White-throated Sparrow photos by Larry Jordan

A few weeks ago, my friend Debby texted me that she had a White-throated Sparrow at her feeders.  This may not sound like much if you live East of the Rocky Mountains but White-throated Sparrows are not common in the central valley of California as you can see on this map courtesy of Cornell Lab.  Cornell Lab actually has a note below the map stating “Species is present only at very low densities in the western wintering range shown.”

So, of course I headed over to her house to see my first White-throated Sparrow, and what a beautiful specimen it was.  Debby had layed out plenty of food around her yard, making sure the sparrow would stick around for anyone wanting a look at the rare migrant.

This bird was travelling with a flock of White-crowned Sparrows it seemed.  There were several white-crowns, adults and juveniles feeding in the yard right outside her livingroom window!  How convenient for watching this beautiful newcomer.

There are two morphs of this species, a tan-striped and a white-striped morph.  The white-striped morph we were able to see here has a brighter yellow eyebrow stripe than the tan-striped morph.

The White-throated Sparrow differs from the White-crowned Sparrow by having a white throat and a bi-colored bill rather than a pinkish bill

White-crowned Sparrow

And the immature Golden-crowned Sparrow has yellow in its crown to set it apart, whereas this adult has the yellow central crown stripe bordered with bold black eye stripes.

Golden-crowned Sparrow

The afternoon spent watching birds through Debby’s livingroom window also included several other species attracted to her feeding station.  There were the ever present Western Scrub-Jays

and Mourning Doves

as well as White-breasted Nuthatches competing for her suet (she uses the same recipe as I do)

with a pair of Downy Woodpeckers

Downy Woodpecker Female

Downy Woodpecker Male

and a pair of Nuttall’s Woodpeckers

Nuttall’s Woodpecker Male

Nuttall’s Woodpecker Female

Now that’s what I call an enjoyable afternoon birdwatching, all from the comfort of a friend’s livingroom window!  Thanks Debby!

Make sure you stop by to see the other great Bird Photography Weekly photos!

Northern Pintails In Flight photos by Larry Jordan

Remember last week I told you that I had reserved a photo blind at Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge?  There were hundreds of Northern Pintail ducks at the refuge and after spending hours in the blind waiting for birds to come a little closer, I decided to work on “in flight” photos.  But let’s start at the beginning of the day.

Before day break I was greeted by a couple of Great Horned Owls hooting from the trees as I walked toward the blind.  I caught the outline of one of them high up in a tree just before leaving the road to walk the shallow water pathway to my hide.

It was a beautiful, sunny and cool morning with a slight breeze, blowing in from the North.  I could see scores of Greater White-fronted Geese, White-faced Ibis, Black-necked Stilts, various ducks and even some Herring Gulls in the distance but the only birds that decided to come in close to the snag and the logs placed near the blind by the refuge staff were this Brewer’s Blackbird, a few Red-winged Blackbirds and a Black Phoebe that kept me company for awhile.

There were many Greater White-fronted Geese and ducks by the score.  As time passed, the birds began coming closer to the blind and eventually I got some chances a the Black-necked Stilts that were feeding in the shallows.  There were adults and juveniles and I enjoyed watching them weave between the slumbering ducks.

There was a Northern Harrier cruising over the marshes giving me good looks through the bins as she dropped down into the thick bulrushes; then fly back up, still looking for some delicacy.  She was too far off for a decent photo however.

Then, all of a sudden, the birds began squawking and on cue, leaped into flight en masse.  I also was alerted as a pair of Red-tailed Hawks flew right over the blind (from behind) giving me no time to reset the camera for photo ops.

This is what prompted me to begin looking for “in flight” opportunities, and there were many.  As I said, Greater White-fronted Geese were plentiful

and there were GadwallNorthern ShovelersAmerican Wigeonand Cinnamon Teal.

There were also Ring-necked Ducks flying in and these Long-billed Dowitchers I spotted on the way out, feeding with the Black-necked Stilts.

