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Post by ilmatto on Mar 29, 2010 19:31:56 GMT -5
More heron images: We have a lot of herons in my area and we even have a local mountain named after them (Sagiyama - heron mtn). We have lots of rivers and canals and flooded rice fields in the summer. At a small local mountain there is a big tree and the herons fly to it to roost at night. I never before knew that they were such social birds because I usually see them hunting singly during the day. You know how noisy other birds are when they roost at night; these herons are almost silent, you can only hear the sound of their wings. Here are some images of the big tree where they go in the evening.
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Post by spackle on Mar 29, 2010 19:34:39 GMT -5
I sit corrected. How about Albatross is to Anhinga as lil' smudgey is to KITTY! (whichever kitty that may be, I was kind of thinking of the fire-breathing dragon in The Sword and the Dragon).
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Post by spackle on Mar 29, 2010 20:55:06 GMT -5
More heron images: We have a lot of herons in my area and we even have a local mountain names after them (Sagiyama - heron mtn). We have lots of rivers and canals and flooded rice fields in the summer. At a small local mountain there is a big tree and the herons fly to it to roost at night. I never before knew that they were such social birds because I usually see them hunting singly during the day. You know how noisy other birds are when they roost at night; these herons are almost silent, you can only hear the sound of their wings. Here are some images of the big tree where they go in the evening. Wow, truly amazing. We have heron rookeries near me but they are tiny compared to yours. Neat about them being so quiet you can hear the sound of their wings.
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Post by callipygias on Mar 29, 2010 22:51:15 GMT -5
One of the things I look forward to every Spring is the return of the Western Kingbirds. They love the desert of Eastern Oregon, and it's said every ranch has at least one. They're one of the funnest birds to watch, because they're so fearless, and so... mean. Trees are very scarce throughout much of Eastern Oregon (mostly they're just around the houses), and at my parents' place there's an enormous old tree that at any given moment, spring through fall, can be holding dozens of birds of different species. Two years ago a Western Kingbird took off from his fence-perch (they almost always perch on fences and fence-posts) and chased every single bird out of the tree, one-by-one, from branch to branch, for no apparent reason, and no matter how much bigger they were, then he returned to his fence-perch about 50 yards away, apparently pretty satisfied. It isn't uncommon to see them chase crows, or even hawks. I'd like to shake the taxonomist's hand who named the Kingbird genus Tyrannus. That was inspired.
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Post by ilmatto on Mar 29, 2010 23:13:59 GMT -5
This is a bird watching sign on another local mountain that I found amusing. This is a taxonomic naming failure. I imagine this species is eternally attacking Audobon's descendents.
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Post by solgroupie on Mar 30, 2010 10:57:12 GMT -5
i love that picture! it looks like the little bird is saying, "come on, faster!" and the other one is saying, "WE'LL GET THERE WHEN WE GET THERE!"
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Post by spackle on Mar 30, 2010 13:50:38 GMT -5
I've got another "spring return" story... sung to the tune of When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano... When the Swallow-Tailed Kites Come Back to Florida! I saw one when I was out walking today, just swooping around like they do. Here's their page on the Cornell site. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Swallow-tailed_Kite/lifehistory The range map surprises me. Seems like I've seen them way outside their range.
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Post by solgroupie on Mar 30, 2010 19:36:09 GMT -5
tennessee warbler!
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Post by callipygias on Mar 30, 2010 19:38:47 GMT -5
That's one fine-looking raptor you got there, spackle. I have little chance of seeing one of those, but we do have plenty of Kestrels (aka Sparrowhawks). For raptors, they're extremely colorful and extremely small (about 9 inches). And they're fun to watch hunt, because they actually hover. So if you pass an open field and there's a tiny, colorful hawk perched on a power line, stop and see if you can catch him hunting. If you haven't seen it, it's worth it.
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Post by spackle on Mar 30, 2010 20:42:25 GMT -5
^^ I am absolutely hopeless at warblers. I admire anyone who can tell them apart. Tennessee! Warbler!
^ Ah, I love Kestrels. I have a Kestrel story from my childhood. We lived in the country, on what had been a farm. Some people from a nearby town found an injured kestrel, and after nursing it back to health, released it on our land. We got to feed it for a while before it could hunt on it's own. It would come by every day and call, and we'd run out with raw hamburger and toss it up and he'd catch it. Once when it called it was in a tree, eating a mouse. After that we didn't see it much any more, except the following spring there was a pair hanging around for a while. My childlike Disney-fueled brain made much of both the mouse and the pair the following spring. He's showing us he can hunt! He's showing us he found a mate! I'd still kinda like to believe it.
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Post by ilmatto on Mar 30, 2010 21:01:58 GMT -5
My childlike Disney-fueled brain made much of both the mouse and the pair the following spring. He's showing us he can hunt! He's showing us he found a mate! I'd still kinda like to believe it. That's a beautiful story and I would have come to the same conclusion.
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Post by ilmatto on Mar 30, 2010 21:05:38 GMT -5
We have a lot of hawks here and on one mountain I saw 7 at one time flying overhead in circles. One of the hawks had a small round object in his talons like a small pine cone or mouse head or something; he would drop it, swoop down and catch it in midair when it had fallen 2-3 meters or so, and fly back up and drop it again. He did this over and over; I don't know anything about raptor mentality but I thought this was interesting. Was he playing or demonstrating to juveniles or something...
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Post by spackle on Mar 31, 2010 8:24:41 GMT -5
^ Teaching the kids to play with their food? ;D
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Post by solgroupie on Mar 31, 2010 15:35:46 GMT -5
this could have been staged, but it still cracks me UP!
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Post by callipygias on Apr 1, 2010 23:44:22 GMT -5
We don't get the regular old blue jay in the west, but we do get the Steller's Jay. Beautiful bird, but WOW their calls can be annoying.
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