by Larry Jordan
on June 4, 2009
Red-tailed Hawks Nesting On High Power Line Tower photos by Larry Jordan
This is the second year I have watched this nesting pair of Red-tailed Hawks atop a power line tower raise their three chicks. All three of them fledged last year and are off to a great start this year. If you look closely, you can see three downy heads in front of the proud parent bird standing guard in the photo above.
One of the coolest things about finding birds nests and monitoring them is that you can help out Cornell Lab by contributing your information to NestWatch.
NestWatch is a continent wide citizen-science project and nest-monitoring database of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, funded by the National Science Foundation and developed in collaboration with the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center. It’s easy to do and lots of fun for the whole family.
Go check it out at their website at Cornell Lab of Ornithology NestWatch. And while your looking up in the sky for bird’s nests, check out SkyWatch Friday for more great sky photos!
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by Larry Jordan
on May 31, 2009
Lesser Goldfinch Female Sitting On Her Nest photos by Larry Jordan
The Lesser Goldfinch female does all the incubating for the pair. The male will feed her during the eleven or twelve days it takes the 4 or 5 blueish-white eggs to hatch. I estimate that the nest is about 15 feet high in this oak tree so I won’t be able to see the eggs.
Moving very slowly and deliberately, I sat atop a 12 foot ladder to get these photos. She adjusted to my presence very quickly, only moving around in the nest when the wind came up. Notice how well protected her nest site is from the blazing heat we have here. It is surrounded by oak leaves that I noticed her moving around as she built the nest last week. [continue reading…]
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by Larry Jordan
on May 28, 2009
Red-shouldered Hawk Waving photos by Larry Jordan
I’m on my way to work last week and I see a rather large bird sitting on a wire. As I’m traveling rather fast, I can’t identify the bird, so I turn around and slowly drive by to a safe place to turn around and get a better look. It’s a Red-shouldered Hawk waving at me! Well, she wasn’t really waving at me, she was doing a ballet on the high wire. [continue reading…]
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by Larry Jordan
on May 26, 2009
Great Egret Fishing photos by Larry Jordan
I took a quick trip to Mary Lake after work today, mainly because I heard tell of Mulberry Trees fruiting and the likes of Bullock’s and Hooded Orioles, Western Tanagers and Phainopeplas hanging around. Instead I found a very determined Great Egret doing some fishing. [continue reading…]
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