Ecologist Susan Harrison has stepped up to the plate with some bird photos (and a herd of mammals), ensuring that we have wildlife photos today. But this is the last batch I have; will you help us tomorrow and thereafter?
Sisan’s text and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge her photos by clicking on them.
Some winter birds, and one herd of ungulates, in California and Oregon
It’s been a quiet winter for me aside from a previously WEIT-recorded trip to Belize, and so it’s taken a few months to accumulate a handful of photos that seemed at least a little bit striking – either because of the sheer beauty of the animal or because of the behavior it was displaying.
The first three photos are from an Ashland, Oregon streamside. It was especially intriguing to see a pair, or perhaps adult and offspring, of American Dippers (Cinclus mexicanus) eating very large tubular items that turned out to be nymphal October Caddisflies (Dicosmoecus gilvipes). This insect is an key menu item for fish at a food-sparse time of year, and thus is well known to Western US anglers, but it was new to me.
American Dippers:
Near the Dippers were the showiest bird in town, the male Wood Duck (Aix sponsa), and the bird with the biggest voice despite its tiny size, the Pacific Wren (Troglodytes pacificus).
Wood Duck:
Pacific Wren:
The next three photos were from a winter raptor-watching trip to the Klamath Basin of southern Oregon and northeastern California. Watch closely for the non-birds 😊
Ferruginous Hawk (Buteo regalis) in front of Mt. Shasta:
Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) crossing a stretch of farmland:
Great Gray Owl (Strix nebulosa) lurking beside a meadow at dusk:
The following are birds foraging in the parks and neighborhoods around Ashland.
Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum):
Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus):
Acorn Woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus):
Lesser Goldfinch (Spinus psaltria):
Spotted Towhee (Pipilio maculatus):
The last three shots are from the seaside or bayside in Northern California.
Black Oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani) prying up barnacles:
American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchus):
Black Skimmers (Rhynchops niger).
Black Skimmers are most unusual birds that hunt in large flocks by dangling their huge lower mandible into the water while flying at high speed. They mostly inhabit much warmer climes, and I was surprised to learn of this flock in the southern San Francisco Bay. Per AllAboutBirds, they have been described as looking “unworldly… aerial beagles hot on the scent of aerial rabbits.”:
A very nice set! The red eyes on the Towhee are very startling.
I have a batch of pictures that are 1/2-ready. Committee work piles up on me this time of year, unfortunately.
Thanks, Mark, and I look forward to your photos as always. Can you tell those committees you’re busy with something more important? 🙂
Thanks Susan. You are my kind of Department Chair who thinks that there are more important things than committees! Great and interesting pics as always.
Nice set!
Yes indeed. The Pacific Wren is one noisy creature. And it seems to be almost fearless. I can get very close to one before it flitters away.
And the American Dippers are so cool. There was a pair living at Twin Lakes on Orcas Island for a couple of years, but they eventually disappeared. You could tell they were probably around by their call, and their presence was verified by the unmistakable push-ups they do while sitting on a log or twig. Very unusual birds.
I use to call Spotted Towhees “fake robins,” but it annoyed my wife. They scrape at leaves on the ground in order to find insects, and sometimes you know they are there simply because you hear the distinctive crunching of dried leaves.
The pelicans look very peaceful. Thanks for all these photos.
Lovely, thank you.
Lovely display!