Northern Pygmy-Owl

Tags

birding, birds, hunting, Northern Pygmy-Owl, owl, winter

I had been noticing a number of Northern Pygmy Owl sightings in Wyoming via the social media loop. Thus, I decided to head out and look for my own. I went to an area in which I had suspected this fierce, small owl may live. I had heard calls in the springtime for several years but had no luck in finding this raptor. Trudging through the deep snow, I was not seeing or hearing a single bird. I eventually turned around and headed back to the car. Sure enough, silhouetted against the skyline, sat my owl in a dead evergreen. I watched this little owl from a distance as it hunted the edge of an open meadow. I could not believe the speed in which it could fly as it changed it’s lookout. It sat at the top of an evergreen for quite some time and then disappeared deep into the forest out of sight. I was thrilled this small hunter had shown itself to me!

International Migratory Bird Day

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birding, birds, International Migratory Bird Day, Killdeer, snow, Snowing, Spring

In honor of International Migratory Bird Day, this year on May 9, I decided to spend the entire day birding. I was not going for a big day, just spending the day outside watching birds. The weather, cool and very overcast, was not the best for birding. It had been raining several days prior to the day thus the “gravel” (dirt) roads were already somewhat messy. I decided to stick to driving on pavement and hiking several known areas. By afternoon the sky opened up and snow started to fall, numerous birds had stalled out from their spring migration. The water birds were just fine but when I entered the sage brush habitat all seemed to be quiet. I captured this lone Killdeer in a pasture, standing in the snow, I am sure there was another close by sitting on eggs. All in all it was a great day to be out: 77 species and 1761 birds recorded.

Chukars and Meadowlarks

Tags

Antelope Island, birding, birds, Chukar, Courting, Spring, Western Meadowlark

I recently spent a night camping on Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake of Utah. The weather had been hovering around 70 degrees which was warm by March standards. It was very pleasant.  I had high hopes of catching a few Chukars courting in the rocks.  They did not fail me and were quite the posers! This is a colorful non-native bird like the Ring-necked Pheasant. As with most members of the Phasianidae Family (Upland Game Birds) they put on quite the display for courting. Standing on top of a high perch, typically a rock in this area, they would cackle and then perform a crowing call for the females.  One could tell if a female was close as the crowing and cackling would become much more intense especially if there were two males vying for her attention.  The male would come down off of the rock and follow the female, moving very quickly, and then finding another display perch.  It was hard to predict where they would move to as Chukars can move quickly on the ground. It is an awesome photo event! Along with the Chukars there were a number of birds visible on the island with numerous spring migrants having returned and in the process of claiming their territories. One of which was the Western Meadowlark, very prevalent along the roadways. This bird has always been elusive to my camera; flying away with just the thought of picking up the camera for a photo. I was fortunate to grab a few shots using my vehicle as a blind. The birds were singing on a variety of perches consisting of bushes, rocks, and signposts. Obviously used to a fair amount of traffic they were not nearly as wary of my camera as I had expected. It was a delight to hear them belt out their songs so close. I typically think of the Meadowlark as being a ventriloquist, making this bird sometimes difficult to find. At Antelope Island, with the shorter distances in which they tolerated me, it was very obvious as to the perch the song was coming from. A definite sign of the arrival of Spring!