Bird Watch

Yesterday afternoon my beloved and I spent some time on Lake Lowell, which is a 14.5 square mile reservoir with 28 miles of shoreline five miles southwest of Nampa, ID. The fish were not biting, but we didn't really care. We enjoyed simply boating around the lake, watching the beauty of the sky, seeing different birds, and spending some time together.

One of the birds we saw in abundance were many Western Grebes They are interesting to watch because they will be swimming along on top of the water in groups, much like a flock of ducks, but then all of a sudden they disappear completely as they dive down below to go fishing for minnows. Ducks will stick their heads down to nibble fish, but you can still see their feet and butts in the air. Not Grebes. They go deeper and stay down longer. So as we drifted along in the boat it was fun to watch them popping up and down as they hunted their dinner.

As we went exploring around the shore we saw a duck box along the shore which makes me think there are probably wood ducks there too, although I didn't see any yesterday. Wood ducks are one of my favorite water birds. Their colors are so pretty. We used to get them in our backyard all the time when we lived in Malaga on the shore of Lake Cortez.

I also saw a bird building a big nest up on a platform that might have been an osprey, but we were not close enough to be sure. There are 18 different birds that nest on platforms, so there is no way to be certain. Next time I'll take binoculars. I'd love to have my camera along for the ride, but didn't want to risk getting it wet.

I did see a comorant recently and was a bit surprised as I did not know they lived in this area. Also on one of my walks I saw a big fat chucker in a neighbor's yard.

Little by little I am learning to recognize more of the birds of the region. Of course with hundreds of species there are out there, I still have a long way to go.

DOVES

I've often loved sitting out on the back porch listening to the sound of the mourning doves. Such a sweet sound. But last week I heard a new bird call that I didn't recognize. Found the bird and figured out it was a ringed neck dove.
Their cry is very distinctive. Once you hear it, there is no mistaking them for anything else. According to Wikipedia the males and females look alike so I'm not sure which I've seen. I'm hoping it will come close enough to my feeders that I'll be able to get a photo, but for now I'll settle with what I can find on Bing.


(Photo from http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=ringed+neck+dove&qpvt=ringed+neck+dove&FORM=IGRE#x0y2399)

Magpie Symbiosis

This week I am in Eastern Idaho, nearly to the Wyoming border, doing some presentations for my job. I had a little free time yesterday so I took a hike along a little stream enjoying the views of the Teton mountains. Amazing. I definitely have to buy myself a better camera because my cheesy little Casio Exilim simply would not do these mountains justice.

As I was hiking I was watching a pair of Magpies dancing in the sky, swooping back and forth between the creek and the trees. (photo shown here is from Wikipedia).

I decided to do a bit of reading about magpies to learn more about them. I learned that they like to land on the backs of deer, moose or other large mammals to pick out the ticks from the animals hide. I got a big grin on my face remembering an image from my childhood.

One of my brothers - I THINK it was Andy, but I'm not positive, drew a picture of a "hippopotomus tick bird". He related in great detail how the birds would ride on the back of the hippos to eat ticks out of the tough hide, giving a meal to the bird and freeing the animal of a nasty parasite. This was my first introduction to the concept of symbiosis, the living together of dissimilar organisms in a mutually beneficial way. I've always really liked that idea.

There are lots of examples in nature of symbiosis: the hermit crab and the sea anemone, the African crocodile and the plover bird (it cleans the reptile's teeth). The ostrich and the zebra travel together because zebras have great smell and hearing but lousy eyesight. Ostriches have lousy smell and hearing but very keen eyes. Together they make a great team in warning each other about approaching dangers. Even the plant kingdom gets in the act of symbiosis with lichens - a partnership between algae and fungus.

Why can't human beings be more symbiotic? Instead of creating walls of animosity over our differences, I believe we have the potential to find creative partnerships that would mutually benefit BOTH sides of very different people if we could just somehow manage to put down the bat of mistrust and suspicion that so ofen characterizes our species.

Every time I see a magpie I will be reminded to look for ways to make friends of my foes.

First Hummingbird sighting of the season

We got just a quick glimpse of our first hummer this afternoon. It stopped briefly at one of the two feeders I hung up recently and then dashed off to where ever it is these little buggers go. I promptly put out two more feeders now that I know they are ready to start coming around.

Years ago I visited a farm in Dayton, Washington where the family had been putting out dozens of hummingbird feeders for many years. Their place was over-run with several varieties of hummers, many of which kept nests in their pine trees. Those birds had grown so accustomed to the people coming and going that if anyone stood quietly without moving for 15-20 minutes the hummers would actually light on them.

I don't know that our yard will ever rival that level of hummer activity, but I am hoping that by keeping multiple feeders well stocked from now till October we should get some fairly steady sighting. One thing I learned from the hummingbird sanctuary in Dayton was to put some of the feeders down low. Apparently hummers like variety in the location of their food sources.

Name that bird

After posting my piece about preparing for the hummingbirds I got to thinking about all the OTHER birds I enjoy watching in my yard. One of the reasons I was so adamant about buying a place that had mature trees was because I just plain like them. But just as importantly, I wanted a place that would provide habitat for my feathered friends.

I don't always know the names of the birds that I see come through here, I just know when I think they are pretty. I'm not all that knowledgeable about birding. But then, I didn't know the names of half the flowers and bushes when we got here. Little by little I've learned to identify most of them. So why not do the same thing with the birds?

I've decided I am going to set up some links on my side bar with references to the birds of Idaho and then I will track the ones that I can identify (both in my yard and when I'm out on walks along the greenbelt.)

One of my sweetest memories of my paternal grandmother, Jane Pendley, is of going for walks with her on the ranch in Oak Creek, AZ, which is now Slide Rock State Park. While she didn't have all that much formal education, that woman was SMART. She knew the names of every plant on the property - even the weeds. She knew the animals. She knew the birds. Having grown up in Oak Creek Canyon from the time she was about seven when she came out on the train with her mother from Oklahoma, Jane knew the land and all its flora and fauna like the back of her hand.

I doubt I'll ever be as knowledgeable of a naturalist as my grandmother was. I live too much in the modern word of media, technology and other interests to make that a live long study the way she did. Still, I am motivated by the words of Edward Everett Hale who said: "I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do."

So I'm going to start learning about the birds of Idaho. I'll check out some library books and get out my binoculars. I'll do some clicking around on the net at places like:
Idaho Birds.Net
Birding.Com
Regional Reports
Digital Atlas of Idaho Birds
Birds of Idaho Field Checklist
Idaho Bird Inventory and Survey

I will admit that last one rather baffles me. Every page is stamped "Review Draft - NOT for distribution" but there it is on the Internet for all to see. What's up with that??

Anyway, I have lots to learn. What birds can I expect to see in this neck of the woods? What do their calls sound like? What is their preferred habitat? What are their migration patterns?

Some people would say WHO CARES? For me though, it feels like embarking on an adventure.

Ready for Hummers

I put up three of my hummingbird feeders this morning. I have a few others that I'll wait on until I see my small friends appear.

Here are some great links for Hummingbird information, some specific to Idaho:

Tracking arrival date by county HERE

Basic Information

Migration Info

Banding Programs

So the watch begins. I'm looking forward to that first sighting. Even though they can be aggressive little bullies, I can't help but love these diminutive birds.