BackyardBirdCam Blog

It Isn't Always What It Seems

2008-07-03T12:12:00.008-05:00

I had a great lesson this spring in bird identification: don't assume that you've correctly identified the bird you are observing, just because it looks like and acts like a familiar bird. Here's what happened... A friend called me one Saturday morning and said she had an immature Barred Owl on the lawn in her very developed suburban Oklahoma City neighborhood. Well it's possible, I thought, and of course I wasn't going to pass up a chance to see an owl... any owl... so I headed her way. When I got there, the owl was hiding in a 4" pipe that served as a drain for her neighbor's french drain system. (Top photo) Although several inches back from the opening, it was visible with binoculars, I could tell that the bird was smaller than an immature Barred Owl and had yellow eyes, which ruled out the Barred completely. So what owl might be seen in a residential neighborhood, sitting in a pipe, and have yellow eyes? It was one of those "looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck moments." And so I proclaimed with great authority that this was an Eastern Screech-Owl and told her how fortunate she was to have one hanging around -- perhaps it was an immature because, as my friend reported, it didn't have great flying skills.

The little owl never came out of the drain while I was there so I made the ID based on a few characteristics. I made another trip to the neighborhood the next evening and this time the owl was sitting along the curb, in front of the drain pipe (second photo). I was excited to get better pictures and the little owl even stayed still while I drove within a few feet of it. I'd never seen a Screech-Owl sitting in the road but I really hadn't seen too many of them at all so this qualified as a great Screech-Owl opportunity!

The bird disappeared the next day so I sent a photo to my friend (she's a big fan of my photos, bless her!) and we had fun remembering the cute owl. It was only days later that I wondered why the owl had almost bare legs. Did immature Screech-Owls have only slight feathering on the legs? I didn't have a clue that my assumption on the bird ID was wrong! I just kept "knowin' what I knew."

Because I like to list the photos in my Photo Gallery by age, gender and plumage when possible, I sent a photo to my very patient bird ID mentor, Jim Arterburn asking if I was correct in noticing that immature Screech-Owls have somewhat legs. Was I
surprised -- and was he gracious -- when he wrote back saying I was wrong -- it was a Burrowing Owl, a rare sighting for Oklahoma City, especially in a
residential area, and that I needed to document it for the Oklahoma Bird Records Committee.

I've seen and photographed Burrowing Owls in prairie dog villages at theWichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge. But I don't think I'm going to be the birder who's going to see something different -- so I just didn't allow myself to think outside of that too-often-clichéd box to think that I was seeing an unexpected bird. If I hadn't contacted Jim, I'd still be happy with my screech-owl sighting but missed the opportunity to get hit between the eyes with the reality that in bird identification, IT ISN'T ALWAYS WHAT IT SEEMS.

PS. You'd think I'd learned my lesson? Not so-- I just learned that a swan that showed up a few weeks ago at Lake Hefner isn't a "run of the mill Mute Swan" even though I've photographed it several times and thought I'd confirmed it in Sibley's (after all it was tame and that's what tame swans at city lakes are). No! It's a Trumpeter Swan... I have no idea what a tame Trumpeter is doing at our lake but there you have it, another lesson 'cause I'm still making assumptions based on what I expect the bird to be. Will I ever learn?!!

Testing new backyard bird camera

2008-06-08T10:12:00.002-05:00

It's been a busy spring and this po' blog has sure taken a backseat to projects for my clients (yes, having to make $$) and spring migration, when more than 120 bird species pass through or arrive in Oklahoma. Busy, I have been! And I have two bird experiences I'd especially like to share in the next few days. But I've also been a bit busy with some new tech-toys / bargains that I've run across and that's what today's post is about. I bought a new camera for my bird photography... I've replaced my Panasonic FZ30 (8MP) with the FZ50 (10MP) and have taken 5,000 photos in 3 months! I splurged on a TomTom GPS system (found a refurb for under $100) and also a new camera to add to my Backyard BirdCam system! The newest camera (Camera #3) is a Trendnet TV-IP100W that's wireless and I'm hoping will allow me to move it around the yard and showcase some of the birds that rarely get to appear on the main BirdCams. The goldfinch are gone for the summer but it would have been great to have a camera I could easily point at the thistle feeders. I look forward to Ruby-throated Hummingbirds arriving at my feeders in August and plan to put this camera close to that action. At least that's the plan! For now, I have the camera on the main birdbath in the backyard to see if it can catch some of the birds, like the robins and wrens that don't use the feeders. I have a small bird-pond and a fountain, so the birdbath isn't the only water feature in the yard but it is often a popular spot. In the upper right corner you'll see the feeders that are on Camera #1 and when the wind is blowing and the skinny desert willow at the birdbath bends, you'll see a small sunflower seed feeder that the Carolina Chickadees really enjoy.

I hope this camera will prove to be as durable as the Axis 2100 cameras that have been operational 24x7x365 for the past 6+ years. It was cheaper so I'm not sure if it's just the decreasing price of technology that made it so affordable or if I paid less for less quality. Nothing like testing in the "field" to learn about equipment!

