Whatbird.com

lyceel:

Curlybird:

I kept telling them to move in closer but they wouldn't listen! 

Don't you hate that?  I tried to get a little closer to these three while I told them, "It's OK, don't fly off."  Did they listen?  Of course not.

On the subject.  Why is it that the biggest water birds are the most skittish?  I've never seen two birds more nervous than the Great Blue Heron and the Great Egret (unless you've got a fish with you, of course).

Actually, sometimes they aren't.  There is a Great Blue Heron over at a wildlife sanctuary I go to, and it is frequently seen walking around from one pond to another, looking for food.  It will usually let you get pretty close before it WALKS away, rather than flying away.  I believe it's still a juvenile, though.  This is the same GB Heron that is eating that big fish that I posted under "lunch". 

Another funny story:  At this place I took the above photo, there are trees surrounding the water, and I was "pshhing" to get some songbirds to come out of hiding, and you should have seen the Great Egret when I did this - he just stood like a statue in the water and stared at me like I had 2 heads!  I stopped doing it after that because I didn't want to upset him.

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Life List: 165
New this year-to-date: 14
Latest: Barn Owl

I couldn't believe this combo when I looked at the photo!  I'm calling it the "Waterbird Small Straight":

the Four of Great Egrets

the Three of Snowy Egrets

the Two of White Ibis, and ...

the Ace of Cattle Egrets!

Nice hand, lyceel!! The only thing that could beat it would be five of a kind!!

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We did not inherit Mother Earth from our ancestors...... we have borrowed Her from our descendants.
Chief Seattle (paraphrased)

Nice find, Lyceel!  You can't beat that with a stick! 

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Life List: 165
New this year-to-date: 14
Latest: Barn Owl

Here's an interesting combo:

Black-Necked Stilts; American Avocets; Willets; Northern Shovelers, Green-winged Teals, Long-Billed Dowitchers; Western Sandpipers; Least Sandpipers; Mallards & Hybrids; Cinnamon Teal, and one Pectoral Sandpiper!!

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Life List: 165
New this year-to-date: 14
Latest: Barn Owl

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"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."
Immanuel Kant

A Black-crowned Night-Heron and a Neotropic Cormorant. 

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Latest Birds: Sage Thrasher, Ferruginous Hawk, Common Goldeneye

After spending the afternoon looking for a black-tailed gull, that didn't show up, I found a black turnstone wandering around on the log boom.  What I didn't know was that it had a friend.  The sun was shinning in my eyes and I could't see anything.  So I snapped a few pictures and kept my fingeres crossed.  Only to find the turnstone was't alone.  I must add that  I have no idea what the little guy on the right is - probably a western sandpiper?  I was just trying not to take a picture of the dead harbor seal that was a couple of feet away (probably got hit by a boat).

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New for 2010: horned lark, prairie falcon, red-necked grebe, bewick's wren, snow bunting

i think the one on the right is a spotted sandpiper in basic plumage.

Curlybird:

Here's an interesting combo:

Black-Necked Stilts; American Avocets; Willets; Northern Shovelers, Green-winged Teals, Long-Billed Dowitchers; Western Sandpipers; Least Sandpipers; Mallards & Hybrids; Cinnamon Teal, and one Pectoral Sandpiper!!

 

"... and a Killdeer on a dead tree!"

Great photo!  

I visited Pelican Island NWR for the first time today.  Pelican Island was the first National Wildlife Refuge, created by Theodore Roosevelt's Executive Order way back in 1903.  For some reason, though, I was the only human visitor at the time, which was kind of nice, actually.

Anyway, I'll give you two guesses why they call it Pelican Island.  Look at the photo for clues  

We should thank Teddy for protecting nature way back then.  You wonder how many people wached birds then or how popular it was to protect a piece of land the way they did. I highly doubt that we could visit a NWR here and feel alone - it would be kinda nice!

Now the name - did someone find an pelican there once!

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New for 2010: horned lark, prairie falcon, red-necked grebe, bewick's wren, snow bunting

lyceel:

Curlybird:

Here's an interesting combo:

Black-Necked Stilts; American Avocets; Willets; Northern Shovelers, Green-winged Teals, Long-Billed Dowitchers; Western Sandpipers; Least Sandpipers; Mallards & Hybrids; Cinnamon Teal, and one Pectoral Sandpiper!!

 

"... and a Killdeer on a dead tree!"

Great photo!  

Thanks - LOL!  That's hilarious!  I forgot about the Killdeer! 

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Life List: 165
New this year-to-date: 14
Latest: Barn Owl

Seattle:

We should thank Teddy for protecting nature way back then.  You wonder how many people wached birds then or how popular it was to protect a piece of land the way they did. I highly doubt that we could visit a NWR here and feel alone - it would be kinda nice!

The history of PINWR was pretty interesting to read.  There were a lot of feather hunters in the early 20th century, and Pelican Island was already a well-known bird rookery, not just for pelicans, but also most of the Florida waterbirds (including the Great Egret, which was nearly hunted to extinction for its beautiful plumage).  Around that time, a man known as Paul Kroegel took to defending the birds on Pelican Island.  There were no laws protecting them at this time, so he did what he could with his sailboat and 10-gauge shotgun.  His efforts got him named game warden for the American Ornithologists Union.  He began lobbying for birds, supported by the Union and the Audubon Society.  Ultimately, the efforts of Kroegel and his supporters found its way to President Roosevelt, who signed the Executive Order creating Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge on March 14, 1903.  Kroegel was named Refuge Warden at a salary of $1 a month.

Here's a photo of Kroegel with one of his new charges (from the Pelican Island Friends web site):

 

Speaking of Teddy Roosevelt, I found one his quotes quite fitting:

"Wild beasts and birds are by right not the property merely of the people who are alive today,
but the property of unknown generations, whose belongings we have no right to squander."
-- Theodore Roosevelt

This one was pretty good too, 

"One winter morning the President electrified his nervous Cabinet by
bursting into a meeting with, 'Gentlemen, do you know what has happened this morning?'
They waited with bated breath as he announced,
'Just now I saw a Chestnut-sided Warbler and this is only February.' "
-- Corine Roosevelt Robinson (on her brother Theodore Roosevelt)

 

 

Seattle:

Now the name - did someone find an pelican there once!

Oh, I guess I gave it away, didn't I?  Sorry about that!  I would have accepted "Brown Pelicans nest there" or "White Pelicans nest there"  

lyceel:

I visited Pelican Island NWR for the first time today.  Pelican Island was the first National Wildlife Refuge, created by Theodore Roosevelt's Executive Order way back in 1903.  For some reason, though, I was the only human visitor at the time, which was kind of nice, actually.

Anyway, I'll give you two guesses why they call it Pelican Island.  Look at the photo for clues  

Lyceel, I have visited Pelican Island a few times this summer, and we were always the only ones there. It is a neat place, and I am sure (*sigh) the tourists will find it in season. (Not that I don't want people to go, just wish everyone had wildlife viewing in mind...)