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Winter Birding

A friend and I (no dogs, can you believe it?) went birding a couple days ago. We drove down the Methow, up the big river and then north on the east side of the county and back across the Loup. The weather was outstanding. Sunny and bright, cold in the morning but warm enough for light jackets in the afternoon. There were many water birds, few little brown jobs (sparrows and finches and such) and a good number of raptors. It was a good day birding.

One of our favorites was this nearby Pied-billed Grebe eating its lunch. It was very close and gave us such good views! The lump in its throat in the last image is the fish.

We noticed this Bufflehead sitting on a frozen lake separated by a dike from the big river. It was a ‘sitting duck’. Not a good thing in an area where we observed several Bald Eagles, a Cooper’s Hawk and a Northern Harrier. I don’t know if it was injured or it had mistakenly landed on the ice and could not get enough lift to get over the dike to the open water. It would fly low to the ice and land clumsily and finally it walked over to some cattails where it could be under cover while it planned its next move. According to All About Birds, Bufflehead are seldom seen on dry land: females walk only when they lead their ducklings from the nest to the water or when they’re forced to switch ponds with their ducklings.

We saw lots of other birds and had grand views of the mountains to the west. A good day birding.

Our bird list:

Common Loon

Horned Grebe

Pied-billed Grebe

Western Grebe

Great Blue Heron

Canada Goose

Mallard

American Wigeon

Green-winged Teal

Canvasback

Redhead

Greater Scaup

Lesser Scaup

Common Goldeneye

Barrow’s Goldeneye

Bufflehead

Hood Merganser

Common Merganser

Northern Harrier

Cooper’s Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Rough-legged Hawk

Bald Eagle

Merlin

American Kestrel

California Quail

Ring-necked Pheasant

American Coot

Mew Gull

Mourning Dove

Eurasian Collared-Dove

Rock Pigeon

Northern Flicker

Say’s Phoebe

Northern Shrike

Black-billed Magpie

Common Raven

American Crow

Horned Lark

Black-capped Chickadee

Red-breasted Nuthatch

American Robin

European Starling

Cedar Waxwing

Yellow-rumped Warblee

American Tree Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Snow Bunting

Red-winged Blackbird

House Finch

House Sparrow

Winter in Black and White

I look at these images and wonder what is it that appeals to me about the black and white. The simplicity of the compositions? The textures? The emphasis on shadows and shapes? What do you think about black and white imagery?

Some Little Birds, and One Big Bird

More winter birds hanging around our place. Pine Siskin. American Goldfinch. House Cassin’s Finch. Evening Grosbeak. Red-winged Blackbird. Bald Eagle. And my favorite of this group, White-breasted Nuthatch.

Another Raptor Visitor

This is a Red-tailed Hawk. Redtails, as they are commonly called, come in a variety of colors but most have similar patterns that ought to make them easy to identify. For beginning birders, they do present challenges. This bird is a light colored, first year bird. It was born last spring. The next time it molts (replaces its feathers) it will have a distinctive red tail which will make it easier to identify. Sometimes Redtails are very dark and the patterns are not always obvious. It is the most commonly seen hawk in our area.

An Unexpected Visitor

We often see Bald Eagles from our house flying by or perched on trees and snags down below the house or along the river. So when my friend from out of town noticed an eagle perched on a snag in the yard, at eye level from the dining room table, we just thought it was an immature Bald Eagle. We had about a minute to watch and I made a few photos through the not very clean, window with the closest camera I had before it flew. While examining the photos last night, I kept thinking, that is not a Bald Eagle. In fact, it’s a Golden Eagle! Ken saw it perched below the house later yesterday so maybe it’s sticking around. I’ll be watching every eagle more closely now!