Ed's Sightings
Swallow parents have work cut out for them
July 24, 2010. The parents shown below on this page getting mud from our mud-basin rejected our site (as previously reported) and instead used the home of a kind neighbor. Yesterday the proud parents parked their four wobbly fledglings on some wires near our house. Barn Swallows aren't like some birds, Starlings for instance, who just kick the kids out of the nest and say "Good Luck!" These high-energy birds feed and train the kids for weeks after fledging, and I believe accompany them on the long flight to Argentina (although they don't always go that far).
Here a parent bird careens in for a quick feeding before setting off to catch more insects.
High Summer in the Bootheel:
posting from Seattle July 18, 2010
We're visiting Delia's mom Katie and dad Bob more often now. They are 89 and 91.
Bob & Katie live up this canyon in the Peloncillo Moutains of New Mexico. This is from the pass above their house. The San Simon Valley and the southern end of the Chiricahua Mountains of Arizona are shown, with Mexico in the distance. Mexico is both to the south and east as this is in the southwesternmost protuberance of the state of New Mexico purchased by Gadsden and called the "Bootheel."
There is always drama in the Canyon. A handsome pair of Hooded Orioles had placed their nest right near a building, no doubt to benefit from the human umbrella of protection against predators. Here the male feeds the kids.
The parents landed on the opposite side of the tree and worked their way down through its foliage presumably in order to not draw attention to the nest's location.
The female and male both sport a tail that just keeps going.
As the day the kids fledged began to fade toward dusk, Dad suddenly became animated, hurling himself into the task of herding, cajoling, and intimidating two kids into getting back to the nest for the night. Here he's attacking a kid who's headed the wrong way. They obeyed. You had to be there, but this was one dad you wouldn't have wanted to cross.
Speaking of becoming animated, this Mexican Jay and two buddies went berserk one day, making a terrible racket.
We went to check it out, and found this 6 ft. Sonoran Gopher Snake. This snake is a generalist that is expert at climbing trees and preying on birds and bird nestlings, which explains the Jays' alarm, but has a wide range of other prey items as well.
Meanwhile, a cat from Seattle thoughtfully reconsiders it's original idea of including the Giant Desert Centipede among it's range of prey items. The cat is bibbed to prevent it from preying on birds. Bibs cost 12.50 and can be gotten at Catbib.com.
There's also the dead serious human drama of cross-border activity and border enforcement here. At first glance, this picture may appear to show a Border Patrol Helicopter in front of a hillside. Actually, the aircraft is flying fast and low up a canyon and in the next instant will disappear behind a mountainside that is diagonally crossing the picture toward the lower right. I never point my telephoto at a helicopter headed in my direction.
As a fiscal conservative who was raised in deep Quaker nonviolence, I want to be Switzerland down here, but don't know if it's still possible. I'd like to see our country 1) take responsiblity for its voracious desire for drugs by immediately legalizing them and thus allowing other countries to help supply our massive need without becoming destroyed themselves; 2) quit flooding these countries with subsidized corn and 3) admit to ourselves that home-grown Americans simply won't and won't ever do many of the jobs we make available in this country. I watched three guys on a tractor east of the Columbia R. last summer driving through an apple orchard in a thick cloud of pesticide spray. (My grandad was an apple farmer). Anti-Latino activists might want to ride that tractor, figuratively or literally, before they make their next mean-spirited comment.
And here's a Hedgehog Cactus blooming in the backcountry to lighten the mood a little.
While an attentive Ash-throated Flycatcher in the moments before it made a successful strike against some unfortunate insect.
In the high summer there's another big drama playing out: the Monsoon Season. We wait and hope for rain, which often comes with a spectacular light and sound show that can be very... electrifying. We got 1.2 inches of rain in two storms when we were down there, but that doesn't matter. In this part of the country, the question about rain is always, "What have you done for me lately?"
Here a rainstorm comes in from over the pass. This area is also on another border, the border between the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts, but the name desert can be so misleading. We think of a desert as a place "without something," but these deserts have a huge water budget that is absolutely critical to the survival of the many plants and animals there. For example, the Scholes place averages (over 36 years) in the monsoon period alone, July-Sept--8.5 inches, well more than twice what Seattle recieves during the same period.
But that's an average. Some years the rains fail, and they are by nature always capricious, say shorting one valley but not the next. On our flight out of Tucson, we heard people complaining that they have yet to get a drop.
Breaking News:
Our Violet-green Swallow parents have successfully fledged three as of July 9, 2010. (Scroll down here for shots of the parents).We congratulate them on their hard work and wish them well on the flight to Mexico which they may begin--probably all still together--around the end of the month.
