What do they see?

Two birds on Tyee Spit:

Pigeon, finding something to eat in among the stones.

So ubiquitous they are, so tame, that sometimes we forget to notice how beautiful they are.

Eagle, watching the Strait.

What is he seeing up there? Possible meals, gulls, fish? Or does he also see the blue of the sky, the patterns made by tidal currents, the texture of the green, forested hillside across the water?

Turning to look at me; "What are you doing, crunching around down there?"

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Dos pájaros en Tyee Spit:

    1. Una palomita, buscando golosinas entre las piedras del estacionamiento.

Tan comunes son, siempre presentes, que a veces, por habituación, no apreciamos su belleza.

    2. Una águila, observando el estrecho.

¿Qué estará observando allí? ¿Presa: gaviotas, peces? ¿O verá, como nosotros, lo azul del cielo, los diseños que dibujan las corrientes en el agua, la textura del bosque verde en la isla opuesta?

    3. Volviendo para mirarme — ¡Tanto ruido haces con tus pies en las piedras allí abajo!¡Déjame en paz! — Y vuelve otra vez a su contemplación del estrecho.

So pink

 On a morning walk in the park:

He would insist on standing against the light. But look at those feet!

Park pigeon and dewy grass.

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Visto en el parque esta mañana; una paloma con espaldas a la luz matutina. Pero, ¡mira esas patas!

Playing catch up

Life is just too full of life.

I put a few grass florets under the microscope yesterday evening. Took a series of photos, compared them to listings in my guidebook, posted them to iNaturalist.  I was too sleepy, once that was done, to post a couple of photos of a brown-headed cowbird, as planned, and left it for today. But then I got up in the middle of the night to take photos of a moth beside my bed. 

I still have photos lined up for posting from the middle of last month. I'm thinking I will never, ever catch up.

So today I'm adding all the rest of my bird photos to the cowbird post. Ten photos, four folders cleared. That will help.

Molothrus ater. One-legged, chocolate-headed cowbird. 

Beside the cookhouse, Strathcona Lodge, Upper Campbell Lake.

Waiting for the Saltspring Island ferry. Adult gull, pink-legged.

This may be a youngster. Hard to tell.

A large flock of gulls hung around waiting for our ferry, maybe hoping for handouts.

Parking lot pigeon, Crofton beach.

Robin at the birdbath.

House Sparrow, Crofton Beach.

And these two last photos are poor, but just for the record; distant ducks at the beaver pond.

Male Wood Duck, Aix sponsa, among the water lilies.

Female Hooded Merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus.

Tomorrow, a bunch of water scenes, I think. Green water, blue water, white water.

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¡El mundo es tan lleno de vida!

Ayer por la tarde, examiné unas florecitas de pasto bajo el microscopio. Saqué fotos, las comparé con descripciones en mi libro guía, y las subí a iNaturalist. Y hecho esto, tenía mucho sueño y dejé para hoy subir aquí dos fotos de Tordos cabecipardos. Me fui a la cama, pero a medianoche me levanté para sacar fotos de una palomilla nocturna que vino a descansar en mi mesita de noche. 

Y todavía tengo fotos que están listas para subir desde mediados del mes pasado. Se me ocurre que nunca podré ponerme al corriente.

Pues, hoy estoy añadiendo todas las fotos de pájaros, sea donde sea las saqué, a las de los tordos. Diez fotos, y cuatro archivos finalizados. Un paso adelante.

1. Molothrus ater. Con una sola pata, cabeza color chocolate.
2. Lo encontré en el Centro de Educación/Resort Strathcona, a la orilla del lago Upper Campbell.
3. Gaviota, esperando el trasbordador que me llevaría a la isla Saltspring.
4. Creo que esta gaviota es un joven.
5. Una bandada grande de gaviotas esperaba el trasbordador.
6. Paloma en el estacionamiento al lado de la playa en Crofton.
7. Petirrojo en un jardín aquí en el pueblo.
8. Gorrión común, Crofton.
9. Y estas dos fotos salieron muy pobres, pero sirven de recordatorio. Este es un Pato Joyuyo macho.
10. Hooded Merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus, hembra, entre los lirios acuáticos.

Para mañana, escenas con agua, creo. Agua verde, azul, blanco.

Lazy birding

Stiff and sore from too much squinting at the computer screen, too cold (maybe too lazy), once I got outside, to face a long walk in the woods or on the windy shore, I chose instead to drive around in circles, south, north, east, looking for birds to watch from the car. 

Like these:

Cormorants on a float

I see these sitting on the float every time I drive by, always too far for a good look, so I go on by. Not this time. Taken from the car window.

UPDATE: These are Brandt's cormorants. They're in breeding plumage and have the blue skin patch on their throat (the gular pouch). The one just behind the metal circle has inflated his pouch; in the next photo I took, it had shrunk.

No birds.

I've seen flocks of trumpeter swans and Canada geese in this field before. Yesterday, there were none. Not even a stray crow. Drive on!

I was watching the treetops as I drove, searching for eagles. None to be seen; they're all probably down at the shore for the herring spawn.

Marching pigeon

At Tyee Spit, I finally found my birds. (And got out of the car, briefly.) I love the colours on this pigeon!

A crow eating my cat food crumbs, quietly.

Gull, being quiet. Between screeches.

Mallard female, Tyee Spit, showing off her so-blue speculum.

And this was not a bird, but I found it at the bird blind so it belongs here, right?

The first pussywillows I've seen this spring. Begging to be petted!

