Nature – Circadianreflections Blog

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

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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…

Friday’s Feathered Friends- The Anhinga

November 22, 2024November 21, 2024Posted in Bird Photography, Birding in Nevada, Friday's Feathered FriendsTagged Anhinga, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Florida Birding, Flowers, grass, late summer, Nature, Nikon39 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

The Anhinga was one of 4 birds I really wanted to see while I was in Florida in September and I saw 3 of them! One male and two Females…I think.

It’s another pre-historic cool looking bird.

I think this is a male because his neck is black. He’s drying his wings.

Here’s the female also drying out her wings. Like Cormorants they don’t have waterproof feathers so they get on a perch or land and spread them open to dry them out.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//:circadianreflections.com
As I crept closer to her to get a better shot I spooked her and off she flew.

Fun Facts:

The Anhinga’s distinctive shape earned it the nickname “water turkey” for its turkeylike tail, and “snake bird” for its long snakelike neck as it slithers through the water.
Unlike most waterbirds, the Anhinga doesn’t have waterproof feathers. While that may seem like a disadvantage for their watery lifestyle, their wet feathers and dense bones help them slowly submerge their bodies under the water so they can slyly stalk fish.
The name Anhinga comes from the Tupi Indians in Brazil, meaning “devil bird” or “evil spirit of the woods.”
The oldest recorded Anhinga was at least 12 years old when it was shot in Louisiana in 1948.

Fun facts gleaned from https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Anhinga/overview

We may have a break from the wind and beat the rain this morning so I’m going birding with friends which means I’ll be a bit late checking out your blogs, and reading comments.

more to come…

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