Birding! Tule Lake NWR Part II

June 1st, 2019

As promised, here are the rest of the bird pictures from my Tule Lake trip! Or the rest of the pictures that turned out reasonably well, at least. I also got some great, detailed shots of grass and rocks and cattails with vaguely birdlike blobs in the foreground. I will not be sharing those.

There were lots of swallows at Tule Lake, including this Tree Swallow who was obliging enough to perch on a low fence. (The Tree Swallows that swoop around my backyard prefer to perch on the telephone wires, and I have yet to get a picture of them that is even slightly satisfactory! I do appreciate their insect-eating services, though.)

Song Sparrows eat insects, so I am guessing that this little bird was stuffed to the gills! (Song Sparrows were also a lifer for me! Hooray for Song Sparrows!)

I don’t see any insects in these pictures. Perhaps the sparrow has already eaten them all.

“I want to make something very clear,” says this Brewer’s Blackbird. “I am not just a parking lot bird! What I am is adaptable.”

This American White Pelican was hungry! He kept plunging into the water to see what he could catch.

An American White Pelican floats on the water. Several strands of pond weed hang from the horn on his billl. — I think you might have something on your bill, Pelican friend.

I was SO excited to see this Black-crowned Night Heron! I’ve only seen this species once before, and realizing later that I had managed to get these pictures of it in flight was such a delightful surprise.

I did not get any particularly good pictures of American Coots yesterday, but they were certainly present! I’m going to go ahead and include a picture of one, because I don’t want to hurt their feelings by blogging about all the other birds and leaving them out.

That’s about all the birds I got non-awful pictures of, but I saw lots more, including Cliff Swallows, Ring-Billed Gulls, a Ruddy Duck and a Cinnamon Teal, an unidentified raptor hiding behind a rock, and pair of Scaups who might have been greater or might have been lesser. It was an awesome trip and I hope I can manage another one in the coming months!

Birding! A trip to Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge.

May 30th, 2019

On Tuesday this week, I took a birding trip to Northern California to visit Tule Lake NWR. I saw so many birds, including at least eight lifers! (There is still a bird or two I am trying to identify from photos.) Going through the pictures I took was almost as fun as the trip itself.

There were lots of cute, crested little water birds that were a complete mystery to me. They were black and chestnut with golden marks on their faces and RED EYES! (Red-eyed birds are extra-cute.) They turned out to be Eared Grebes and I love them so much! Just look at them!!!

The Eared Grebes weren’t the only new grebes I met! This little Pied-billed Grebe was also a lifer!

I have met Western Grebes before, but they have usually been some distance out on the water. But this one swam very close to the shore, and didn’t seem to mind me standing there taking picture after picture. This grebe is a very nice and kind bird and I will hear no dissension!

A nice bird who knows it is nice.
Western Grebe worked very hard to get its head feathers just right.
Western Grebes have a long black stripe down the back of their necks!
“Hello. Am grebe. You may photograph me.”

This grebe was not as close to shore, but still posed nicely for pictures.

This grebe appears to have gotten its feathers very wet.
Look at that gracefully arched neck!

I didn’t start keeping a life-list of birds until after I moved to Colorado, and I never saw a single Brown-headed Cowbird in all the eight years I lived there. So even though they are not technically a new bird for me, I am still excited about formally adding them to my list!

This Brown-headed Cowbird had some opinions to express!
Perhaps he is pleased that he is not a pheasant.

The first time I ever saw a Yellow-headed Blackbird was on a trip to the Tule Lake NWR many years ago, and I was hoping to spot more of them on this visit. They kept me in suspense until nearly the end of the day, when I suddenly saw three of them in rapid succession!

Tule Lake also boasts both Red-winged Blackbirds and Tricolored Blackbirds, which are pretty similar looking. Tricolored Blackbirds have a teeny-tiny range, and most of them are found in California. Did I see any of them yesterday? Maybe! But also maybe not!

“Help!” cried the blackbirds as a sudden wave of existential panic flooded them. “A human is unable to properly identify us!”

I was taking pictures of some Gadwalls (lifers!) when this blackbird flew into frame to catch a bug. I am pretty sure he is a Red-winged Blackbird… fairly sure. Somewhat sure?

I have more bird pictures to share, but I am still pretty worn out despite having slept through Wednesday entirely. (Birding is exhausting! But also very fulfilling.) There will be a post with the rest of the birds tomorrow or so.

News from the Birdfeeder: Photos of bird friends!

