Birding

[Tarantism]

yes, i do, but this particular hummingbird wasnt anywhere near it at the time. i beleive it was either a ruby-throated or a black chinned hummingbird. i cannot clearly remember the color of the tuft under the chin, otherwise i could clarify. im laening towards black-chinned though.

[Cedars]

yes, i do, but this particular hummingbird wasnt anywhere near it at the time. i beleive it was either a ruby-throated or a black chinned hummingbird. i cannot clearly remember the color of the tuft under the chin, otherwise i could clarify. im laening towards black-chinned though.

 

Thats the kind we get here (ruby throated). Have you ever seen them going window to window looking for you when the feeders are empty? Or trying to teach their babies about windows? If you havent, watch for that behavior. Its pretty cool. Sometimes they wont stop even if your right in the window watching them and their babies.

[Racoon]

Lots of these Stellar Jays in the yard and around . They're really pretty, and screechy. :doh:

 

[Cedars]

Great Pic Racoon! Is that one you took? They are a Beautiful bird!!

[Cedars]

I forgot to add a few birds seen in Custer state park. There were a pair of Pied Billed Grebes on Stockade Lake, which is listed as uncommon for this park. Additionally, we saw Great Blue Herons overhead and then spotted nests on an island in Stockade lake. This bird is also listed as Uncommon for Custer.

 

The trip north from the Black hills into Teddy Roosevelt took us thru some nice grasslands. After spending the night in Bowman N. Dakota we headed north for a while and turned off into the Little Missouri Nat. Grasslands. There were large numbers of hawks, primarily Red-Tailed and Marsh hawk. It seemed if there were trees at all, a hawk or pair were nearby. It was in this part of the adventure that we spotted a Ferruginous hawk. Well, one that I will declare to be one. The red-tail, with all its variations can look remarkably similar to the Ferruginious hawk so we may have seen more than one Ferruginious. This is an excellent time of year to hawk watch. The voratious appetites of the young are forcing the parents to hunt all day long. I wish we could have spent a few more days around this area to hawk watch.

 

Ferruginous Hawk:

http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/37/_/Ferruginous_Hawk.aspx

 

Entering into the south portion of Teddy Roosevelt park, several hawks floated on the winds along with Turkey Vultures. I should mention that the Vultures were common everywhere. I was surprised about how many there were. Anyways....

 

The cool sighting on entry into the south park was a Golden Eagle. This was the only day I would see one of these birds.

 

Our campsite was on the banks of the Little Missouri river. It is a first come, first served campground and as we checked out the few remaining riverside sites, it became apparent our first choice needed to be abandoned (we hadnt set up camp yet). Bison tracks...Lots of them. Down the river bank and across the river, many tracks crossed here thru this campsite. We picked another with fewer tracks.

 

The morning brought many bird calls and sights and fresh Bison tracks in our campsite. My fellow traveler heard the beast move thru the camp around 1a.m. and the campers near us talked of how lucky we were. Less than 5 feet from the tent... I felt lucky the animal hadnt decided to scratch himself against our tent is all. The Cottonwood forest in this campsite hosted much more than people. Red-shafted Flickers (see Turtles pics and a first for me), Chipping Sparrows with young, Bullocks Orioles (a first for me) and most fun, Western Tanagers (another first for me). Up and down the riverbanks these birds traveled looking for insects and camp spillages in the morning hours.

 

Western Tanager:

http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i6070id.html

 

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Western_Tanager_dtl.html

 

*note for any potential visitors to TRNP south. Take the horseback ride offered in the park. Money well spent.

 

Additionally there were many types of woodpeckers including Red-headed woodpeckers. I mention this because of a conversation we had with the campground host while asking where can we find a rattlesnake. She had an encounter with birders earlier in the year who were asking about the Red-headed woodpeckers. This seemed to be an uncommon bird for this particular group and she mixed up this bird with the Pileated woodpecker. From her tone of voice describing the encounter, these particular birders seemed to expect more from the host than she could offer. I just want to say to readers, the campground hosts are volunteers and do try to accomodate all questions. But with all the geographic, flora, fauna, and a host of other interests, they cannot know everything about every aspect of interest. I think I managed to turn her impression of birders back into 'their not all bad', and I was able to tell her where I had seen this particular type of bird in the park.

