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

Photo:Poem - I'm so shy

Sunday, September 3, 2023

Photo by Wayne Pridemore


I'm so shy

can't look you in the eye,

don't know why,

I'm so shy.

--by Wayne



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Birds: At Twin Ponds Sunday morning

Thursday, August 24, 2023

Photo by Jo Simmons

The pond was green with algae, not envy!
The Great Blue Heron is one of my favorite birds.

--Jo Simmons




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Scene near the Sound: Where to see salmon

Wednesday, August 23, 2023

Photo by Jan Hansen

Many are going to the Ballard Locks to see salmon. With the help of our Shoreline osprey, I just went to my deck.

---Jan Hansen



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LFP artist Tony Angell new exhibit and book signing at Foster/White Gallery in September


Tony Angell - Bird Day
September 7 - 23, 2023
Opens First Thursday, September 7, 6 - 8 pm
Artists in attendance

Three years ago, Tony Angell launched into a new adventure to illustrate Bird Day: A Story of 24 Hours and 24 Avian Lives written by Mark Hauber for the University of Chicago Press.

The 25 low-relief carvings from ink on clayboard are beguiling. Each finely shaped reduction of ink may define feathers, texture branches, or portray light caught in a bird's eye.

Foster/White will host two book signings with Tony Angell on Saturdays, September 16 and 23, 2023 at 2pm. The gallery is located at 220 3rd Ave S #100, Seattle WA 98104


Angell's sculptures are in Lake Forest Park and Shoreline's Interurban Trail entrance.


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Hibiscus haiku

Tuesday, August 22, 2023

Photo by Wayne Pridemore


Summer hibiscus
small young hummingbird
flight towards delight

Haiku by Delice Skelly


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Gloria's Birds: Wide-eyed woodpecker pauses briefly while fleeing a winged predator...

Monday, August 14, 2023

 
Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

(Pileated Woodpecker, to be exact. Male, coz of the red "moustache".)

--Gloria Z. Nagler



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Osprey on nest at Spartan Rec Center

Sunday, August 13, 2023

Photo by Jacob Bilbo
Jacob Bilbo took this photo on August 8, 2023 of an osprey on its nest at the Spartan Rec Center on the Shoreline School District campus.



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For the Birds: Seasonal Changes a Happening Thing

Dark-eyed Junco female feeding juvie
Photo by Craig Kerns
By Christine Southwick

The Merlins nesting in Shoreline are now flying about and making lots of noise. 

The Kenmore Heronry is empty until next spring. 

The Osprey nests in Shoreline will soon be abandoned until next April, with the adults leaving for Central or South America. 

The juveniles will follow soon thereafter, finding their own way and meals.

And right now, environmentally-friendly yards have lots of hard-to-identify juvenile birds. Most juvenile birds look different from adults due to camouflage to help ensure their survival.

Here are three birds that I can offer tips to help you identify them.

Dark-eyed Junco showing white tail feathers
Photo by Craig Kerns
Many people had Dark-eyed Juncos nesting in their flower pots, or hiding underneath ferns and in tall weeds (their nests are very well made, pretty even). 

The youngsters of these Oregon Juncos, our local subspecies, are striped brown and don’t have their distinctive head-coloring yet. 

The best way to tell these flittering ground birds is to look for their outer white tail feathers. 

When you see one of these confusing brown-jobbies watch for a flash of white in their tail as they fly away.

It is usually obvious, and is what birders call a “diagnostic clue”. 

If you see that flash of white, then it is a junco.

Juncos usually have two-three broods a year, and our local birds should be on their last brood. Both parents feed their offspring. I have found that males usually are feeding the youngsters from the first brood or two while the female is on the next clutch of eggs.

Spotted Towhee - first stage

Spotted Towhee second stage
Photo by Craig Kerns

Spotted Towhees
are hard to identify their first six months. When Spotted Towhees first leave the nest, they look like over-sized Song Sparrows with tail feathers and wings that are too dark, with some spots instead of varying shades of brown on their backs. 