Let's see if the birds will cooperate and enjoy being "on-cam"!

Lesser Goldfinch

2008-01-31T20:14:00.000-06:00

Wouldn't you just hate to be called "lesser"? It seems that most birds are named for famous people (Lewis's Woodpecker, Meriwether Lewis or Clark's Nutcracker, William Clark), for the bird's behavior or location (Eastern Flycatcher) or for physical attributes (Scissor-tailed Flycatcher). Most birds have ended up with beautiful or useful names. But what happened to the Lesser Goldfinch? It's been assigned a rather insulting name simply because of it's size. They weren't interested in being politically corrected when they handed out this bird's name!

The Lesser Goldfinch is indeed small... it is the smallest of the North American goldfinches at 4.5" compared with the slightly larger Lawrence's (nice name) and the American Goldfinch (patriotic name!) at 5".

I observed my first Lesser Goldfinches yesterday -- a male and female -- and found them to be beautiful and fascinating birds. The birds are usually found in the southwestern and interior western states but on rare occasions, Lessers have been found in two areas of Oklahoma: Comanche County is the southwest part of the state, and the panhandle. I was fortunate to join my birding friend Terri Underhill on a quick trip to our friends Kurt & Sharon Meisenzahl's home in Lawton in hopes of seeing a pair that's been hanging out at their backyard feeders. The birds didn't disappoint even with 35+ mph winds! They arrived shortly after we did and I was able to get photos of both the male and female (male is pictured). I'm never really pleased with most of my photos and these are no exception but they are a beginning! We just need to get invited back and I can try for better pictures :-)

And, by the way, another bird that's been stuck with a diminutive name is the Lesser Prairie-Chicken... a bird that is as sought after by birders because it's become so rare as its cousin the Greater Prairie-Chicken. So let's hear it for these marvelous "Lessers"!!

Ice Storm Woes

2007-12-12T13:40:00.000-06:00

The ice storm that stayed over Oklahoma for several days finally took the Backyard BirdCams out of service! A downed power line in the neighborhood on Monday evening, mean that power had to be cut to my home and those surrounding me. Thanks to a very generous sister and brother-in-law who have not been affected by a power outtage, I am getting electrical power form a generator... just enough though to keep me warm and online for a few hours a day. I won't be able to power the cameras themselves until full power is restored. The massive power failures are affecting 400,000 homes in Oklahoma so it may be up to 7 days before things return to normal. The birds are still here -- but they don't like the generator in their yard!

Here's hoping to have live BirdCam images very soon!

Thanks for your patience!

Inca Dove joins range expansion

2007-11-30T20:06:00.000-06:00

The phenomenal expansion of the Eurasian Collared-Dove across the southern US in the past decade, since its arrival from the Bahamas, has been fascinating to watch. In 2001, we had two at our backyard feeders and the sighting was noteworthy. Today, I easily count 60 collared-doves at the feeders at one time. (Visitors to my BackyardBirdCam.com site have probably seen the doves crowd the feeders.)

Also in 2001, we had a rare visit from a White-winged Dove, another dove making moves to expand its range, although certainly not at the explosive rate of the collared-doves. That dove, a native of south Texas, has expanded into central and western Oklahoma over the past six years, becoming a year-round resident even through the winter months.

Well, there is a third dove species that is making the move northward from Texas into Oklahoma although it is not present in the numbers of the other "range-expanding"doves. It's the small and elegant Inca Dove! (pictured here) Where these doves seem to be present for long periods of time, they appear in sizable groups. In Lawton, Oklahoma, birders report up to 12 Inca Doves at feeders; in Norman (just 30 miles south of Oklahoma City), the Inca has also been seen in large numbers. But they are still a rare sighting in Oklahoma City and most other areas.

I've had brief sightings -- as in gone after 30 seconds -- of Inca Doves in my yard in 2002 and 2004. But the appearance of one Inca this year during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend was very rewarding because the bird stayed for three days. It seemed to fit in with the flock of collared-doves, although it was out-sized and out-numbered! This little bird is only 8.5" while the collared-dove is 13". The Inca is pale gray in color but has dark edging on its feathers which make it look a bit like a rock when it's sitting still, don't you think?

Okie Blog Award!

2007-10-19T19:07:00.000-05:00

A belated but very heartfelt thank you to Mike Hermes at Okiedoke.com for the honor of being awarded a 2007 Okie Blog Award for the Best Unusual Blog! The awards have been presented by Mike and an insightful group since 2005. They were gracious and astute (winners always praise the voters) to nominate the BackyardBirdCam Blog and then select it as this year's winner in the "unusual" category.

As many bloggers learn, it's often a challenge to keep a blog from getting stale. And I'm too often guilty of waiting another day... and another day... thinking I'll take just the right picture and be inspired to write the right article -- the result is a huge gap between postings. Not how I want it! So let's see if this award -- and my good intentions -- will help me stay motivated!

Why does mom have to do all the work?

