Birders' Nest

[Elgarian Redux]

Yestermorning, I joined a few others for a birding walk, ably led by a student at the local university and assisted by the recent graduate who initiated these sort-of-monthly outings. Sewage (or if you prefer, waste water) ponds are generally very good for seeing birds, though they (the birds) may be farther away than one might like.
They were all farther away than one might like.

Here are some of the things I saw.


Look!! Teeny tiny ducks!! Mostly Ring-necked Ducks and Blue Teals


Solitary Sandpiper


Immature Bald Eagle; they don't get the white head and tail until age 5


White-tailed Deer (doe)


White-tailed Deer (fawn)


Northern Harrier showing off its diagnostic white rump


Northern Harriers not showing off their diagnostic white rumps; we theorized that these and the other Harriers we saw were likely siblings


Ring-necked Ducks


The large blurry bird is a Lesser Yellowlegs; the two smaller blurry birds are Least Sandpipers

There were also perching birds, such as Red-eyed Vireos, Cedar Waxwings, Tennessee Warblers, and Savannah Sparrows, most of which I did not get photos of, or in some cases, didn't see at all (looking at, or rather, for you, Tennessee Warblers).

But all in all, it turned out to be a lovely day to be out.

Are these the 'bad' photos you were warning us about? (Pause while I quietly boggle.)
And that sewage pond (sewage/waste? Really?) looks like an awfully nice place to be.
And frankly the photos are gorgeous. Even the very distant view of ducks looks like a professional distant view of ducks.

The photo of the solitary sandpiper makes a lovely play between the bird and its reflection. I am worried, however, about the logical complexities of seeing more than one solitary sandpiper together. I can envisage a situation where one might be driven to say: 'this solitary sandpiper is not a solitary sandpiper!' Imagine the confusion.

[Elgarian Redux]

What, pray tell, was odd about the reed bunting? 

Owlice, this calls for a witty response and I can't think of one. We could observe that a single bunting is an odd number of buntings. Or I might have invented a story about how all the buntings we saw were clustered in groups of 3, 5, 7, and 9. Or I could have said that it stood still for ages to allow me to take a photo - now that would've been odd. But none of this is amusing or witty, so I think the best thing to do is to award you 10 points for careful reading.

[Karl Henning]

Ta-daaaa indeed -- this is splendid!! Very well done, brilliant Elgarian, and kudos to you for seeing it through!!

Such delights, birds and verse, and birds in verse as well!!

Kalevala's post re: the Red-winged Blackbird brought home to my pea brain that these birds are only in North America. DOH! I see them so often and in such numbers I'd forgotten they aren't everywhere; my apologies! (I feel quite stupid now! I wish I could say it's an odd sensation, but it is far more common to me than even Red-winged Blackbirds are, alas.) 

I have already posted a pic of a female specimen; here are a few more photos to go with that one, and yes, only the male is black:



Classic over-the-shoulder Vogue shot





As the last photo suggests, these birds favor swampy/reedy areas; even small swampy/reedy areas are enough for them. The main U.S. Department of the Interior building in Washington, DC has a small man-made wet habitat area in front of it, enough to sustain a few ducks and nesting Red-winged Blackbirds. I've also seen an occasional Great Blue Heron in it, and once, a Red-tailed Hawk feeding on a Mallard (with resident Mallards looking on in, well, probably horror, and definitely anxiety, from the other side of the small space).

Red-winged Blackbirds (RWB) defend their nesting territory with vigor, as some workmen discovered one day as they left the Department of Interior; they had thought it funny when one guy some 10 or 12 paces in front of them walked too close to this small habitat and was dive-bombed by an angry blackbird. They stopped laughing when they made the same mistake and were hit repeatedly by the bird. (I worked nearby and was walking to my car to feed the meter... on the other side of the street, because I'd had my own run-in with that same bird.)

Celebrating birds in verse,
Of habits there truly are worse.

[Elgarian Redux]

Celebrating birds in verse,
Of habits there truly are worse.

