Copyright ©2021 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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Wordless Weds. The Morning After
Friday’s Feathered Friends-Northern Harrier
Copyright ©2021 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Several weeks ago He-Man was up for exploring so I took him to some of my birding spots that he hasn’t been to yet. While driving into one area I spotted a Northern Harrier on the ground in an irrigation ditch and as soon as we parked I took off to try to get a photo of it. It remained still and let me take a series of images of it. I wondered if it had a meal in that pile of weeds/grass?
Afterwards I caught up with He-Man and while we were picking our way through a field avoiding the muddiest spots he spotted another one sitting in the field. WOOT!
Later on I spied her flying and on the lookout for a meal.
Look at this wing span! She’s ready to pounce! She came up empty and flew out of my range and view onto a new hunting ground no doubt across the pond.
Cool facts:
Male Northern Harriers can have up to 5 mates at once though most only have two. The males provides the food, and the females take care of incubating the eggs and brood the chicks.
Northern Harriers are the most owl like of the hawks, but they are not related to owls. They rely on their hearing and vision to find prey. They have a disk shaped face the looks and functions like an owls with stiff facial feathers that direct sound to their ears.
Juvenile males have pale greenish-yellow eyes, while juvenile females have dark chocolate brown eyes. The eye color of both sexes changes gradually to lemon yellow by adulthood. I didn’t know that!
They eat small mammals and small birds but have been known to take down ducks and rabbits.
The oldest known Northern Harrier on record was a Female at least 15 years, 4 months old when she was captured and released in 2001 by a bird bander in Quebec. She had been banded in New Jersey in 1986.
Cool facts gleaned from allaboutbirds.org
The Harriers were the most exciting sighting at this location soon we were on our way to find a meal ourselves then call it day and head home.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, keep safe and warm!
Fuji X-T3| Fuji 100-400mm| PS CC 22.2
more to come…
Friday’s Feathered Friends- Bald Eagle
Copyright ©2021 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
A few weeks ago while He-Man was riding his bike I was birding and while driving out in the ranches I spied two Adult Bald Eagles just hanging out next to each other on telephone poles. I hung around for quite awhile hoping they’d fly, but they were content to continue surveying the land so I moved on. Here’s the first one I saw.
Looking not much different is the second one. I think they’re a pair though they were pretty close in size so I’m not positive about that.
Fun Facts:
Bald Eagles have a reputation of being bandits. They will steal fish from Osprey’s talons in mid air!
The largest Bald Eagle nest on record is in St. Petersburg, FL, which was 2.9 meters in diameter, and 6.1 meters tall. (114.17 X 240.15 inches) HUGE!
Bald Eagles live a long time. The oldest recorded bird in the wild was at least 38 years old when it was hit by a car and killed in New York in 2015. It had been banded in 1977.
Fun facts gleaned from allaboutbirds.org
I hope you all have a wonderful week-end!
Fuji X-T3| Fuji 100-400mm| PS CC 22.2
more to come…
Friday’s Feathered Friends-Sage Thrasher
Copyright ©2021 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
My neighbor and I have begun taking our cameras on our walks because we’re seeing more and more of the Spring migrating birds passing though. Last week on a longer walk to another neighborhood we spotted this guy eating those Russian Olives. Don’t they look like pearls?
They are the smallest of the Thrashers and love the sagebrush of the western states. We’re on the western edge of its breeding territory. They mimic other birds while they sing. I didn’t hear this one singing though.
I was surprised to see this one up in tree! They usually are hanging around the sagebrush and will hide in it.
I hope you all have a great weekend, and if you’re watching the game I hope your team wins.
Fuji X-T3| Fuji 100-400mm| PS CC 22.1.1
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Friday’s Feathered Friends- Red, White, and Blue
Copyright ©2021 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
I told you I would show you the beautiful Vermilion Flycatcher that I went to see in Maxwell, CA a few week ago, and today is the day! He’s a year round resident of Mexico and South America. He does come north to So. Texas and So. California for breeding season, and has been seen in the states along the gulf coast states. How this one found his way up here in Central Calif. is a mystery, but it’s been returning for 5 winters now. He’s rare there.
Isn’t he pretty?
Fuji X-T3 w/ Fuji 100-400mm lens @400mm
Almost two weeks ago He-Man went up to Washoe Co. the next county over to go on a bike ride and I went with him not to ride, but to bird while he rode and guess who I saw? The White-headed Woodpecker! This is a male. I only saw this species for the first time last year so I still do a happy dance when I see one.
This one was so busy foraging he didn’t care about me too much. Once in awhile he did check me out.
Fuji X-T3| Fuji 100-400mm @400mm
Sunday two neighbors and I went for our walk and we decided to go further than the mailbox and go up the hill and come home the back way where we saw Mountain Bluebirds foraging in the Russian Olive trees. The Olives are like little nuts that they seem to really like.
I saw this species for the first time last Spring, but didn’t have my camera with me but, by the time I raced home on foot to get the camera and return to the spot I saw one it was gone. I am so glad I had a camera with me on Sunday! Mountain Bluebird Male–
It’s been a good birdy couple of weeks that has been waylaid by weather. We’ve had snow! I won’t be out birding for a few days.
