A fairly common oystercatcher of the West Coast of the United States. They are noisy and their bright orange beaks are easy to spot when they are on dark backgrounds. They feed on molluscs and crustaceans. They are often found on exposed, rocky shore working for food on the beds of the California Mussel which cover wave swept rocks.
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (Amazilia tzacatl)
This little hummingbird is extremely territorial and makes its presence known to almost any other bird who invades its flower patch. Several times I saw this species dive bomb the larger Banaquit and always succeeded in chasing it off its territory. Seen near the Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica.
Western Stone Nuthatch
As Floy has mentioned we have been away for about three weeks. Our trip through Southern Turkey was not a birding expedition, but I did what I could in the way of bird photography much to the chagrin of our fellow travelers. I tried not to hold up the group, but sometimes it was not easy.
Wherever we went that had stone ruins we would hear this strange call that sounded vaguely like a Canyon Wren. It took awhile to locate the source, but eventually I found it usually perched on the top of an ancient structure. It has big powerful claws and hangs vertically, high on stone faces. Meet the Western Stone Nuthatch found in a relatively narrow band from Croatia east to Iran.
Unfortunately I did not have my usual birding camera, so this photo will have to do.
Red-breasted Nuthatch
This perky little bird mostly works tree trunks searching for insects. They have a funny call that sounds like a high-pitched horn. They can walk up, down and sideways on vertical surface.
We saw many of this species at the Malheur Lake Visitors Center which is a a birding hot spot, especially during spring and fall migrations.
Mountain Bluebird
The Mountain Bluebird is one of my favorites. Where we normally see them, their surroundings are drab. So seeing one of these pastel-blue birds is a real eye opener. They are usually out in the open, but they are shy and do not let me approach for a close photo. This one was taken with a 400 mm telephoto lens on an overcast day.
Yellow Warbler
In the California county in which we live, Santa Clara County, there are well known migration paths used by passerine birds. These paths are usually creeks and small rivers that provide food and water to birds as they fly from as far as Alaska heading south to their boreal winter grounds ranging from Mexico to South America. The Yellow Warbler is one such species and every fall they appear reminding us that another northern hemisphere breeding season is ending.
Black Phoebe
The Black Phoebe is a common flycatcher on the West Coast. It is easily found in and around the San Francisco-San Jose area all year. Most of the time when we are doing local birding we will see one or two them. They tend to use low spots from which to do their fly catching, rocks, fence posts and the like, flying off a perch, grabbing an insect and then usually returning to the same perch. It’s my observation that they like green grassy areas, perhaps because of the type of insects that lawns draw. Since the drought in California and home owners have converted to xerophytic gardens I am seeing less of this species where in the past they were common.
American Dipper
American Dipper seen near Alyeska, Alaska
I love these birds. Seeing your first one ejecting from a heavy white-water rapid on a roaring mountain river is like viewing magic. This bird finds its food by flying down to the bottom of swiftly moving streams and walks upstream on the bottom hunting for insects. Many times I have seen them leave the water with a large insect larva in their beaks. Note the huge toenails that assist this bird in holding onto the bottom of creeks and rivers. One tough little bird.
Canyon Wren
The plaintive song of the Canyon Wren reverberates in canyons of the Western United States. They are not too shy so they make reasonable photo subjects. They are uncommon in Santa Clara County, California. Last I heard there are two known Canyon Wrens in the county. A beautiful wren with a white throat and rusty-red uppers.
Snowy Egret
I don’t have any exotic birds to follow Dave’s post but here is a painting of a common bird I recently completed. Snowy Egrets are a great subject to work with and I had fun placing this one amid tangled splashy branches.
Snowy Egret 16” x 20” acrylic on wood panel
The Green Turaco
The Green Turaco - Tauraco persa
Well, so far, all my photos were taken in the wild. I will try to adhere to this concept, but I had to post this one because it is such an unusual looking bird. It is found in Central-Western Africa. Technically it is the species Tauraco persa buffoni, the only subspecies that does not have a thin white line below the eye.