2007-09-30T14:51:00.000-05:00

Sometimes it seems that mom simply has to do all the work in making sure that kids eat like they're supposed to! At least that seemed to be the case with this fledgling Barn Swallow and a very dedicated parent. For the last in my "dinner is served" series, I've chosen an example of how dinner is sometimes (literally) "on the fly." This young Barn Swallow sat patiently on the barbed wire fence while the adult flew over the field catching small bugs. The youngster would flap its wings and get really excited when the parent was close -- which gave me a great cue for focusing the camera! There aren't many times when a bird tells me "great shot is coming!"

While many birds will perch to feed a young bird -- even small birds like hummingbirds will perch at the nest to feed the young -- there are some adults that just don't take the time to sit while feeding. The Barn Swallow is an excellent example. I've also observed Scissor-tailed Flycatcher feeding fledglings while staying airborne. Perhaps it's easier for birds like swallows and flycatchers who are more adept at hovering?

I'm grateful this little family allowed me to watch their routine and get a few photos. It's too easy to take a familiar and common bird like the Barn Swallow for granted. But the experience of watching these Barn Swallows interact gave me a wonderful lesson in the beauty, elegance and personality that is the reward of sitting still. I'm very grateful I took the time!

"Grasshopper" -- the main course or the bird?

2007-08-19T12:39:00.000-05:00

This little bird is one of the few birds whose name is associated with its diet. And that's why I chose to feature the little Grasshopper Sparrow in my "What's For Dinner" series. Although this bird has a reputation for being quite secretive, I found a dirt road in El Reno, Oklahoma that is home to some very cooperative Grasshopper Sparrows. These birds are one of the smallest sparrows which made it easy to identify the birds while they perched on the barbed wire fence. And they would sit still, allow me to drive next to them and let me take a few pictures! I have to love a bird that is that friendly. And this little one made a dive into a field while I was photographing and popped up on the fence with dinner! Looks like it could be a tasty grasshopper!

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology says the Grasshopper Sparrow not only takes its name from its diet but also from it's insect-like song. They are migrants and breed in Oklahoma as well as most states east of the Rocky Mountains. The Date Guide to the Occurrences of Birds in Oklahoma lists their early arrival date as March 27; they depart by November 2.

This species is undergoing declines in population due primarily to habitat loss. The declines are most severe in Florida, where a subspecies is listed as endangered, and along the East Coast. In Oklahoma the bird remains a summer favorite along wheat fields in rural areas -- I've returned to visit the camera-friendly El Reno clan many times!

It's Delivery!

2007-07-30T17:43:00.000-05:00

Continuing with the theme that has developed from recent photos, the dinner menu today moves from prey found in the water (the Great Egret) to dinner on the wing. The Eastern Kingbird is one of the most common kingbird across the United States with a range that extends from the Atlantic Coast to the eastern borders of Oregon and Washington. It usually arrives in Oklahoma during early May and is quite common along fences and open areas. My favorite spots for finding Eastern Kingbirds are along fences by golf courses and in wildflowers along the shore of a lake.

Kingbirds are very skilled flycatchers. In Oklahoma, they have the disadvantage of being overshadowed by our state bird, the spectacular Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. But these striking black and white birds hold their own when it comes to aerial maneuvers that result in a tasty bug dinner. This Eastern Kingbird had dinner delivered -- it is a fledgling whose only effort was sitting on the cable and waiting for its parent to drop off this translucent-winged bug (I am assuming it was a dragonfly but am not certain). It looked like more than the bird could handle but the young one devoured its dinner in about three gulps.

Dinner is served, part 1

2007-07-22T20:46:00.001-05:00

Finding birds to photograph can sometimes be a challenge during the summer months. Last year, record high temperatures made it difficult to spend time outdoors in the afternoons; this year it was the record rainfall with flooded roads and lakes that posed the greatest challenge. So I decided to have fun finding different ways to photograph the familiar, easy-to-locate birds rather than focus on the elusive, rare migrants. The result is a collection of photos focus on what birds eat... or how they eat.

At the time I posted the Mississippi Kite with the bird (previous post) I didn't know that being an "uninvited guests" at dinner was going to be my new role for this theme! For the next few weeks, I'll be adding new photos that are all about "what's for dinner." This is also helping me learn more about the birds' habits. It's been very rewarding and entertaining!

This photo is of a Great Egret who certainly landed the big one! I watched this egret as it grabbed this large sand bass at Lake Hefner (Oklahoma City) -- it seemed obvious to me that it was too big for even this experienced fish-catcher to handle! It took a lot of chugging, but the egret ate the whole thing! I don't know the length of the Great Egret's beak and I hope I can figure it out so I can estimate the size of the bass. For now, I'd guess that the fish was about 12" long. It certainly made a lot of fishermen envious to see the egret land this one! (I'll add an update if I get a better measurement.)

Upcoming dinner-time photos will include the Grasshopper Sparrow, Eastern Kingbird and Barn Swallow. What's for dinner?!