April 24th, 2019

As Spring really gets underway, more and more birds have been showing up at the feeder! There are also a few birds who don’t have any interest in stopping by for food, but are gracious enough to hang around being cute anyway.

Last week, TWO new species suddenly started coming around–both with a fancy yellow stripe on their heads! (This did lead to a little confusion on my part in trying to ID them, as I didn’t realize at first that they stripey heads I was looking at belonged to two different kinds of bird!)

Allow me to present the first of last week’s new species: The Golden-crowned Sparrow!

A golden-crowned sparrow stands in the dewy grass. — Cute. Teeny. Sunshiney head.

A golden-crowned sparrow pecks in the grass. — Sparrow friend says: “Behold my golden crown!”

Not to be outdone, this Audubon’s Yellow-rumped Warbler–the second of last week’s new visitors–has several patches of yellow to show off! I haven’t seen him at the feeder yet, but I did find him clinging to the pasture fence, where he was kind enough to hold more or less still for a picture.

A yellow-rumped warbler clings to a wire fence. — “Perhaps I will splash in that puddle over there,” muses the warbler. And indeed, he later did that very thing.

Another recent sighting was this Red-breasted Sapsucker! The suet feeder is mounted on a tall wooden pole, and Sapsucker friend showed up one morning to jackhammer away at the wood. I’ve only seen him once, but I’m hoping he will continue to visit!

A red-breasted sapsucker clings to the side of a wooden pole. — “I have a feather out of place,” acknowledges the sapsucker, “but I am so beautiful that it does not matter.”

One of the birds who has been coming to the feeder longest is Spotted Towhee friend. He is the very first Towhee I ever met! I had always wanted to see one because of their nifty red eyes, and his certainly do not disappoint. They are very, very red. And he is a very cute and surprisingly friendly bird! He comes for the safflower seeds, but every once in a while he will toss a peanut around, and sometimes even carry it off!

A spotted towhee perches on a wooden platform with an unshelled peanut in his bill. — Local Towhee Takes Peanut.
His motives remain mysterious, sources say.

A spotted towhee sits on a wooden platform. He is holding safflower seeds in his bill. — Look at those red, red eyes! Those are safflower seeds he has stuffed in his bill, by the way.

And then there is the reason for all of this bird feeding: California Scrub Jays! Prior to moving to Colorado in 2010, I was feeding several of these, and they were so ridiculously delightful. While Colorado does offer a closely related species, the Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay, I never encountered a single one in all the time I lived there. One of the things I was VERY excited about when I moved back to Oregon was finally having the opportunity to make friends with scrub jays again!

A western scrub jay perches on a wooden platform. — Hello, Scrub Jay Friend! You are a Very Good Bird.

A california scrub jay stands on a wooden platform. — This California Scrub Jay is a jay that is blue, and yet it is not a Blue Jay.

Stay tuned for introductions to MORE delightful bird friends! Not today, but soon.

News from the Birdfeeder: A Very Jay-ful Day!

March 18th, 2019

Lots of delightful jay-related things have been happening, and so this is going to be a very jay-centric post! Included in it are two very exciting DISCOVERIES that I have made. There will also be many exclamation marks!

Discovery the First: It turns out that there are not two scrub jays coming to the feeder. No. There are THREE! I am not sure whether there were always three of them, sneakily coming two at a time in order to conceal their true numbers, or whether today was the first time the third bird came to visit. They all certainly seemed to know one another, though! There were lots and lots of quiet, contented scrub jay sounds while they were here together. (From past experience, scrub jays seem have a lot of very noisy things to say about visits from strangers!)

Discovery the Second: There are at least four Steller’s jays! This morning I heard one calling from behind me while I had three others in sight. Which means that I currently have, at an absolute minimum, SEVEN JAYBIRD FRIENDS. I could not be more pleased about this state of affairs!

The scrub jays also seem to be developing some curiosity about the walking peanut-dispenser also known as me. Since there have been more warm, dry days lately, I have been staying outside to watch them more often. And they have started to watch me back! Sometimes they will fly right past the feeder to perch on a fencepost near me (whereupon I find myself subjected to some very intense staring.) Other times they’ll floof their feathers and just hang out for a while. They are such ridiculously personable birds!

I don’t get to see the Steller’s jays quite as often because they are only around in the mornings, and sometimes I don’t make it out to the feeder until afternoon. But they seem to be getting more relaxed about my presence. They used to sort through the peanuts and then immediately make away with their loot, but today three of them perched on the fence by the feeder with their peanut-filled beaks, and one of them hammered open a peanut shell right there while I watched!

