January 2024 – Circadianreflections Blog

Friday’s Feathered Friends-Golden-crowned Sparrow

January 26, 2024January 24, 2024Posted in Birding in Nevada, Friday's Feathered Friends, Nikon, PhotographyTagged Birding, Birds in the Wild, Golden Crown Sparrow, Gray cloudy Day, High ISO, Male Birds, Nature, Nikon, Sparrows, Willow49 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

I last shared this Sparrow in 2015. I don’t see many of them and I only see them during the Winter migration hanging out with the White-crowned Sparrows, but sadly, never at my feeder. Last week I saw this one.

He was pretty skittish. Every time I tried getting closer he flew further away so these are pretty well cropped.

Fun Facts:

- This sparrow is one of the least known of our songbirds, particularly on its northern breeding grounds. It has been the subject of only a few laboratory and field studies, so most of what we know about it comes from scattered notes in scientific journals.
- Miners in the Yukon at the turn of the twentieth century woefully referred to the Golden-crowned Sparrow as the “no gold here” bird, because its song resembled that depressing phrase. They also interpreted its song to say “I’m so tired,” prompting them to dub the bird “Weary Willie.”
- The Golden-crowned Sparrow arrives earlier and stays longer on its California wintering grounds than almost any other bird species.
- When day length increases in the spring, the Golden-crowned Sparrow detects the change through photoreceptors (light-sensitive cells). Its body responds by putting on fat and getting an urge to migrate.
- The oldest Golden-crowned Sparrow on record was at least 10 years, 6 months old. It was caught by a bird bander in California in 1970 and released.

Fun facts gleaned from allaboutbirds.org

I hope you all have a great week-end!

Nikon D810| Nikkor 500mm PF-e| PS CC 25.3.1

more to come…

Thursday Doors-Bodie Bank Vault

January 25, 2024January 25, 2024Posted in Photography41 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

This door has been marinating in my archives for nearly 2 years. I think its ready to finally be shared.

This bank vault door is located in Bodie State Historic Park in Mono, County California.

A little history for the History Buffs- The plaque reads:

James Stuart Cain

Pioneer banker and mining man born in 1854 and moved to Carson City, Nevada in 1875. Shortly thereafter he and Martha D. Wells of nearby Genoa, NV married and moved to Bodie, CA where he engaged in lumber, freighting, banking and mining operations. At one time he owned Mono County’s only bank. In 1938 Mr. Cain passed away at 84 years of age. Through his faith, and efforts Bodie remains today.

Dedicated September 12, 1964

From the site map/brochure:

“The Bodie Reputation

Stories of the quality and amount of gold being mined by the Standard Mining Company sparked a rush of people, and Bodie became a boomtown in 1877. By 1879 Bodie had a population of approximately 8,500 people and more than 2,000 buildings.

General stores and saloons supplied the needs of the miners. More than 60 saloons and dance halls lined the streets providing a source of relaxation and entertainment for the miners after a hard day’s work in the the depths of the mines.

Gunfights, stage holdups, robberies, and street fights contributed to its reputation of lawlessness and the legend of the “Bad Man of Bodie” is a composite of outlaws and men like Tom Adams, and Washoe Pete, who contributed to the wild atmosphere of Bodie.” California State Parks

“Bodie- a town so lawless that in 1881 it was described as,”…a sea of sin, lashed by the tempests of lust and passion.” Quoted by Reverend F.M. Warrington” California State Parks 2005 Brochure/Map

It’s a Ghost town today which is in a state of “arrested decay”. If you’re ever in Mono County, California it’s a neat place to visit.

This post is part of Thursday Doors a weekly challenge group.

You can find doors from around the world shared over on Dan Antion’s No Facilities site here.

more to come…

Something for Sat. Ruby Crowned-Kinglet

January 20, 2024January 24, 2024Posted in Birding in Nevada, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, PhotographyTagged Nevada, Nikon, Photography, pine tree, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Washoe County45 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

I don’t want the week to go by without a post so here we have me posting on a rare Saturday.

This little Kinglet is so cute, but very flitty normally but, on this day earlier this month I was able to get quite a few good looks at this one.

They’re a small bird being only 3.5-4.3 inches in length, and weigh 0.2-0.3 ounces.

They get their name from a Ruby spot on their crown.

I have yet to see it flared, but here’s a look at the top of its head showing the Ruby spot.

This one is busy being an acrobat which afforded me a good look at its Ruby Spot which was a treat. Just look at how light they are it’s holding onto those pine needles and they aren’t bending!

Fun Facts:

The Ruby-crowned Kinglet is a tiny bird that lays a very large clutch of eggs—there can be up to 12 in a single nest. Although the eggs themselves weigh only about a fiftieth of an ounce, an entire clutch can weigh as much as the female herself.
Ruby-crowned Kinglets seem nervous as they flit through the foliage, flicking their wings nearly constantly. Keeping an eye out for this habit can be a useful aid to identifying kinglets.
Metabolic studies on Ruby-crowned Kinglets suggest that these tiny birds use only about 10 calories (technically, kilocalories) per day.
The oldest known Ruby-crowned Kinglet was a female, and at least 8 years, 8 months old, when she was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in Texas in 2017. She was banded in the same state in 2008.

