Nature – Page 4 – Circadianreflections Blog

Friday’s Feathered Friends- Hooded Mergansers

February 2, 2024January 31, 2024Posted in Bird Photography, Birding in Nevada, Birds in the Wild, PhotographyTagged Birds of North America, Friday's Feathered Friends, Hooded Merganser, Nature, Nikon, Pond52 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

I saw these in early January and since we’re on the very edge of their migration path I feel very lucky to have seen them.

The male has lovely dark coloring and a wonderful hood. During the courting season he continuously tilts his head all the way to his back and up again and back again with his hood raised as it is in this image while he swims very near the female trying to capture her as a mate. It’s called Head Throwing. He also gives her a hoarse croak. It’s pretty neat to see them courting.

The female looks rather dull compared to the male but, her crown or hood is lovely too. I liked the way the sunlight lit up her hood.

*Hooded Merganser Female*
They were swimming somewhat far apart from each other on this morning and not interested in courting, but luckily their hoods were up.

Fun Facts:

Similar to other cavity-nesting ducks such as Wood Ducks, Common Mergansers, and Common Goldeneyes, Hooded Mergansers often lay eggs in nests of other ducks, both their own species and others. This is called “brood parasitism” and is similar to the practice of Brown-headed Cowbirds. In turn, other cavity-nesting duck species will parasitize Hooded Merganser nests. Female Hooded Mergansers can lay up to about 13 eggs in a clutch, but nests have been found with up to 44 eggs in them.
Hooded Mergansers find their prey underwater by sight. They can actually change the refractive properties of their eyes to improve their underwater vision. In addition, they have an extra eyelid, called a “nictitating membrane,” which is transparent and helps protect the eye during swimming, like a pair of goggles.
Hooded Merganser ducklings leave their nest cavity within 24 hours of hatching. First, their mother checks the area around the nest and calls to the nestlings from ground level. From inside the nest, the little fluffballs scramble up to the entrance hole and then flutter to the ground, which may be 50 feet or more below them. In some cases they have to walk half a mile or more with their mother to the nearest body of water.
On the bird family tree, Hooded Mergansers (genus Lophodytes) lie between goldeneyes (Bucephala) and the other North American mergansers (Mergus). They share many courtship behaviors and calls with both of those groups.
The Hooded Merganser is the second-smallest of the six living species of mergansers (only the Smew of Eurasia is smaller) and is the only one restricted to North America.
The oldest recorded Hooded Merganser was a male and at least 14 years, 6 months old when he was shot in Mississippi in 2009. He was originally banded in Minnesota in 1995.

Fun Facts gleaned from allaboutbirds.org

Nikon D810| Nikkor 500mm| PS CC 24.4

I hope you all have a great week-end. If the weather permits I’ll be birding this morning and will respond when I get home. If the weather is poor I’ll be here!😀

more to come…

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…

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…

Sunday Stillness-Sliders & a Softshell

December 10, 2023Posted in California, hikes, Nevada, Photography, WildlifeTagged Blue Sky, dried grass, El Dorado Nature Center, High Desert, iPhoneography, Long Beach CA, Nature, Nevada, Nikon, Photography, Red-eared Slider, Reeds, Sagebrush, Slide Mountain, Snow, Spiny Softshell, Sunday Stillness, Turtles42 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

*Slide Mountain View from Prison Hill East*

Nikon D810| Nikkor 24-120mm & iPhone 14 Pro

more to come…

Whatever Weds. Black-chinned Hummingbird

August 16, 2023August 15, 2023Posted in Bird Photography, Hummingbirds, PhotographyTagged Backyard Birding, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Hummingbirds, Nature, Nevada, Nikon, Video, Whatever Wednesday32 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

We’ve had two female, and one male Black-chinned Hummingbird regularly visiting my feeder. I like to think the females are mother and daughter, and the male is the father. However, all is not peaceful around the feeder oh no, they’re fighting for territorial rights! The two females have no problem drinking together, but the male has sharing issues.

