Nature – Circadianreflections Blog

Friday’s Feathered Friends-Cooper’s Hawk

January 9, 2026January 8, 2026Posted in Backyard Birding, Friday's Feathered Friends, Hawks, PhotographyTagged Birding, Birds in the Wild, Cooper's Hawk, Nature, Nevada, Nikon, Perched on a Fence50 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

January 2nd a Cooper’s Hawk came to look for breakfast at my neighbor’s house. I quietly opened the back door and grabbed what are the first Hawk images of 2026. Here’s one.

I’m taking that as a sign that it’s going to be a good year of birding.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//:circadianreflections.com
Cooper’s Hawk

This winter has started off a bit bumpy on the home-front. Our heater went out just after Christmas on a Sunday. Fortunately, we were able to have our preferred heating and air company come out that afternoon and fix it.

Then I discovered we have a leak in the garage. We had a roofer out and they found several broken tiles. Errant golf balls no doubt. Our house gets hit a lot. I wish they…the golfers would learn to hit toward their other right!

The roofers sealed up the cracks and we’re scheduled to have the tiles replaced at the end of the month. I welcome the rain and snow, but not the leaky roof.

We’ve had several storms so I haven’t been out birding, but today the weather looks cold, but sunny so I’ll be birding with the group this morning. I’ll be late getting to your blogs and comments.

Fun Facts:

Dashing through vegetation to catch birds is a dangerous lifestyle. In a study of more than 300 Cooper’s Hawk skeletons, 23 percent showed old, healed-over fractures in the bones of the chest, especially of the furcula, or wishbone.
A Cooper’s Hawk captures a bird with its feet and kills it by repeated squeezing. Falcons tend to kill their prey by biting it, but Cooper’s Hawks hold their catch away from the body until it dies. They’ve even been known to drown their prey, holding a bird underwater until it stopped moving.
Once thought averse to towns and cities, Cooper’s Hawks are now fairly common urban and suburban birds. Some studies show their numbers are actually higher in towns than in their natural habitat, forests. Cities provide plenty of Rock Pigeon and Mourning Dove prey. Though one study in Arizona found a downside to the high-dove diet: Cooper’s Hawk nestlings suffered from a parasitic disease they acquired from eating dove meat.
Life is tricky for male Cooper’s Hawks. As in most hawks, males are significantly smaller than their mates. The danger is that female Cooper’s Hawks specialize in eating medium-sized birds. Males tend to be submissive to females and to listen out for reassuring call notes the females make when they’re willing to be approached. Males build the nest, then provide nearly all the food to females and young over the next 90 days before the young fledge.
The oldest recorded Cooper’s Hawk was a male and at least 20 years, 4 months old. He was banded in California in 1986, and found in Washington in 2006.

I wish you all a great week-end!

more to come…

Friday’s Feathered Friends-Virginia Rail

October 31, 2025October 30, 2025Posted in Birding in Nevada, Friday's Feathered FriendsTagged Birding, Lake, Nature, Nevada, Reeds, Reflections, Virginia Rail, Washoe County35 Comments

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This is a bird I don’t think I’ve shared often as they’re very elusive and shy.

Last month while birding up in Washoe County we were thrilled to see this one come out of the reeds to forage in the shallow end of the lake. This one is a juvenile which is why it was foraging in the open for sometime. There was another one behind in the reeds tut-tutting…probably an adult.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//:circadianreflections.com
Virginia Rail

Fun Facts:

A secretive bird of freshwater marshes, the Virginia Rail often remains hidden in dense vegetation, but its loud grunting may give away its presence. As it slowly pokes its way through the marsh, you might get a glimpse of its reddish bill, black-and-white barred sides, and its twitching tail, showing off white tail feathers beneath. It possesses many adaptations for moving through its nearly impenetrable habitat, including a laterally compressed body, long toes, and flexible vertebrae.

The forehead feathers of Virginia Rails are adapted to withstand wear and tear that results from pushing through dense and often sharp marsh vegetation.
The Virginia Rail is more adept at walking on soft mud than swimming, but it occasionally swims across wetlands and even dives underwater, propelling itself with its wings.
As a group, rails have the highest ratio of leg muscles to flight muscles of any bird, which may explain their propensity to walk rather than fly.
The Virginia Rail builds numerous “dummy nests” in addition to the one where eggs are actually laid.

