A fine day for all.
A skier watching a duck watching a skier all surrounded by sun and steam.
Tag: bird
A splash of summer
Well, yes it is only March, and winter will be hanging around, but who can resist a splash of summer just a little before it’s time.
A flash of red moving in the canopy lead us to a beautiful Summer Tanager perched overhead. These birds are specialized hunters of bees and wasps. Catching them on the wing and managing to avoid getting stung and removing the stinger by rubbing thier prey on a tree branch prior to confining their meal.
Most of our encounters with the brilliant colored males were looking through dense foliage however once and awhile one managed to land in clear sight and in camera view.
A little splash of summer on a late winters day.
Black on Blue
On a crisp and sunny February morning we spent some time watching a group of Crows playing around on an iced over lake. We were unable to tell what they were doing even after half an hour of observation. Could it have been looking for food, either embedded into the ice, or under it? Or were they just admiring their handsome reflections on the ice? Or who knows what. Anyway, it was fun to observe them walking ever so gingerly to avoid slipping around and peering into the ice for a reason we were unable to determine.
Who Me?
A little eye to eye with a Black Capped Chickadee on a chilly and snowy afternoon.
Solitaire
A Townsend’s Solitaire foraging for Juniper berries as February rolls along.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend.
Mountain Man
Or mountain Women.
Make no bones about it, Mountain Chickadees are tough little birds. Surviving the northern winters while many other songbirds have migrated to warmer climates in the south.
Redhead
A male Redheaded Duck enjoying the late afternoon sun on a chilly winter afternoon.
American Dipper
An American Dipper getting the big view before taking the plunge into the icy winter water below. American Dippers forage along the rocky river bottoms of rapidly moving streams of western North America. Diving in and out and running along the bottoms of the river at times to feed on a variety of aquatic invertebrates. In addition to their fascinating foraging behavior American Dippers have quite a song and really can belt out a wonderful tune making a hike along a rushing stream a full on audio-visual delight.
Reference:
Kingery, H. E. and M. F. Willson (2020). American Dipper (Cinclus mexicanus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (P. G. Rodewald, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.amedip.01
It never ceases
To amaze me just how beautiful a Northern Flicker is.
So much to look at, think about and just marvel over. Well, we better get back to look as we have more than the usual number of these amazing birds visiting our little patch this year.
Hope your week is going well.
Strutting their stuff
Two male goldeneyes working hard to impress a female in the late afternoon light. These guys will likely only be around here a few more weeks. As spring arrives most of the waterfowl leave my area. Their yearly coming and going gives rhythm to life. Have a great trip north and someday I hope to join you.
nature has no boss 
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