Saturday, September 29, 2012

A new species for the Lonesome Duck Ranch.




Yesterday, a new observation was made on the Lonesome Duck Ranch.  It was a Merlin; the first one seen here since we came here seven seasons ago. It flew from a low roost and swung across the north pasture as I was showing a group of the owner's friends some of the birds and other sights of the ranch.

The Merlin is the next to smallest falcon in the U.S. It was formerly called the Pigeon Hawk. However, it is a true falcon and is known for flying fast and straight. They are predators of other birds, catching them by diving and/or overtaking their victims by great speed, usually in more open areas. They are not common and often give you only a fleeting glimpse. And thus, I did not get any pictures of it.

Snipe were also seen with owner’s group yesterday. It was a flock of about 10 Common Snipe, formerly called Wilson's Snipe. They were in the same place as reported in my catch-up summary a few days ago- 8/26/2012: “Wilson's Snipe seen in wetland in north pasture on Sunday. Yes there really are snipe, and there is a hunting season (in the daytime, with shotguns!!). I saw a pair of them about a week later…and Muskrats foraging in the tules.”

People have a lot of fun joshing other people about going on “Snipe hunts” for the “legendary” creature that glows in the dark and can be captured late at night with a paper bag. This, however, was the real thing.

And, we did see muskrats again.

Since I did not get any pictures of the Merlin (or the Common Snipe) I am including pictures of a bird seen many times at the Lonesome Duck late this summer and this fall:
9/4/2012 and ff …: “Deadly tag” - at least 2 Sharp-shinned Hawks and Steller’s Jays have been harassing each other in the yard. I found a headless Pine Siskin on the 4th and since then the remains of a Mourning Dove, an unidentified sparrow, and several jays. That’s nature too! The hawks are very impressive too.

First is an adult Sharp-shinned Hawk feeding on an immature Mourning Dove on the river side of our cabin on September 11. It did not seem to “play tag” so much:
Sharp-shinned Hawks are small but deadly bird predators but have a much different mode of operation than the Merlin. They are experts of ambush and the chase. They are equipped with relatively stubby wings and long tails designed for quick bursts of speed and the ability to make sharp turns as they chase their avian prey through the trees and branches.

Here’s an immature Sharp-shin that was “playing chase” back and forth with the Steller’s Jays at our cabin this morning:
 
There was another observer beside myself:
 
It is a Western Grey Squirrel.  The squirrels just ignored the Sharp-shinned Hawks most of the time; even when they darted at the squirrels and hovered over them. Their size looks somewhat similar to the hawk's but the squirrels greatly outweigh the diminutive hawks, and, squirrels are quite “tough” (perhaps from all the tree climbing).

Friday, September 28, 2012

The Psychedelic Robin!



So, did anyone figure out what I might be referring to as a psychedelic robin? Well here it is:


It's a Varied Thrush. Around here they are normally high in the moist coniferous forests of the Cascade Mountains about 15 miles west of us. I took the picture on September 23 in the yard of our cabin. That's the only day we saw it. They usually show up when there is some kind of weather change, especially heavy winter snow storms. Then they can seem to show up everywhere in the valleys, indicating how many there may be high in the mountain forests. Normally, they are not easy to find being in areas of few year-round human habitations. When they drop down to lawns and other civilized areas they do resemble, including behavior, the related American Robin. Both are large thrushes, showing the heavy spotting of the breast of most common thrushes only when they are immature. Here's another view:


By the way, the weather has been a little strange. We had some short dips but the warm, summery weather is hanging on with mostly sunny skies and temps in the upper 70's. It may break the 80's several of the upcoming 4 days or so. Migration is in full swing and some of the leaves are starting to show their fall colors. On the average, this week is when the first snowfall of the season occurs at Crater Lake National Park, twenty miles up the road from here. No snow showing in the 10-day forecast.

Remember the Mountain Quail of earlier this week? I dug out one of my photos of the much more common California Quail. It's a winter shot in the snow of both a male and female. Take a look at the plume on the top of the head for an obvious difference from the Mountain Quail. The male California Quail also has a black bib on its throat vs. the chestnut bib of the male and female Mountain Quail.


Monday, September 24, 2012

The Robin Hood Quail (and Psychedelic Robin)!



Things are slowing down at the Lonesome Duck Ranch so I am trying to get back into the swing of blogging. The Psychedelic Robin is part of a tease and I hope to inform you about that within a few days. Can you guess what it is about? The rest of the tease is the critter above and following:

It's a rather “rare bird” for us, coming regularly to our cabin this year. It is the Mountain Quail. Do not confuse it with the much, much more common California Quail, sometimes called valley quail. The Mountain Quail does live in mountainous country, especially if there is lots of brush. It is the largest quail of six native species in the U.S. Can you tell why I call it the “Robin Hood Quail?” It's that long plume that sticks back from the top of its head like Robin Hood’s feather in his hat. The California Quail has a head plume that droops forward in a comma shape.  Until this year we only saw the Mountain Quail briefly about once a year; and that was usually at the very base of the mountain on the east side of the ranch. This year they discovered our irrigated lawns with their White Clover, and(!) the bird feeders. They have been showing up now for well over a month, sometimes several times per day. It is a large covey of at least two families, with young of different ages, numbering over a dozen birds. The close-up of the bird's head was taken while he was preening on our picnic table, outside the window about eight feet away!

It has been a busy year and I have not had time to keep up. I managed to work in a trip to Hawaii and then Russia which really put a pinch on time; more about those trips later (maybe when the snow piles up). I kept a crude log of other events so here are some of the nature happenings. I hope to expound on them some too, as fall and winter continue, AND, include some photos:

9/20/2012: I saw an American Dipper, i.e., a Water Ouzel, while I was trout fishing in a rocky canyon of the North Fork of the Sprague River.

9/19/2012: A Band-tailed Pigeon was between our cabin and the Williamson River. They are large, native Pigeons from the forests of the wet (west) side of the mountains. We only see them here about once every other year. They are bigger than the introduced Rock Dove, the common pigeon of cities and farms.

9/17-24/2012: A late season female Wood Duck has come to our bird feeders along the Williamson River most mornings. The Mountain Quail are still visiting us too.

9/6/2012: Juncos have descended from the mountains around us in preparation for fall and winter.

9/4/2012 and ff thru 9/24/2012: Deadly tag - at least 2 Sharp-shinned Hawks and Steller’s Jays have been harassing each other in the yard. I found a headless Pine Siskin on the 4th and since then the remains of a Mourning Dove, an unidentified sparrow, and several jays. That’s nature too! The hawks are very impressive too.

8/26/2012: Wilson's Snipe seen in wetland in north pasture on Sunday. Yes there really are snipe, and there is a hunting season (in the daytime, with shotguns!!). I saw a pair of them about a week later…and Muskrats foraging in the tules.

8/25/2012: Colorful trout and 2 Bench-leg deer bucks (Mule Deer x Blacktail hybrid) caught and seen, respectfully on east slopes of Mountain Lakes Wilderness area. Hoping to post a picture of the trout later.

8/23/2012: Lots of the first Greater White-fronted Geese of the season as well as a Swainson’s Hawk, Greater Yellowlegs, and another shorebird seen as indications of migration seen while leading a nature tour in the Upper Basin.