Showing posts with label birds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label birds. Show all posts

Gloria's Birds: I can always count on Mom, thought Judy the Dark-eyed Junco

Friday, August 26, 2022

 
Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

(In our yard last week. I'd been waiting and watching for weeks, hoping to catch the juvenile junco in the act!)

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

--Gloria Z. Nagler



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Gloria's Birds: Why do I think she's a fledgling Black-capped Chickadee?

Wednesday, August 17, 2022


Because she stuck her tongue out while drinking, so unused to that activity was she; and, her feathers are in fledgling-like disarray. I love her tiny tongue:)

--Gloria Z. Nagler




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Backyard Birds: Raindrops keep falling on my head

Friday, August 12, 2022

Photo by Wayne Pridemore


Raindrops keep falling on my head
But that doesn't mean my eyes
Will soon be turning red
Crying is not for me cause
I'm never stop the rain 
By complaining 

   Lyrics by Hal David 



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For the Birds: Water the Birds, not your lawn

Tuesday, August 9, 2022

Chestnut-backed Chickadee cooling off. Photo by Craig Kerns

By Christine Southwick

Your dormant lawn will recover this fall — dehydrated birds may not!

It’s easy to provide water for birds, ranging from ponds, fountains and bird baths down to a plastic plant pot liner placed where you can watch it.

Wilson's Warbler bathing. Photo by Chris Southwick
All you have to do is keep the water reasonably clean, and make sure that the water doesn’t get too hot if you use a shallow bowl that sits in the sun.

Moving water, especially falling water, will attract migrants as they fly near your property and hear the welcome sound of often hard to find water.

They will veer toward your yard, stop, and fill up with much needed water, often saving their lives, especially now that many of their migration drinking stops have become dry. 

Some may even take a quick bath, allowing them to cool down, refresh and take a much-desired rest before continuing on. 

And if your yard offers food by having native plants with bird-enticing bugs or fruits, or bird feeders, many birds will add your yard to their migration rest stops both going and returning.

Evening Grosbeak drinking water. Photo by Craig Kerns
A birdbath can be as small as a plate, as long as it is in a safe location from cats and isn’t too deep. 

Birds don’t swim, so a couple of large rocks will allow them to stand, splash and drink. 

My dripper/mister drips down into two ground bird baths, around which I have a decorative metal fence on three sides to discourage wandering cats, and on the back side of this waterfall I planted salmonberries for the same reason.

Migrants like MacGillivray’s Warblers, Western Tanagers, and Swainson’s Thrushes have stopped at my water setups during many of their migrations. Resident birds use my fountains daily, year-round.

Red-breasted Nuthatch drinking at a fountain.
Photo by Craig Kerns
Fountains will attract birds because they can hear and see moving water. 

Fountains recirculate the water, which is good conservation, and offers a pleasant babbling sound. 

They are easy to set up, can be moved if you so desire, and offer beneficial and enjoyable decoration.

A small pond will often attract different birds than a bird bath, especially if there is a small moving element. 

A waterfall or pond is a major investment in work, but oh, the birds it will bring in!

Make your yard a bird magnet. Both you and the birds will be glad you did.

See previous For the Birds articles here



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Photo:Poem - Majestic Mother Osprey

Thursday, August 4, 2022

 
Photo by Wayne Pridemore

Majestic mother osprey
round yellow eyes
necklace of brown spots

Photo by Wayne Pridemore

Mother osprey tears
the fish apart
feeds pieces to her baby
beak to beak
morsel by morsel

--Wayne Pridemore



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The Bog: Checking out the neighbors

Monday, August 1, 2022

Photo by Martin DeGrazia
 
The green heron pair at Ronald Bog are getting to know the neighbors. The turtles have long claimed the logs in the Bog so it's hard to tell if this is a friendly greeting, a negotiation, or a warning.

Photo by Martin DeGrazia

Or maybe curiosity. It looks like the turtle has drawn in his head, so perhaps he's not so happy with the new neighbor. And the green heron looks like he's trying to figure out what the turtle did with his head.

They have time to figure it out. 

--Diane Hettrick



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Mama Green Heron sporting her new do

Thursday, July 28, 2022

 
Photo by Martin De Grazia

Mama Green Heron was sporting her new do at Ronald Bog Wednesday.

Photo by Martin De Grazia

And this was her before shot.

