The Birders Report

Hunting Purple Martins

by Larry Jordan on May 1, 2012

Acorn Woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus) photos by Larry Jordan

Last week my friend Gary Stacey, the new Wintu Audubon Society president, took me out on Shasta Lake in search of Purple Martins (Progne subis). You see, Gary had told me that last year when he was out on the lake he saw Purple Martins feeding their young, and had gotten a good close look at their nest sites (without disturbing them of course).

Well, I had only seen Purple Martins nesting high up in a snag near Lake Britton and never gotten a good look at them. Being the largest swallow in North America and among the largest in the world, as well as being one of the most popular backyard birdhouse residents in the Eastern United States, you would think that I would have remedied that situation by now, but no. The prospect of observing Purple Martins feeding their young in a natural cavity on the lake was a very exciting prospect for me.

You see, this species in eastern North America now breeds almost entirely in backyard birdhouses. Its conversion to human-made martin houses from ancestral nest sites—abandoned woodpecker holes in dead snags—was almost complete before 1900; only a few records of natural nestings east of the Rocky Mountains have been reported during the twentieth century. Yet in the mountain forests, deserts, and coastal areas of western North America, where the species is less common, it still nests almost exclusively in woodpecker holes or natural cavities. Few other species show such a marked or abrupt geographic difference in use of nest sites¹.

Shasta Lake is an artificial lake created by the construction of Shasta Dam across the Sacramento River in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest of Shasta County, California. It is the largest reservoir in the state.

When they created the lake, the trees that were growing in the Pit River arm were left intact and are now seen as snags in that arm of the lake. Perfect habitat for cavity nesting birds.

Acorn and other varieties of woodpeckers help create thousands of nest cavities for several species of birds (click on photos for full sized images).

However, as we traveled further and further up the Pit River arm looking for the elusive Purple Martin we began to worry that we might be too early in the season to see them. We got great looks at Osprey, Bald Eagles, an Eared Grebe and several Clark’s Grebes…

we also spotted several Common Mergansers in various locations.

We finally began seeing Tree Swallows at some of the snags…

and Northern Rough-winged Swallows.

Then, along the south side of the main waterway of the Pit River arm…

we spotted some much larger swallows flying with the Tree Swallows…

they were Purple Martins! The iridescent blue male on the left and the lighter bellied female on the right.

We only saw six Purple Martins in the four hours we were out there on the lake, but we did see them, and I will definitely go back in a few weeks to see if I can find a nesting pair feeding their young.

If you want to see more great bird photos from around the world, check out World Bird Wednesday and share some of your birding adventures!

References: ¹Birds of North America Online

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Stop Oil Shale Development on the West’s Public Lands

by Larry Jordan on April 30, 2012

Is this what you want done with our public lands in the U.S.? Tar Sand oil development is destroying the Canadian Boreal Forest and will devastate our Western United States if we allow it to be produced here.

In 2008, the BLM published a Final PEIS that amended 10 resource management plans (RMPs) in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming to make approximately 2 million acres of public lands potentially available for commercial oil shale leasing and development and 430,000 acres potentially available for tar sands leasing and development. Move ahead to today…

News Release: Washington D.C.– The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has published the Notice of Availability (NOA) of the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) and Possible Land Use Amendments for Allocation of Oil Shale and Tar Sands Resources on Lands Administered by the BLM in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. The publication opens a 90-day public review and comment period.

The Draft PEIS analyzes several alternatives for land allocation and resource management. Under the BLM’s Preferred Alternative identified in the Draft PEIS, the BLM would continue to support the research and development of hydrocarbon deposits in an environmentally responsible way that protects scarce water supplies in the arid West.

If the BLM decides to adopt the Preferred Alternative, 461,965 acres would be available for research and development of oil shale, a kerogen-rich rock (35,308 acres in Colorado; 252,181 acres in Utah; and 174,476 acres in Wyoming). In addition, 91,045 acres in eastern Utah would be available for activities related to tar sands, a type of hydrocarbon-wet sedimentary deposit.

THE PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD BEGAN ON FEBRUARY 3RD AND WILL RUN THROUGH MAY 4TH!!!

Please GET INVOLVED by submitting your public comments using this form or the Center for Biological Diversity has made it easy for you by going to their website and TAKING ACTION by using a pre-printed form that you can pass on to others!

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A Great Horned Owl Feeding Owlets

by Larry Jordan on April 25, 2012

Great Horned Owl (Bubo viginianus)

I got up early hoping to see an adult Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) at the nest. I was not disappointed!

Fortunately my friend Frank Kratofil introduced me to this Great Horned Owl nest a couple of years ago and, according to the locals, the owls have been nesting here for several years. I did, however, I miss them last year when they chose a different nest location.

I arrived just before sunrise to see several darkened shapes in the large old oak tree, and yes, one was an adult! Little did I know what a treat I had in store.

I saw two lighter colored shapes as I slowly approached the nest tree, the larger darker adult standing guard above them.

The parent owl slowly made her way down the main trunk to the nest site and perched on the rim of the rotted old stump that must have once been a mighty branch of this old tree. She peered down into the nest as one of the owlets made its way toward the nest and squeezed past her down into the nest cavity.

She followed, then struggled to turn around in the nest only to reappear at the rim of the nest with some type of prey! She began tearing meat from the prey as the young owlet came up under her breast to be fed.

This being my first time ever seeing a Great Horned Owl feeding its young, I moved to a better viewing location. My new angle at the nest revealed a third owlet in the nest!

It was a real joy watching her feed the youngsters to tenderly.

Breaking the near silent atmosphere of the feeding session, all of a sudden a pair of Canada Geese flew around the large oak.

Then this crazy pair of geese came right over the nest site…

and looked like they were trying to land right above the owls.

She looked at me seeming to ask “what was that all about?”

Finally, the owlet that had been patiently waiting up top, outside the nest, got some attention when mama brought what was left of the Western Grey Squirrel up to share.