Last spring, I saw this ear-full of waxwings in my yard. A group of Cedar Waxwings, Bombycilla cedrorum, is referred to as an ‘ear-full’ or a ‘museum’. Yes, there are some very strange names for groups of animals.
Why are they called ear-fulls? It may be because of their constant high-pitched calls and trills. I often hear them way before I see them.
When I visited Ireland with my daughter, one of our favorite things was a falconry experience in Dingle, County Kerry. The guides at the Dingle Falconry Experience tell you a bit about each bird they fly. You also get a chance to have the birds perch on your gloved hand.
Owls at Dingle Falconry Experience
One of the most impressive birds we saw was an Eurasian Eagle Owl, Bubo bubo.
I mentioned it in one of my previous posts. It is so heavy, the guide helps support your arm when it perches on you.
Our guide flew it from one post to another. See it in action in this video.
The bird with the most beautiful plumage was a Western Barn Owl, Tyto alba.
I took this photo of its back to get the details of its feathers. Note, I wasn’t really paying attention to the alignment of the background. 😀
The birds fly from person to person as you stand in a large circle. Here’s the Barn Owl flying around our group.
A stunning hawk
The Harris’s Hawk, Parabuteo unicinctus, had a powerful presence. Here it is up close.
Here’s the bird perching before it flies to the next participant.
A falcon in flight
When we were there, the guide used a lure with a piece of prey attached to exercise a falcon. Here’s a video of the bird in flight.
The Peregrine Falcon, Falco pergrinus, was gorgeous in flight and on the ground.
Here’s the bird eating a snack with the guide.
If you’re looking for an up-close and personal encounter with birds of prey, check out the Dingle Falconry Experience. It was educational and fun!
Last April, we had an unexpected Speed Racer show up in our yard.
We could see that the pigeon had a yellow band on one leg and a blue one on the other.
We also noticed how tame the bird was. It walked right up to us without any fear.
I called the local animal rescue organization, and they said they don’t deal with pigeons, aka Rock Pigeons, Columba livia. They referred me to the local Central Oregon Racing Pigeon Club. When I sent them photos, they determined it belonged to one of their members.
They instructed me to keep it in a safe place until they could drive to our house to pick it up. The guy asked, more than once, if it was able to escape since they’d had other calls where the bird got away before they arrived. I reassured him that the bird could not escape.
Racing Pigeons
After he picked up the Speed Racer pigeon, I did a little research on racing pigeons. According to the America Racing Pigeon Union, there are more than 700 affiliated clubs around the country. They recommend this hobby to people who enjoy working with animals and appreciate their athleticism. The races their members participate in range from 100 to 600 miles in distance.
Pigeon racing is popular throughout the world. These birds were domesticated thousands of years ago, and the sport of pigeon racing began in the 19th century. Participants in this sport take it very seriously and are willing to pay high prices for the birds. The highest price paid was 1.9 million dollars. The higher priced birds often originate from Belgium.
Because of their high value, racing pigeons are often stolen. One well-known breeder in Belgium, Frans Bungeneers, had 60 birds stolen from his property in 2017. Some of these heists read like a fictional thriller. Today’s breeders rely on cameras, sensors, and alarms to protect their Speed Racer birds.
I’ve always liked watching Cliff Swallows in action. Cliff Swallows, Petrochelidon pyrrhonota, live in colonies located in building eaves, bridges, dams, culverts, trees, cliffs, and caves. Their colonies often contain 200-1,000 nests.
Both sexes build nests by collecting mud pellets in their bills and then molding them in place. The gourd-shaped nests they create contain 900-1,200 of these pellets.
Mud is gathered along streambanks, lakesides, and puddles.
The Schoolhouse Lake Wildlife Viewing station, shown below, is located at Summer Lake Wildlife Area in Oregon. It doesn’t contain hundreds of nests, but it’s a great place to view Cliff Swallow nests up close.
Here’s a short video of Cliff Swallows in action flying around their nests on this building. Swallows in flight are mesmerizing and full of grace.
Cliff Swallows live in parts of North America, Central America, and South America. They are widespread with relatively stable populations.