Fun Facts gleaned from https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Virginia_Rail/overview

I’m birding this morning so will be late to your blogs and comments. I hope you all have a Happy Halloween, and great week-end.

more to come…

Friday’s Feathered Friends- Rufous Hummingbird

August 15, 2025August 11, 2025Posted in Backyard Birding, Birding in Nevada, Friday's Feathered Friends, PhotographyTagged Friday's Feathered Friends, Nature, Nevada, Nikon, Photography, Rufous Humming Bird, Summer Birds47 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

A few weeks ago a pair of Rufous Hummingbirds returned to my backyard feeder. They’ve been chasing off the Black-chinned and having skirmishes all day everyday since their return.

I’m beginning to think I need to add another Shepard’s hook and feeder so the territorial squabbling gets better.

Here’s what I think is a female perched on top of the hook claiming possession. She lands here on and off all day long letting the other Hummingbirds know this is her feeder. You can see a little bit of her Gorget on her throat.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//:circadianreflections.com Image

Here she is just after chasing off two other Hummingbirds. I love her tail!

I could be wrong about her sex as it could also be an immature female/ male. If you know which it is please let me know.

Fun Facts:

The Rufous Hummingbird is a common visitor to hummingbird feeders. It is extremely territorial at all times of year, attacking any visiting hummingbird, including much larger species. They’ve been seen chasing chipmunks away from their nests.
The Rufous Hummingbird makes one of the longest migratory journeys of any bird in the world, as measured by body size. At just over 3 inches long, its roughly 3,900-mile movement (one-way) from Alaska to Mexico is equivalent to 78,470,000 body lengths. In comparison, the 13-inch-long Arctic Tern’s one-way flight of about 11,185 mi is only 51,430,000 body lengths. (AAB)
During their long migrations, Rufous Hummingbirds make a clockwise circuit of western North America each year. They move up the Pacific Coast in late winter and spring, reaching Washington and British Columbia by May. As early as July they may start south again, traveling down the chain of the Rocky Mountains. People first realized this pattern after examining detailed field notes and specimens, noting the birds’ characteristic dates of arrival on each part of the circuit.
The Rufous Hummingbird has an excellent memory for location, no doubt helping it find flowers from day to day, or even year to year. Some birds have been seen returning from migration and investigating where a feeder had been the previous year, even though it had since been moved.
The Rufous Hummingbird breeds as far north as southeastern Alaska – the northernmost breeding range of any hummingbird in the world. Of the western hummingbirds that occasionally show up in the east, the Rufous Hummingbird is the most frequent.
Rufous Hummingbirds, like most other hummingbirds, beat their wings extremely fast to be able to hover in place. The wingbeat frequency of Rufous Hummingbirds has been recorded at 52–62 wingbeats per second.
The Rufous Hummingbird is not a colonially nesting species; however, there have been reports from Washington state that have 20 or more Rufous Hummingbird nests only a few yards apart in the same tree. (From the BNA)
Hummingbirds are hard to catch, but there are records of Rufous Hummingbirds being caught by a large flycatcher (Brown-crested Flycatcher) and by a frog.
The oldest recorded Rufous Hummingbird was a female, and at least 8 years, 11 months old when she was recaught and rereleased during banding operations in British Columbia in 2004.

I’ve been slower to your blogs this week as I’m visiting with family, and I will be for the next several days, but I’ll catch up!

Have a lovely week-end!!

Nikon D850| Nikkor 500mm| Fun Facts-https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Rufous_Hummingbird/overview

more to come…

Friday’s Feathered Friends-Eastern Phoebe

May 23, 2025May 22, 2025Posted in birding, Friday's Feathered FriendsTagged Eastern Phoebe, Friday's Feathered Friends, Nature, Nikon, Ohio Birding, Spring Migration43 Comments

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With this sighting of the Eastern Phoebe on May 13th while birding in Ohio I have now seen all 3 Phoebe’s that reside in the Unites States.