Ronald Bog is between I-5 and Meridian Ave N at N 175th St in Shoreline. We don't have the contact info for her hairdresser - sorry.



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Osprey - spread your wings

Tuesday, July 26, 2022

 
Photo by Tim Davis

A treetop bird, rather than a backyard bird, ospreys are common around here. They nest in the tops of tall trees near water so they can easily dive to catch fish. They are happy with both freshwater and saltwater fish.

Unique among North American raptors for its diet of live fish and ability to dive into water to catch them, Ospreys are common sights soaring over shorelines, patrolling waterways, and standing on their huge stick nests, white heads gleaming. 
These large, rangy hawks do well around humans and have rebounded in numbers following the ban on the pesticide DDT. Hunting Ospreys are a picture of concentration, diving with feet outstretched and yellow eyes sighting straight along their talons.

--All About Birds




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Backyard Birds: Eagle in Flight

Sunday, July 24, 2022

Photo by Jan Hansen

Photo by Jan Hansen

Photo by Jan Hansen

Jan Hansen's flying neighbor. 



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Gloria's Birds: What duck, photog? I don't see any duck!

Friday, July 22, 2022

 
Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

Great Blue Heron missed the Mallard flying by in Lake Washington the other day. Turns out it was fish, not ducks, the heron was seeking:).  

--Gloria Z. Nagler



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Backyard Birds: Merlin nests in Lake Forest Park

Thursday, July 21, 2022


Story and photos by David Walton

We have at least six Merlin falcons in our Lake Forest Park neighborhood, likely in at least two nests.


They make a quite loud call that typically sounds constantly for several minutes at a time and can be heard city blocks away. 

They are quite the aerial predator, feeding mainly on birds captured in flight. These specific birds primarily have been in the tops of tall Douglas firs (making photography a challenge). 


These photos were taken early morning and late afternoon ('golden hour'), so that the light would highlight the birds from the side. 


Last year the Merlins stayed in the neighborhood until August, before migrating, so expecting similar this year.

The nests are between 32nd Ave NE and 33rd Ave NE, north of NE 160th St.



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Photo: Poem - Robin and Worm

Wednesday, July 13, 2022

Photo by Wayne Pridemore

There is a robin and a worm
Who became the best of friends
They seemed to have so much fun
And they hope it never ends.

Photo by Wayne Pridemore

Robin always laughed at worm
Cause, he wiggles when they play
It's almost as if my friend worm
Is trying to get away 

--Roger Horsch

Poem selection by Wayne Pridemore



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For the Birds: Baby Birds are still a Happen’ Thing

Friday, July 1, 2022

American Robin. by Elaine Chuang --
notice the gape (colored area at base of bill)
newly fledged - still begging for food
By Christine Southwick

Three Dark-eyed Juncos just hatched in my hanging fuchsia plant just a week ago. Oh, Happy Day!

Many local birds have second broods. This year because of the cool wet spring which made bugs and caterpillars scarce, many of our birds are trying again if their first brood didn’t make it, or not all the nestlings survived.

Chestnut-backed Chickadee by Craig Kerns
gape still showing--first bath?
Black-capped and Chestnut-backed Chickadees routinely have second broods. 

So do our local birds like juncos, Song Sparrows, Spotted Towhees, and Red-breasted Nuthatches. 

Our native woodpeckers, and raptors do not.

When birds leave their nest, they are the full size of their parents, unlike ducks and waterfowl. 

Indeed, most fledglings appear a little larger because their fresh feathers are fluffy, whereas their harried, overworked parents are somewhat bedraggled.

Now is the time to be watching for nests in tall weeds, young birds with extra color at the base of their beaks, and fledglings that have awkward flying, especially after taking their first couple of baths.

Dark-eyed Junco feeding fledgling
photo by Christine Southwick
It is so fun to watch the newly fledged babies following their parent, fluttering their wings, and loudly begging for food.

That only happens for the first few days. Then the parents start teaching their young how to feed themselves, often bringing their young to feeders, and suet.

Northern Flickers, Downy, and Hairy and Pileated Woodpeckers will bring their offspring to my suet feeders. 

The parents start out hanging on the suet, getting a bill-full and flying over to the waiting youngsters, sticking the suet into their mouths. 

