by Larry Jordan
on April 11, 2009
Red-winged Blackbird Just Prior To Singing photos by Larry Jordan
I was fortunate to visit Lema Ranch at a time when the Red-winged Blackbirds were mating and nest building. The entire time I was watching them, I never saw a female but I witnessed several males defending their territories. The photo above shows this gent “fluffing up” and showing his epaulets, just prior to beginning his song.
Then they begin singing their hearts out. It is a beautiful liquid melody.
And pretty loud too!
This is what the Red-winged Blackbird’s song sounds like.
To see more cool critters, go check out Camera Critters!
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by Larry Jordan
on April 8, 2009
Rufous Hummingbird Male photos by Larry Jordan
The Rufous Hummingbird breeds farther north than any other hummingbird in the world according to Cornell Lab of Ornithology and we love to see them arrive every spring. When I checked my hummingbird feeders the other day, I noticed that one of the feeders was not emptying as quickly as the others. I thought maybe the sugar water had gone bad but that didn’t make sense since I filled them all at the same time (and with the recent boom in my hummingbird population, they empty to quickly to go bad).
It took no time at all to solve the mystery. A Rufous Hummingbird had taken this feeder as his own. I watched as he aggressively fended off all other hummers in the area. Here’s a photo of the spunky guy showing off his beautiful iridescent orange gorget.
Even this female was feeding at the feeder on the other end of the porch
As I get more and more of these “jewels of the sky” at my feeders I have to refill them more often. I have found a partial solution to this problem however with the 72 ounce hummingbird feeder by Best-1. These very simple, very well made (in the USA) feeders are not only rugged, they have built in perches and 8 feeding stations to accomodate a large number of hummingbirds at once.
To find out when hummingbirds might be in your neck of the woods, check out Journey North where you can not only track their migration, you can contribute your sightings and get lots of cool information on hummingbirds.
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by Larry Jordan
on April 5, 2009
Great Horned Owl photos by Larry Jordan
I wrote a post on the Great Horned Owl last August when my friend Frank Kratofil took some photos of these beautiful raptors. I am fortunate this year that I will be able to document their lives this spring as they raise what appears to be two chicks at the moment.
Mom was nodding off as one of the little ones came out to take a peak.
To see more incredible bird photos, check out Bird Photography Weekly!
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by Larry Jordan
on March 31, 2009
White-breasted Nuthatch (male) photos by Larry Jordan
Three weeks ago, while checking my bluebird trail at Lema Ranch, I heard a White-breasted Nuthatch calling and followed that call to find a pair building their nest in an old oak tree.
They started bringing in small pieces of bark and lichen, then …
Working at a feverish pace, both the male and female brought fairly large sticks
Too big I thought to get through the entrance hole to the nest
But they managed to turn the sticks sideways to fit them through the hole.
My guess is that this pair of White-breasted Nuthatches was filling in part of this tree cavity with the sticks before placing the final shredded bark, grass and fur lining into the nest cavity. If all goes well, they will lay 5 – 9 eggs and incubate them for two weeks.
By my calculations, I should be seeing more activity at this nest site soon as the chicks will be fed by both parents for 18 to 26 days before they fledge and then another couple of weeks afterward. I hope to be able to follow this adventure with them as they raise their young and teach them the art of hunting down insects.
I also have a pair of White-breasted Nuthatches that visit my yard that I hope will use my nestbox as a nesting site this year. You see, nuthatches will also nest in man-made nest boxes. Wish me luck!
I leave you with the image of this beautiful and fun bird in flight from its nest.
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