This Is the Weekend of the Great Backyard Bird Count!
Bird Count – This is the weekend of the Great Backyard Bird Count! I know that many of my friends participate each year, and have a great deal of fun doing so. For some it has developed into a passion for birding year around.
Fledgling Scrub Jay: Water Is Life! Participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count 2015
You have seen this little fledgling scrub jay from the summer of 2014 before. It is now an adult, and comes by frequently for peanuts. I hope it will be included in my lists for the 2015 Great Backyard Bird Count.
If you have never participated before, the instructions and helpful hints are here. Participating by looking, watching, making lists, and contributing is fun, and you can really get to know the birds of your area.
This fledgling scrub jay was photographed in the summer of 2014. It is now grown, and comes with its family group to eat peanuts when I put them out. The scrub jays also eat sunflower seeds and some other forms of bird food I put out. But, peanuts are a favorite, and are from the fledgling stage!
Fledgling Scrub Jay, Enjoying Peanuts
Scrub jays are a very common bird in Albuquerque and the Desert Southwest. These birds are not shy! If I let their feeders run out of their preferred food, they will shriek at me as soon as they see me in the yard. That is not because they are afraid; they do not fly off. I have one peanut feeder on the patio table, and they will come within a foot of me to feed there once spring arrives and I am out more frequently.
Fledglings like this one will not appear until summer, but adults are around now. The streak of beautiful days we have been having in Albuquerque reminds me of days like this one was, and makes me anxious for their return.
Hawk, hanging out in the pine tree outside my kitchen window – can you spot it?
(This could make a jig saw puzzle. 😉 )
Cooper’s Hawk, hanging out in the pine tree outside my kitchen window, waiting for dinner to arrive.
As I have said here before, the density of the Cooper’s hawk in the “urban forests” of Albuquerque’s Northeast Heights is thought to be as high as in any of this hawk’s “natural environments.” It has adapted well to life with humans. After all, we put out birdseed and other food for the little birds, and the hawks seem to appreciate our efforts and to thrive.
This is a large pine tree in my back yard, and I know that white-winged doves and scrub jays have had nests in that tree over the years. I always look forward to the fledgling jays (later in the year), and I am not overjoyed that the hawk is now using this as a hiding spot to wait for prey.
I was washing dishes when I caught sight of the hawk napping in the tree. It did not seem to mind being photographed as long as I was in the kitchen, but it flew when I went out.
Cooper’s hawk – Caught napping!
Cooper’s hawk – Grooming after a nap
Cooper’s hawk – “I’m awake now. Where’s dinner?”
Cooper’s hawk – “I’m keeping an eye on you, Lady!”
Given the frequency with which I am seeing hawks in my yard this year, I expect other photographic opportunities for them. I’m not so sure about little fledglings of other birds later on, though…
This hawk is more mature than the one photographed in August and whose images I posted a few days ago. That was a juvenile Cooper’s. I do not know that this is the same hawk, just more mature and with plumage reflecting that. As many hawks as are known to be in this area, it could be a different hawk, of course. But, I want to think it is the same hawk that has been hanging around. 🙂
Although it is a bird of prey, the Cooper’s hawk is a beautiful bird of which I have become quite fond.
The Observer, The Observed with “Spontaneous Poem from a Treetop Crow” by Jim Stallings
This image, once created, seemed ideal as a new header for this blog, with its subtitle, “A Southwest Point of View.” Jim had already written this poem (a gift of encouragement to my family recently), and I asked if I could post it here.
Spontaneous Poem from a Treetop Crow
In the lofty life of a wise old crow
Swaying in the topmost backyard branches
Like a magical clock counting down mortality’s coil,
May it not be in some secret way
We the awed observers
Have all along been honored by a wiser watcher?
The Cooper’s Hawk that put on quite a display in August of 2014 and that drops by periodically was here again yesterday afternoon, looking for a meal. It was putting on a different show this time, flying all around a pyracantha bush in which a small bird was hiding. The hawk did not like diving into that pyracantha bush, and made multiple attempts, After trying, it would land back on the fence or on a tree branch, and then fly around and try to enter the bush again.
After many attempts, it finally just dived head long into the pyrancantha bush, which flushed out the little bird that had been seeking refuge there. As soon as the little bird flew out (it was probably either a sparrow, a junco, or a finch; I did not get a good look), the hawk caught it, and did exactly what these hawks are known to to. It squeezed the prey in its talons until the little bird became motionless. The hawk then flew off into the trees to enjoy its meal.