Last spring, I saw this group of White Pelicans involved in cooperative foraging near Island Park, Idaho. All About Birds describes their feeding behavior as follows:
They forage by swimming on the surface, dipping their bills to scoop up fish, then raising their bills to drain water and swallow their prey. They also forage cooperatively: groups of birds dip their bills and flap their wings to drive fish toward shore, corraling prey for highly efficient, synchronized, bill-dipping feasts.
Do you know what a group of pelicans are called? They are called a squadron, pod, pouch, or scoop of pelicans.
At Summer Lake Wildlife Area, in southeastern Oregon, you can get some great views of gulls, terns, and cormorants. At the north end of the Wildlife Area, you’ll drive by a rocky island covered with birds in the spring and summer months.
In this picture you can see California Gulls, Larus californicus, and Common Terns, Sterna hirundo.
In the picture below, you can see California Gulls and Double-crested Cormorants, Nannopterum auritum.
Luckily, this bird colony is a few hundred yards from the main road you drive on. I have helped band birds in seabird colonies before and they are one of the stinkiest places I have ever been. Phew!
You might associate gulls, terns, and cormorants with seaside habitats. However, Summer Lake is a five plus hour drive to the coast. These types of birds also live near large inland bodies of water.
Birds of the Week
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When I went on my weekly walk along the Deschutes River in Bend, Oregon a couple of weeks ago, I saw a chilly heron standing by the shore.
This Great Blue Heron seemed frozen in place in the icy waters. As dawn broke, the clouds over the river and snow on the ground nicely framed the scene. You can see the Hayden Homes Amphitheater in the background, waiting patiently to host concerts and other events.
The temperature recently dropped to -7.4 degrees Fahrenheit at our house. Brrr! Hope the heron and other wild creatures are finding ways to keep warm.
Last June, while visiting the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park, I watched this Sandhill Crane family stroll across a meadow in rapt silence. I took these pictures through my spotting scope with my phone.
We saw another Sandhill Crane family at this exact same spot three years ago. It’s right next to a pond. According to All About Birds, “Breeders gravitate toward the edges between wetland and upland habitats.” Yup, a perfect description of this site.
Sandhills perform elaborate courting dances and mate for life. Dances include bowing, jumping, and spreading the wings.
They nest in or near wetlands and construct their nests from nearby vegetation such as cattails. Sandhill Cranes lay 1-3 eggs in their nests. Their young are called “colts” and they stay with their parents until they are 9-10 months old.
When you see a Turkey Vulture up close and far away, you’ll have much different opinions of them.
Up close, you may not think of them as exactly beautiful. However, their bald face is more likely to stay clean after eating dead animals. Their scientific name, Cathartesaura, means ‘golden purifier’ or ‘purifying breeze.’
You will also see their dark brown feather’s iridescent color if you observe them up close.
From a little farther away, their distinctive profile stands out. The lack of feathers on their head makes it look smaller. When they’re flying, this is even more obvious.
You often see more than one Turkey Vulture at a time since they’re attracted to prey by smell. Compared to other birds, the part of their brain responsible for detecting smells, is much larger.
This bird that’s considered to be ugly up close, is incredibly graceful in flight. They glide on their six-foot wingspan in a distinctive teeter totter flight pattern. I often have the pleasure of seeing Turkey Vultures drifting by in the skies right outside my window.
I saw these three Long-eared Owlets at the Summer Lake Wildlife Area in southeastern Oregon last May. They were perched within a thick stand of willow trees.
There were rumors of these owls being in the area and I wanted to get a quick glimpse of them. I was lucky to spot these secretive, well-camouflaged birds. Older Long-eared owlets like these are referred to as “branchers” since they often perch on tree branches near their nests.
Here’s a picture I took of a pair of puffins at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. This photo shows them in breeding and nonbreeding plumage.
This bird lives most of its life at sea, but they nest in burrows that can be more than 5 feet deep. A pair of puffins will feed their young tiny fish, which they line up crosswise in their bills. Sometimes they will carry as many as 20 fish at a time to their nests.