 

We were unable to locate the Prairie Rattlesnake but got some pics of good sized bullsnakes. Yes, she thought we were nuts.

[Cedars]

The final days took us to TRNP north. This unit is much smaller than the south unit but offered opportunity none the less. The bird life in the Cottonwood forest was remarkable. Lots of birds and we missed an opportunity for a very good shot of a Red-headed woodpecker, which landed on the road along side our car to grab an insect. There were other birders here, with really nice camera set ups. One who we chatted with for a bit was decrying his struggle to get a good pic. "there all over the place, but staying too hidden in the trees for a good pic!" he exclaimed. We knew his pain.

 

My favorite sighting in this, the north unit of TR park was the numerous Rufous sided Towhees who competed with each other over scraps. While it is against the 'rules' to feed the animals, these characters posed nicely for some pics due to their fondness for pizza crust and bread scraps.

 

http://www.geocities.com/mn_cedars/pics/TowheeA.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/mn_cedars/pics/TowheeB.jpg

 

Other birds we encountered included two different sightings of Nighthawks, one over our campsite and lots of hawks once again. Most of our time in the north site involved exploring for geological items and flowers outside of the park.

[Turtle]

The final days took us to TRNP north. ... My favorite sighting in this, the north unit of TR park was the numerous Rufous sided Towhees who competed with each other over scraps. While it is against the 'rules' to feed the animals, these characters posed nicely for some pics due to their fondness for pizza crust and bread scraps.

...

Most of our time in the north site involved exploring for geological items and flowers outside of the park.

 

:) I always love reading your birding stories Cedars and these last few in particular. You have been as bird-rich as I bird-poor.

:) BOT What type of geological items found your interest?

:) Nice also to hear observations from Tarantism, Racoon, & Michaelangelica; thanks fellas.

:) I have a park picked from the map that is about a 3 mile walk from me. A Stream Runs Through It:hyper: . Anyway, when I get the gumption I plan to head out there with my camera & see what I can see birdwise or otherwise.:eek2: :epizza:

[Racoon]

These guys, Varied Thrush's, aren't as common a sight as the Stellar Jays around here/my yard; but man are they pretty too. Just a beautiful brightly colored bird! :epizza:

 

 

[Cedars]

:) I always love reading your birding stories Cedars and these last few in particular. You have been as bird-rich as I bird-poor.

:) BOT What type of geological items found your interest?

:) Nice also to hear observations from Tarantism, Racoon, & Michaelangelica; thanks fellas.

:) I have a park picked from the map that is about a 3 mile walk from me. A Stream Runs Through It:hyper: . Anyway, when I get the gumption I plan to head out there with my camera & see what I can see birdwise or otherwise.:eek2: :epizza:

 

Thanks for the compliments on my posts. Its always good to hear they are appreciated. I know they get read by the views, but its nice to get some feedback. It was a good trip for everything we set out to do.

 

The n. dakota badlands were interesting for the color difference compared to the s. dakota badlands. There was much more yellows and there were several veins of coal (lignite) that has some stories attached to it. Such as the creation of Clinkers which are called Scoria in n. dakota. I found a few small snail shell fossils, and a broken mussle fossil without trying real hard (legal to take for personal use). I am going to post more on my cedars website and will link it via a birding post if your interested.

 

Try to get to the park soon. Many birds around here are introducing their fledglings to life right now. I saw my first baby Orioles in my yard today. And I had a Coopers hawk hunting my yard yesterday. Baby birds make sooo much noise as they first get out and flying, makes them easier to find.

 

Again, thanks for letting me know you liked my posts!

[Cedars]

These guys, Varied Thrush's, aren't as common a sight as the Stellar Jays around here/my yard; but man are they pretty too. Just a beautiful brightly colored bird! :epizza:

 

 

Another fine pic there Racoon! We saw a few Thrushes on our trip, but only briefly, and not good enough to get a positive ID. But they were not Varied Thrush for sure. One of those would have gotten a mention as a first sighting, if only we had seen one on the trip!

