountain or the rest of eastern Oregon.
What did the poor Rock Wren do to deserve the Latin name obsoletus?
My faves are the not so flashy wrens. The cactus wren is pretty ubiquitous while trekking through our Sonoran desert and they’ve always behaved so tamely. I’ve had many perch on my actual body once I’ve stopped moving. I just love their song and calls. Makes me feel “at home”. Always love your photos and that you throw in the lovely big shots of the regions you were visiting. Thanks, Susan.
Lovely pictures of the birds and the geography. Many thanks.