Yesterday morning -- again, during a temporary break in the rain -- I went back to the Arcata Marsh. I'm finally starting to take advantage of how close I live to this amazing place! Just like last week, the marsh was hosting lots and lots of ducks, as well as various other birds, including several hunters in a large pool that must have been brimming with fish. I loved getting to see herons and grebes at work, especially at such close range. (I don't know whether it's because of the abundance of wildlife or the abundance of people that hang out in this relatively small area, but the birds at the Arcata Marsh seem especially willing to stay near the paths even when people walk by!)
Two gorgeous Western Grebes were popping in and out of the water:
This grebe is about to slice into the water for another dive:
I've only ever seen these big grebes from afar before, so this was quite a treat. What a bird:
I can't get over those red eyes, and that knife-like beak:
Two smaller Eared Grebes were hunting in these waters as well. OK, wait, these eyes are the best, with that ring of yellow in the middle of the orange-red:
One of the two Eared Grebes was looking especially fluffy, but it was doing just as much diving as its fellow:
A Great Blue Heron and a Great Egret were prowling nearby:
And this turned out to be an amazing chance to watch a Great Blue Heron at work up close. First, I just had to admire this giant bird:
Herons look so funny from the front, but I absolutely love the patterns on this creature's neck and chest:
This heron proved to be an excellent hunter, nabbing a fish every few minutes. (The Great Egret wasn't having quite as much success.) Got one:
Ah, too many eyes!
And down it goes! (Not shown: the fish was still wriggling as it was swallowed.)
And there's another fish soon afterward:
So yeah, I would not want to be a fish in this pond, that's for sure.
In another pond, Green-winged Teal were busy filtering food from the water's surface, motoring around like flat little boats:
A few Lesser Scaup (including some dapper males this time) were in another pond:
And a very sleepy Horned Grebe was floating around as well:
(I also saw a Pied-billed Grebe, making a total of four grebe species; not bad for one visit!)
I can't help taking more pictures of Marsh Wrens when these handsome little birds keep popping up right next to me:
Sing, little Marsh Wren!
I wonder if these birds have started building nests yet, or if they're still working on establishing their territories:
Lovely little bird:
Could this be the same Northern Harrier that flew past me last week, in exactly this same spot?
A Red-shouldered Hawk watched a meadow from a nearby tree:
And a flock of Golden-crowned Sparrows waited calmly in some brambles for me to walk past so they could return to feeding in the path:
And all that in a short visit between rain storms! Hooray for the Arcata Marsh!
The Red-shouldered Hawks that live in our neighborhood have been particularly boisterous in recent weeks. This morning, one of the birds sat in a tree in our yard and yelled (about what, I don't know) for 15 minutes or so. I was trying to work, but of course I had to get up and take a video of this bird instead. There's only one call in this video, then a lot of sitting around (which I was too lazy to edit out), but then there's also a cool shake and leg-stretch after about a minute:
I should point out that I don't at all mind the noise if it means these awesome creatures are hanging around. What an impressive bird!
I was about to do some laundry today when I looked out the window and saw an adult Red-shouldered Hawk in our yard. Well, I was going that way anyway (we have to walk around the back of our house to get to the laundry machines), so I brought along my camera just in case....
And surprisingly, the hawk didn't fly off as soon as I showed up outside!
I tromped through the snow on the path, my bulky laundry bag over my shoulder, and the hawk shifted and turned her back to me but stayed put:
(I don't actually know whether this bird is male or female, but "she" just sounds right.)
I've often admired Red-shouldered Hawks -- they're frequent winter residents in our neighborhood -- but this is the first time I've gotten to see one so close. I absolutely love the rusty feathery cape across her back.... And really, yard visitors don't get much cooler than this.
Thanks for the visit (and the patience!), lovely creature. Happy hunting, and I'll see you around!
Wednesday was my last regular visit to Silver Sands State Park in my official capacity as a volunteer Piping Plover monitor for the year. No shorebirds nested here this year -- same as last year, unfortunately -- but I've had a lot of fun on my shore-side trips nonetheless. The many active creatures on Wednesday morning made for an awesome beach day to round out the season!