Birds go out on limbs at Stillwater
July 5, 2010. Common Nighthawks (see Viewpoint 5 on this website)
are a major concern of mine. Delia and I were delighted to find this
one sleeping high in a tree at Stillwater Wildlife Area north of
Carnation, WA (East of Seattle). We got to the Area at 5:30, it was
still sleeping at 7:30 when we left.
Nighthawks can't perch like other birds, so this bird is simply balancing
out on the end of this high branch of a Black Cottonwood.
Here's another bird out on a limb at Stillwater. This is a
Spotted Sandpiper and it's in the middle of the Snoqualmie
River getting buzzed by a colony of Bank Swallows.
This Cedar Waxwing was out on a limb over the lillypads
flycatching over the pond near the entrance.
And this Western Wood-pewee was also flycatching, out at the
end of a picturesque moss covered limb in a Maple forest at
Stillwater.
Sun comes out in Seattle,
Robin goes nuts
June 27, 2010. Its been a cloudy spring in Seattle,
but the sun finally came out. No one seems happier
than the Robins, who lie on the ground, spread their
wings & tail, and face the sun with open beaks.
And here's the amazing thing: No Lotion!
Barn Swallows: Yes to our mud, No to our homesite
June 14. "Our" Barn Swallow couple finally arrived last night--late probably because of the miserable spring. Like last year, they are using the mud from our mud-basin but are not using our front stoop for a homesite.
Our front stoop is too small and too low. Last year
they suffered a nest-attack, perhaps from a Squirrel,
but I don't know who. Since then they have picked a
new site. Last year they succeeded at this
mystery-site (to us at least) with three fledglings
that came by in August.
Sign that bird up for some promo shots!
June 9, 2010 This Great Blue Heron rested in front of a barge at the
Jack Block Park east of Alki last Sunday evening.
Back in the Bootheel
May 20, 2010 We just went down to the bootheel of New Mexico
again to see Delia's folks Bob and Katie This shot of a male Scott's
Oriole was from their living room.
This is a Westen Tanager and a Black-headed Grosbeak
This is an Ash-throated Flycatcher. Several pairs were in Post
Office Canyon where Bob and Katie live.
Hooded Oriole pair at the Hummingbird/Oriole feeder
Gambel's Quail
Two of the world's fasted Mammal (depending on distance criteria):
Pronghorn! in the valley below Post Office Canyon
Here is an Empidonax genus Flycatcher. I'm not confident
enough to call this bird, but my guess would be Dusky
Flycatcher. Experts should feel free to set me straight if it's
actually a Hammond's or if I'm way off: ednewbold1@yahoo.com
No help needed on these guys that were pleasantly abundant
this year: Acorn Woodpeckers. Whether or not they'll nest in
the canyon this season, though, is questionable as they usually
head out instead.
It's nest-building time!
May 8, 2007 Our Violet-green Swallows began nest-building today. This is the female landing in the alley. Check the violet tail.
The male has a modest payload here.
She's headed back to the box. Violet-green Swallows are low on the peckorder of species searching for good cavity nest-sites, which are especially hard to find in urban areas unless folks put up boxes for them. This may be a factor in their disappearance from many of Seattle's neighborhoods. See viewpoint 5.
May 10, 2010 This is the male the following day, yesterday. I did not realize that the violet/purple color also shows up on the back and upper wings. This guy still has gray on his face, which I suspect means he'll be doing the dad thing the first time.
Yellowthroat @ Stillwater
not an attention-seeker
May 2, 2010. Delia & I were up at Stillwater yesterday. The male Yellowthroats were back and singing,
but as usual, mostly stayed inside the vegetative structure. Who can blame them, what with Sharp-shinned
Hawks and other evil things in the world.
Handsome Eagle at Spencer Island
April 17, 2010 Last weekend we went up to Spencer Island, just East of Everett WA in the surge plain of the Snohomish River. How about this good-looking Eagle.
Here's two Great Blue Herons. They probably wouldn't be impressed.
Here's the view from Spencer Island. It's not a well-known destination to Seattleites, except birders. Delia and I head up there about once every two months.
This year's graduating class...
April 2, 2010: For several years lately, an Anna's Hummingbird
has chosen the nicely lichen-covered Italian Plum in our backyard
for a nest. These kids actually flew the coop two days ago.
Desert snow storm
This Spotted Towhee was headed upwards
Here two pair of Gambel's Quail forage in the snow
Two males in the open