The Birders Report

Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) with Eaglet photos by Larry Jordan

This pair of  Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), Patriot and Liberty, have been nesting at Turtle Bay since the fall of 2004.  They fledged three eaglets, two years in a row, in 2009 and 2010, and have two, very cute nestlings this year.  You can read their full story here.

I took these photographs a week ago, on a sunny day with temperatures in the low 70’s.  With the leaves of the cottonwood tree in which the eagle’s nest resides just beginning to emerge, the nest was in nearly full sunlight and the eaglets were panting.

In this photograph, I believe is Liberty, the female, getting ready to leave the nest.  You can see the two eaglets below her outstretched wings.

After she leaves the chicks are staring off after her and panting.

A few minutes later she returns but appears to have nothing with her, you know, like a fish.

But wait, it appears that there is already food in the nest as she begins tearing off pieces of sushi and feeding it to the nestlings

You can see one of the eaglets in the back, the other one is down in the nest where Liberty has been reaching down with pieces of food.

She is shading the nest with her body

As she looks overhead, possibly at her mate, or possibly at the Red-tailed Hawk that had flown over earlier.

She is very aware of everything going on around the nest. She may be wondering what I am looking at as she stares back at me.

Notice that her right pupil is more dilated than the left from being shaded for several minutes while her left eye was exposed to direct sun.  I recorded some video of Liberty on the edge of her nest, apparently very content with her new eaglets.

You can watch a live cam of these Bald Eagles at the Turtle Bay Eagle Cam site. You can also see more great bird photos at Bird Photography Weekly!

Check out my latest West Coast Beat Writer post on the California Thrasher (Toxostoma redivivum) over at 1000 Birds!

Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna) Male photos by Larry Jordan

Anna’s Hummingbirds (Calypte anna) are the only U.S. hummingbird with a rose red crown (in the right light).  They are nesting somewhere near my house.  I know this because the females have been coming to gather nesting material recently and, as you will see at the end of this post, I’ve spotted females with brood patches.

Here is the male Anna’s Hummingbird showing his bright red gorget as he surveys the yard.

I wanted to capture some in-flight photos of these jewels of the sky while the sun was out to get the full impact of their beautiful colors.

These photos were taken in morning light with my 70 – 300mm zoom lens using a high ISO setting to get the shutter speed I wanted (click on photos for full sized images).

I really enjoy watching these quick, aggressive little birds go through their maneuvers to gain a seat at the feeders. Notice that the bright colors of the male’s crown and gorget feathers look dark when not reflecting the sunlight.

The female Anna’s Hummingbird has a less obvious, patchy red throat that can be seen when facing into the sunlight.

Their colors aren’t quite as bright as the male’s

and the males generally leave them alone at the feeders. After all, they are the ones doing all the work. The female of the species builds the nest, incubates the eggs and broods and feeds the young after they hatch. Copulation is the only time male and female Anna’s Hummingbirds are together, after that, she’s on her own.

In the photo above you can see a large bare patch of skin on this female’s breast where she incubates the eggs. According to Birds of North America Online, this patch of bare skin is not vascularized like a typical brood patch.

This little ball of fire doesn’t take guff from anyone!

To see more great bird photos, check out World Bird Wednesday!  And if you hurry, you can get your link submitted to Ambika over at Madras Ramblings for the next rendition of I And The Bird on Thursday!