I hope you all have a lovely weekend, stay healthy, and safe.
more to come…
Thurs. Doors-The Brown Building
Copyright ©2021 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Last week while birding we made a stop in Maxwell, CA. to try to find a rare bird that has been making his home in Maxwell for nearly 5 winters now. I shared that beautiful bird the Vermillion Flycatcher in this post back in 2016.
We found him again and I will be sharing his picture in a future post, but since this is a post about doors let’s get to the door. On the way out of town I stopped to make an image of this door and building. I loved the turquoise door, and the Mission yet maybe art deco style of the building.
I got a bonus door in the back right with that garage door too. 😀
I began searching for any information about the building online, but I came up empty so I reached out to the Colusa County Chamber of Commerce to see if they knew anything about the building GB-Brown or Brown the person. They kindly forwarded my email to John Morton a Colusa County Historical Researcher. He got back to me really quick and asked for a photo of the building which I sent him. It wasn’t long before he replied with this information about the building,
“The building was built in 1910 and used very little as a horse stable before being converted to a car garage owned by George Blench Brown, B – August 6, 1869 Missouri & D – August 18, 1941 in Colusa County, Ca. He is buried in the Maxwell Cemetery. The Maxwell Fire Department named their station for Marion James Brown, late Fire Chief for the station for many years. He is also the son of George B. Brown.
I don’t know the current owner of the building, you will have to go to the Assessor’s Office, give them the address and they will help you. Your right, it’s not a Historical Building. There are three plaques on three different buildings in Maxwell. Maxwell is a town, no city council, no police dept, patrolled by the county sheriff. In fact, the founder of the town, George Maxwell is buried in the Colusa Community Cemetery, so when he passed away, there was no cemetery in Maxwell.
That’s all the information I have on the building.“~ John Morton
I have shared other doors in Maxwell, here , this cute cottage door, this nice blue door. I thought there was one more…I guess it’s in my archive marinating still. But, in addition to the great information about the building, John gave me three historical landmarks to seek out for more doors in Maxwell! Thank you so much, John Morton!
Thursday Doors is the creation of Norm 2.0. However, it is now hosted at Dan Antion’s blog No Facilities. Click here to get to his blog to see many other doors from all over the world that other door lovers have shared this week.
iPhone 7Plus| PS CC 22.1.0
more to come…
Friday’s Feathered Friends-Great Horned Owl
Copyright ©2021 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Saturday I met some friends at a National Wildlife Refuge for some birding. One of those friends was Gordon. Some of you know him from his blog
https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/84102527/posts/3117603841
We adhered to the the Corona Virus Covid-19 guidelines by each driving their own car, and when out of the car we wore our masks and stood well apart. I can’t tell you how great it was to see friends I’d not seen in quite awhile. We had great birdy day with great weather for it too.
Upon my arrival while walking to the duck pond I crossed paths with another birder whom I didn’t know, but I ask him if he’d been seeing good birds and he replied while pointing that there was a Great Horned Owl just down there, and told me where to look. When I got to the pond I shared this info with my friends and we all headed up the trail to find the tree. While the Owl wasn’t in the tree he or she wasn’t too far away and we got some great looks, and images of it.
Here it is in its nest. Just a split in the tree.
Fun facts about the Great Horned Owl- From All About Birds.
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Horned_Owl/
- Great Horned Owls are fierce predators that can take large prey, including raptors such as Ospreys, Peregrine Falcons, Prairie Falcons, and other owls. They also eat much smaller items such as rodents, frogs, and scorpions.
- When clenched, a Great Horned Owl’s strong talons require a force of 28 pounds to open. The owls use this deadly grip to sever the spine of large prey.
- If you hear an agitated group of cawing American Crows, they may be mobbing a Great Horned Owl. Crows may gather from near and far and harass the owl for hours. The crows have good reason, because the Great Horned Owl is their most dangerous predator.
- Even though the female Great Horned Owl is larger than her mate, the male has a larger voice box and a deeper voice. Pairs often call together, with audible differences in pitch.
- Great Horned Owls are covered in extremely soft feathers that insulate them against the cold winter weather and help them fly very quietly in pursuit of prey. Their short, wide wings allow them to maneuver among the trees of the forest.
- Great Horned Owls have large eyes, pupils that open widely in the dark, and retinas containing many rod cells for excellent night vision. Their eyes don’t move in their sockets, but they can swivel their heads more than 180 degrees to look in any direction. They also have sensitive hearing, thanks in part to facial disc feathers that direct sound waves to their ears.
- The oldest Great Horned Owl on record was at least 28 years old when it was found in Ohio in 2005.
Late in the afternoon we returned to this refuge and went to look for the Owl again. It wasn’t in the nest, but perched on top of branch.
The Great Horned Owl is one of the most common owls in North America. It lives in deserts, wetlands, forests, grasslands, backyards, cities, and just about any other semi-open habitat between the Artic and the tropics. We were really excited and happy to see this one.
OT- My 11th Blogaverisary on WP was Wednesday I’d like to thank everyone who has followed me, left comments, for the conversations, lessons learned, and the friendships I’ve made with quite a few of you over the years. Thank you!🥰
Fuji X-T3| Fuji 100-400mm XF WR OIS lens| PS CC 22.1.0
more to come…