Mississippi Kite preys on bird

2007-06-17T12:14:00.000-05:00

The distinctive Mississippi Kite is a bird that many out-of-state birders looks for when they visit Oklahoma in the summer. The good news: it's not hard to find one! This kite is a very familiar sight in the skies above Oklahoma City as it soars and catches cicadas. It is a migrant, arriving in late April and leaving in October. And it is quite infamous for protecting its nest by attacking golfers or people walking in parks! All of that is "normal" behavior -- what I observed last week when I found a pair of Mississippi Kites at Lake Hefner was very abnormal. I watched one of the kites eat a bird. This may not sound unusual for a raptor but I learned that my photos of the meal were only the second documented evidence in Oklahoma of a Mississippi Kite preying on a bird. Berlin Heck, a retired wildlife manager and expert on Oklahoma birds, published a report in 2005 about possible incidents of the kites predating other birds and found only one other photo of this happening. It's uncertain why a bird that is known to eat only insects would change its behavior. I sent my photo to Berlin and he suspects the prey was a fledgling that fell out of the nest and was an appealing target to a kite entering mating season. It makes sense... I wonder, though, if our unusually wet weather has disminished the cicada and grasshopper populations (although other insects are plentiful this year!). I would enjoy hearing from others about normal / abnormal behaviors of this fascinating species!

Update on July 1, 2007: The photo above doesn't show many of the Mississippi Kite's identifying features so I can understand Ridgeline's comments that it might be a White-tailed Kite. I can't easily include photos in comments, so I'm adding some additional information here and another photo to clarify my ID. The photo was taken immediately after the bird finished eating. This photo shows the underside of the kite's wings and tail. They lack the distinctive white plummage with black wrist spots of the White-tailed Kite. I've photographed a white-tailed only once: 2003 at Fort Sill. The top photo also shows that the bird does not have the black shoulder patches of the white-tailed.

Need help ID'ing this bird

2007-06-10T15:05:00.000-05:00

I've been absent from this blog way too long. I've been very focused on building my business since the first of the year and devoting as much time & attention as possible to it. I've been able to update some photos on my BirdCam Photo Gallery but my beloved site has become woefully stale.

I'm back... and have a lot of photos to add but also some birds I've observed and some fun and unique behaviors that I'd like to share. I also need your help! I need help ID'ing this bird. I photographed it 24 May 2007 at Lake Hefner, Oklahoma City. At first it appeared to be a Western Kingbird, a familiar -- though not as common as the Eastern -- species in Central Oklahoma. But I then noticed this bird's eye ring and started to take photos, trying to get as much detail as possible on an overcast, low-light day.

What do you think this bird is? A Western Kingbird hybrid, has been one opinion. But what is the other parent? The pale base of the bill, in addition to the eye ring and the color on the bird's back don't match the Western Kingbird. My mentor Jim Arterburn is sending the photo to experts around the country to get some input but one response was "juvenile Western Kingbird," an opinion that Jim and I don't share. For one thing, this would be the earliest breeding record in Oklahoma for this species (to have fledged by 24 May) but also juveniles have pale bellies with only a hint of yellow. This one has strong yellow on the underside.

So help?!! I'd appreciate your input!

Storms bring birds to the BackyardBirdCam feeders

2007-01-18T19:03:00.000-06:00

Oklahoma has been in the news a bit lately, thanks to a three-day ice storm that moved through last weekend. Some parts of the state are still without power. I am ever so grateful that the precipitation that fell in Oklahoma City was in the form of sleet, not ice that coats trees and power lines. But it was a lot of sleet! Some places were 3" deep with solid sleet that quickly became 3" of solid ice. Winter weather is always a challenge for us in the southern Plains because cities don't invest much in snow and ice removal. Until the sun came out today and the temperature finally rose above freezing (6 days after the sleet arrived), we've been driving on and coping with a whole lot of sheet ice. My BackyardBirdCam yard was no exception. I took a shovel to the ice as much as possible to uncover leaves and dirt for the ground-foraging birds. Thanks to an inexpensive aquarium heater in a Rubbermaid tub and the pump in my little pond, I was able to keep the birds supplied with fresh water and lots of bird seed.

My efforts were rewarded with the arrival of three Fox Sparrows. These large sparrows are common in Oklahoma during the winter but they favor habit with dense undergrowth and dense woodlands. Not exactly my backyard, although the yard does offer a lot of cover and an abundance of fallen leaves. This winter marks their first appearance in my yard. Birders across Oklahoma are reporting on the OKBirds listserv about sightings of this species at their feeders since the ice storm. Apparently the ice cover is making it hard for them to forage, even in wooded areas. Field guides describe the Fox Sparrow as "cautious" but those inhibitions were lost when they arrived at my feeders. They are active from early morning, joining the Harris's Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos and Northern Cardinals as the first birds in the yard, and they remain active until dark. They haven't used the tube feeders but have been spotted on a platform feeder mounted 4' above ground.

There are four main populations of Fox Sparrows and the Red (Taiga) is the one we see in Oklahoma. Oklahoma is on the western edge of its winter range. I'm interested to see if this sparrow will leave the yard when the ice clears or if it has found the ready supply of seed a desirable attraction. Snow is forecast for the next few days and I hope these three lively sparrows hang around at least until we return to our customary mild Oklahoma weather.