When I first put the feeder up it was only the male coming by, but then a female found it, and now a second female started coming by about 2 weeks ago. I think I’ll need a second feeder soon. I’m refilling the feeder every 4-5 days.

Here’s a still one of the females on approach. She’s so tiny!

I love seeing them coming by on and off all day.

We have had #1 Grandson for an extra week which has been wonderful, but, it’s about to come to an end… really he’s going home this week-end. School starts up soon for him.

I hope your week is going well, and your week-end is wonderful.

Nikon D810| Nikkor 500mm PF-e| PS CC 24.6.0

more to come…

Whatever Weds. This and That June 2023

June 21, 2023Posted in Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Insects, Nikon, Photography, Reptiles, Whatever WednesdayTagged Bee Wasp, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Black-Headed Blackbird, Blue Belly Lizard, Cliff Swallow, European Starling, Nature, Nikkor 500mm Pf-E, Nikon D810, Western Fence Lizard, Whatever Wednesday39 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

Here are several images of things that have caught my eye since my last post. Oh, and I bought a new lens so, I’ve been using it exclusively to make sure it’s a good copy. The last time I took my 300mm lens out it was hunting an awful lot…like it was doing many years ago when the Auto-Focus motor was going out which did quit working soon after. I had it repaired/replaced then, but the lens is so old now it’s not worth repairing so it has become a bookend and, I upgraded to a newer, longer lens.

*Western Fence Lizard aka Blue Belly Lizard*

*Black-chinned Hummingbird-First sighting of the year!*

So, what do you think…the lens looks like a keeper? I love that it doesn’t weight a ton. It’s a little lighter than the 300mm it’s replaced!

#1 Grandson is here. He’s been here just over a week. We’ve been to the lake several times do some kayaking. We’re not sure how much longer he’s staying. He says another week. We’ll see. I think he’ll be missing his mom and littlest too much before then, but he can stay as long as he likes. 😍

I hope your week is going well, and your slide into the week-end is smooth and easy.

Nikon D810| Nikkor 500mm Pf-E| PS CC 24.5.0

more to come…

Friday’s Feathered Friends- Wood Ducks

May 26, 2023May 23, 2023Posted in Birding in Nevada, Ducks, Friday's Feathered Friends, PhotographyTagged Dabbing Ducks, Fuji X-T3, Nature, Nevada, Spring, Wood Duckling, Wood Ducks41 Comments

I heard from a friend that along the river where I found the Owlets there was a family of Wood Ducks so, I went to check it out and sure enough I found some of them. My friend said there were 6 chicks, but I only saw 3.

I hope the others were just napping.

Here’s the male…aka Dad Wood Duck. Isn’t he a beautiful duck!

Here’s Mama. It looks like I caught her just after her bath. It must have been a fast one b/c now she’s after the chicks making sure they’re alright.

Here’s the first chick I spied. This is the only chick I was able to get a decent image of as the other two stayed in the reeds.

Wood Duck Fun Facts:

Natural cavities for nesting are scarce, and the Wood Duck readily uses nest boxes provided for it. If nest boxes are placed too close together, many females lay eggs in the nests of other females.
Wood Ducks pair up in January, and most birds arriving at the breeding grounds in the spring are already paired. The Wood Duck is the only North American duck that regularly produces two broods in one year.
The Wood Duck nests in trees near water, sometimes directly over water, but other times over a mile away. After hatching, the ducklings jump down from the nest tree and make their way to water. The mother calls them to her, but does not help them in any way. The ducklings may jump from heights of over 50 feet without injury.
The oldest recorded Wood Duck was a male and at least 22 years, 6 months old. He was banded in Oregon and found in California.

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

Fuji X-T3| Fuji 100-400mm| PS CC 24.5

I hope you all have a good week-end!

more to come…

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