Towheeblog

JANUARY FINALE

atowhee — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:27:21 +0000

The dog and I made the rounds this morning, and there were birds where birds are expected. On Ashland Pond. On the ground. In the trees. In the owl box.

From top to bottom: California Quail, Bufflehead, female Hooded Merganser, American Wigeons in field along Siskiyou Boulevard, male Brewer’s Blackbird takes a walk, Yellow-rumped Warbler over Ashland Pond, Western Screech-Owl, White-tailed Kite along Butler Creek Road, Red-tailed Hawk next to Ashland Pond with tattered tail feathers, Red-tailed Hawk along Butler Creek Road, female Northern Flicker.

MARINE MAMMALS MURDERS

atowhee — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:18:10 +0000

Some sicko is shooting sealions and seals around Seattle. The investigation continues. It’s sad when human pathology is exercised on innocent wildlife.

MONDAY IS A MANY-SPLENDORED THING

atowhee — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:53:55 +0000

Who cares if it’s Monday, it’s the birding that counts! And the dog and I made a quick morning circuit to see some nice birds. At North Mountain an Oak Titmouse near the Nature Center and Lesser Goldfinches in fresh breeding plumage. Spring can’t be far off, check the Scouler willow in our garden:

And a male Anna’s Hummingbird was doing his vertical territorial flights so he must notice days are getting longer.

On Corp Ranch Road I encountered the big-little group of Canada and Cackling Geese. Those birds in flight are all Cacklers, much more nervous about me than the lazy, resident “Golf Course Geese” who seem to fear only dogs and hunger.

It was a picture perfect day at Emigrant Lake. Click on landscape image for full screen view.

Thumbnails, from upper left: Bald Eagle, Kestrel X2, Blue Heron, male Belted Kingfisher.

Emigrant Lake, Jackson, US-OR Jan 30, 2012 10:15 AM.22 species. At EM Lake the Red-shouldered Hawks were screaming as usual, but also seated side-by-side in a bare cottonwood near the Pioneer Cemetery. I assume they are negotiating a pre-nupital prior to nesting thereabouts.

Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii) 75. Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 60. Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 4. Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) 2. Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris) 35. Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) 4. Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) 12. Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 1 Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) 1. Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) 2. Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 4. American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) 1. Western Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica) 4. Common Raven (Corvus corax) 1 Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus) 25. Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula) 1. Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) 20. American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 4. European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 25. Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus) 2. Golden-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla) 6. Brewer’s Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus) 120. WESTERN BLUEBIRD GALLERY This flock of bluebirds was feeding in the oaks at the Pioneer Cemetery.

PEANUT GALLERY

atowhee — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 23:31:10 +0000

WINTER BIRDING

atowhee — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 23:11:38 +0000

There are still a couple slots open in the winter birding class I am doing on Feb.2 and 4. Evening lecture on Thursday, field trip Saturday. It’s sponsored by the Ashland Park and Rec Department and class will be at North Mountain Nature Center. The cost is $15 and the field trip will happen regardless of weather.

The class in early March on birding Klamath is almost full so don’t wait, if you’re interested in that one. It includes a full day in Klamath Basin.

DUCKY DAY

atowhee — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 20:18:52 +0000

Best bird of the morning was an Orange-crowned Warbler in the willows just at the end of Glendower where you walk down to Ashland Pond. This species is an uncommon wintering bird this far north. But the highlight was the variety of ducks on the little pond. First: quintet of Hooded Mergansers, females with the rusty heads and no white showing. Then a cluster of Ring-necked Ducks, male with pale sidewall. Also, at end of sequence, a male Wigeon with his pale blue beak.

Isn’t there an old folk saying, “let sleeping grebes lie?” Well, actually, they sort of float about in the pond weeds.

Ashland Pond, Jackson, US-OR Jan 28, 2012 9:45 AM. 28 species. temp around freezing, some ice on the pond, but mostly open water. Almost 3 drozen waterbirds on the pond, a high number for any season.

Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) 22, ALL FLY OVERS. American Wigeon (Anas americana) 4. Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 4. Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris) 5. Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) 5. Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus) 8. Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) 4. Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 2, COURTING PAIR IN AIR. American Coot (Fulica americana) 5 .Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) 1. Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus) 4. Western Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica) 5. Common Raven (Corvus corax) 3. Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) 2. Bewick’s Wren (Thryomanes bewickii) 1 SINGING. American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 2. European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 12. Orange-crowned Warbler (Oreothlypis celata) 1. Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata) 1. Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus) 2. White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) 1. Golden-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla) 15. Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 1 Brewer’s Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus) 1 Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus) 7 Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus) 3. Lesser Goldfinch (Spinus psaltria) 15. House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) 10. Below: two Red-tail soaring pics, they are circling in courtship pairs right now. Nesting commences soon. Then a Purple Finch, lastly American Robin watching me over his shoulder.

BEYOND KITES

atowhee — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 05:31:29 +0000

I went kiting a second time this week. The slender, pale birds are so alluring, so sympatico, so…kitely. Just look at this pair in an oak, resting together between voling runs.

But there’ve been plenty of other interesting birds. And for a few suynny moments this afternoon, the lower box Screech-owl was in full sun. A nocturnal owl out of the shadows, a shot I couldn’t pass up.

Earlier I wrote about the Lesser Goldfinches being in near-breeding pluamge. Check out this bright male:

And Red-tailed Hawks and Downy Woodpeckers round out our gallery.

A FLY OUT

atowhee — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:17:53 +0000

In the birding world a morning fly-out, or an evening fly-in, can be a thrilling sight. The Winter Wings Bird Festival at Klamath Falls every February features pre-dawn trips to a dead-end road where you can see numerous Bald Eazgles fly out from their communal overnight roost. And this morning I got to watch a smaller, but wonderful, fly-out right in front of my house. Let’s call it the Ashland Fly-out. Our local Wild Turkeys roost overnight in the tall trees of Lithia Park along Granite Street. Mostly thery roost in Douglas-fir. And I tried to get shots of the big guys flying out, one-by-one, chirping and squawking as they took wing from forty feet up.

Here’s a youtube video of a Snow Goose fly-out in New Mexico. You can see the same thing at Sacramento Wildlife Refuge just off Exit 585 on Interstate 5 in Glenn County, CA. And there a small fraction of the geese will be the less abundant Ross’s.

The greatest fly-out I’ve ever seen was in Nebraska on a sub-freezxinf March morning along the Platte River when thousands of Sandhill Cranes bugle, shuffle about and then lift out in a swirling cloud of cranes. Here’s a video of a crane fly-out. Here’s one of cranes moving about. Here’s one of them on their roost island, uttering their ancient calls. The cranes in Nebraska I believe to be the finest wildlife spectacle that survives in North America.

OFFICIAL MAP SHOWS WARMING

atowhee — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:24:07 +0000

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (DOA) has just issued a new map showing the planting zones for horticulture and farming. It’s the first update in twenty years and shows the effects of global warming. The DOA was stopped from issuing an update back in 2003 when the Cheney-Bush Admin tried to stop release of any data confirming global warming. Now that federal science is under less political pressure to comply with a particular pro-business slant, the new maps have come out.

No surprise, the winters are warmer and many areas are now in slightly warmer zones requiring slightly less hardy plants.

OWL

atowhee — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:41:23 +0000

At the lower Granite Street owl box near Nutley (click on pic for full screen):