The Christmas Owl

2006-12-25T11:41:00.000-06:00

Christmas came a little early, and in a most spectacular way this year. As the long holiday weekend approached, I was contacted by a total stranger and told of a Snowy Owl near the Foss Reservoir in western Oklahoma. It was exciting news, and a bit magical since it came to me from an unknown source. But I was very busy with projects for my clients and I suspected that the owl would be an immature, similar to one I photographed last December. I spent some time juggling my client's needs against the rarity of seeing another Snowy Owl in Oklahoma, albeit about 100 miles away. I made contact with someone who knew the bird's location and decided to accept this holiday blessing -- I headed west knowing I'd have less than an hour of daylight to find the owl.

I couldn't find the bird, but thought I was in the right area. Another stranger stopped along the road and simply said, "Have you found it yet?" Wow! He knew what I was looking for and took me to the bird with the stipulation that I tell no one where the bird was located to spare it from being stressed by curious birders. The bird was completely white with no signs of black specs or brown feathers. Just a beautiful white owl, perched about 1/4 mile away. I stepped to cross the field and get a closer look when the bird flew into the woods and never returned. I had this remarkable bird sighting and didn't take a single photo! But thanks to two strangers, I had seen a "Christmas Owl"... was this a Frank Capra movie?!)

I posted a message about the Snowy Owl on the OKBirds listserv and received some questions about it's identity. What was a Snowy Owl doing perched in trees? (Their normal habitat is treeless.) Why did it spook so quickly from 1/4 mile away? (They are usually so docile they are easily harmed.) So I returned to the Foss Reservoir area the next day. I found the bird perched in the trees and took some photos, albeit from quite a distance, and sent them to my favorite bird expert, Jim Arterburn. It turns out this beautiful owl is a partial albino Barred Owl, a rarer sighting because of the albinism than the Snowy Owl would have been. This owl has dark eyes (the Snowy has yellow), the bill is light (the Snowy's is black), and is in habitat common for Barred Owls who are quite numerous in Oklahoma. The bird would be considered a true albino if it had pink or red eyes.

I found another instance of a partial albino Barred Owl mistakenly identified as a Snowy Owl in the Duluth, Minnesota area last winter. I need to get clearer photos of the Foss owl, but through the spotting scope it shows no pigmentation in the feathers unlike the Duluth bird.

I'll be heading to western Oklahoma tomorrow and hope to share new and better photos of this stunning bird. My Christmas Day is brighter thanks to the unexpected strangers who helped me find my Christmas present!

Learning about a new loon

2006-12-01T09:53:00.000-06:00

It's 20 degrees outside and, with the 4" snow cover from today's early-winter storm, I guess I'm inspired to learn about a bird that's very comfortable in this climate: the Red-throated Loon. I had my first-ever sighting of this loon species last week (November 21) at Oklahoma City's Lake Hefner. When I spotted the Red-throated in a group of Common Loons, I was dumbstruck, yes, but also amazed at how small this bird is. I've been watching the loons on Lake Hefner for the past five years hoping to see a Red-throated (usually spotted once or twice a year) or a Pacific Loon (a possibility but a rarity). And for the past five years, I've sent many photos of Common Loons to Jim Arterburn, my birding guru, hoping that he'd finally tell me I'd seen one of the rarer loons. You see, I can -- and do -- see identifying features on a bird in the field that are strictly from my imagination. But last week I knew the bird I was watching was definitely not a Common Loon. A "eureka!" moment.

The National Geographic Complete Birds of North America describes the Red-throated Loon as the smallest and most lightly built loon. It is at least 7" shorter than the Common. And I learned from the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology site that this bird "breeds in coastal and inland tundra in Alaska and northern Canada. Also breeds across extreme northern Europe and Russia." What makes this bird sighting in Oklahoma interesting is that the bird is known to winter along the Pacific and Atlantic Coasts and in small numbers on the Great Lakes. Oklahoma City is in the center of the Southern Plains so the birds are a quite a bit off course when they show up on our city reservoir!

I've now located the Red-throated Loon on three different occasions and even found it in the company of another one! The bird that's in this photo is described by Jim Arterburn as an adult molting from breeding to winter plummage. It's companion was in winter plummage (if these birds stay for a while I hope to get better photos, especially of the one in winter plummage).

I'm excited to add this species to my Photo Gallery. It's a beautiful, delicate loon that comes from the top of the earth to visit in Oklahoma!