About three-four weeks after they have fledged, their breast and lower body feathers start molting into that distinctive orange-red color of adult Spotted Towhees, but their dark-brownish flight feathers will not change until they do their first full-feather-replacing molt next spring.

Juvie Song Sparrow
Photo by Craig Kerns
That brings me to the next confusing brown ground bird—the Song Sparrow

Juvenile Song Sparrows don’t have distinctive streaking on their heads, nor do they have their distinctive breast spot. 

They are mostly just variations of brown with shading. If you have ruled out the other two juveniles, and a bird scurries on the ground through bushes, it is probably a Song Sparrow.

Offer food and water. Both the parents and the youngsters can use that extra protein and hydration.

Previous For the Birds columns can be seen here.


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Gloria's Birds: Upstairs, Downstairs

Thursday, August 10, 2023

 
Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

(Barred Owl siblings hanging out)

--Gloria Z. Nagler



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Gloria's Birds: Eight Bushtits, four of 'em upside down, on a suet

Sunday, August 6, 2023

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

(Bushtits travel in groups - safety in numbers, anyone? - and even sleep huddled together. Saw these little ones gathering in our back yard, ran pell-mell to grab my camera and grab a few shots.)

--Gloria Z. Nagler



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City of Shoreline: Don't feed ducks and geese

Friday, August 4, 2023

Feeding ducks and geese can lead to larger than normal population sizes, overfed animals, and animals waiting near the beach for humans to feed them - in short it leads to more ducks and geese pooping at the beach! 

This makes beach waters unsafe for people, pets, and wildlife. It also makes for gross beaches. Let the birds be wild - please don't feed the ducks and geese!

--City of Shoreline


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Gloria's Birds: Crownies mono fini

Saturday, July 29, 2023

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

These are two quite companionable American Crows who perched close to one another in our yard.

--Gloria Z. Nagler



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It's the season for berry picking

Friday, July 28, 2023

 
Photo by Jan Hansen
Jan Hansen was amused by this flyover - a crow with a single berry held firmly in his beak.



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Gloria's Birds: Diamonds don't do it for me,

Saturday, July 22, 2023

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

but gimme a juvenile inland Steller's Jay posing on a branch, and this photog is cock-a-hoop!

("Juvenile" because of gape at base of mouth - attracts mom for feeding - grey, not turquoise blue breast feathers, short, not fully developed crest, and fuzzy feathers. "Inland" because of white eyebrow.)

--Gloria Z. Nagler


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Gloria's Birds: No time for a portrait today, photog, I gotta go

Sunday, July 16, 2023

 
Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

I'm late for my next meeting...
(Dark-eyed Juncos are busy birds!)

--Gloria Z. Nagler




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Gloria's Birds: I love the Owl Perches you humans attach to your transportation, photog. Quite handy!

Friday, July 14, 2023

 
Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

(Welcomed home by our neighborhood Barred Owl this afternoon...)

--Gloria Z. Nagler



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Clara leaves no stone unturned and no branch unbitten in her quest for a midday snack...

Tuesday, July 11, 2023

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

(Juvenile American Crow without a parent nearby to advise her:)



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For the Birds: Our State Bird — the American Goldfinch

Saturday, July 8, 2023

 

Male feeding adult female note plumage difference - probable mating bonding.
Photo by Doug Parrott

By Christine Southwick

The American Goldfinch with its vibrant yellow plumage, black cap worn jauntily low over its forehead, black tail, and wings edged with white, is always a welcome sight at local feeders.

Goldfinches arrive in small flocks, first heard calling while flying in an up-down rollercoaster fashion.

Winter use of birdbath. Note bird in middle is a Pine Siskin flanked by two goldfinches.
Photo by Christine Southwick

The American Goldfinch is the only finch that molts its body feathers twice a year: in early spring the male changes into the lemon-yellow breeding plumage that so many of us expect when we think of goldfinches; in late fall their body feathers are exchanged for yellow olive-brown ones, minus the cap. 

The females stay a dullish olive-yellow with yellow highlights that are bright yellow in the summer, and pale in the winter. Females have two light wing bars on their black wings, versus the single white wing bar that the male displays. Both have pink conical bills in the summer which turn dark in the winter.