Cooper’s Hawk with Prey in Its Talons
I did not have my camera handy at the kitchen window yesterday, so I simply watched the entire show from there. These images are from August, but this second shows clearly the typical way these hawks are known for treating their prey.
I live in a part of Albuquerque now known for its high concentration of Cooper’s hawks. From the Albuquerque Journal last year:
Cooper’s hawks are primarily woodland birds, and we have built an expansive urban forest across the Northeast Heights. The urban neighborhoods on the east side of the river are older, and therefore their trees are more mature, making them a better “forest” for the birds, Madden suggested.
This is a beautiful bird. I have come to accept that every now and then it will find a meal in my yard. Just so it doesn’t happen too often…
“As the crow flies” generally carries the meaning of the most direct route, such as, “it is less than four miles to the river as the crow flies, but I have to drive ten miles to get there.”
This is the bird that you saw earlier in the image of a crow in the treetop, surveying all around it. This is what it looked like as it flew off that afternoon.
Although I have many birds that regularly visit my yard, and although crows are quite common in other areas of town, I do not see them often here, at least as compared with many other more common birds in my yard.
Seeing this bird in flight, after observing it for a somewhat extended time, was a real treat for me earlier in the week.
The Watchful, Observant Crow on a Cold Winter Afternoon
The crow in this image was the only photographically cooperative one in a flock that appeared briefly.
This afternoon I was out photographing a cloud bank rolling over the Sandia Mountains when a very noisy flock of crows arrived on the scene. Crows certainly do demand attention when they show up!
For a brief time they settled in a tree right next to the house, meaning I did not like any of the images of them from that point. But, when most flew off, this one settled at the top of an isolated juniper tree, allowing me to create a “crow portrait.” 🙂
It was a cold, wintery day, and snow is forecast overnight. I suspect it will come from the cloud bank rolling over the Sandias. West Texas has had winter storm warnings since Tuesday, and I suspect this is part of that same system. We’ve been lucky here (if you don’t like snow) or unlucky here (if you’ll take precipitation in any form because it is needed so badly here).
This weekend temperatures are forecast to warm into the 40’s F here. I would be very happy if we (or just the surrounding mountains, even) got a lot of snow overnight, because it would melt on the streets fairly quickly tomorrow, and yet we would have some additional precipitation.
In a different vein, the image and the day beckoned me to process this image in an exaggerated manner as a cold and wintery day in the Southwest!
Sandhill Cranes Sandhill Cranes, Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico
Sandhill Cranes in the Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico
Sandhill cranes are common birds of New Mexico between late October and early February. The Bosque del Apache wildlife area is perhaps the best known of the areas to find them in their winter home, but in reality they can be found all along the Rio Grande in New Mexico, from north of Albuquerque continuing south past the Bosque del Apache.
In flight these are elegant, graceful birds. Maybe not quite so much on land 🙂 Sandhill cranes are loved in New Mexico!
Golden Eagle Golden Eagle, Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico
The Golden Eagle is another bird of New Mexico, although not found in such great numbers as the sandhill crane is found in winter. This photograph is from the same place in the Rio Grande Valley where many of the crane images on this blog were made.
Eagles are magnificent, imposing birds of New Mexico!
The Rio Grande is a wonderful waterway along which to observe – and photograph – a variety of birds common to New Mexico!
Cooper’s Hawk, Hunkered Down on a Cold, Wet Day in Albuquerque
It was a cold, wet morning in Albuquerque.
This Cooper’s Hawk has been a regular visitor since August. It usually moves around a lot, often flying in for a meal and leaving when it is finished eating.
It was hunkered down like this when I first saw it on this day, and it stayed for about three hours. (It must have had its breakfast before settling down in that tree).
Other than keeping a watchful eye on me when I was photographing it, it did not appear disturbed by my presence.
Early August finds many hummingbirds migrating through Albuquerque. While most seem to prefer flowers to feeders, when there are so many present at one time and in the midst of the drought, they also seem happy to have feeders available.
Nectar is easily made by combining 1 part sugar with 4 parts water, heating to a boil, then allowing to cool. Feeders should be changed every day or two to keep the nectar fresh.
