Category: birds

Readers’ wildlife photos

October 10, 2023 • 8:15 am

We return to our regularly scheduled feature after an interruption due to war (there may be more interruptions in the future, but keep sending in your photos).

Today’s batch comes from reader Keith Cook from New Zealand. His captions are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

Moon and cloud fingers. Not the best maybe a little too grainy and certainly not the true colour, but this is how the camera saw it. I like how the clouds seems to be holding the moon. The distant red lights you can see in the middle are from the 05 end of the runaways at Auckland airport, which protrude out into the Manukau Harbour.

Siloutte sunrise. Autumn shot as winter approaches and is now rising to the left of frame. At the height of summer it would be to the far right of the Phoenix Palm (Phoenix canariensis) before the hill.

Close up of Ponga dust, a description from the Department of Conservation:: “Would the arms (the frond stalks) of the tree fern beat you in an arm wrestle? If so, it’s most likely a mamaku (also known as a black tree fern, Sphaeropteris medullaris).

. . . second shot, Ponga Dust. What I’m trying to show in this shot is the dusty ‘spores’ of a ponga frond. Ponga (Cyathea medullaris) I think this is correct, after laying them down and picking them up, all this ‘powder’ falls off. I want to know what this stuff is called I’ve tried on line with no luck. I\we have these ferns all over the property so when the wind is up this stuff gets blown around, the car gets covered in it. It must be hell for those sensitive to sinus clogging but I’ve never noticed it in myself. The leaf lying on top in this shot is from our resident Kauri (Agathis australis).

Kererū Wood Pigeon (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae). This to me is a “how do you do?” shot. Here it’s presumably eating seeds in one of a few cabbage trees we have (Cordyline australis) I have noticed over the years that these seeds are not their favourite; nikau palm (Rhopalostylis sapida) seeds seem preferable but it could be just a cycle of what seeds are available for snacking on. These birds are  daily visitors to our guava tree at the moment, and they look in good shape nevertheless. We have had some crazy wet and wild weather in 2023, flooding, high winds, land slips, road closures, so it’s good that they seem in good health.

Forest Gecko (Mokopirirakau granulatus). Sorry to have to show this creature in a bucket, but it was either that or let it run its luck of being squashed. I released it not far from where I “saved” it. This is only the third one I have seen in four decades of living here and it is exciting when I spot one.

Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia spp.). This is very common in gardens This one is at the top of the hill behind our house and it has a panoramic view of the harbour. I’m just waiting for this one to take off as I’m  using it as a divider between properties.

Papamoa Beach. The last shot is a post-covid-19 lockdown shot of Papamoa Beach, Bay of Plenty on the east coast. I thought it was a nice winter scene with people exercising and relaxing.

Readers’ wildlife photos

October 7, 2023 • 8:45 am

Please send in your wildlife photos if you have some good ones! Thanks.

Today we have photos from Matt Young, who’s often posted at the Panda’s Thumb site. His captions are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them. This is the first of two installments.

Here are some photos I have taken since the beginning of the year. I have posted most of these on Panda’s Thumb, so some of the text may be familiar to some readers. Most of them were taken with a small camera, Panasonic Lumix DC ZS200, which I carry around with me almost all the time. It is very good except at the longest focal length, at which the image gets slightly blurry. All of the pictures are essentially grab shots, mostly taken while strolling around Boulder, Colorado, generally at Walden Ponds, Wonderland Lake, or Coot Lake.

It is hard to know what to include, and I do not want to wear out my welcome, but I think I can divide these pictures into 2 categories: things that are insects and things that are not insects. Let us start with things that are not insects.

Golden columbine, Aquilegia chrysantha. This summer, I was, as Feynman might say, observing the gorgeous garden of my friend Ron Wittmann (coauthor of Colorado Flora: Eastern Slope, Fourth Edition: A Field Guide to the Vascular Plants, as well as a companion volume on the western slope). It was raining and fairly nasty, but I managed this snapshot before we ducked back inside.

The golden columbine is not the Colorado state flower; that is the Colorado blue columbine, A. caerulea. I have a picture of that too, but unfortunately it lacks the raindrops:

While we are talking about plants, I came across this ginkgo tree – Ginkgo biloba – along Boulder Creek, in June. An ancient tree, supposedly very similar to its 170 million-year-old ancestors. The tree and its wood are very resistant to insects and diseases, and I remember hearing that it had outlived its enemies, which seems incorrect to me. I saw this specimen while strolling along the Creek near the Boulder Public Library.