[Cedars]

The Whooping Crane reintroduction program in Wisconsin hits an important milestone:

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13571936/

 

One of my birding goals seems nearly reachable with this article. The goal, to see a born-in-the-wild Whooping Crane. This place, Necedah, is driving distance from my home. Maybe next summer I will venture this way.

[Cedars]

This summer I have finally had Rose breasted Grosbeaks return to my feeder. Their sightings have been infrequent until this last week when the male began attending to my sunflower seed feeder with frequency.

 

Something happened to these birds in my area. Three years ago they suddenly disapeared. I went from having several pair to none. A friend who lives 30 miles from me and feeds also noted the same thing the following year. She went from having what she described as a 'flock' of them to very few.

 

The male I have, and the one I saw at her house had surprisingly small red marking on their chest. Not the bright bib I am used to. This may be first year mating males and our old timers are gone.

 

It has been a puzzle as to what happened to our Grosbeaks.

 

Links:

 

http://www.birding.com/9519rbg.asp

 

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Rose-breasted_Grosbeak.html

[Tarantism]

Thats the kind we get here (ruby throated). Have you ever seen them going window to window looking for you when the feeders are empty? Or trying to teach their babies about windows? If you havent, watch for that behavior. Its pretty cool. Sometimes they wont stop even if your right in the window watching them and their babies.

hey that does sound cool! im going to have to keep an eye out for that.

 

i am kinda dissappointed at the lack of new birds i have seen. i have been thinking about going and LOOKING. hmm.

 

happy birding :hihi:

[Michaelangelica]

It is sad to see that the UN is now advocating 6-9 monthly spraying of all homes in malaria effected areas of Africa.

The stuff hardly breaks down (half life of 18 years); it spreads over the whole planet and birds are especially suseptable to it

 

http://news.mongabay.com/2006/0714-birds.html

DDT linked to smaller brains in birds

mongabay.com

July 14, 2006

For the first time researchers have found evidence that natural exposure to a contaminant damages the brain of a wild animal.

 

Scientists at the University of Alberta discovered that the regions in robins' brains responsible for singing and mating shrink when exposed to high levels of DDT.

[Turtle]

It is sad to see that the UN is now advocating 6-9 monthly spraying of all homes in malaria effected areas of Africa.

The stuff hardly breaks down (half life of 18 years); it spreads over the whole planet and birds are especially suseptable to it

 

http://news.mongabay.com/2006/0714-birds.html

 

I see several misleading aspects here.

First, as the article points out at the end, DDT has been out of use since the 1970's, so whatever they are spraying that you refer to is not DDT.

Second, the article title is a mistatement of the research inasmuch as it says "DDT linked to smaller brains..." which implies the entire brain is smaller, wheras the research cited refers to smaller "regions in robins' brains" which is a distinctively different case.

Fianlly, keep in mind too that the reason for the spraying is to preserve & protect humans' lives which we currently lose at the worldwide rate of about 1 million per year to malaria.

:moon:

[Tarantism]

im going to san lois obispo, CA tonight...ill keep a list of what i see and let you guys know. hopefully something interesting will show itself to me!

[Cedars]

As a final note on the trip I took, an honorable mention should go to the Jamestown N. Dakota area. While we couldnt take the time to explore there, along the freeway, many ponds, lakes and shallows were apparent and large numbers of birds were in these. I saw a group of around 150 shorebirds on one mudflat, white pelicans in any of the larger ponds/small lakes and lots of variety in ducks. I did not imagine that as we approached this area. My whole ideas on N. Dakota have been changed from this trip.

 

As far as this area, we just busted thru an incredible hot stretch coupled with a very dry period. My yard birds basically disapeared for the last few weeks. Now that we have had some rain they are begining to visit again. Many hummingbirds. My orioles have not returned. Some of the sparrows have returned and large numbers of mourning doves again.

 

One bird that is noticably absent this year is the catbird. My berries come in between the 4-10 of July and this year there were none of these berry pickers present. Another bird whos numbers have declined is the Blue Jay. It could be west nile virus, as the news last week indicated well over 100 wild birds have been confirmed to have died of this disease. This is a significantly higher number of confirmed West Nile deaths in wild birds than the same time last year.