Black Phoebe

I'm always excited when I 'discover' a new bird. I haven't  discovered anything really 'new,' it's just a new bird for me.

And finding a Black Phoebe isn't that easy.

A narrow band of California's Pacific Coast and the southwest's border region is the Black Phoebe's only presence in America. Even then, only in wet landscapes.

This Black Phoebe was either in a mid-morning stretch or showing off to another Black Phoebe nearby.

Black Phoebes look alike and these two were spending a lot of time together.  I'm guessing they were a pair.

Black Phoebes are monogamous. Pairs have been recorded staying together for five years while raising two, even three, broods a season.

Fly catching is in their nature and this Black Phoebe had snatched a dragonfly.

S/he struggled with it for quite a while since the struggle meant a substantial meal.

S/he flipped, tossed and whacked it around... softening resistance.

It went down slowly, wings and all, in a series of swallows.

(Click any photo to enlarge)

Then pair bonding resumed.

I'm not sure who was impressing whom here.

Hear their song at:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black_Phoebe

Getting to see this 'new' species is special... noteworthy.  Only 9000 more to go.

Allan

Credits:
Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black_Phoebe

https://www.amnh.org/explore/ology/earth/ask-a-scientist-about-our-environment/how-big-is-the-bird-population

Roadrunner

The bird showed minimal interest in me as s/he trotted past at a modest Roadrunner speed. They can reach 20mph if the situation demands.

The path was wide and he took the center of it. I couldn't have been happier with his demeanor and lack of concern.

Roadrunners are meat eaters. Eating mostly small mammals, lizards and insects, they patrol the ground for their food. Ground-nesting birds are fair game for this carnivore.

Unlike most birds, it's uncommon to see a Roadrunner in a tree, but it happens.

Being weak fliers, they prefer to run down their prey and are quite adept at killing rattlesnakes.

Speckled in a random brown pattern, he dresses in sunshine this cool morning.

November nights are cold so allowing the sun inside his feathers warms his body faster.

The messy undercoat is there for warmth...

...while the blues, greens and gold are to impress the opposite sex.

Sufficiently warmed, he's off on a hunt. Two feet long and traveling on two feet, he must be aware of coyotes. As fleet as he is, coyotes are twice as fast...40mph.

And coyotes are in the area too.

(click any picture to enlarge)

Allan

Credit:
Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds

Yellow-headed Blackbirds

When the Yellow-headed Blackbirds flew into Sweetwater Wetlands, my latest nemesis bird issues were over. Every birder has a nemesis bird... a bird that maddeningly avoids you. Before this it was the Belted Kingfishers or any member of the kingfishers family who'd fly away one step before I stopped.

Dozens of Yellow-headed Blackbirds swirled into the cattail lagoons today.

Maybe being on-site when they arrived was the secret to capturing these elusive birds.

It's their nature to sleep in the safety of the reeds, but you might see them in large numbers in agricultural fields.

I watched them group-up, disband and regroup again and again for reasons unknown.

Having eluded me for years, I was unaware of their white wing patches that are so obvious now in flight.

They eventually left for the day and that was okay with me. So now they'll have to perturb a different birder.
(Click any picture to enlarge)
Allan

Credits: 
Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
The Sibley's Guide to Birds

Red-winged Blackbird

Have you ever meet a Red-winged Blackbird that LIKED YOU?
Red-winged Blackbirds have a reputation for being aggressive... towards PEOPLE.

They will get in your face and raise a racket. It's all a warning to let you know, you're in the wrong place.

Particularly aggressive ones will attack the top of your head and even draw blood, if you stray too close.

A female Red-winged Blackbird rests on a reed. She favors a cattail marsh to build a nest. Woven of plant material near the waterline it's lined with mud.

Her mate's territory may be shared with 5-15 other females if space permits. There is a lot of polygyny* in Red-winged Blackbird society.

It seems for all the bluff and bluster the males project, the females also get around. Genetic tests of offspring in a known territory have shown one-quarter to one-half come from different males.

Zoology a pattern of mating in which a male animal has more than one female mate.

With all this time and energy paid to protection, the Red-winged Blackbirds are surprisingly easy to observe.

They don't fly away.

To the contrary they'll come to you.

And they are not ALWAYS angry.

Sometimes they're calmly reflective.

Allan


(click any picture to enlarge)

Credits:
Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
The Sibley's Guide to Birds

Bobcat (non-bird story)

Being 'surprised' by a bobcat is a good thing.

I was looking for birds at the Sweetwater Wetlands in Tucson, Arizona, when this strikingly beautiful bobcat strolled out of the weeds.

I had heard of a bobcat that roamed the wetlands, but I had not had the pleasure of meeting her.

Bobcats are at least twice the size of a typical house cat... 13-30 pounds.

This one showed no fear of humans and allowed me to follow her around. I knew she wasn't bothered because she even walked towards me at times. With casual glances, she always knew where I was.

That was being gracious for an animal and wildly unlike the hundreds of birds I so desperately wish to get near.

A riffle of fur outlines the face to give bobcats a unique look.

They get their name from the short wisp of a tail which, oddly and barely, serves a purpose anymore.

(The following two photographs are for those people who enjoy identifying animals by scat left behind. If you wish to skip such information, stop here.)

