Willet - eating

What a wonderful day I had yesterday celebrating International Migratory Bird Day. I started by meeting Dick from Ogden, Utah, at 5 a.m. to visit a sharp-tailed lek for viewing and picture taking. Dick is a gentleman with a lot of knowledge about photography and equipment made mine look sick. Northern Harriers, a Fish and Game truck and a visit by seven antelope kept the sharpies a little nervous and by 7:30 they left the lek.
When I got home a flock of Evening Grosbeaks and a Grackle had joined siskins, finch, robins, blackbirds,sparrows, crossbills and buntings. I had planned on being at Camas National Wildlife Refuge by 8:30, but the beautiful grobeaks and grackle delayed me. Both male and female Evening grosbeaks have already fascinated me. They are one of the most beautiful birds that visit my yard.
At Camas I met many of the Audubon group from Idaho Falls. We watched kestrels, Ruby-crowned kinglets, yellow-rumped warblers and Eastern Flycatchers. I decided to drive out through the refuge.
There were only a few shorebirds and waterfowl there. Willets were all scattered along the roads and ponds throughout the refuge. As I was about at the last marsh, I noticed a willet working the newly flooded marsh.
The willet would probe the soft earth with its strong bill eventually finding an earth worm. After the worm was extracted, the willet would grasp it in its bill and run to the nearest water, swish the worm, washing it and then gulping it down. I watched it for about 45 minutes as it gathered nine worms, washed and ate them. From time to time the willet would fly in a circle only to land closer to my truck. It was a great show.
On the way home I visited a Swainson's hawk nest and two Great-horned owl nests. One nest on the Refuge had six and the other had three owlets. Just small furry balls with two big eyes.
When I got home the Evening grosbeaks and grackle were still active and had been joined by a Western Kingbird and a Yellow-rumped warbler. What a great day.

Chasing the leucistic robin

Here is an article I wrote this week. This evening I spent about two hours in the yard where this robin and its mate have their nest. I got about 100 pictures of the male leucistic robin.

Leucistic Robin

“I have an albino robin in my yard,” a caller reported recently. “Are you interested in seeing it?”

Of course I was interested; I am a birder and am always looking for new things to see and write about.

Several days later I met the caller in the late evening.

“Maybe he has gone to bed for the night, but he was just here about 15 minutes ago.”

Almost before the words were out of the landowner’s mouth a red-breasted white bird flew into a nearby tree. Soon the bird was on the ground working the grass like all robins do. It was getting dark, almost too dark, but sneaking up behind a tree I was able to snap a couple of pictures.

Soon it was joined by a normal colored robin. The flirting between the two of them resembled many pairs of robins I had observed in the past.

“His mate,” said my guide. “He has come here for the last three years. Every year he becomes a little more whiter. Must be old age.”

With normal eye color and the breast mostly red, this robin is not an albino, but has a condition called leucism. This condition is caused when all skin pigment is missing in certain areas of the body. In albinism all the melanin is missing causing the eyes to be red from the blood vessels showing through from behind the eyes.

Leucism resulted in this robin when patches of skin lacked the ability of producing pigment. Pale bills and legs are also a sign of leucism.

I saw my first leucistic bird last year while staying at a monastery for retired Catholic nuns in northern Idaho at an educational conference.

While looking out my dorm window I saw a black and white Brewer’s blackbird feeding on the ground. I was able to get some pictures of it through the window and later of it while sitting on a fence as I went for a hike.

At dinner, I asked Sister Mary about it.

“Oh, it is just one of us,” she joked. “This is the fourth year it has come here and I am sure it is converting as it gets whiter each year.”

I have showed pictures of both birds to ornithologists and expert birders only to get varying comments. Some say the pigment in the skin cannot change while others say it can. But one thing is agreed upon; some of the feathers can appear “washed out” instead of pure white.

“It looks like most feathers on the robin are either white or normal, but at least one of the primaries looks washed out,” said Cliff , a recognized expert on bird who lives Idaho. “I think that along with the pale legs and bill makes it leucistic.”

Got an odd bird who regularly visits your yard? Contact me. It may take me a few days to get to your place, but I would love to learn from it and you.

Lazuli Buntings

What a beautiful sight this morning in my backyard as I saw two Lazuli Buntings joining the 30 American Goldfinch, White-winged and Red Crossbills, House finch, Red-winged blackbirds, a flicker, Black-headed grosbeaks, Pine siskins and robins. My feeders are taking a beating and all the birds are eating me out of house and home - but oh what a joy to watch them.
Hopefully Evening Grosbeaks and Cedar and Bohemian Waxwings will soon show up to start nesting.
The Pine siskins are feisty little devils often chasing even the larger Red Grosbeaks off the feeders. Yesterday evening I had a White-crowned sparrow in my backyard.
The strong winds the last three days has played havoc with trying to keep feed in the feeders. Fifty mph winds scatter everything everywhere. It is not fit for man or beast.
A friend of mine would like me to start writing about fishing and fish. I too want to do that, but with ice on most lakes still and rivers running muddy and high, that won't happen for a week or two. But in the meantime I will continue to write and photograph birds.
Have a great day.

Sharptails and wind

When I got out of bed this morning at 5 there were no clouds and no wind. By the time I got to the leks the clouds had rolled in and soon after the wind began to blow. I got a few good pictures with the aid of my flash, which does not spook the grouse. But I was really never able to get enough good light to get some good pictures until I had to leave. There were 14 males and three females on the lek.
I also had Meadowlarks, sparrows, curlews, Harriers, mallards, Canadas, Short-eared owls and ravens fly over. Seven antelope came by but kept their distance.
By the time I got home to get ready to go to school, the wind was howling. TV said we had gusts of 50 mph - too strong for man, beast, birds and insects. It blew all my bird feed out of the feeders on the ground and I had goldfinches, house finches, pine siskins and Red-winged blackbirds feeding on the ground.
Two interesting photos I got were of a Northern flicker hanging flat against a tree trunk and a fly hiding from the wind in the bottom of a tulip.
A fellow teacher and friend, reported seeing Redpolls, White-crowned sparrows, Ruby-crowned kinglets, White-winged and Red crossbills in his yard this morning. I have never seen kinglets in my yard, hopefully they will make the mile journey to my yard.
If you enjoy these pictures let me know.