Though I lived for many years more or less across the street from some ginkgo trees, I have to confess that I never noticed before that the leaves grow in bundles, like pine needles; the Wikipedia article tentatively classifies them in the division Pinophyta. The leaves themselves show veins, which are somewhat hard to see in this picture, that radiate outward like flattened pine needles. Unfortunately, despite the wet weather, the tree now shows signs of stress.

I found this juvenile red-tailed hawk – Buteo jamaicensis – sitting on the sidewalk next door and being harassed by a couple of blue jays – Cyanocitta cristata. Here are the hawk and one of the blue jays, as well as a portrait of the hawk. While I was out on an errand, my neighbor took her to a rescue place, where they pronounced her to be female, 1.5 months old, and unable to fly yet, but not injured. They said they would keep her and release her when she can fly. She probably fell out of a nest in a nearby tree, but I saw no sign of parents taking care of her. The blue jays may also have a nest nearby, because they get very agitated when a hawk lands on a telephone pole in the backyard.

One day this spring, at Coot Lake outside Boulder, I noticed this Canada goose – Branta canadensis – being shadowed by a snow goose – Anser caerulescens. The solitary snow goose followed a meter or two behind the Canada goose the entire time we watched. Since the two species are known to hybridize, I wondered whether they were a pair.

The end of April seemed kind of late in the season, but these Eurasian collared doves –Streptopelia decaocto – were acting kind of, well, lovey-dovey, so I pruriently snapped their picture. The collared doves seem to have colonized the city, and (as I have noted earlier) I no longer see nor hear mourning doves – Zenaida macroura – within the city limits. I do not know whether they have universally outcompeted mourning doves in urban settings, and I sometimes encounter a mourning dove at Walden Ponds. There are many more collared doves in the city now than there ever were mourning doves.

Decidedly non-insect, these mushrooms were growing on the top of a cottonwood stump. I have not the foggiest idea what they are.

And finally, technically non-insect, a harvestman – order Opiliones – who took up residence on a cedar fence.

Technical notes. Walden Ponds are named after Wally Toevs, “the Boulder County Commissioner who spearheaded the plan to convert the gravel pits into a wildlife habitat in the 1970s.” They have nothing to do with Henry David Thoreau. Coot Lake was famous for a while because of nudists skinny-dipping there.

All these pictures were taken with the Lumix ZS200. It is a nice little camera with a zoom range of 24-360 mm (35‑mm equivalent), though as noted you cannot push it too hard at the longest focal length. I am not, contrary to what my wife will tell you, a shutterbug, but I crop my pictures, adjust the exposure, and sharpen them. I have been known to dodge or burn, but rarely since I gave up my enlarger. Figure 1, incidentally, would have been nothing if I had not sharpened it to bring out the entirely fortuitous raindrops.

Readers’ wildlife photos

September 27, 2023 • 8:15 am

I’m going to South Africa next year (Cape Town and the area around Kruger National Park), but one thing I also wanted to do was see the wildflowers around Table Mountain, which apparently will be blooming in August.  I had no idea how weird many of the flowers are, but this set of photos, sent by reader Stephen Warren, convinced me even more that I need to make flowers a priority.  Stephen’s captions are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them. These photos arrived yesterday.

I am visiting my daughter Charlotte in Cape Town. She is studying at the University of Cape Town. She came here last year, from the UK, volunteering in a nursery, and she liked Cape Town so much she decided to stay!

This morning I made a visit to the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, a 40min walk through Newlands Forest from where I am staying. The land was purchased by Cecil Rhodes in 1895, and bequeathed to the nation in his will when he died in 1902; but it wasn’t until 1913 that development of the land to create the National Botanical Garden began. Harold Pearson who is buried in the gardens provided the inspiration. I spent two hours there and it was like Paradise.

The gardens are located in the shadow of Table Mountain, on the Eastern side, pictured below (the traditional view of Table Mountain is from the North). The tree to the left is a Red Mahogany.

In the other direction, nearby you see the fine houses of the wealthy Constantia district, and beyond are the plains of Eastern Cape Town with Stellenbosch in the distance.

The gardens cover 1300 acres, so you can wander for hours. They are very well maintained, with lawns and stone paths. Many of the plants are labeled, and there are occasional helpful explanatory displays. I know next to nothing about botany, but I collected a few notes. Unfortunately, the day was mostly overcast, so some of the pics are a bit gloomy. Around the gardens are dotted these signs telling you who is responsible for that area. Let me express my thanks to Godfrey and all the other gardeners!:

The southern tip of Africa comprises the Cape Floral Kingdom. Because of the desert to the north, the region is isolated and about 80% of the indigenous plants are unique to the Cape Floral region. It covers 0.5% of Africa but includes 20% of Africa’s plant species. About 80% of the region is covered by Fynbos (pronounced fain-boss) a ‘fine-leaved sclerophyllic shrubland adapted to both a Mediterranean climate and periodic fires’. The best known Fynbos plants are the Proteas, or sugarbushes, so I have included some pictures of Proteas. The genus Protea belongs to the family Proteaceae so I have included some of the larger family. And if I sound like I know what I am talking about, I certainly don’t, and I will be happily corrected by botanists and South Africans, and especially anyone who is both.Well, the national flower of South Africa is Protea cynaroides, known as the King Protea, pictured here, not yet fully out:

Here is another Protea, but I couldn’t find the name of it:

The next plant was labeled Protea magnifica which is the Queen Protea or the Bearded Sugarbush, and should be pink, so I’m not convinced by the label, even though it seemed to belong to the bush – but what do I know?:

Next is Leucospermum reflexum (family Proteaceae) and I have included this picture because in the centre you can just see the magnificent Southern Double-Collared Sunbird [Cinnyris chalybeus]. This was the best I could do for bird pictures because I was just using my phone, but there were other truly wonderful birds including the Orange-Breasted Sunbird and the Malachite Sunbird.

Also from the family Proteaceae is the Silver Tree, Leucadendron argenteum, which is a fine sight:

Leaving the Proteaceae I will finish with a few examples of Strelitzia. The first is probably familiar, a Narrow-Leaved Bird of Paradise, Strelitzia juncea:

Now in the garden is a treetop walkway called the Boomslang, a snake, because it snakes around the treetops. Below is a picture from the walkway. The tree at the end that looks like a banana tree is the Wild Banana, so named only because it looks like a banana tree. It doesn’t produce bananas, and it is in fact a kind of giant bird of paradise, Strelitzia nicolai. It has white flowers of the same form:

In the garden near the entrance there is a bust of Nelson Mandela [see note at bottom]:

Next to the bust is a fine clump of Strelitzia reginae, another Bird of Paradise, pictured below, this one yellow:

There is a display next to Mandela’s bust which talks about Mandela planting a tree, and it states he was given a specimen of ‘our yellow flowered Strelitzia reginae named in his honour’. The plaque was confusing about this and I later found out what they didn’t say – that at Kirstenbosch itself they developed a strain of Strelitzia reginae and they called it Mandela’s gold (details here). The plaque doesn’t mention the name Mandela’s gold and seemed instead to be saying that the Latin name honoured Mandela. Regina of course means Queen, and Queen Charlotte of the Mecklenburg-Strelitz family was the wife of George III. She was a keen amateur naturalist. Strelitzia reginae is named after Queen Charlotte – which rather brings me back to where I started.

Readers’ wildlife photos

July 20, 2023 • 8:15 am

Today’s photos of Costa Rica come from reader Leo Glenn. His narrative is indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them:

Here are some photos from my recent trip to Costa Rica. We spent most of our time on the Pacific side in the northwest region, in Guanacaste Province. The Pacific side has more distinct dry and rainy seasons, in contrast with the Caribbean side, which receives considerably more rainfall year round. Although slightly smaller in land area than the U.S. state of West Virginia, Costa Rica boasts 32 national parks, over 50 wildlife refuges, and over a dozen forest and biological reserves. This creates tension, of course, between preservation efforts and ecotourism, which is the country’s largest source of income.

The view from a higher elevation, about 20 minutes from where we stayed.

The local beach, Playa Avellanas, was a short walk from our lodging via a boardwalk that traversed a mangrove swamp, comprised mostly of White Mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa). After an earthquake in 2012, the land along the coast rose one meter, which closed off the mouth of the river, causing the water in the mangrove swamp to stagnate and kill all of the trees (thus the many dead trees in the foreground). A restoration effort was undertaken to restore the area and replant the mangroves. It appears to have been largely successful, though it will be years before the new trees mature and the ecosystem returns to something close to its pre-earthquake state.

The shallow and drier areas of the swamp were populated by several crab species, including the Racer Mangrove Crab (Goniopsis pulchra).

 

The forested areas on the path to the beach were dotted with numerous small burrows,  inhabited by Red Land Crabs (Gecarcinus quadratus), which would freeze when approached, before slowly slinking backwards into their holes.

 A juvenile Atlantic Ghost Crab (Ocypode quadrata). They were lightning fast, and very hard to photograph.