Why Karl, old friend, how very good to see
You've come a-birding here today with me.
Pull up a comfy chair! Stoke up the fire.
Let's watch the flick'ring flames go higher and higher,
And talk of cabbages and ancient kings,
Mysterious birds, and butterflies with wings.
Owlice you know of old. And she can show
The finest birding photographs I know.
Tall tales are what we tell: the birds we've seen,
The strange and glorious places we have been.
Drink cocoa! Warm your feet, my dear old fellow,
And sit here till your thoughts grow warm and mellow.

For sometimes we just can't find any words
To explain the thrill and joy of watching birds.

(Iambic pentameter is a tyrant!!!)

[owlice]

Kudos!!!

Slightly modified to be stitched onto a pillow somewhere (where brevity is often necessary):

Sometimes we cannot find the words
To explain the joy of watching birds

[owlice]

And that sewage pond (sewage/waste? Really?) looks like an awfully nice place to be.

If you're upwind, sure!
Downwind, and you'd be moving a little faster to get upwind. 

Are these the 'bad' photos you were warning us about? (Pause while I quietly boggle.)

These are the best of just over 200 photos. Only one or two of these are sharp; the rest are some shade of fuzzy (and most of the ones not posted are fuzzier still). Some of that is due to the photographer, surely, but the camera is best in good light, and light during the walk was not very good until the very end.

And frankly the photos are gorgeous. Even the very distant view of ducks looks like a professional distant view of ducks.

You are too generous, Elgarian!

The photo of the solitary sandpiper makes a lovely play between the bird and its reflection. I am worried, however, about the logical complexities of seeing more than one solitary sandpiper together. I can envisage a situation where one might be driven to say: 'this solitary sandpiper is not a solitary sandpiper!' Imagine the confusion.

I'm off to look at my photos to see if I took one I was contemplating: that of three Solitary Sandpipers. In the meantime, here's a not-very-good photo that I rather like, but why exactly I like it, I'm not sure:

[Elgarian Redux]

Kudos!!!

Slightly modified to be stitched onto a pillow somewhere (where brevity is often necessary):

Sometimes we cannot find the words
To explain the joy of watching birds

Yes, this is what I mean about the tyranny of iambic pentameter. When I started writing that doggerel above, I had a happy mix of line length - some in tetrameter, some in pentameter. But, then (driven by an inner demon), I sought consistency, and started turning the few lines of four feet into five feet, so it was consistent pentameter all the way through.

Then along you come with your snappy tetrametric alternative for the final couplet - a sure-fire hit of course, worthy of Lennon-McCartney -  and what can a poor pentametric versifier do, but trundle off into the distance, mumbling 'The curfew tolls the knell of parting day'?

[It's 4 am here. I woke an hour ago and can't get back to sleep. Or maybe I am asleep!]

[Elgarian Redux]

I'm off to look at my photos to see if I took one I was contemplating: that of three Solitary Sandpipers.

Crikey. Think of the linguistic chaos!

In the meantime, here's a not-very-good photo that I rather like, but why exactly I like it, I'm not sure:

It seems to have a sort of surface texture, as if it were printed as a coloured lithograph, maybe. And there are interesting rhythms in it, like the bird tracks that come across from the left, and down to the right foreground, seeming somehow to link the birds along the way. There's a sort of sombre atmosphere to the whole thing, isn't there?

[Elgarian Redux]

You are too generous, Elgarian!

But I'm a fan, so it's OK.

[Karl Henning]

Crikey. Think of the linguistic chaos!

It seems to have a sort of surface texture, as if it were printed as a coloured lithograph, maybe. And there are interesting rhythms in it, like the bird tracks that come across from the left, and down to the right foreground, seeming somehow to link the birds along the way. There's a sort of sombre atmosphere to the whole thing, isn't there?

Where never was heard a discouraging bird....

[Elgarian Redux]

Where never was heard a discouraging bird....

Just think. This could be the day that changed the whole of GMG into a rhyming forum!

[Elgarian Redux]

Just looking at it again, full size, this morning - there's an overall 'graininess' to the mud that pervades everywhere across the image, and it has a kind of unifying effect that feels very similar to the grainy surface produced by a printing process like lithography. That sets the mood of it, and matches the subdued colouring.

Are the birds ringed plovers? (A hopeful guess from the world's worst waderologist.)

