Skip navigation

Tag Archives: birds

Raising Kestrels

It’s been a slow summer for me so far. I had a lung infection that slowed me down and then forced me to stop my activities altogether for ten days. Now I am struggling to regain my fitness and get on with summer fun.

Fortunately, Ken put up a nest box for American Kestrels for my birthday in March. We watched it from the house, hoping our smallest falcons would find it and use it to raise their young. First there were starlings, much to my disgust but they didn’t stick around! Yay! Some songbirds perched near it but they could see it was too big for their use. Finally, kind of late in their season, a pair of American Kestrels chose it for their own! We watched as they came and went. For us, who live without tv, it was instant entertainment. We set up the scope, in an inconvenient place, where we could watch the box and the nearby perch anytime. I practiced digiscoping with my phone too.

North Central Washington Audubon Society is studying kestrel boxes in Douglas and Okanogan Counties. You can read about their long-term project here. My friend Julie has been monitoring boxes here in the Methow and she asked if I wanted to add ours to the study. Sure. She came by with a peeper camera with a long handle that could look in the box and we saw the first egg. A week later, there were five! And then there were youngsters – four of them. Part of the project includes banding the kestrel young so a permitted bander came and climbed up on a borrowed ladder and carefully plucked the little ones from the box. It was noted that there was one unhatched egg. For whatever reason it wasn’t viable. The little ones got a silver band on their right leg and a black band on their left leg. Last year’s kestrels got blue bands on their left legs. There were three girls and a boy. After banding they were returned to the box and soon the parents were back to feeding them. It’s a big job to keep baby falcons fed. They grow very fast.

And soon the youngsters were big enough to look out from the nest box hole. Sometimes they’d get their feet over the edge, pushing their heads out as far as they could. One day, as I watched, a bird got her wing outside the hole! From that point, there was no going back. She quickly lost balance and fluttered to the ground! Another bird was poking its head out to see what happened to the sister. I couldn’t see where she landed but soon she fluttered up to the nearest perch on the pole, a slippery bolt and began to take stock of her new future. She was joined by two siblings for a bit before she got up the nerve to fly to a pine tree about one hundred feet away. It was a good spot, offering cover from potential predators. The next morning, I saw three sisters all on top of the nest box and the nearby snag that the parents had used for a perch throughout this whole process. Now I see one here and there often in the company of a parent bringing food. I hope they all learn to find food and survive.

More Birds from the Skagit

Shorebirds were not the only birds I saw on the west side. There were Snow Geese, many 1000’s of Snow Geese but mostly in the distance. Except for one that was very close. I wondered if it was sick or injured. Avian flu is still a concern.

Also pictured, White-crowned Sparrow, Northern Harrier, Belted Kingfisher, and Great Blue Heron.

Spring Birds, Bees, and Flowers

Big photo dump from late Spring.

Not So Common – Common Loons

I observed these loons from my kayak on a lake in the Okanogan Highlands last month. Usually, there is a nesting pair but at that time, none were using the historic nest. This particular day, we observed six or seven loons, actively feeding on small trout. Most days I observed only two or three loons on the water at any time. At least two other lakes in the area had nesting loons.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) says “This species is identified as a Priority Species under WDFW’s Priority Habitat and Species Program. Priority species require protective measures for their survival due to their population status, sensitivity to habitat alteration, and/or recreational, commercial, or tribal importance. The PHS program is the agency’s main means of sharing fish and wildlife information with local governments, landowners, and others who use it to protect priority habitats for land use planning.”

Last year, an entire family of four loons was brutally killed by someone with a gun. Another loon died of lead poisoning, possibly from fishing tackle.

I love to camp there and watch and listen to the loons.

Burrowing Owls

The birding highlight at Malheur NWR may have been seeing Burrowing Owls. It’s been years since I’ve seen them. We saw two pairs. One pair was too distant for good photos. We did observe them exchanging food or maybe something else and also an attempt at copulation. The other pair had a burrow very near the gravel road so we were able to view and photograph them from the car.

In some of these images, you can see the male, the lighter one, attempt to give the female a gift. We decided it was a piece of watermelon rind. She was not impressed and retreated to the burrow and he dropped it and stomped on it! Males are lighter because they spend more time outside the burrow and their feathers get sun bleached.