Red-tailed Hawk

I've not been very good at posting of late. I suppose it deserves a quick explanation. I've started taking classes at Western Governors University. It's never too late to learn some new tricks. The classes are challenging, and I just made it past a big hurdle, passing my Cisco Certified Network Associate exam. There will also be classes in business and management, web design, programming and much more. If I can make it all the way through I'll have (another) accredited degree in Information Technology, this one with an emphasis on Security.

So, to celebrate, I did something I've really missed while studying so hard and long ... I went birding. Yesterday Cyndi and I drove down to the Birds of Prey National Conservation Area on the Snake River. We saw Golden and Bald Eagles (including a pair at their nest), Prairie Falcons, Red-tailed Hawks, and American Kestrel. Here's the best photo of the day, a Red-tailed Hawk landing on a utility pole.

Homeward Bound

Before we started homeward, Cyndi's Dad took a photo of us. Two thousand miles without a shave, and we were still friends.

On the trip home we saw yet more colorful desert flowers.

One of the two longest days of driving was our marathon journey home from Las Vegas to Boise, with lots of birding stops along the way!

As we drove northward through Nevada toward home we went over a fairly high-elevation area. We got out of the car to look at the Juniper trees and geology and when I turned to look back at the car there was a Lazuli Bunting sitting right on the car's rear-view mirror! Though I didn't get a photo of it sitting on the car, it didn't fly far. Here it is on a road sign.

This magnificent Golden Eagle watched us pass through its territory. There's a lot of wide-open space in Nevada.

One wetland at the corner of an agricultural field hosted this Great Egret.

And here is yet another type of lizard, this one clinging to a tree. Cyndi thought it might be a Collared Lizard, and it does seem to have a collar-like marking around its neck.

As the sun set we crossed the border back into Idaho, and this Swainson's Hawk sat high in a tree catching the last warm rays.

I saw 163 species of birds on this vacation, in four states. Thirty-nine of them were Life Birds for me and I list the Lifers here in the order I encountered them:

Gambel's Quail
Great-tailed Grackle
Lesser Nighthawk
Mexican Jay
Magnificent Hummingbird
Broad-billed Hummingbird
Hepatic Tanager
Flame-colored Tanager
Bridled Titmouse
Painted Redstart
Rufous-crowned Sparrow
Elf Owl
White-winged Dove
Hooded Oriole
Arizona "Strickland's" Woodpecker
Blue Grosbeak
Verdin
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Gila Woodpecker
Curve-billed Thrasher
Phainopepla
Thick-billed Kingbird
Cassin's Kingbird
Gray Hawk
Canyon Towhee
Violet-crowned Hummingbird
Abert's Towhee
Dusky-capped Flycatcher
Costa's Hummingbird
Vermilion Flycatcher
Chihuahuan Raven
Varied Bunting
Whiskered Screech-Owl
Black Phoebe
Greater Roadrunner
Cactus Wren
Pyrrhuloxia
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
Harris's Hawk

The entire list of 163 birds seen, with the photos arranged in a slideshow, can be seen at http://cyndiandjonathan.shutterfly.com/.

Because this blog shows off all my photos I'm never seen, so I thought I'd share this picture Cyndi took of me in Arizona.

Thanks for reading about our trip. I hope you've enjoyed the story and pictures. Next, I have some exciting things to share from my own corner of the world. There's no place like home!

Driving to Las Vegas

Our next destination was Las Vegas, where we would stay with Cyndi's Dad and second Mom. It was a long drive through the desert, but we stopped a couple of times to enjoy the environment.

The scenery changed from Saguaro to these Joshua Trees.

Here's an overview.

And, closer up, you can see many kinds of desert plants grow here.

Many of the cacti were in bloom, and Cyndi took a lot of photos!

Here are some of my pictures of the cactus blooms.

This next plant is Bladder Pod, and I later learned that the plant stores carbon dioxide in the pods on the stem, so they can use it whenever they need it.

There were many kinds of wildflowers along the way.

Most exciting for me, though, was noticing this bird ... one I had never seen before, the Harris's Hawk. We stopped and tried to walk back to get a better view of it, but it would have none of that and flew off as we walked along the road.