The Eastern Phoebe can be found throughout the eastern half of the continent from the Northwest Territories all the way down to Mexico.

The other two Phoebes are found in the Western regions of North America. They are the Say’s Phoebe, and the Black Phoebe.

Fun Facts:

In 1804, the Eastern Phoebe became the first banded bird in North America. John James Audubon attached silvered thread to an Eastern Phoebe’s leg to track its return in successive years.
The use of buildings and bridges for nest sites has allowed the Eastern Phoebe to tolerate the landscape changes made by humans and even expand its range. However, it still uses natural nest sites when they are available.
Unlike most birds, Eastern Phoebes often reuse nests in subsequent years—and sometimes Barn Swallows use them in between. In turn, Eastern Phoebes may renovate and use old American Robin or Barn Swallow nests themselves.
The Eastern Phoebe is a loner, rarely coming in contact with other phoebes. Even members of a mated pair do not spend much time together. They may roost together early in pair formation, but even during egg laying the female frequently chases the male away from her.
The oldest known Eastern Phoebe was at least 10 years, 4 months old. It had been banded in Iowa in 1979 and was found in 1989 in Alberta.
Fun facts gleaned as always from allaboutbirds.org

I hope you all have a lovely week-end!

more to come…

Whatever Weds. A Mother’s Tender Touch

May 7, 2025Posted in Whatever WednesdayTagged Horses, Nature, Whatever Wednesday, Wild Mustangs43 Comments

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more to come…

Friday’s Feathered Friends- Hermit Thrush

January 31, 2025January 28, 2025Posted in birding, Friday's Feathered FriendsTagged Birds in the Wild, Hermit Thrush, Nature, Photography, Santa Barbara Botanical Garden, Travel and Tourism46 Comments

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While we were visiting the Santa Barbara Botanical gardens recently He-Man stopped in a little garden rest area with a bench to retie his shoe and out popped a Hermit Thrush! I was so excited because I don’t see these shy birds too often.

We got several minutes of good looks at it while it was foraging around area.

Fun Facts-

Males usually gather food for the nest, while females feed the nestlings. The young birds start by eating bits of larvae, then grasshoppers, moths, and spiders. They sometimes eat small vertebrates such as salamanders.
Hermit Thrushes usually make their nests in and around trees and shrubs, but they can also get more creative. Nests have been found on a cemetery grave, on a golf course, and in a mine shaft.
Hermit Thrushes sometimes forage by “foot quivering,” where they shake bits of grass with their feet to get insects. They also typically begin to quiver their feet as they relax after seeing a flying predator.
East of the Rocky Mountains the Hermit Thrush usually nests on the ground. In the West, it is more likely to nest in trees.
Hermit Thrushes make several distinct calls around their nests. They will sometimes make a rising byob sound similar to a mewing kitten. Females frequently rearrange their eggs while making quit quit noises. In the morning, two adults meeting near the nest will greet each other with a pweet pweet call.
Hermit Thrushes are part of a genus (Catharus) that includes four other similar thrushes in North America: the Veery, Swainson’s Thrush, Gray-cheeked Thrush, and Bicknell’s Thrush. In the northeastern mountains, the Veery lives at the lowest elevations, Hermit Thrushes at middle elevations, and Swainson’s Thrushes at high elevations.
The oldest recorded Hermit Thrush was at least 10 years, 10 months old when it was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in Maryland in 2009. It was originally banded there in 1999.

Fun facts gleaned as always from allaboutbirds.org

I’ll be a little late replying to your comments as I’m out birding this morning.

Nikon D850|Nikkor 500mm PF-e lens

more to come…

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 28, 2024November 27, 2024Posted in Give Thanks, Holidays and Observances, ThanksgivingTagged Nature, Nikon, Photorraphy, Tom Turkey, Turkey, Wildlife39 Comments

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I wanted to wish all of you in the U.S.A. a very Happy Thanksgiving day and week-end!

Copyright © 2019 Deborah M. Zajac ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

To everyone else I wish you a very happy day and week-end!

more to come…

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