Nevada – Page 6 – Circadianreflections Blog

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…

Whatever Weds. Don’t worry…

May 3, 2023Posted in Lizards, Nature Photography, Photography, Reptiles, Whatever WednesdayTagged From my Patio, Nature, Nevada, Retiles, Western Fence Lizard, Whatever Wednesday39 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

It looks worse than it is. It’ll grow back!

After I set up my new birdbath 3 lizards came to check it out straight-away…this was one of them and the bravest of the 3.

Fuji X-T3| Fujinon 100-400mm| PS CC 24.4.1

more to come...

Friday’s Feathered Friends- Cooper’s Hawk

January 6, 2023Posted in Bird Photogaphy, birding, Birding in Nevada, Hawks, PhotographyTagged Birds in the Wild, Carson Valley, Cooper's Hawk, Friday's Feathered Friends, Nevada, Russian Olive Tree, Snow, Winter66 Comments

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

For several weeks we’ve had a Cooper’s Hawk perching on a neighbor’s tree out back. With all the White-crown Sparrows, and Quail about I’m sure it’s hoping for a meal.

I’ve been enjoying seeing it perched there.

Cooper’s Hawk

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.

Fun Facts gleaned from allaboutbirds.org

Fuji X-T3| Fujinon 100-400mm| PS CC 24.1.0

more to come…

Whatever Weds. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

December 21, 2022December 20, 2022Posted in Landscape Photography, Whatever Wednesday, WinterTagged Carson Range, Cat-tails, Cold Day, Cottonwood Trees, From my Patio, Frozen Pond, Hoar Frost, Merry Christmas!, Nevada, Russian Olive Trees, Sagebrush, Snowy Day68 Comments

Wishing all my family, friends, and contacts a safe, and healthy MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Fuji X-T3| Fujinon 100-400mm| PS CC 24.1.0

more to come…

Whatever Weds. Total Lunar Eclipse 11.8.2022

November 9, 2022November 9, 2022Posted in Astro Photography, Moon, Photography, Total Lunar Eclipse, Whatever Wednesday, Wide Field Astro-photographyTagged Blood Moon, Lunar Eclipse, Moon, Nevada, Nikon D810, November's Moon, Totality, Whatever Wednesday52 Comments

I didn’t think I’d be able to see the Lunar Eclipse this time around because snow and cloud cover was predicted in the forecast. I set my alarm anyway and thought I’d just photograph Totality since it was in the middle of the night and cold.

When I got up and looked out the window I couldn’t believe it, it was clear and barely a breeze blowing!

It was just a few minutes after 2:00 A.M. PST…(I think that’s the time we’re in now? 🤷‍♀️ ), when I started taking my test shot.

Totality began at 2:16A.M here and I was ready for it. This image was made at 2:221A.M

The next Total Lunar eclipse to be visible in the USA won’t be until March 14, 2025. Until then my mind will be shifting from the

Moon to the Sun as there is an Annular Solar Eclipse in October 2023. The last time I photographed an Annular Solar Eclipse was back in 2012. You can see that post here . I’m hoping I can get to the sweet spot to photograph it again.

It snowed here all day yesterday and is looking magical and very much like Winter is here.

I hope you’re all having a good week, and are staying warm and safe.

Nikon D810| Nikkor 300mm f/4| PS CC 24.0.0

more to come…

Thurs. Doors-The Little Church of the Crossroads

September 29, 2022September 28, 2022Posted in Architecture, Churches and Cathedrals, Photography, Thursday DoorsTagged Churches, Fuji X-T3, Lamoille Canyon, Nevada, The Little Church of the Crossroads, Thursday Doors, Travel53 Comments

He-Man and I are beginning to explore a bit more of our new home state of Nevada this time we spent a couple of days in Elko County exploring Lamoille Canyon in the Ruby Mountains. While on the scenic highway I spied this beautiful little church and had to stop for a photo or two.

From the church’s website found here they say the congregation had its first church service in Lamoille in 1872, and in 1890 the Organization of the First Presbyterian Church of Lamoille was established.

In 1905 they layed the first cornerstone for the building.

Since then it has gone through some changes and even closed for a time because of a decline in population and non use. It came back though and has been restored and had a second addition added in 1983, and in 2005 the community celebrated its 100th anniversary!

This post is part of Thursday Doors a weekly challenge group. You can find many other door posts over on our host’s site found here.https://nofacilities.com/2022/09/29/big-e-2022/

Fuji X-T3| Fujinon 16-80mm| PS CC 23.5.0

more to come…

Friday’s Feathered Friends-Pine Grosbeak

July 16, 2021July 12, 2021Posted in birding, Birding in Nevada, Birds of North America, Fuji X-T3, PhotographyTagged Birding, Fuji, Nevada, Pine Grosbeak, Washoe County35 Comments

Last week I went birding with the Audubon Group and we were treated to a sighting that not only was a new to me bird, but a rare bird to this area too. Lifer number 6 for 2021 is the Pine Grosbeak. This is a female.

This was a “lifer” for about half the group and there were only 9 of us birding that morning. It was quite exciting!

Fun Facts-gleaned from allaboutbirds.org

Pine Grosbeaks eat a lot of plants, but it can be tough for their nestlings to eat and digest all that vegetation. Instead of feeding plants directly to their nestlings, they regurgitate a paste of insects and vegetable matter that they store in pouches at the lower part of their jaw on either side of their tongues.
Not all Pine Grosbeaks are the same. Not only do they differ in the amount and intensity of red across their range, they are also different sizes. Body size and wing and tail length generally increase from Newfoundland westward to the Yukon Territory. But birds on Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Island) in British Columbia, Canada, and in California are among the smallest of all Pine Grosbeaks. Wings and tails of birds on Haida Gwaii are around a half inch smaller than birds in Alaska.
Pine Grosbeaks aren’t just in North America. They also breed in subalpine evergreen forests from eastern Asia to Scandinavia.
The tameness and slow-moving behavior of the Pine Grosbeak prompted locals in Newfoundland to affectionately call it a “mope.”
Winter flocks may stay near a tree with abundant fruit until all of it is consumed.
The oldest recorded Pine Grosbeak was a male, and at least 9 years, 9 months old when he was found in Quebec in 1970. He was first captured and banded in Connecticut in 1961.

I hope you all have a wonderful week-end!

Fuji X-T3| Fuji 100-400mm| PS CC 22.4.2

more to come…

Share this:

Share this:

Cooper’s Hawk

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: