June 23rd - green heron 'colony'
A quick walk around the lake at the patch. At least 7 Green Heron flying to, from and hanging around the reception pool. At least one large chick in the usual nesting tree
Showing posts with label heron. Show all posts
Showing posts with label heron. Show all posts
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Sunday, November 28, 2010
C c c c cowbirds and an odd heron
38* with chill NNW breeze
No sign of the Beaver this morning but the partial lodge is still under the Green Heron tree although it doesnt look like it has been added to much.
Nearby, a flock 400 or so cowbirds were feeding near the road. They were quite tame allowing fairly close approach before taking off in unison and flying straight over me before wheeling back round.
From the river bed, looking back towards the Holmes Run 'warterfall' a Great Blue Heron attracted my attention. Seemingly a juvenile moulting/moutled into adult plumage. However, looking more closely, the thigh feathers were whitish. On the folded wing there was just a small area of rufous, not always visible. When I approached the area from above (near the softball field / warbler corner) the bird flushed quickly.
No sign of the Beaver this morning but the partial lodge is still under the Green Heron tree although it doesnt look like it has been added to much.
Nearby, a flock 400 or so cowbirds were feeding near the road. They were quite tame allowing fairly close approach before taking off in unison and flying straight over me before wheeling back round.
 | |
| Cowbirds, just after take off, video grab |
From the river bed, looking back towards the Holmes Run 'warterfall' a Great Blue Heron attracted my attention. Seemingly a juvenile moulting/moutled into adult plumage. However, looking more closely, the thigh feathers were whitish. On the folded wing there was just a small area of rufous, not always visible. When I approached the area from above (near the softball field / warbler corner) the bird flushed quickly.
 | |
| GBH - yucky lighting |
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
A balmy October day....
Average high temp for today 64, pre-Dawn actual 61, can't imagine going for a pre-breakfast walk on Scilly just in a teeshirt despite my record of being there with high pressure in October.
Further field testing of differentiating the crows was pretty successful this morning with again the Fish crow mainly being later than the American Crow. No wing moult noticed today.
From Cardinal Bridge I watched two pairs of Mallard diving apparently for food. Like Scoter they open there wings and flapped to give Initial subversive power and then paddled like crazy to stay under while they reach the stream-bed.
Each dive was usually 3-5 seconds and each bird when they surfaced had drooped wings and, unless they dived again quickly, frantically rearranged they plumage with flapping and preening.
Two Great Egret flew in over Pooh Bridge later, previously these had only been early birds.
Further field testing of differentiating the crows was pretty successful this morning with again the Fish crow mainly being later than the American Crow. No wing moult noticed today.
From Cardinal Bridge I watched two pairs of Mallard diving apparently for food. Like Scoter they open there wings and flapped to give Initial subversive power and then paddled like crazy to stay under while they reach the stream-bed.
Each dive was usually 3-5 seconds and each bird when they surfaced had drooped wings and, unless they dived again quickly, frantically rearranged they plumage with flapping and preening.
Two Great Egret flew in over Pooh Bridge later, previously these had only been early birds.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
A near miss..
A couple of hours at Ben Brenman Park with Chrystal, we started early, arriving just after dawn.
The cloud formations were dramatic in the early like and a light breeze was gently agitating the leaves - finding warblers was going to be a challenge!
In the area area the picnic shelter near the dog park the were a few warblers, we had good views of 5 different Parulas. One bird was a very pale young bird, looking quite exotic until really good views were had (that is not to say this isnt one of the more exotic species anyway :) ).
There were good numbers of American Robin and Flicker in the bushes and flying over and Blue Jays were making themselves obvious both in the bushes and a small flock of 10 birds flying over.
As we passed over 'Pooh Bridge' a juvenile Night Heron flew over us towards where the rivers join. We elected to go to 'Cardinal Bridge' and immediately found it (black-crowned of course) on a low branch just down stream.
We both spent some quality time looking at it through the 'scope with frame filling views. A beautiful, well marked individual with large spots and a subtle different tone to the base of the greater coverts - a slightly more rufous brown contrasting with the sandy brown remaining plumage base color.
Chrystal found a Magnolia Warbler nearby and following it across the stream, it joined two more.
As we were looking upstream, a coopers hawk passed low overhead (we had watched it fly in the other direction earlier). Suddenly it dived into the stream side trees only to appear a second later in hot pursuit of a birf that plunged into the water to avoid becoming breakfast. As the hawk flew away, we watched the Green Heron extracate itself from the stream and find a place to dry off.
Many folks around this morning in pleasantly warm temperatures (70* at dawn!). The usual dog walkers of course most of which are always happy to share their canine charges. A few folks showed an interest and some a good birding knowledge ("was that a Coopers?") including a couple who moved into Cameron Station yesterday after being deployed in Italy.
The cloud formations were dramatic in the early like and a light breeze was gently agitating the leaves - finding warblers was going to be a challenge!
In the area area the picnic shelter near the dog park the were a few warblers, we had good views of 5 different Parulas. One bird was a very pale young bird, looking quite exotic until really good views were had (that is not to say this isnt one of the more exotic species anyway :) ).
There were good numbers of American Robin and Flicker in the bushes and flying over and Blue Jays were making themselves obvious both in the bushes and a small flock of 10 birds flying over.
As we passed over 'Pooh Bridge' a juvenile Night Heron flew over us towards where the rivers join. We elected to go to 'Cardinal Bridge' and immediately found it (black-crowned of course) on a low branch just down stream.
We both spent some quality time looking at it through the 'scope with frame filling views. A beautiful, well marked individual with large spots and a subtle different tone to the base of the greater coverts - a slightly more rufous brown contrasting with the sandy brown remaining plumage base color.Chrystal found a Magnolia Warbler nearby and following it across the stream, it joined two more.
As we were looking upstream, a coopers hawk passed low overhead (we had watched it fly in the other direction earlier). Suddenly it dived into the stream side trees only to appear a second later in hot pursuit of a birf that plunged into the water to avoid becoming breakfast. As the hawk flew away, we watched the Green Heron extracate itself from the stream and find a place to dry off.
Many folks around this morning in pleasantly warm temperatures (70* at dawn!). The usual dog walkers of course most of which are always happy to share their canine charges. A few folks showed an interest and some a good birding knowledge ("was that a Coopers?") including a couple who moved into Cameron Station yesterday after being deployed in Italy.
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