Daggett Creek

In the springtime I enjoy a trip upriver, just a bit into the mountains, to Daggett Creek. The dense willows provide habitat for many types of birds. Cyndi and I saw this Cassin's Vireo there, and I remember well how long and hard I searched to see one of these in years past.

This was also the location I first saw a Warbling Vireo, and a pair-bonded couple was engaged in nest construction at that time. This year I found a completed nest. Both parents were foraging and returning with insects to the nest, so I presume there were young inside the nest. Here's a picture of Mom checking the nest's integrity.

Of course, the resident Dipper is an old friend by now. I recall seeing it singing at dusk in the cold winter season ... now it is happily traveling up and down the edge of the stream foraging for food. It nearly stepped on my toes as it walked upstream past me.

Arizona's hummingbirds really set the stage for a year of great hummingbird viewing ... here's the Black-chinned in Idaho!

The Lazuli Bunting is a colorful sight. I suppose they could be confused with a Bluebird, but the white wing bars help to distinguish them. The females are more of a brown or tan color, and I often wonder what they are, until I remember that they look so different from the males.

This Calliope Hummingbird was fearless, perching right next to me and scanning the sky for insects to eat. Not everyone realizes that hummingbirds eat quite a few insects for protein to supplement the flower nectar they're famous for consuming.

Osprey

The park naturalist in Flamingo joked that the town should have been named "Osprey" instead. There were no Flamingos, but Osprey were nesting, courting, catching fish, and raising young everywhere one looked.

I watched this Osprey hover, looking down for a fish, then plunge at a great rate of speed into the water (the photo is just a streak), and emerge with a fish in its talons (the photo is from the back of the bird as it flew away, so the telling of it is more descriptive).



This is probably the closest I have have ever been to an Osprey in a nest. I had to walk by to go see the crocodiles, and just snapped this photo and kept moving so as not to disturb it too much.



While looking at this pair with binoculars I noticed a little head peek up in the middle. Dad is on the left, and Mom is on the right. The female has a bit of a "necklace" of darker feathers on her chest (not visible from this angle). Junior is peeking up in the middle.