Two males eating sunflower seeds at my feeder. There
were eight plus goldfinches including females-delightful!
Photo by Christine Southwick
Most goldfinches arrive in our area mid-April and leave mid-October, but there are always a few hardy flocks that stay and grace our presence, roaming from weed-patch to open fields, staying for a while in yards with seed-heads and seed feeders, and then nomadically moving on to the next source of seeds.

American Goldfinches are happiest in abandoned fields and roadsides where they consume vast amounts of thistle¸ dandelion, tree (especially maple), and other wild seeds.

By using their feet extensively while feeding, American Goldfinches are able to pluck seeds that other birds can’t access. 

They are classified as “granivores”, meaning that they are almost totally vegetation, eating only seeds, or maybe a few aphids. 

They even feed their four-to six nestlings regurgitated seeds, not insects.

Their breeding season starts in July, later than any other finch, timed to use seed fibers, especially thistle down, for their nests, and to have ripe weed and flower seeds for eating.

Close up of male.
Photo by Christine Southwick
Bring American Goldfinches into your yard with nyjer thistle seed, black-oil sunflower seeds, and bird baths. 

Place your feeders in an open area away from overhanging tree branches. (Note if you use black-oil sunflower seeds with shells, starlings can’t eat those seeds.)

Do not use any pesticides or weed killers.

Plant zinnias, cosmos, bee balm and perennial flowering plants, and leave the flower heads until spring for winter feeding. 

You may be rewarded with a fly-in by these cheerful Wild Canaries.

Previous For the Birds columns can be viewed here.



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Gloria's Birds: Wait - What?

Tuesday, July 4, 2023

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

I'm not here to eat your precious Dougies, photog. I'm simply hanging out on the deck to catch a few rays.

(Barred Owls may be charismatic, but they're not credible:)

--Gloria Z. Nagler




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For the Birds: Nestling crows leave home before they can fly

Thursday, June 22, 2023

Maaaaaaa!
Carl the Crow calls for his mother

By Christine Southwick
Photos by Peggy Bartleson

Do you have a crow on the ground, making a loud noise? Unless you see blood, or a hanging wing, it is probably not injured. It is most likely a nestling crow which has left its nest before it can fly. Most crows leave the nest early for safety reasons. Nests, with their “feed ME” sounds, are lures for predators — raccoons, hawks, owls, eagles. The sooner nestlings are strong enough to leave their nests and hide, the more likely that they will survive.

Feed me!
Carl the crow begging parent for food

And do not fear; the parents are watching, dive-bombing cats and other dangers, and feeding their youngsters on a regular basis. Sometimes a couple of youngsters will hang together, but more often they will go their separate ways, thus increasing their probability of survival. The parents know where each is, and are feeding them appropriately.

Don’t let the nestlings’ size fool you. When they leave the nest, they are 80% or more of their adult weight. Their legs are already adult size, and their wing feathers are nearly full grown. But they are still babies. They will often tip side to side as they walk, making them look a trifle drunken. Part of the problem is that they don’t have their tail feathers yet to act as their rudders.

Carl being fed by his parent

The pictures are of a neighborhood nestling. I first saw it five afternoons ago. The first neighbor didn’t know what to do, but had put out some tuna fish. Baby crows have to have the food stuffed down their throats—so putting out food won’t help nestlings.

The next morning that baby had moved across the street, near a house with a known hunter cat. The parents dive-bombed that cat until it started lying elsewhere. Now the little crow is staying at a house where the owner watches daily, but doesn’t crowd it. The parents feel comfortable in the yard, and Carl the crow (that’s what the neighbor calls it), struts around more steadily every day, and hides in the flowers at night.

Still no tail feathers - Carl is grounded

It still doesn’t have tail feathers yet, but will soon.

Remember, most birds found walking about on the ground are not abandoned, and don’t need human “help”. Keep your pet away from the area that the bird is staying, and wait about a week. It will fly away then.

More info about baby crows and what/what not to do, here.

Find more For the Birds columns HERE

Reprinted from 2014 and 2019


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