Allan
(click any picture to enlarge)

I can tell you with 100% accuracy this is bobcat scat.

Green Heron & Frog

A Green Heron snatches a tadpole bullfrog from a Sweetwater Wetlands retention pond.

It's curtains for a tadpole... brunch for a heron.

A few sharp shakes put and end to the tadpole's squirming, then to be swallowed whole.

Green Herons prefer hunting near the protection of dense vegetation. It's there they find their favorites of fish, amphibians, snails and even an occasional rodent.

Downing this slippery, slimy soon-to-have-been frog triggers a need to readjust.

A whole body shudder arranges his new meal and seemingly anything else misadjusted. 

A short test flight to a nearby branch settles his stomach even further.

Yet more importantly, his landing nearby assures me I wasn't bothering him by being too close.

Allan

Credit: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds

Northern Parula

A female Northern Parula bounces between branches searching for food.

(pronounced: par-OOH-la)

The leaves in southern Arizona are just emerging, but the aphids have already discovered them.

It takes a lot of aphids to satisfy a warbler's appetite. (notice the aphid in bill) The energy expended gathering a full meal of aphids must be enormous. Parulas flit constantly.

Could aphids be that caloric?


(Click any picture to enlarge.)

It also takes dexterity and determination to find this teensy-weensy prey.

Aphids live in inaccessible places.

It's likely this Northern Parula is migrating through. Her stop here in the Sweetwater Wetlands of Tucson will be brief.
Sightings of Northern Parulas are considered rare for Arizona.

She'll probably build her nest far away... alone... in a suspended clump of moss-like vegetation. The entire eastern half of the United States and southeastern Canada is a good bet for her seasonal brood.

Oddly though, a few states will lose out. Northern Parulas typically avoid Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa.

Clearcutting and the draining of bogs may be the reason for the Northern Parulas' decline in these States.*

You'll have a good chance of seeing a Northern Parula when you go birding. They are a bird of Low Concern* as to their species' population.

They are migrating north now. Expect them soon in your state, especially if you live east of the Mississippi River.

Allan

*Credits: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
Sibley's Guide to Birds

Green Herons Battle

Dropping sharply from the air, an adult Green Heron attacks a juvenile. The juvenile showed mild concern toward the approaching adult, until it suddenly turned to panic.

The attack seemed unprovoked from my point of reference standing on the edge of this slowly draining water hole. Both birds had appeared to be tending to Green Heron business on opposite sides of the pond in mutual harmony.

A platform overlooks this area known as Sweetwater Wetlands. The pond is being drained for a controlled burn to remove excessive vegetation. Still, it seems large enough for all to coexist peacefully. A Great Egret and a Snowy Egret showed no animosity towards each other and foraged peacefully.

Unfortunately, somehow, something provoked the adult into attacking the juvenile.

It's likely the Green Heron's actions raised the pond inhabitants' anxiety level a few notches with their displays of aggression and posturing.

The adult on the left was upset at the juvenile on the right, possibly for the younger's mere presence at the pond.

That's only my observation, but Green Heron the Younger seems to be receiving a little foot action to deliver that message.

He retreats only to land across the pond at the exact spot where the adult left to initiate his attack.

Now the adult Green Heron gets to claim this lovely new section of mudflats.

I wonder how he feels about that?

Allan

Credits: Sibley's Guide to Birds

Sora

A Sora emerges from back stage to put on a performance for us. Being a secretive bird that's easily startled, a Sora rarely ventures far from the edge of the cattail marsh. You may hear one singing in the tall grasses yet never see it.

The sure-footed Soras are most comfortable in freshwater mudflats. That said, the slightest disturbance will send them running for cover and you'll have to wait for them to come out again.

That was the case for a half dozen birders watching two adult Soras at the Sweetwater Wetlands in Tucson, Arizona.

The two Sora would appear then vanish suddenly when instinct told them to hide.

Fine soft feathers cover this
chubby chicken-sized bird with two oversized feet and a turned-up tail.

Birding is like 'Theater in the Wild' with birds the actors and birders the audience.

It's impromptu and educational... Showings Seven Days A Week.

Aquatic seeds make up the Sora's diet with the balance mainly flies, snails and beetles.

This morning's performance... tail-bobbing up... foraging head-down... was beautiful. Well choreographed and lasting as long as the principles cared to entertain. Somewhat too short for the audience though. The price of admission was free, so no one complained.

(Click any picture to enlarge.)

Allan

Credits: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
The Sibley's Guide to Birds
Wikipedia

Northern Flicker

On any walk near a wooded area, you are likely to startle a Northern Flicker from the ground.  You’ll recognize it flying away by its white rump and colored wing patches. 

The Northern Flicker is a large woodpecker that prefers foraging on the ground for ants and grubs, unlike most other woodpeckers that peck at decaying trees for insects.   

The Northern Flicker is a short distance migrant.  This small group could have been heading south for the winter as they rested in Lake Park, Milwaukee, but they could have been year-round residents, too. 

These are the yellow-shafted variant of Northern Flickers. 

There is a red-shafted variant also in the western United States.  I found this one at the Sweetwater Wetlands in Tucson, Arizona last January.

You’ll most likely notice the Northern Flicker after he noticed you first and flew away, but watch where he lands to see if you can get a better look at this beautiful bird.

Allan