Showing posts with label Black-crowned Night-Heron. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Black-crowned Night-Heron. Show all posts
Saturday, August 7, 2021
Friday, October 23, 2020
Saturday, October 10, 2020
Sunday, February 25, 2018
022518 SNP Edition, Life at Boomer Lake
Sunday, August 6, 2017
Green Heron Clutch #5 Makes Debut In Nest on 072917
European Starling
First Green Heron Nestling, Clutch 5
072917
Black-crowned Night Heron Subadult
Two Green Heron Nestlings, Clutch #5
080417
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Green Heron Parent For Clutch 5
Green Heron Nestlings
080517
Ditto 080517
Black-crowned Night-Heron
07-25 through 08-05-17
This was a longer stretch than usual, but most of these days got hot very quickly. With both black metal camera and tripod, it was difficult to keep sweat out of the eyes and any kind of comfort level. Now that I have a few photos, I am proud to announce that we have another clutch of young.
It is unknown what happened with clutch 4, which I never saw. I had a bird on its nest, but no young were produced. It appeared to me that one of the Green Herons was a little young, so I am assuming that the male was not yet reproductively mature. It was also possible that there was a malady or perhaps the nest was infested with something malicious. Since we will never know, let us be grateful that we have young that I was able to capture at a very early age.
The first photo with clutch #5 was on Saturday, 07-29, nine days ago. I could only see one bird at the time, and I am almost certain that we now have three nestlings, some of whom are now sitting on the rim of the nest, just itching to escape. In order to obtained the photos that you see here, I have to have at least 12 mph wind gusts, enough to move both leaves and branches out of the way in order to view the youngsters. Luck gave me a few shots over the past nine days.
I also believe that I missed seeing the subadult Black-crowned Night-Heron every day, but I don't think it ever left the area. Going to the west side of Heron Cove each day has sometimes afforded me the opportunity to see the bird perched in a tree. The photos tell the story, and I am grateful that this bird is allowed to co-exist in the area of the Green Herons. If it returns as an adult in 2018, we'll see
if they are willing to allow it nesting space.
Even though it has been a terrifically hot summer in this part of the country, it appears that we'll see a reprieve in August. Perhaps we can all get in some long overdue birding. If the month is cooler, we might even see an earlier migration, as the days are shortening slightly. Perhaps the cooler month will give us a push with a few early birds in the area. I saw three Forster's Terns cruising the lake on Saturday, so we'll see what is in store for us this season.
Dr. Deb
Saturday, July 15, 2017
A Subadult Black-crowned Night Heron Is Greeted by a Green Heron Adult
Green Heron Juvenile, Clutch 1
Black-crowned Night Heron (Left)
Adult Green Heron (Right)
Bleck-crowned Night-Heron
Green Heron Adult
Green Heron Juvenile, Clutch 1
Mallard Ducklings
Green Heron Adult
Black-crowned Night Heron
Ditto
Green Heron Juvenile, Clutch 1
Juvenile yellow-shafted Northern Flickers
at play
Week of 07-10-17 to Present
A subadult Black-crowned Night-Heron came to visit this week, which I assume was last year's
second summer bird. I believe this bird had been born on Goose Island two years ago, as the Green Herons evicted an adult from trying to breed at that time. The night-heron clan is sometimes known to eat the eggs of other herons, which causes them consternation, so they generally will not allow them any real estate in many heronries.
Sometimes the Black-crowned Night-Heron will nest in the same tree with ibises, and occasionally they will be accepted by other herons. They also don't discriminate against the birds in other nests and have been known to brood nests not their own. Young birds will disgorge their stomachs if disturbed, quite like vultures, who do so at any age.
After a couple of days, an adult Green Heron came face-to-face with this subadult night-heron. They both appeared quite surprised at the encounter and managed to remain quite close for a good fifteen minutes before Green Heron left the area. I did my best to record the event, since our colony usually drives them away. Evidently, the adult Green Heron felt that the night-heron meant no harm.
It is possible that the night heron has left Heron Cove, as I have not seen it there for a couple of days.
It was a nice visit, while it lasted. Prior to the bird making its appearance on Monday morning, it was under the main nest tree on the west bank of the cove. Since night-herons don't care for bright sunlight, it never stayed long in the mornings. They usually tend to do much better at pre-dawn or twilight, retiring in the shadows.
There are still plenty of young birds all over the lake, including these two young Northern Flickers, who displayed their yellow shafts the entire time that I was in their presence. They did the jousting play ritual, which is quite common for the species.