Some Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis), flying over the beach. There were quite a few more in the line. Apparently, a group of pelicans can be called a pod, a pouch, a scoop, a squadron, or, if fishing as a group, a fleet.

Although colorful butterflies were abundant, I lacked the skill, patience, and hardware to photograph them, unless, as in this instance, I got lucky when one happened to land in the swimming pool. We rescued it immediately, of course, and after a few minutes spent drying its wings, it took flight. Theona Checkerspot (Chlosyne theona).

I did manage one halfway decent photo of an Apricot Sulphur (Phoebis argante).

A Crested Caracara (Caracara plancus), described on Wikipedia as “a bold, opportunistic raptor, often seen walking around on the ground looking for food,” which is exactly what this one was doing.

A nest of Northern Warrior Wasps (Synoeca septentrionalis), in a tree outside our lodging. According to Wikipedia, “It is a swarm-founding wasp that is also eusocial, exhibiting complicated nest structure and defense mechanisms.” The nest was about 30 ft up in the tree, and without a telephoto lens (or a very long stepladder), this was the best photo I could get. Its high location in the tree was a comfort to us, being so close to our rental house. Though not a particularly aggressive species, they are reported to have a very painful sting.

Readers’ wildlife photos

July 14, 2023 • 8:15 am

Today sees the return of Robert Lang, physicist, origami master and, today, photographer.  Robert’s narration is indented, and you can click on the photos to enlarge them.

More local animals

The Los Angeles basin is a vast urban/suburban metropolis, but its natural boundaries of ocean and mountains are abrupt with sharp transitions created by water and steepness. The northern boundary is formed by the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains (collectively, the Transverse Ranges) and they rise steeply from many back yards along the range. My studio is about 20 feet from the edge of the Angeles National Forest; this gives rise to many wildlife encounters, both at the studio and on the trails that climb up from the back property line. Most of these pictures are fairly recent.

One from last fall that I’ve been saving for RWP is this California Tarantula (Aphonopelma sp.). Probably a male, because he was out and about; in the fall, the males go on walkabout looking for females (who mostly stay hidden in their burrows):

Then we turn to a couple of reptiles. The Western Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis) is one of the most common lizards around; just walking down the front steps, I’m likely to see one (although it’s rare that they stay still enough to be photographed). They are highly variable in color, and the same lizard can appear either light or dark. In the morning, they are dark to absorb the sun’s rays; then in the afternoon, after they’ve warmed up, they lighten their skin and their lovely iridescence becomes visible:

I was pleased on a recent hike to see a Blainville’s Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma blainvillii) at an elevation of about 4000 feet. They used to be more common in the San Gabriels, but earlier in the previous century their numbers were reduced by collectors gathering them for the curio trade, and they’ve never fully come back. I really should have taken a wide-angle photo of this one; it would have been a great candidate for the “Spot the …” series, as it was so perfectly camouflaged against the sand and gravel I nearly stepped on it:

Another reptile that I’m glad I didn’t step on was this Southern Pacific Rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus helleri), who was stretched out across the trail. He was pretty chill, though; didn’t budge as we approached, and so we gingerly stepped past. A nice set of rattles on that one!

We have three kinds of squirrels around; ground squirrels, gray squirrels, and the (introduced) Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger). The local rattlers are happy to dine on any of them.

We also have both crows and ravens; crows are more common down in the neighborhoods, while ravens like this Common Raven (Corvus corax) dominate up in the chapparal. This one is perched on the top of one of last year’s blooms from the Whipple Yucca (Hesperoyucca whipplei):

Larger creatures sometimes come visit the meadow behind the studio. A not infrequent visitor is the coyote (Canis latrans). Although this one was (barely) within the National Forest, they come far down into the adjacent neighborhoods, where they find plentiful food in the form of dropped fruit, loose garbage, and the occasional domestic animal whose owners ill-advisedly allow them to roam free:

Another frequent large visitor is the California Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus californicus). This time of year, the bucks are in velvet, like this one. We had a very wet spring, so there is a lot of browse in the mountain canyons and not much to lure them into the meadow, but in the fall, when the acorn crop starts to fall, they’ll be visiting twice a day:

In much of California, the urban/wilderness interface usually exists in one of two states: (1) recovering from the last wildfire; (2) stocking up for the next wildfire. A year ago we had a relatively small wildfire just across the canyon; fortunately, it was a cool day with not much wind, and the fire crews held it to just a few acres:

I spent the afternoon watching the firefighters dragging hoses for hundreds of yards up the ridges while helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft dropped water and fire retardant. I am in awe of the firefighters, who were clambering up cliffs that I wouldn’t even try to scramble under the best of circumstances, while they were wearing and/or carrying 50 pounds of kit and dragging hoses. Within a few hours, they had things under control. The drifting smoke and red fire retardant gave things an almost surreal appearance as they were mopping up:

That was a year ago. One thing about the chaparral is it recovers quickly from fire (indeed, many plants rely on it), and after this spring’s wet rains, the formerly bare ground is covered in new growth, and the burned bushes have resprouted. They’re getting ready for the next fire, which is bound to happen sometime; it’s the nature of this bit of Nature.