The Steller’s jays also seem to have decided that the scrub jays are in charge of the peanut platform. If a scrub jay arrives while a Steller’s jay is choosing a peanut, the Steller’s jay will immediately exit the platform and wait for the scrub jay to have a turn first. I have no idea why–the scrub jays don’t come in shrieking aggressively, and I have never seen one make any obvious attempt at bullying the Steller’s jays. The scrub jays just arrive quietly and the Steller’s jays defer to them. I wish I could ask them what this is about!

I do have one bit of non-jay news: Somebody swooped me today! I didn’t see who it was; I just heard some indignant (but un-jay-like) tweeting and then I felt the hair on top of my head move. Spring is undeniably here, so perhaps one of the local birds is suddenly feeling less than thrilled about human company for NESTING related reasons!!

Upon the Occasion of the Birthday of a Cat

March 14th, 2019

It is my kitty Bramble’s Birth Month! (I don’t know his exact birthday, so he gets the whole month.) My good cat is now 17.

A black cat stands on a mattress covered in a burnt-orange colored sheet, looking into the camera with half-lidded eyes.

A year and a half ago, when he was diagnosed with cancer, I didn’t know if he would ever get to have a 17th birthday. It is, fortunately, about the slowest-moving form of cancer he could have, and that is good. But it was still a scary and devastating thing to hear.

A black cat is curled up on the foot of a green recliner. He gazes down and to the left of the camera.

He has been on chemo and steroids since then, and has responded really well to them. His appetite is great, and he loves, loves, LOVES to cuddle. (He is hugging my arm while I type this.) When I get under the covers, he runs over and demands to be let under too.

A black cat walks across a teal carpet, looking alert and curious.

I love this cat so much, and I am so, so very grateful that he is still here with me!

A glack cat relaxes on the footrest of a green recliner. One front leg is stretched out in front of him. On his neck is a coppery-colored collar with a brass

A black cat rests on a green recliner, looking into the camera.

A black cat lies on a bed and looks into the camera.

News from the Birdfeeder: A BLOG post!

March 4th, 2019

There is a lot going on at the birdfeeder!

A while ago, I switched to a double-cage suet feeder in an attempt to discourage a mob of starlings from swarming the suet and keeping the smaller birds from getting any. It seemed to be working for a while, but as of today I must report that they have figured out how to get at the suet! So far, though, they are only coming in ones and twos, and only feeding for a short while before leaving again. I suppose I can live with that.

(And I certainly can’t fault their tenacity. Despite my crabbing about their presence, I don’t actually dislike starlings at all! In fact, at some point I will probably write an ENTIRE POST about my starling feelings.)

I was afraid that between the starlings and the new feeder I might have lost my my Northern Flicker friends, but it turns out I just hadn’t been out at the feeder for long enough. (It’s been icky out.) Today has been sunny and warm and so I sat outside watching the birds for a while, and soon enough both Flicker friends made an appearance and demonstrated that they have figured out how to get at the suet! In fact, at one point male Flicker friend and a starling were both eating suet at the same time–it’s a bigger feeder, so there was ample room for both.

One of the starlings was making sounds I have never heard a starling make before, and when one of the (very noisy!) pair of red-shouldered hawks that live nearby started yelling, I realized that the starling was making very similar sounds! Starlings are known mimics–they are related to mynah birds and can even learn to imitate human speech–so this starling could certainly have been yelling “look at me! I’m a hawk!”

Spotted Towhee friend came around for some safflower feeds. He comes almost every day, and he is so cute!! I love his vampiric red eyes. Downy Woodpecker friend also made a visit! He is itty bitty, so he hes able to go inside the outer cage of the suet feeder and cling to the inner cage while he eats. (Flicker friends are much too big for this, but they are able to perch on the outer cage and stick their heads in to reach the suet.)

(This, by the way, is the suet feeder I am using: https://classicbrands.net/product/squirrel-proof-suet-cage/)

I also saw a hummingbird! I didn’t have my binoculars with me today, so I have no idea what kind of hummingbird other than “a greenish one.” When I first got here at the end of the summer there were several hummingbirds that frequented the cherry tree, but I thought they had all gone away for the winter. Maybe not!

No Steller’s jays today, but Scrub Jay friends were present and accounted for. I love them so much! I was sitting a little closer to the feeder than usual today, and after the peanuts were gone the jays came back and watched me for a while. “Why aren’t you providing more peanuts, human? We are pretty sure that is what you are for.”