[owlice]

Just looking at it again, full size, this morning - there's an overall 'graininess' to the mud that pervades everywhere across the image, and it has a kind of unifying effect that feels very similar to the grainy surface produced by a printing process like lithography. That sets the mood of it, and matches the subdued colouring.

Are the birds ringed plovers? (A hopeful guess from the world's worst waderologist.)

No Ringed Plovers, which generally don't occur in the US, but close, so you're definitely not a bad waderologist, coming so close with a photo that is so bad! The pond holds a mix of Semipalmated Plovers, Killdeer (also in the same family as Ringed and Semipalms), Least Sandpipers, Solitary and Spotted Sandpipers, at least two Baird's Sandpipers that I still [apparently] did not get photos of (argh!), probably Yellowlegs and other waders, too. Or as I'd put it, a lot of USBs: Unidentifiable Shore Birds.

ETA: I've looked more closely, and I think you're right, in that all of the birds in the photo are indeed plovers: Semi-Palms and Killdeer. I don't see any obvious others.

[Kalevala]

This should bring a smile: 

K

[Elgarian Redux]

This should bring a smile: 

Am I missing a joke somewhere? I see a sunflower, but no hawks, red-tailed or otherwise. Help?

[Elgarian Redux]

Or as I'd put it, a lot of USBs: Unidentifiable Shore Birds.

This gives great hope to people like me. We can boast about all the USBs we've seen.

[Kalevala]

Am I missing a joke somewhere? I see a sunflower, but no hawks, red-tailed or otherwise. Help?

I believe that last year I saw a plant growing in the nest (was probably a sunflower that had reseeded itself).  The hawks have used that nest for many years.

Sunflowers always make me smile--particularly when they grow in unexpected places.   

For those who might not know, red-tailed hawks only use their nests during breeding season (think of it like a nursery).

K

[owlice]

I have had a number of photos, which may or may not be a propos, sitting open in my browser for some days, and for some, I've forgotten why I opened/kept the tabs. (oy!) It's time I started closing some browser windows, so here they are; please forgive me.

This was an unexpected early-morning find; we were about to cross a stream in a wooded area, happened to look up, and saw this bird at the edge of the forest.

Martial Eagle (Kenya; endangered)

Remember the Barbets? Here are two more:

Spot-flanked Barbet (Kenya)


Usambiro Barbet (Kenya)

I love these; I find them incredibly handsome.

Common Waterbuck (South Africa)

When this was IDed in the field, I didn't back up, but I didn't get any closer, either.

Mozambique Spitting Cobra (Zambia)

I posted a female some days ago; here's a male.

Purple Finch (Michigan)


Olive Baboon (Tanzania)

The eyelashes!!

Southern Ground Hornbill (Tanzania)

Loads of people go to Africa for mammals; this is one of the few birds that catches their attention. (These are quite common in southern and eastern Africa.)

Lilac-breasted Roller (Zimbabwe)

[owlice]

Oof. Two more. On Saturday's walk, we saw a Sharp-shinned Hawk, an American Kestrel, and a Broad-winged Hawk. I didn't even try to get the hawks, as they were flying (away, of course), and though I did get a photo of the Kestrel, it is not worth sharing (trust me on this). So I offer these photos instead, taken at a different time and place.


American Kestrel (Mississippi)


Broad-winged Hawk (Ohio)

(Two more tabs closed, woo-hoo!)

[owlice]

Yes, this is what I mean about the tyranny of iambic pentameter. When I started writing that doggerel above, I had a happy mix of line length - some in tetrameter, some in pentameter. But, then (driven by an inner demon), I sought consistency, and started turning the few lines of four feet into five feet, so it was consistent pentameter all the way through.

Then along you come with your snappy tetrametric alternative for the final couplet - a sure-fire hit of course, worthy of Lennon-McCartney -  and what can a poor pentametric versifier do, but trundle off into the distance, mumbling 'The curfew tolls the knell of parting day'?

[It's 4 am here. I woke an hour ago and can't get back to sleep. Or maybe I am asleep!]

hahahahahahahaha!! pentametric versifier!!

"The moping owl does to the moon complain"
This owl complains to the sun, too; it's not always Selene's fault.