And there was a whole flock of mallards. About them, tomorrow.

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Estaba tiesa y adolorida por pasar demasiado tiempo doblada en frente de la computadora. Y cuando salí de la casa, hacía frio, no me daba ganas de caminar en el bosque o al lado del mar donde el viento trae hielo. (Y tal vez se podría decir que sentía un poco de flojera.) Decidí, pues, manejar en círculos, buscando pájaros que podría ver y fotografiar desde el coche.

Fotos:

1. Como estos cormoranes. Siempre los veo al pasar, pero están tan lejos que no me detengo. Ahora sí. Son comoranes de Brandt, en plumaje nupcial, y la piel de la garganta es de un azul vívido. El que está atrás del círculo de metal acaba de inflar esta piel, llamada la bolsa gular.
2. Campo sin pájaros. En otras ocasiones, he visto aquí los gansos de Canadá, y grupos de cisnes trompeteros. Esta vez, ni uno había. Ni siquiera un cuervito. ¡Adelante! Iba viendo las copas de los árboles, esperando ver águilas. Nada. Creo que todos están en las playas, para aprovechar el desove de los arenques.
3. Y en Tyee Spit, encontré bandadas de pájaros. Entre ellos, esta palomita con sus colores tan vivos. (Aquí me atreví a salir del coche.)
4. Un cuervo comiendo mis migajas de comida seca de gato. En silencio, pues estamos en Zona Tranquila.
5. Y una gaviota, en silencio momentario. En un minuto va a estar gritando de nuevo.
6. Una pata "mallard" (ánade azulón), mostrando su espéculo azul.
7. Y esto no es pájaro, pero lo vi en el puesto de observación de aves; cabe entre los aves, ¿no?

Y hubo una bandada grande de patos "mallard", que dejo para mañana.

And still more birds

Wherever we went in Mazatlan, there were birds. Lifers, as often as not. Sometimes I managed to take photos with whatever camera was on hand; sometimes, laden down with purchases, big floppy hat that kept blowing off, maps and sunglasses (on again, off again, depending on the shade I kept hiding in), by the time I'd scrabbled through my bags and dug out the camera, either the birds or my vehicle of the moment had moved on. The trials of a tourist!

And sometimes, even when I was prepared and had the time, I only heard the birds and couldn't see them. Picture an oldish lady in a wide-rimmed, black hat, roasting in blazing sunlight on a cobblestone street. See her, camera ready, staring up into a tree, dodging the occasional car, returning again to stare into the branches. And then, reluctantly, turning off the camera and trudging on. Picture the bemused or amused glances of residents passing by. Tourists!

Some birds I recognized, even with brief glances; violet-green swallows, sparrows, a goldfinch, common rock pigeons, the great-tailed grackle (like our crow, in behaviour and colour, but longer and bluer.) Some looked familiar at first glance, but then were subtly different from those I'm used to.

There was another bird hanging around the edge of the rocks with me while I watched surfbirds, a pale brown, almost featurless peep. The camera refused to focus, choosing rather the darker rocks right behind it. I think, from memory, that it was probably a willet.

House sparrows. Although, if the back one is a female, her beak should be yellowish.

The great-tailed grackle. Male; the females are smaller, and dark brown. 

When the light hits them just right, they shine in iridescent blues and purples.

Male grackles on a roof ridge, displaying for the females. Lots of competition here!

Territorial “ruff-out” displays of erected feathers, fanned tail, and bill held skyward may erupt into wrestling matches, with competing males locking talons and rolling on the ground. (Cornell)

This was another lifer: the boat-billed flycatcher.

Boat-billed flycatcher, Megarynchus pitangua, with nest. A shy bird; one camera click, and she ducked down out of sight.

The back and tail are brown. There is a yellow patch on top of the head, only visible at certain angles.

The great Kiskadee is an almost identical bird, also present in the area. But it has a reputation for being bold and noisy; these ones were wary of humans and quick to hide, so I think they're b-b flycatchers. As always, I could be wrong.

Another shy bird.

Some sort of woodpecker*. Photo lightened up considerably; she was hiding in deep shade. For the next photo, she ducked behind the branch and only showed the top of her head.
*Update: Gila Woodpecker Melanerpes uropygialis

Very bad photo of a brilliant little bird. I think he might be a male Vermilion Flycatcher.

And of course, there are always common city pigeons.

One on the beach

Hundreds in a tree. Zocalo, Antigua Mazatlan.

I want to go back.

Fine dining

There's good eating under the palapas. Whether you walk in or fly in.

Here's coconut shrimp, yum!

Enchiladas and guacamole, too! So hard to choose!

My choice; chicken in rajas de chile verde.

A few more Reifel Island birds

On a Friday afternoon at Reifel Island Bird Sanctuary in September, the lagoons are quiet, the paths empty. The parenting tasks are done for the year, many of the summer residents have flown south, and the winter visitors are still on their way. And it's Friday. The remaining ducks know the score; Saturday morning, the parking lot will be full of kids and kids at heart carrying bags of seed; then they will be busy begging, demanding, hounding, jostling, squabbling, peck-peck-pecking, diving, honking and quacking until dusk, with a repeat the next day. They'll be rested and ready for it.

Friday is a good day for a quiet walk.

House sparrow on a fence

This mallard was eating low-hanging blackberries. She didn't seem to mind them not being ripe.

The splotchiest pigeon I ever did see.

And an uncharacteristically placid coot, ignoring my tossed seeds.

More tomorrow.