I met the 'speed demon'

2006-10-22T19:58:00.000-05:00

David Sibley calls the Peregrine Falcon the "embodiment of speed and power." It's known to hunt medium-size birds in spectacular dives and is sometimes seen in the Southern Plains the same time the ducks migrate through. The waterfowl, especially teal, are often the falcon's target and that's what I was fortunate to see on a windy, cold afternoon this week. It was the first time I watched a Peregrine Falcon at a close distance and it was exciting to see it manuever over the shoreline, dive at the ducks or pester the much larger Great Blue Heron. I was making my way through a lot of mud, trying to get close enough to photograph the bird but I did take the time to watch it through the scope and learn a little about its markings. I never got close enough for a good photo but did come away with a few shots that confirm the sighting. As a result, I've decided to get back into digiscoping (photographing through the spotting scope). My scope is an inexpensive Nikon and lacks the brilliant optics of Swarovski but I used it in the past to digiscope with an Olympus 730. I think it would work better to have a closer match in the sizes of camera lens and scope eyepiece so I purchased a used Nikon Coolpix 995 on eBay. The camera will be here in a few days and I'm hoping for an easy learning curve... foolish notion, I'm sure! But I'm truly motivated because Friday brought a chance to see my first Western Grebe and, once again, I was too far away to get good photos. Do these special birds ever hang around long enough for "do-overs" with better equipment?! I hope to find out!

Photos of juvenile birds

2006-10-08T16:07:00.000-05:00

This summer was hot. It was way beyond hot, with temperatures 100+ for more than 38 days. Add outrageous fuel prices and a very productive business schedule and it
was very apparent that my birding adventures were going to be even more limited than usual. So I hatched a plan! If my chances of photographing new birds were low, I would shift gears and make this the summer for finding and photographing young birds of familiar species. Today then, I look back on this year's breeding and nesting season with a sense of accomplishment. I've added 13 juveniles to my
Photo Gallery! Here's the "new kids" list:

I was fortunate to photograph adult and juvenile Piping Plovers, a new species for me this year and one of special interest because it's listed as Threatened. The Tricolored Heron was another new species for 2006. I saw my first adult in the spring, with a juvenile (pictured right) showing up in September. I'm looking forward to seeing what birds show up this fall. Gas prices have fallen, the temperatures are comfortable, and I'm determined to structure my business so I can have some time to chase birds!

Fuzzy head & big beak

2006-06-10T15:51:00.000-05:00

I wrote in late April about the Great Egret rookery and the incredible beauty of these elegant birds building nests in the tops of oak trees. Now there is some good news to report from the rookery: babies!! Yes, visits to the rookery during the past two weeks have produced sights of many fuzzy-headed, big-beaked egret chicks sticking their heads up above the stick nests. What a sight!!!

Several Great Egret nests contained two or three chicks. The earliest to hatch are now getting quite tall. Unfortunately, a few of the young have fallen out of the nest and wandered around under the trees. I spoke yesterday with Rondi Large at WildCare, an incredible wildlife rehabilitation facility in Noble. She says the adults will often continue to care for the young when they've fallen (or been shoved) from the nest. I'm relieved because it was difficult to see the young ones out of the nest and it's hard to know when to intercede in the process. My late husband was a strong believer in the course of nature, painful and unpleasant though it can be. I know there is much wisdom in that philosophy but isn't there a time when getting involved is the right thing? I simply don't know. These experiences with the natural world are a part of what makes birding so rewarding. What are your thoughts?

Upgrade for BirdCam #2

2006-06-10T15:41:00.000-05:00

I'm pleased to report that BirdCam #2 has been replaced with a newer camera and the image is much improved. I'll be working to get the best focus and position for the ground feeder shot but I am already very happy that the newer camera shows much more detail in the birds on the feeders.

The old camera may show up as new page -- BirdCam #3 if I can find a location in the yard that suits its focal length limitations (perhaps just a closeup shot of one feeder). I'll see if the Downy Woodpeckers might not mind being on camera!

The temperatures are now around 100(F) and the heat buildup in the camera enclosures causes quite a bit of blurring during the afternoon hours. I'll try to install a vent in Cam #1's box... for now I prop open the lid which some of you may have noticed can cause the lid to fall off. Since we're in the middle of a drought there's little danger of damage from rain so I may just leave it off.

Let me know if you see a difference in BirdCam #2...

Spring migration = new birds

2006-06-10T15:04:00.000-05:00

For many bird species, migration is the only time of year when they pass through Oklahoma en route either to their northern breeding grounds (in spring) or their wintering grounds, sometimes as far away as Argentina. So spring is a unique time for finding and photographing birds in my area.

There are 125 bird species listed in the Oklahoma Ornithological Society's "Date Guide" with arrival dates in April... more than 25% of all the species possible in Oklahoma. I set my sights, both literally and figuratively, on finding some of those birds and getting photographs!

When migration ended a few weeks ago, I ended up with photos of four new birds in my Photo Gallery. News on the OKBirds listserv in late April brought a report of a Piping Plover at Lake Hefner. The bird is classified as "Threatened" on the Endangered Species List and I didn't want to miss the chance to finally see this bird. My dash out the door after reading the message was rewarded with my finding the bird quite easily. And it posed for photos!!

My next new bird came as quite a surprise. I simply looked out the patio door and saw a black-head bird with a red spot on his chest. Had no clue!! Seriously... I had absolutely no clue what the bird was. Fortunately, I took one photo before it flew off and I was able to then indentify it as a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Not a rare bird, but not commonly found around Oklahoma City.