It's about time ...

It's about time!

What I mean by that is two things ... it's about time I did another blog post. It has been a very long time. And, secondly, it's about time for the springtime birds to begin to arrive, and sing, and pair up.

After photographing birds for a few years with the same camera it is now becoming more difficult to surpass my "personal best" with a lot of these species, so I just don't have many photos I'd like to brag about and share. That said, Cyndi and I did make a determined effort to find and photograph birds last weekend (and still found time to work in both of our yards!)

We went to Indian Creek Reservoir, which is a great spot to see migrating shorebirds and waterfowl. Birds need water, and this little basin is just big enough that they feel safe yet still small enough that a scope or telephoto lens will bring most birds close enough to identify.

Here's a gull surrounded by Black-necked Stilts with three Killdeer in the foreground. I think the gull is a Ring-billed Gull. Click the image for a larger view.


Many birds are paired up this time of year, either dating, or mated for life, or cooperating to build a nest. That makes for a nice opportunity to show the differences between male and female of the same species, such as this American Wigeon pair.


Other birds are advertising for a mate, claiming territory in the hopes of having the best spot when the women visit, or are very happy to find moisture and nice spring weather in the desert. This one is a Yellow-headed Blackbird.


I do love the "big birds" (and the colorful birds). This one is a Swainson's Hawk. It spent the winter in Central or South America and they're now returning to feast on the rodents that are coming out of burrows in the warming spring weather.

I like the next photo because of the pose. We all know birds fly, but this one is checking over its shoulder because it is the lowest bird in a kettle of three Swainson's Hawks that is seeking to gain elevation before heading north over the mountains. If it can see where the others are, it has a better chance of getting into a column of rising air, thus gaining elevation with minimal effort.

Owls

With the approach of spring (the crocus have bloomed in my yard) Cyndi and I have spent many warm days outdoors. We went to the Deer Flat NWR, the Fort Boise WMA, and Snake River Birds of Prey. The Red-tailed Hawk in the photo above was seen at Snake River Birds of Prey, at the Discovery Park overlook. We stayed until after sunset and three beaver swam out into the river at dusk, then one waddled ashore to size up a tree for chewing. It was too dark and too far away for a photo, but seeing that fat bowling pin shape was mighty entertaining. And, earlier we had run into birders Jay and Heidi. Jay helped us recognize a Savannah Sparrow which I would have mistaken for a Song Sparrow.

Jay also shared with us some highlights of the recent trip to Africa, and recommended Rob's blog as a source of photos and information from the trip.

On Saturday, at the Fort Boise Wildlife Management Area we saw thousands of Snow Geese (photos to follow in a future blog) and encountered my friend and fellow birder Rich as well as this Western Screech-owl. This was the first time I found one on my own, without somebody having found it first and given directions, and the first time I saw one outside of a nest box. Could this be a good sign that I might have more owling success this year than in past years?

Perhaps, because the next day Cyndi and I located this pair of Great Horned Owls, one on the nest, the other waiting nearby, in case anybody needs delivery of take-out food. I uploaded this photo in its full size, so if you click on it, you'll see yellow eyes staring over the soft, feather-lined nest edge. Very cool to see. I took a few quick photos and didn't approach very closely, and quickly retreated to help assure the couple privacy while they patiently wait for leaves to grow.

Birds of Prey National Conservation Area

Southwest Idaho has one of the highest concentrations of nesting raptors in North America. The Snake River plain is habitat for rodents that the raptors prey upon. With springtime weather here, I decided to go visit the Birds of Prey and Snake River canyon.


This lizard was sunning by the overlook. It would occasionally do a couple of push-ups to show off its orange belly.

Looking down into the canyon gave the opportunity to see this Red-tailed Hawk from above as it cruised looking for prey.

On the way home I saw this Rough-legged Hawk flying at eye-level. Usually I see them high in the sky and the photo only shows their underside.

I went there looking for Sage Sparrows, but the only photo I got was from a great distance. I'll have to do better next time. Sage Sparrows only live where there is sagebrush. Though it is hard to imagine, their habitat is fast disappearing due to encroaching development, fire, and conversion to agricultural uses.