I left the blind before noon as the wind picked up and the birds settled down.  Off the back of the observation platform I spotted a Yellow-rumped Warbler

Then, heading back toward the visitor’s center, I passed a Red-tailed Hawk and this Red-shouldered Hawk that was hiding from the wind.

Heading down the backstretch of the refuge there are several huge ponds where the Snow Geese were hanging out with still more Greater White-fronted Geese.  As I stopped to study the flocks briefly, looking for the odd Ross’s or Blue Goose or maybe a Eurasian Wigeon, on some signal unknown to me, the flocks of hundreds sprang into the air and began swirling around the ponds.

I watched as an immature Bald Eagle flew through the crowd and landed something in the tall grass for lunch.

Sunset Over Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge photo by Larry Jordan

More photographs of the birds of the wildlife refuge coming soon.  In the meantime, go check out the other great sky photos at Skywatch Friday!

Loon Getting Washed photos courtesy of Paul Kelway/IBRRC

Oregon and Washington wildlife rescue centers are overwhelmed with epidemic numbers of wet, cold, and dying sea birds soiled by unusual sea slime.  The International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC) is taking in most of the migratory seabirds affected and it looks like it will cost them at least $50,000 to rehabilitate these birds.  We can help!  Click here to donate to this worthy organization.  Give whatever you can.  Every penny helps.

Common Mergansers Skimming the Water at Clear Lake photos by Larry Jordan

I had a photo blind reserved this weekend at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge and a California Audubon Council meeting to attend on Saturday, so I made a weekend of it.  The council meeting was held in Ukiah, hosted by the good folks of the Peregrine Audubon Society.  It turned out to be an excellent meeting with great information on conservation education and getting youngsters interested in nature at an early age.  What better way to help our environment for future generations than to raise our children to respect nature and our planet.

Great Egrets Flying Overhead

I stopped for a driving break at Clear Lake on the way to Ukiah were I watched as female Common Mergansers raced across the water with the young from their summer hatch.    Mergansers are easily identifiable in flight by their bill, head, neck and body forming a straight horizontal line and as a fish eating, top predator in aquatic food chains, they are an indicator of the environmental health of lakes and rivers.

On the way back to Willows, after the meeting, I stopped at Clear Lake again to revisit the Western and Clark’s Grebes I saw on the way in.  They were busy feeding their young and I sat for quite a while watching the boisterous chicks coax their parents into feeding them.  This is a Clark’s Grebe with it’s orange-yellow bill and eye surrounded by white.

Until 1985, Clark’s Grebe was considered a pale morph of the Western Grebe, now they are a separate species, even though their behavior and renowned courtship rituals are nearly identical.  Here is the Clark’s Grebe with it’s chick begging to be fed, followed by a video of a pair of Western Grebes doing their courting dance.

Notice in the close-ups of the pair, at the end of the video, that the Western Grebe’s black cap extends below the eye and their bill is kind of a greenish yellow with a dark ridge.

I thought this behavior of the adult sticking its foot out stiffly behind it was rather odd too, until I discovered that the chicks are brooded on the parents backs and they stick their leg back similar to this as a foothold to help the young chicks get back up after being dislodged.

But my favorite activity this afternoon was watching this Western Grebe feeding its insatiable young one.  That little grebe must have consumed over a dozen fish in the short time I was watching.  The parent would dive down and stay underwater for what seemed like a long time, popping up in an unknown place causing the chick to swim as fast as it could, vocalizing the entire way, until reaching the prize fish.  Then there was the hand off and the process repeated (click on these for full size photos).

As I was leaving Clear Lake, passing by all the docks, I had to stop to grab a shot of a  Snowy Egret that was silhouetted against the sparkling lake  sitting on a railing with three Great Egrets and what appeared to be a Brewer’s Blackbird.

Near the end of a great day with fellow birders and looking forward to more birds of the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge in my next post.  Go see the other great photos at Bird Photography Weekly and the ginormous 66 blog carnival at Walk The Wilderness for IATB #112, hosted by my friend Thomas.