Another OKBirds report sent me once again to Lake Hefner (I'm there almost every day anyway) and I located a rare visitor -- a Tricolored Heron. I took more than 100 photos anticipating that the bird would vanish before I got any good shots. The bird didn't let me get very close but I was determined to get evidence of seeing this unusual visitor. I got my best shots by walking along the dam above the bird. This he didn't seem to mind...

And the final of my new birds was the Bobolink, located by birders at a sod farm in eastern Oklahoma County. It was chilly, windy and very cloudy but I put my camera on a tripod and hoped for the best. A black bird against a gray sky doesn't make for "pretty" pictures. But I got a few photos that show the bird and, now that I know where to look, can hope for better pictures next year.

There are many marvelous birds that summer in Oklahoma so migration doesn't mean everyone keeps moving through! I'll write soon about two of my favorite summer birds: the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (our state bird -- we have the best state bird!!) and the Mississippi Kite. Both are nesting and I hope before too long to get photos of fledglings.

Enjoy the birds!

Egrets galore

2006-04-21T21:13:00.000-05:00

Although the Great Horned Owls are already seeing their chicks leave the nest, nesting season for most birds is just beginning. The spring migrants are finally showing up... they aren't late -- I've just been impatient for their return. I'll write soon about some of the birds I'm hoping to photograph, but it's going to be hard to witness a nesting experience better than what I had this week when I visited an egret rookery!

Bethany is a suburb of Oklahoma City and has many neighborhoods with wonderful oak trees. For some reason, great numbers of egrets began nesting in Bethany more than three decades ago. They've been chased out of some neighborhoods; the egrets simply vacated other nesting sites after a few years. This spring the birds decided on a new location (I don't know how the collective decision is made... has to be one of the strange mysteries of nature) and I was delighted when I received an e-mail from another birder with directions to the new site.

The new rookery* is located along a paved road that leads into a neighborhood. This may not sound like the greatest news to you, but it sure beats climbing over fences and trudging through tick-infested fields -- such foolishness as I've been known to do just to get a photo! Yes, I drove down the paved road and saw more than 150 Great Egrets on the ground, in the trees and, to my delight, building nests in the tops of the trees. Scattered among the large number of egrets on this 3.7 acre wooded lot were a few Cattle Egret, Little Blue Herons, and a Black-crowned Night-Heron.

The birds didn't seem disturbed by my presence and I had a wonderful time photographing the birds. The sky was a rich blue and the late afternoon sun highlighted the treetops filled with elegant, spectacular egrets! A few of the birds were already sitting on nests while others were flying in and out with sticks for the construction process. Great Egrets incubate eggs for 23-26 days and the young stay in the nest for 21 days. If all goes well, I may be able to visit the site several times during the next 6 weeks and get photographs of the birds with their young.

*I've heard Great Blue Heron and Great Egret nesting sites called rookeries and I think it's a term that is commonly used. I learned this week, however, that it isn't accurate. So I'll pass along input from an expert birder who responded to a question on the OKBirds listserv about "rookery." Steve Schafer wrote: Rookeries are named after the Rook, a European corvid (not exactly a crow, but close), that nests in large colonies. So, strictly speaking, only Rooks nest in rookeries. But these days the term is applied more widely, to pretty much any large bird that nests in large arboreal colonies, including herons. Heron nesting colonies are also known as "heronries." (I've never heard of "ibiseries" or "storkeries," however.) Perhaps it's best to just play it safe and call them "nesting colonies."

My lesson for the week :-)

Happy birding!

Nesting season begins

2006-03-18T20:04:00.000-06:00

Mercury is in retrograde, I'm told. There was a full moon this week. And far too many things that I've touched lately have crumbled... broken... you get my drift. Birds rule, however! They always fill my life and my heart with pleasure and they've been a wonderful diversion while Murphy and his Law have been around. The backyard is full of Common Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds, and doves (about a dozen White-wings show up each day). The goldfinch numbers, sparse this year, have really dwindled. But spring brings in migrants and nesting season. The owls are early nesters and in spite of a tragedy at the Great Horned Owl's nest, I still get excited about the thought of watching owlets.

(Note: Terri and I visited the Great Horned Owl nest I mentioned in an earlier posting on March 1 and found the nest vacated. Worst of all, we found an owl's wing beneath the nest. One of the adults was apparently attacked by a predator and the nest abandoned. Nature, of course; tragic, absolutely!)

There are now several owl nests that we're watching so I thought I'd report on these as a way of saying "hi" to Les in the UK who's teaching me about owls in his country. Terri and I found another Great Horned Owl's nest at Lake Arcadia in Edmond. This one is deep in a wooded area. We also found the nest site for a pair of Barred Owls (pictured right). We found an egg shell beneath a hollow tree on March 4 and hope to see some young ones in a few weeks.

We also visited a site in El Reno, west of the old Fort, where we've observed a pair of barn owls for the past three years. They are currently sitting on several eggs in the barn's rafters and, again being hopeful, should have several young by early April. (Barn owl babies are definitely something only a mother could love!)

