Showing posts with label Brown Booby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brown Booby. Show all posts
Sunday, July 23, 2023
Saturday, July 22, 2023
Sunday, August 28, 2022
Thursday, August 18, 2022
081822 Shots of Noteworthy Interest on Boomer Lake from Now and Then
081822 Immature Brown Booby
This bird apparently showed up yesterday and decided to stay into at least today, so my poor shot from several months ago at least showed that there is Brown Booby interest in Boomer Lake. This species is a seabird that usually resides in southern waters of the Atlantic and Pacific, though it occasionally comes inland. However, if one looks at the Oklahoma eBird stats, it is becoming more frequent in this state.
071922 Green Heron
It appeared that we might have young being raised this year, but with all the cover and lack of viewable area, it was very difficult to make observations. There could have been fledglings, but writer is not aware of any that were seen.
061519 Green Heron with White Chick
In Front of Her
This has been the youngest nestling that writer has observed since following the small Green Heron colony of Heron Cove. This was a very low nest at the west side of the cove, which was questionable as to whether or not the young would survive, as there was such easy access to it with no real cover. Sadly, it was not long before the nesting must have seen its demise, as the adult was gone within a week.
Sunday, April 24, 2022
Sunday, April 17, 2022
Monday, April 11, 2022
Sunday, January 31, 2021
Sunday, September 16, 2018
Tuesday, September 11, 2018
Birds of the Sea: Brown Booby
The Brown Booby is a sexually dimorphic seabird usually observed near the Dry Tortugas of Florida, where it perches on navigational markers or in trees.
It is suspected that it once nested in the Florida Keys, but only nests in Hawaii presently in the US. It will sometimes wander into inland areas of the southwest from western Mexico, namely around the Colorado River or the Salton Sea.
Similar to the Northern Gannet, it will plunge headfirst into the water while diving at an angle. It practices kleptoparasitism and will pursue flying fish from the air.
The thick cone-shaped bill is to be reckoned with if one is in the opportunity to rehabilitate this bird, as it can deliver a vicious bite that will assuredly draw blood. It will also do the same with other birds that have the audacity to be near it while fishing, for it will peck at them until they release their quarry.
A juvenile Brown Booby visited Oklahoma on August 16, 2018 on the property of the Dolese Sandpit in Dover. This photo was obtained by workers at that location. A second report of most likely the same bird was seen a day later in Bristow, OK. It is believed to have arrived in the area under storm conditions as a reverse migrant, which will happen to single, usually inexperienced migrants.
Juvenile Brown Booby
Dolese Sand Pit, Dover OK
Another strong flier like the Magnificent Frigatebird, it is also silent, unless on the breeding grounds, and the only time they are on dry land is for purposes of reproduction.
These birds are extremely graceful fliers, but they are the most clumsy when it comes to takeoffs and landings. They must use strong winds and high perches as an assist.
Also See Today's Report on the Magnificent Frigatebird:
https://debhirt.blogspot.com/2018/09/birds-of-sea-magnificent-frigatebird.html
Birds of the Sea: Magnificent Frigatebird
Recently a visitor in Oklahoma over the past of couple of days, the Magnificent Frigatebird is a seabird that can stray or be a part of skip or possibly drift migration. Drift occurs due to storms which just occurred over the past week or thereabouts due to hurricanes and other tropical storms, however, that usually involves several birds, not singles, such as this sighting.
Another related factor regarding migratory events is called reverse migration, which usually happens with young birds. This occurs with individuals in isolated sightings, such as the frigatebird, which had seen twice and could very remotely be the same individual that was at Lake Carl Blackwell in June. Since so much time had elapsed between the sightings, the probability that this was the same bird is doubtful.
Obviously, these are remarkable observations when it comes to seabirds, yet they would be most common, even though a rare occurrence. Not only have we seen Magnificent Frigatebirds twice over tropical weather systems, there has also been a Brown Booby that ventured here right around the same period of another weather event.
The Magnificent Frigatebird will occur between northern Mexico and Ecuador on the Pacific coast, as well as between Florida and southern Brazil on Atlantic coastal waters.
Being the species that it is, the Magnificent Frigatebird usually takes flying fish which are easy to obtain when in flight, and indulges in kleptoparasitism with other birds. It will force other species to physically regurgitate a meal by throwing them off balance with a spinning motion or pecking at their heads, and thus forcing them to throw up the contents of their stomach through gravity. They will them grab the meal before it hits water.
Magnificent Frigatebird Juvenile
copyright, Cody L. Barnes
Breeding colonially in mangroves in both the Caribbean and Florida, as well as on the Pacific coast side of the Americas between Mexico and Ecuador, these seabirds have also been noted as vagrants in British Columbia and Europe.
As some seabirds do, the frigatebird will rely on updrafts to migrate, spending day and night on the wing, and it is silent while in flight.
When it is time for Pacific Ocean weather systems, it will be the best to also watch those events. Since we are in the central part of the country, there's no telling what else could turn up in Oklahoma, like perhaps, the Laysan Albatross.
Also See Story On Brown Booby Seen Recently in Oklahoma:
https://debhirt.blogspot.com/2018/09/birds-of-sea-brown-booby.html
Sunday, August 26, 2018
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