Fun facts gleaned from allaboutbirds.orghttps://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ruby-crowned_Kinglet/overview

I hope you all have a great week-end!

Nikon D810| Nikkor 500mm PF-e| PS CC 25.3.1

more to come…

Whatever Weds. Occultation of Antares

January 10, 2024January 9, 2024Posted in Occultation, Photography, Stars, Stars and PlanetsTagged Antares, Dawn, landscape, Moon, Morning, Nikon, occultations, Pinenut Mountains, Snow, Stars, Venus68 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

January 8th just at dawn I photographed my first celestial event of the year. The Occultation of the crescent moon and Antares the brightest star in the constellation of Scorpius.

The tiny dot of light on the Earthshine side of the crescent moon is Antares right before it slipped behind the Moon. Venus the morning star shines brightly above and to the left of the Moon.

I give you three views, one with my star filter on my lens, one with my ultra wide angle lens, and one deeply cropped to show Antares slipping behind the Moon.

*20mm view of the Crescent Moon, Venus, and Antares.*

Crescent Moon, Antares, Venus dawn January 8, 2024

Venus above and left of the Crescent Moon, Antares a tiny dot of light on the Earthshine side of the Crescent Moon just before it disappeared behind the Moon.

I was in a bit of a rush putting on my star filter so it went on askew so some of the star lines aren’t clean, and worse it’s now stuck. It’s on too tight for me to unscrew it, and I broke my filter wrench some time ago removing a ND (neutral density) filter, and failed to replace it. DOH! I have ordered a new one…and not a plastic one this time. It should arrive today.

We had our first big snow drop that stuck on Sat/Sun. It required shoveling. My neighbor bought a new cordless snow-blower and did our driveway twice! I just shoveled the clean up and the road below our driveway. She’s a jewel! She said it took just 12 minutes to do the driveway. We’ve made a deal. She’ll do the snow-blower and I do the clean up shoveling on 3 driveways and sidewalks. I told her I’d spring for the Hot Cocoa with marshmallows!

We have another big storm coming this weekend which is going to mess up my plans to meet friends, and do some birding at one of our favorite California refuges. It’s going to snow here, and in the mountains I’d need to cross, and it’s got rain on the forecast for there. It’s always a risk in the winter though isn’t it. Looks like I’ll be cancelling my plans.

Hopefully, we can meetup in February.

That’s me all caught up. How’s it going for you? Were any of you up and notice the tiny reddish star right beside the moon Monday morning?

Nikon D810| Nikkor 24-120mm & Nikkor 20mmG| PS CC 25.3.1

more to come…

Whatever Weds. American Kestrel

January 3, 2024January 2, 2024Posted in birding, Birding in Nevada, Birds of Prey, Photography, Whatever WednesdayTagged American Kestrel, Birds in the Wild, Blue Skies, Cottonwood tree, Female Birds, Nature, Nevada, Nikon, Washoe Co, Whatever Wednesday49 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

This is a Kestrel I saw in December. I’ll show her from the two sides I got to observe her from. It’s a treat to actually get two side views of a bird.

When I first spotted her high in a Cottonwood tree-

They’re one of the smallest birds of prey, but so cute.

Here she is from the other side, with her chest showing.

Fun Facts:

- Sports fans in some cities get an extra show during night games: kestrels perching on light standards or foul poles, tracking moths and other insects in the powerful stadium light beams and catching these snacks on the wing. Some of their hunting flights have even made it onto TV sports coverage.
- When nature calls, nestling kestrels back up, raise their tails, and squirt feces onto the walls of the nest cavity. The feces dry on the cavity walls and stay off the nestlings. The nest gets to be a smelly place, with feces on the walls and uneaten parts of small animals on the floor.
- It can be tough being one of the smallest birds of prey. Despite their fierce lifestyle, American Kestrels end up as prey for larger birds such as Northern Goshawks, Red-tailed Hawks, Barn Owls, American Crows, and Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s Hawks, as well as rat snakes, corn snakes, and even fire ants.
- In winter in many southern parts of the range, female and male American Kestrels use different habitats. Females use the typical open habitat, and males use areas with more trees. This situation appears to be the result of the females migrating south first and establishing winter territories, leaving males to the more wooded areas.
- Unlike humans, birds can see ultraviolet light. This enables kestrels to make out the trails of urine that voles, a common prey mammal, leave as they run along the ground. Like neon diner signs, these bright paths may highlight the way to a meal—as has been observed in the Eurasian Kestrel, a close relative.
- Kestrels hide surplus kills in grass clumps, tree roots, bushes, fence posts, tree limbs, and cavities, to save the food for lean times or to hide it from thieves.
- The oldest American Kestrel was a male and at least 14 years, 8 months old when he was found in Utah in 2001. He was banded in the same state in 1987.

“Like neon diner signs”! 😂 I loved that description.

Fun facts gleaned from allaboutbirds.org

Happy New Year to all my blogging friends, and visitors!

Nikon D810| Nikkor 500mm| PS CC 25.3.1

more to come…

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