I have lots of things to share, but this hawk definitely stole the show:
I'm not totally confident in my juvenile hawk identification skills, but I'm about 95% sure this is a young Red-shouldered Hawk. (It had pale crescent-shaped patches on the tops of its wings, which is apparently a good indication of that species, and it was missing the dark leading edges under its wings that a Red-tailed Hawk usually has.) Anyway, a few seconds after I noticed the hawk in its tree, it flew down and flopped onto the ground:
I guess wings aren't very useful on the ground among woody stalks, but the hawk soon got its appendages under control. It seemed very interested in something at its feet:
After a brief tussle, the hawk was off into the air again, now with a meal in its talons:
Oh! It's a snake!
I caught up with the hawk again later, and by that time the snake was already half gone:
Poor snake. (I wonder what kind it was.) The hawk seemed happy with its prize, though.
A crow was hopping around and calling nearby, but the hawk didn't share, and the snake was gone pretty quickly anyway:
Well hunted, young hawk!
An American Kestrel -- a much smaller raptor -- was hunting in this part of the park as well:
These little predators are just too cute, with their big eyes and tiny beaks:
In another area of the park, dozens of Barn Swallows made a cool sight as they preened and chittered to each other, all lined up on electrical wires:
A Twelve-spotted Skimmer dragonfly looked especially striking with the sunlight shining through its stained-glass wings:
And of course, now that I've emphasized (in my last post) how unusual it is to see Clapper Rails in the open, I've seen these birds up close on each of my last three visits to the park. Well, I'm not complaining! I guess late summer is just a good time to see these cool, funky-looking birds:
The shore has definitely been a great place to visit this summer. And now that my volunteer duties are finished, I'm hoping there will be more time soon for some woods walks!
Apparently out of nowhere, we got over a foot of snow today. (I saw a mildly cautionary winter weather advisory last night, but nothing particularly threatening.) And here I thought winter was over!
And this wasn't just any snow.... It was the kind of thick, wet snow that sticks to everything and turns the world entirely white. I loved this mid-storm view from our apartment's windows this morning, power lines and all:
And whenever the wind knocked down clumps of snow, the already thick snowfall would turn into an impressive avalanche:
I don't know if I've ever seen snow quite this clingy before. It stuck to objects, and then the snow stuck to itself, until inches of snow were hanging down off of various structures. The bird feeder in our yard looked like it was being enveloped by an over-large hat (see this feeder looking relatively normal after last month's blizzard for comparison):
Quickly, chickadee, escape before the snow collapses!
I couldn't stop admiring this snow, and in the process, I found several birds to admire as well. An American Crow cut a stark profile in the snowy trees across the street:
And a male Northern Cardinal looked especially red among all that white:
Our local pair of Red-shouldered Hawks is still hanging around (I saw them sitting together on a branch the other day), and one of these extremely awesome birds took up a snowy post near our yard this afternoon:
(I love that we have these gorgeous creatures around, and I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for a nest!)
Finally, a Northern Mockingbird spent a good deal of time eating old Red Cedar cones and Bittersweet berries in the trees outside our windows, and I got to admire this handsome bird up close. This is how I usually think of mockingbirds, all sleek and long:
I absolutely love the subtle range of colors on this bird's face, and those hazel eyes and tiny white "eyelashes" are very pretty indeed:
One more picture:
Later, I saw another mockingbird (I think this is a different individual), and it gave a totally different impression. Rather than sleek and slim, from this angle the bird was positively puffy. I didn't ever think I would want to call a mockingbird "cuddly," but there you are:
A couple of times, this bird shook its head and spit out some berry seeds. I had no idea this was something birds did! Mouth open... get ready...
Ptoo!
Aaaand again! (This last picture has a certain grossness factor, but I think the inside of the mockingbird's mouth looks really cool.)
Wow, the things you learn watching animals up close!
And that pretty much sums up my snowy day. (Pretty snow, pretty birds, and spitting. Yay!) I wouldn't be surprised, though, if this storm was winter's last gasp. The snow turned to rain late this afternoon, and the weather report is calling for 50-degree temperatures over the next few days. In any case, I'm glad I got to enjoy this beautiful, thick snowfall, even if it only lasted a day!