Readers’ wildlife photos

July 13, 2023 • 8:15 am

Today we have part 2 of Tony Eales’s recent safari to Botswana (part 1 is here). Tony’s narrative is indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

Botswana Safari Part II

After we left the Okavango Delta camp, we moved northeast into the Moremi Game Reserve, still mostly in the delta. Being winter, the nights were cold and mornings brisk but the days warmed up nicely. It was strange to Australian eyes to see a forest in a landscape much like Australia but with deciduous trees. There’s only one species of deciduous tree native to Australia so it looked very off to our eye. In addition, the forest looked like it had been trashed by heavy machinery and had regrown from broken trunks and suckers. Of course, the heavy machinery in question was elephants—major shapers of the habitat.

Here’s an African bush elephant breaking off a piece of a Mopane tree. it will chew the bark off and throw away the stick:

Here’s a baby begging for food from mum. There were so many baby elephants around when we were there all of them acting in the most cute and silly ways:

Moremi was perhaps my favourite place, it was varied with pools and swamps as part of the delta as well as large grasslands, forests and thickets. one shallow waterhole in particular was a haven for birdlife with two species of pelicans and African Skimmers (Rynchops flavirostris) both of which were on my bucket list for Africa. here’s a shot of a skimmer with Great White Pelicans (Pelecanus onocrotalus) in the background:

It was here that I realised that if you looked closely at most of these large waterholes, you’d see the eyes and nose of (Southern African) Nile Crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus ssp. cowiei) poking out. We also saw many out basking on the banks.

Also nearby, we got great close-up views of the famous Marabou Stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer):

Close to the Third Bridge Camp Site we saw zebra (Chapman’s Zebra Equus quagga ssp. chapmani), wildebeests (Connochaetes taurinus ssp. taurinus), ostriches (Struthio camelus ssp. australis) and a lone young spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) moving quickly through:

My son—this trip was a combined 18th and 21st present for him—was absolutely in love with the mongooses. We mainly saw Banded Mongoose (Mungos mungo ssp. ngamiensis) and Slender Mongoose (Herpestes sanguineus):

And of course, no one can leave a safari without the obligatory photo of the Lilac-breasted Roller (Coracias caudatus ssp. caudatus). A jaw-droppingly beautiful bird.

I’ll finish with a pic of a giant herd of Cape Buffalo (Syncerus caffer ssp. caffer) that we saw in amongst dead leadwood trees near sunset. It made for some stunning photos.

Readers’ wildlife photos

June 22, 2023 • 8:15 am

Hooray! I have a few contributions now, so I can put one up today. These photos are from ecologist and UC Davis professor Susan Harrison, who gives us mostly plants instead of birds—though there’s a bird or four in there. Her comments and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

Second Spring 2023

One of the best parts of having a home-away-from-home in mountainous southern Oregon, as my spouse and I are fortunate to have, is getting to partake of the best part of the year twice. In early June, as lowland California was turning brown and the birding was slowing down, I started wandering around the various 5,000-7,000’ peaks surrounding Ashland.  Here are a few of the abundant wildflowers that were just starting to bloom and birds that were just starting to breed.

Calypso Orchid or Fairy Slipper (Calypso bulbosa):

Henderson’s Fawn Lily (Erythronium hendersoni):

Klamath Fawn Lily (Erythronium klamathese):

Dwarf Hesperochiron (Hesperochiron pumilus):

Trillium, also called Wake Robin (Trillium ovatum):

Great Polemonium, also called Royal Jacob’s Ladder (Polemonium carneum):

Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza deltoidea):

Thicket Hairstreak (Callophrys spinetorum) on Lamb’s-tongue Groundsel (Senecio integerrimus):

Green-Tailed Towhee (Pipilo chlorurus):

Cassin’s Finch (Haemorhous cassinii) gathering material for her nest:

Nashville Warbler (Leiothlypis ruficapilla), an abundant but elusive singer in oak woodlands:

Hermit Warbler (Setophaga occidentalis), an abundant but elusive singer in conifer forests: