PHOTOGRAPHY BY DEB HIRT: Climate Change

Showing posts with label Climate Change. Show all posts

Saturday, June 15, 2019

Green Herons Study and Learn Though Their Surroundings

Barn Swallow

Cliff Swallows

060919

0700-0730/74-75 F/mostly cloudy/NNW-4/77-79% RH/29.99-30. Hg and rising

This was a good day to observe all swallows, as many had finally fledged from their gourd-shaped mud nests along Lakeview Road Bridge. The two swallows that breed regularly in Oklahoma are Cliff, Northern Rough-winged, and Barn Swallows. Cave Swallows have been observed as far south as Manitou in 2015 and photos have been obtained for breeding birds at the Wichita Mountain NWR in 2012 with earlier breeding individuals unproven since 201l. They may have made it as far north as Lake Thunderbird in Norman in 2017. Non-breeders are also seen regularly this year along the Red River, and there could be breeding birds at Red Slough.

No doubt that within the next decade they will be breeding in Stillwater, as well, possibly at Boomer Lake. The higher likelihood could be at Lake Carl Blackwell for Payne County.

Adult Green Heron departs The Cove, as
immature Green Herons await a morsel.

Hopeful Green Herons for slurry

A Parent of Clutch 1

Young Green Herons Explore Home Base

Immature Green Herons Enticed by Other
Species in Flight

Several teen Heron Chicks

Exercise Those Wings

Getting the Right Idea By Watching Others

Rapt Attention On a Passing Great-tailed Grackle

Plenty of Stimulation For Young Minds In Area

Not Missing Anything

Young Green Heron Seeks Flight Instruction

Is Food On the Wing?

Dinner Is Served, But It Won't wait Long

Can You Hear Us Now?

Feeding Frenzy Is About to Begin

Helpers Are Here For Feeding Chores

Moving Around Faster Helps Muscles Grow

Wings and Legs Get Experience

Some Get More Sure Footed with Practice

Where's the Fish?

Helpers Are In the Tree

Helpers Make Youngsters Work
For Their Meals

Waiting Nets Nothing

Using Wings For Balance

On the Lookout

Brown Thrasher In Nest

Adults Take a Break

Waiting to Turn Fish to Slurry

061019

0719-0837/64-69 F/clear/N-11/70-64% RH/30.41-30.46 Hg and rising

It's hard work being a Green Heron, unless one is a lazy Green Heron, and like any other bird, survival means work. The young will lollygag for as long as they can, unless they are pushed by family, and sometimes they have to be pushed hard. Observing other species is important and sometimes the basis for flight is learned in that manner, but it must be done quickly in order to survive.

Birds have an accelerated growth rate. They don't live as long as humans and there's a big difference between a two-month-old human and a two month old bird, as they have to migrate during the same year. Hatching in May and heading south on the bird's own power in October is not a lot of time to grow up as a migratory species. This is part of the reason why only half the young make it to their destination for the winter (our winter), and half of those return as helpers the following year.

It is true that the adult males migrate first in many species to set up a territory. The adult female will then follow a couple of weeks later. They then build a nest and get right to business shortly after their arrival in the northern hemisphere to breed. There is no time to waste.

If they arrive when it is too cold, there may be no food in some cases. They may have to wait, and if they arrive too late, some will miss their opportunity for the season. Global warming or climate change waits for no bird.

As time progresses, the cycle may come together for many birds, but there will always be a few that continue to delay, and if that is the case, the species will not survive to prosper. However, birds have been around longer than we have, so they may realize that they must persevere through adjustments.

This will be a learning experience for them and for us. If we choose to negate the data, that is on us, but birds have very real criteria to handle, and their DNA pushes them forward.

Sunday, September 2, 2018

Oklahoma Breeding Bird Species Profile: Northern Rough-winged Swallow

These uncommon brown swallows nest in sandbanks, road cuts, soft cliffs, or in crevices of manmade structures where they can gain purchase. The young birds in the video were waiting to be fed, and it gave a nice view of them gaping. Juveniles also have cinnamon-colored wingbars. They are solitary nesters, and sometimes several pairs will nest somewhat near one another, which is not as close as Barn Swallows. They prefer open areas with open substrate, but don't always nest in commercially made structures.

Nesting from April through July, they are single brooded, and it tends to be rarest in the southwest part of Oklahoma, but likely nests in the open woodlands with nearby water. Sometimes they use old kingfisher, squirrel, or Bank Swallow holes that are still useable. They have a twig nest at the end of a burrow, which the female incubates for about two weeks. Both parents feed the young, who leave the nest in about three weeks.

Northern Rough-winged Swallows
Boomer Lake Park, 2017

Summer residents in nearly the entire country, the white undertail coverts are seen while they are in flight, and their shorter, square tails are also noted during that time. The leading edges of the outer primaries lack the barbules that most birds have, hence the name "rough-winged."

They feed over water more often than not, and are excellent for low level flight over varied terrain. They are found from sea level to six thousand feet, often snatching insects from the top of the water.

Northern rough-winged Swallow
Patagonia Lake SP, AZ 2018

The species has declined over the past four decades, likely caused by pesticides, pollutants, climate change, and insecticides. All of these factors have also been affecting other birds like other swallows, swifts, nightjars, and flycatchers. In view of this, there are many questions affecting the health of the air, or aeroecology, another ecological system.

Northern Rough-winged Swallow and the Birds of Southeast Arizona:

https://debhirt.blogspot.com/2018/05/birding-on-shoestring-american.html

Northern Rough-winged Swallow and the Birds of Boomer Lake:

https://debhirt.blogspot.com/2017/04/springs-migrants-have-been-dropping-in.html