This is repeated until the parent thinks that they have had enough instruction, where upon they wait for the youngsters to come get their own suet. As with most youngsters, some “get it” sooner than others.

What are these birds? Juvenile junco on left,
juvie Spotted Towhee on right
Photo by Christine Southwick
The three leading causes of bird demises are:
  1. Loss of Habitat; Keep tall trees, plant native shrubs, trees and flowers-native plants support the bus that our birds need.
  2. Death by cats; Keep your cats inside, or build/buy them an indoor-outdoor run. Ground nesters, like Juncos, Towhees and Song Sparrows nest in tall grass, bases of ferns, or weeds until early August.
  3. Window collisions and other objects; Position your feeders either within three feet of your windows, or more than ten feet away. If you have a window that gets hit, put up window cling-designs, visual distractors, anything to break up the reflection of an inviting habitat.
See previous For the Birds columns here



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Birds in the Backyard: Sitting on top of the jar

Thursday, June 30, 2022




I'm sitting on top of the jar,
Just rolling along, just rolling along.

I'm quitting the blues of the world,
Just singing a song, just singing a song.


--Submitted by Wayne Pridemore
--All photos by Wayne Pridemore



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Gloria's Birds: Wazzat, photog? What am I doing, you ask?

Wednesday, June 29, 2022

 
Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

 Lurking! I'm a predator! Jeez, photog, get hip to the jive.

(Barred Owl lurking in our yard last week:)

--Gloria Z. Nagler



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Birders needed for local monitoring project

Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Northern flicker in Lake Forest Park
Photo by Lynne Hakim
By Douglas Wacker

Attention birders! The Lake Forest Community Bird Project https://www.lfpbirds.org/ needs your help. 

This long-term monitoring project, coordinated by Dr. Doug Wacker of the University of Washington Bothell in collaboration with the Lake Forest Park Stewardship Foundation, aims to better understand human impacts on the species diversity and behavior of birds that frequent our local parks and green spaces. 

Researchers are finishing their second year of seasonal surveys at 24 sites throughout the Puget Sound region, many in Lake Forest Park, WA, and are initiating a citizen scientist component of their project.

Specifically, bird watchers are needed to walk the survey sites, use Cornell’s eBird app to submit the birds they see and hear on their smartphone, and fill out a short webform letting the researchers know which areas they visited https://lfp-birding-project.webflow.io/get-involved/how-to-help-with-surveys 

The researchers will then aggregate those data and see how their surveys match up with those conducted by local residents. It is particularly important to get surveys from some of the parks that are not normally visited by bird watchers. 

If you’re up for a challenge, you can visit all of the sites. There are 11 in Lake Forest Park, 4 in Seattle, 6 in Eastern King County, and 3 in Snoqualmie Ridge. 

You can find a list of the locations here, https://www.lfpbirds.org/get-involved/survey-locations 

If you’re staying local, only Grace Cole, Horizon View, Whispering Willow, and Lyon Creek Waterfront Parks are currently considered birding hotspots on eBird. 

It would be great to get more observations from the other sites, too! As species distributions change over the year, the researchers would be happy to receive surveys from all seasons.

If you're new to birding and want to help out, start here, https://www.lfpbirds.org/get-involved/new-to-birding



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Gloria's Birds: Overheated Barred Owl on our deck yesterday...

Monday, June 27, 2022

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

photog's not used to looking down to spot owls!


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Clean Crow - splish splash I was takin' a bath...

Sunday, June 26, 2022

 
Photo by Wayne Pridemore

Splish splash, I was taking a bath
Long about a Saturday night, yeah
A rub dub, just relaxing in the tub
Thinking everything was alright

Well, I stepped out the tub, put my feet on the floor
I wrapped the towel around me
And I opened the door, and then

A-splish splash, I jumped back in the bath
Well how was I to know there was a party going on
They was a-splishing and a-splashing, reeling with the feeling
Moving and a-grooving, rocking and a-rolling, yeah



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Dancing crow

Saturday, June 25, 2022

Photo by Jan Hansen

Clearly this crow is practicing his folk dancing. "You put your right wing in - you put your right wing out"

You put your right foot in
You put your right foot out
You put your right foot in
And you shake it all about
You do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself around
That's what it's all about!


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Gloria's Birds: Wetlands Broadcast #346 by Mr. Redwing Blackbird:

Wednesday, June 22, 2022

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

"Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine!"



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