This photo was taken at the Bloedel Conservatory, Vancouver, BC.
The Carolina Wren
This small wren of the eastern parts of the United States and eastern parts of Mexico is very noisy for its size. Its loud “tea-kettle tea-kettle” song lights up forests during the breeding season. They are hard to see because they favor brush thickets, but hearing them is not a problem when they are singing.
Photographed at El Franco Lee Park, Houston, Texas.
Whiskered Screech Owl
The Whiskered Screech Owl is found over a small area of the Southwest United States. Its distribution extends down the western mountains of Mexico and into part of Central America. We heard several “tooting” during the night where we were staying in Portal, Arizona. Sometimes their toots sound like Morse code.
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
A truly beautiful flycatcher. The salmon-colored flanks are characteristic of this species. When it flies, the long tail reminds me of a train on a bridal dress. The area around the “armpit” or “wing pit” as it is sometimes called is a more intense redder salmon color.
This species breeds in the south-central U.S. and winters from South Mexico down into Panama.
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - A subtle beauty
Blue-gray Gnatchater
The Blue-gray Gnatcher is a common bird in Central-Coastal California in the summer. It flits around in the brush wagging and lifting its tail which startles insects causing them to fly to become a tasty morsel for this bird. This photo is of a male because of the blue “V” on its forehead.
If lucky, you will encounter these birds nest building. They gather caterpillar and spider silk and use it to fasten fragments of lichens into a small thimble which becomes the nest. The nest looks like a bump on a tree’s branch and it’s impossible to know if it’s a nest unless you see an adult fly onto it.
Green Jay
Green Jay
Want to talk Gaudy? Talk about the Green Jay. This bird has a bizarre mix of colors: green, black, blue and yellow. I have encountered this species twice, once in Mexico and once in Southern Texas. I was unable to get what I consider great photos because the bird was either glued to a suet feeder or in the case of this photo, it stayed in the protective shade of vegetation. They have a well-developed family structure that cooperate to improved reproductive success. More information on this species can be found at: https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna/species/grnjay/introduction
Orange-breasted Bunting
There is nothing like coming up on this little bird. We were walking down a road with dry grass and barbed wire fence. Out of nowhere, a blue gem catches the eye - even with its flashy colors, it just barely catches the eye.
Black-throated Green Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
A warbler with a lemon-yellow face that is common in the Northeast United States and Southeast Canada in the northern summer. In the summer it feeds mostly on caterpillars in coniferous and deciduous forests. This species spends the northern winter in tropical America where it eats the buds of the cecropia tree.
We have seen this species in Northern Ohio as it makes its way across the lakes to northern forests in Canada.
Photo taken at Magee Marsh, 2018.
Yellow Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Yellow Warbler
The sweet song of the Yellow Warbler always puts a smile on my face as it sings “sweet, sweet, I am so sweet”. The rich buttery yellow with the reddish streaks indicate a male Yellow Warbler in the photos. Females and immatures are not as bright and lack the rich reddish streaking on the breast. The plain face with a piercing black eye is a characteristic of this species.
These photos were taken at Magee Marsh, Ohio in 2018
Palm Warbler
Palm Warbler at Magee Marsh, Ohio
Palm Warbler
The Palm Warbler occurs mostly east of the Rocky Mountains and breeds almost exclusively in Northern Canada. Some members of this species will spend winters along the west coast of the United States, however, most overwinter in the Southeastern United States and down into the Caribbean and Yucatan. The winter Palm Warbler, like most other warblers is drab brown, but the yellow under-tail area gives them away along with their habit of wagging their tail up and down as they forage on the ground. They are brave for warblers. In Florida a winter bird came up and pecked on my shoe.
The photo shows an adult heading for the breeding grounds. Photo taken in May 2018 at Magee Marsh, Ohio.