Sunday, May 7, 2017
May 2017 Has Started Out As the Best Spring Migration Over the Past Five Years
Least Flycatcher
Ditto
Forster's Terns
Orange-crowned Warbler
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Clay-colored Sparrow
Male Orchard Oriole
Least Flycatcher
Nashville Warbler
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Cedar Waxwing
Green Heron
Canada Gosling
Ditto
Great Blue Heron
05-02 through 05-06-17
Cedar Waxwings have arrived to take advantage of buds, fruiting flowers, and the multitudes of
mulberries, which have begun ripening. I know this, as I have been watching the berries and actually ate a couple of them right beside some Yellow Warblers. Another tidbit for you is that mulberry bushes become mulberry trees in just a few short years, which is why you can get hordes of fruit-
eating birds. Try it and you'll see for yourselves when you have an increase in waxwings and warblers. Since the Middle Atlantic and a few northeastern states are still on the chilly side, some of
these birds have been with us a little longer. Our mornings have still been a little cooler than normal, but I just as soon have these photo opportunities as long as possible. Not only that, there is a remote
possibility that if these birds are held up too long, they might just decide to start breeding here.
Monday, which was May Day, was the coolest morning of the week, which we touched on last photo posting, and that was a relatively good morning for migratory birds. Thursday the 4th was an outstanding morning. I believe I had 62 species on that day, and they were practically dropping out of the trees. Warblers were quite plentiful, Clay-colored Sparrows were everywhere, and shorebirds were still enjoying puddles, especially the Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs.
Our first empidonax flycatchers, the Least Flycatcher, was plentiful and a allowing for some excellent photo ops. A juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron rested for a short time at Heron Cove. This bird wasn't driven out like an adult would be. It wasn't seated far from a breeding aged Green
Heron, as a matter of fact.
Birding was still good, but slowed up a little at the end of the week, but there were a few good things
that still came along, like three Red-headed Woodpeckers at Boomer Creek, one of which managed to grace Boomer Lake proper, and we have a pair of beautiful Great-crested Flycatchers eying the largest snag on the north end of the lake. They lost the thinner snag at the wood's edge last year, but I'm pleased to note that they were not deterred by that.
We have peaked with eight Forster's Terns for the past several days and there are still plenty of Franklin's Gulls passing through the area.
Our Bell's Vireos have also returned to their nesting grounds in our area, and one is already courting
a young lady...
Due to the fact that conditions have been quite good this spring with plenty of water, there is plenty of food for the birds, and we should have a wonderful crop of rough leafed dogwood berries in short order for discriminating palates. Migratory action is still going on, so keep your bins and spotting scopes handy and see what else we can find in Payne county during the spring of 2017, which is the best conditions that I have noted over the past five years.
Sunday, December 11, 2016
Summer Relinquishes to Fall's Finer Showings
 |
| Eastern Bluebird |
 |
| Double-crested Cormorants |
 |
| Killdeer |
 |
| Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk |
 |
Female Downy Woodpecker Great Horned Owl |
 |
Adult Red-shouldered Hawk |
 |
Great Blue Heron Holding Berries |
 |
Great Blue Heron Releasing Berries |
 |
Juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron |
 |
Redheads |
 |
American Goldfinch 11-20 through12-02-16 |
El Nino still holds on fast to many things, even though its time should be up. Global warming
has taken on a stronger foothold, so birds that should have been on their way to more southern climes are still with us in mid-December, like the Great Egret, juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron, and even a vagrant Brown Pelican from the briny waters. I did not see the pelican yesterday, but my sources are very trustworthy, so I know that it was on Boomer Lake.
Rumor has it that winter will be warm and wet for the Great Plains, but the northern areas will be even colder and snowier. Good fortune to all, and keep warm.
Saturday, September 17, 2016
The Heroes of the Boomer Lake Brigade
2nd Summer Black-crowned Night-Heron
Green Heron
Ditto
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Immature Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker
Great Blue Heron in Flight
Red-winged Blackbird
Great Egret
09-05 through 09-13-16
This is an assortment of some of the temporary residents who will likely be migrating out of
here this fall. We are in the middle of migratory activity, some light, and sometimes with moderate numbers.
There is a fairly heavy population of water birds and this has been an excellent year for Green Herons, yet many of the other herons have and will show themselves in smaller numbers.
It is still a pleasure to have the sub-adult Yellow-crowned Night-Herons at Heron Cove, and the
area has been a valuable respite and resource for many others of the heron clan.
Red-winged Blackbirds, Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, and Eastern Kingbirds are still roosting. Both
the kingbirds and flycatchers are tyrants, so it makes sense that they will travel south together.
It is always a sad time to see them leave, but they always return the next year.
The weather wasn't always co-operative this summer, so I missed a few things due to rain, as well
as heavy clouds, but we'll see if it will be better from here out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)