This winter has certainly been one to challenge the best of optimists. I'm willing to give it a go and look forward to spring's rebirth!

A great (horned owl) lady on the nest

2006-02-24T19:33:00.000-06:00

Finding a Great Horned Owl on the nest is one of the great quests each winter. Not only is it great fun to find one, but these magnificent birds can be very patient nest-sitters and provide wonderful photo opportunities. There's nothing more fun on a cold day, when the other birds are absent, than to visit a Great Horned's nest to see the female patiently staring with those yellow eyes.

My schedule this winter has been challenging with my dad's hospitalization and a full workload so my birding buddy, Terri Underhill, and I just haven't had much time to spend searching for an owl's nest. There is no easy way to say this -- my father passed away February 15th and I was more than ready this week to chase birds to lift my head and heart from the saddness. So Terri and I headed out on Thursday just to see what might be floating on the water or perching in a tree. It was one of those "just because" birding trips. And to our absolute delight we were heading home when we heard four crows sounding very upset and swooping around a tree at Lake Overholser in western Oklahoma City. A close look at the tree revealed a beautiful Great Horned Owl in a cavity -- the first cavity nesting Great Horned Owl I've ever seen! Its mate created a diversion to lure the crows away from the nest and we were able to get a few photos of the bird "in the hole." From the looks of this photo, the bird is really wedged in there. It appears her body is across the left side of the hole?

Great Horned Owls are early nesters, usually starting in January after finding an abandoned hawk or crow nest. They incubate the eggs (usually a pair) for four weeks which means this owl could have hatchlings very soon. In 2003, I found a discarded, empty egg under a Great Horned Owl's nest on March 11th. That nest produced two owlets -- one was later found dead, perhaps having been pushed from the nest, the other survived. I was able to photograph the young bird on one of its last fledgling days.

And so Terri and I have a project to keep us busy for the next 4-6 weeks -- owl watching!! It will be fascinating to see how the owl family handles life in rather cramped quarters in the tree cavity. I'd enjoy hearing from others who have experienced the Great Horned Owl nesting experience! Is cavity nesting at all common? Does it influence the success of nesting? This expectant nest watcher would like to know!

A White-winged Dove winter

2006-02-05T16:54:00.000-06:00

What causes shifts in bird populations from season to season? I know that extremely cold weather brings the Harris's Sparrows to my backyard feeders. An occasional White-crowned Sparrow will also show up when the food is scarce because of snow cover. This winter has been unusually warm and dry, creating conditions for wildfires across Oklahoma. How has this shift in weather affected the birds in my yard? Well, the Harris's are a rare sighting and I haven't seen any unusual sparrows. The American Goldfinch numbers are way down, due in part (my theory) to the abundance of dried seed-bearing wildflowers still standing in nearby fields. The exciting news, however, is the significant increase in White-winged Doves in my backyard! The appearance of this favorite bird has increased from numbers as small as one-a-day to more than 20 at one time. It's been several years since I've seen that many of this rare dove in the yard. Their numbers decreased last year in direct proportion to the increase in the number of Eurasian Collared-Doves at the feeders. Now, I'm happy to see their return in such significant numbers while the Collared-Dove numbers are still high (more than 20 at a time).

The White-winged Dove is native to the Rio Grande Valley in south Texas and is a rare sighting in Oklahoma. In Texas the White-wings migrate to Mexico during the winter months. The ones that are resident to Oklahoma are very gregarious and appear to fare well in Oklahoma's winter weather. With the mild weather we had in January, perhaps conditions are even more favorable for them. The White-winged Doves show up first thing in the morning but are easily spooked by the Sharp-shinned Hawks. In the afternoon though, they are usually seen feed on BirdCam #2 from 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. Visit the Backyard BirdCam in the afternoon (Central Time) and enjoy watching these beautiful birds!

The backyard hunter

2006-01-14T19:01:00.000-06:00

It seems incredible that more than two weeks have passed since my last posting. This month is certainly moving with a cadence I've not experienced before. My father remains hospitalized - we're in our eighth week, or I should say he's endured that many weeks of very difficult circumstances. I'm inclined to start a blog just on the topic of medical mistakes made by health care providers in this time of managed care. But I won't get into that here.

I need to acknowledge, however, that helping to care for a critically ill family member shifts priorities and scrambles schedules and plans. My time is so limited that it's been hard to find time to chase birds. So I've expanded my appreciation for the birds that show up in my yard, and in direct proportion, the frustration (okay, anger) for the daily visits by the Sharp-shinned Hawk.

The hawk usually shows up before 9 a.m. and often manages to keep the sparrows, starlings and doves at bay until mid-afternoon. He does create excitement, though. He nabbed a starling one day this week (photo right) and allowed me to take photos while he held it on the ground. This whole predator/prey thing is marvelous... who do I cheer for? The hawk, for being an adept hunter... or the downy woodpecker who escapes? Do I hope the hawk gets a sparrow or starling and spares the doves? Why would one bird be more expendible than another? Do high population numbers make birds less important? I need an a philosopher to sort out these questions! Any thoughts?