Lauren's Life Book

This is my life book- a place to collect a list in pictures of the different forms of life I have seen. I have tried to include the date/time/location of each subject. This list might be heavy on the birds because they are my current interest, but there will be other things featured as well. Some of the pictures are great, and some not so great- I never know when I'll come across something interesting and sometimes all I have is my camera phone on hand to capture an image.

Showing posts with label Birds. Show all posts

Monday, April 9, 2012

Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata)

This male and female pair of northern shovelers was seen at Fossil Creek Reservoir on the afternoon of March 20th, 2012. These dabbling ducks have a neat spatulate bill that they use to forage for food. This picture was taken using my iPhone and a scope from a long distance away. You can read more about these ducks here.

Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)

This red-tailed hawk was seen at Fossil Creek Reservoir on March 21, 2012 in the afternoon. These hawks are really common- I think that 95% of the raptors that I see are red-tailed hawks. Recently Cornell set up a camera on a red-tailed hawk located on their campus. You can check that out here, and read more about the red-tailed hawk here.

Vesper Sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus)

This sparrow was seen on the morning of April 7th, 2012 at Bobcat Ridge in Colorado. This is a new adult. These birds can bee seen in grassy areas, like the start of the trail at Bobcat Ridge (also home to many western meadowlarks). You can read more about this bird here.

Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta)

These western meadowlarks were seen on two separate occasions, once on March 31st, 2012 in the morning, and once on April 7th, 2012 in the morning. They were both spotted at Bobcat Ridge in Colorado. I have taken to using a Swarovski scope and my iPhone to take pictures of birds at a distance (lending to the less crisp look of these photos). I like the way I can snap up close pictures from far away, using what I already have. The only tricky part is positioning the iPhone camera lens at just the right distance to take a clear picture. I then crop the photos and place a filter in them using the Instagram app. Back to the meadowlark. The most distinguishing feature of the western meadowlark is its call, which you can listen to here. You can also read more about this bird here. You can learn about scopes here, and more about Instagram here.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Whooping Crane (Grus americana): International Crane Foundation

Whooping Crane (Grus americana) at the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, WI.

Whooping Cranes (Grus americana) at the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, WI.

Whooping Crane (Grus americana) at the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, WI.

Whooping Cranes (Grus americana) at the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, WI.

I saw these cranes at the International Crane Foundation (ICF) in Baraboo, WI in the fall of 2011. The ICF has pairs of all the cranes there are in the world (there are 15 species). Whooping cranes are endangered species, and the ICF has successfully helped with the conservation efforts. The ICF had a viewing area where visitors to the center could observe the whooping cranes, and the cranes did not disappoint. As soon as we entered into the viewing area they started running back and fort, dancing. I took all these pictures with my iPhone, and I think that they look really good because the viewing area was designed spectacularly. I have a video of them doing their dance, but I am having trouble uploading it. Updates later. In the meantime, you can read more about these cranes here and here. You can read more about the ICF here, and see the other posts from my visit here.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis)

I saw this flock of sandhill cranes in Albuquerque, New Mexico twice- once on Saturday, February 4th, and once on Sunday, February 5th, 2012. They were at the Rio Grande Nature Center. I had gone there both times looking for a greater roadrunner with no success (reminiscent of the wood duck incident of 2011). The flock of cranes was a nice surprise. I had only seen these birds one other time, in a field near the Ski-Hi Fruit Farm in Baraboo, Wisconsin last year. I had just left the International Crane Foundation, and it was nice to have seen a flock in the wild, but it was too far away for any close observation. While this sighting didn't add any birds to my life list, it did add a photo op and some video footage of them to my collection.

The sandhill crane is one of two cranes we have in North America, the other being the whooping crane. Sandhill cranes like to winter in New Mexico, and they can often be found in large numbers there during the winter. You can read more about these cranes here, and more about the Rio Grande Nature Center here.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum): the International Crane Foundation

Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum): at the International Crane Foundation

Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum): at the International Crane Foundation. The crane is dancing.

Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum): at the International Crane Foundation

Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum): at the International Crane Foundation. The crane is dancing.

Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum): at the International Crane Foundation. Here the crane has its feathers puffed out, I think in an aggressive response to me approaching it. This could also be a part of the crane's dance.

Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum): at the International Crane Foundation. Here the crane is in the same positon, but with its feathers down.

Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum): at the International Crane Foundation

This crane was amusing to watch. Not shy, it liked to dance when humans approached, an aggressive behavior. Like the cormorant and the pelican, this crane has a gular sac that it inflates to make its call. This crane is very similar to the black-crowned crane, and has a really pretty combination of cream and brown feathers.

I was able to capture video of this bird dancing. Even though you might want to expand the video to make it larger, it is best viewed at the size that it is posted here.

You can read more about the grey-crowned crane here and here.

Blue Crane (Anthropoides paradiseus): the International Crane Foundation

Blue Crane (Anthropoides paradiseus): at the International Crane Foundation

The blue crane looks pretty cute because it has a thin neck, as compared to the width of its head. There was a lady standing next to me when I was observing this crane, and she mentioned something about it being cute because it was fish-like. I'm not sure what she was getting at with that comment, but I agree that it is cute. The blue crane can be found in southern Africa. Sadly, there were many other cranes with more conspicuous behavior so I don't really have much more to add about the experience of seeing this crane. Given that, you can read more about this crane here and here.

Black-Crowned Crane (Balearica pavonina): International Crane Foundation

I recently had the opportunity to visit the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, WI, and this is the first of a series of posts featuring cranes. The ICF has all of the species of cranes from around the world, so the black-crowned cranes were in good company.

The black crowned crane is found on the continent of Africa, and this is one of two species of crane that can perch in trees (the other one being the similar grey-crowned crane). Apparently it is also popular to keep these cranes domesticated at houses in Africa. This could explain why I saw this crane (I think it was this species and not the grey-crowned crane...think) respond to a man that walked up to where the bird was being kept. He called it by name and it came running out of a shelter towards him and was very responsive to the presence of this man. The best I could figure is that the man was local and had been coming to the bird's cage interacting with it for quite some time.

Unfortunately, most of my pictures of the cranes at the ICF were taken from behind a chain-linked fence with my iPhone, so the pictures aren't the greatest. You can read more about this crane here and here, and more about the International Crane Foundation here.

Black-Crowned Crane (Balearica pavonina): at the International Crane Foundation

Black-Crowned Crane (Balearica pavonina): at the International Crane Foundation.
The picture has a filter on it from Instagram.

Black-Crowned Crane (Balearica pavonina): at the International Crane Foundation

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) - male

This house sparrow was seen on the beach at Lincoln Park on the afternoon of June 5th, 2011, near where the snow geese were seen. Collin Moore took this awesome picture without even realizing it. House sparrows aren't related to any of the other sparrows in North America, and they were only introduced to North America in the late 1800's. These sparrows partake in dust bathing to help with grooming. You can read more about dust baths and watch a video of a house sparrow taking dust bath here, and learn more about house sparrows here.

U P D A T E
These female house sparrows were seen in Bothell, Washington on the afternoon of June 5th, 2011. They were involved in an altercation with other birds outside the window.

AHouse Sparrow (Passer domesticus) - female

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) - female

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Black-billed Magpie (Pica hudsonia)

This magpie was seen crossing the road in the Rocky Mountain National Park. I love these birds because they are blueish and have really long tails, so they are fun to look at. These birds are only found it the west, and according to wiki, they are only one of four songbirds in North America who's tail makes up half or more of its body length. They construct really large nests, which you can see here. You can also read more about this bird here.

Cassin's Finch (Carpodacus cassinii)

I saw this Cassin's finch in the Rocky Mountain National Park on the weekend of June 11th, sometime in the afternoon. We were hiking the Cub Lake Trail when I heard this bird before it was seen. We had to narrow down where exactly the bird was based off of sound, and that was pretty cool to do. The bird's song was like a house finch's, but modded, and this was what tipped me off to the fact that it was a finch of some sort, I just wasn't sure which one until I found the bird. Even then, I had to whip out the trusty Sibley's Guide to ID this bird because I have never seen a Cassin's finch before. There were several other birds and creatures seen on this hike, so look for more posts. For now, you can listen to the Cassin's finch here, see a short video of Cub lake here, and read more about the near threatened conservation status of this bird here.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Snow Goose (Chen caerulescens)

These 2 snow geese were spotted on a beach at Lincoln Park in Seattle, Washington on the afternoon of June 5th, 2011. Snow geese mate for life, and usually they migrate in really large numbers. The snow goose typically breeds from May-August in the extreme north parts of North America. Seattle is on one of the snow goose's migratory paths, so it was not unusual to see these birds there, it was just unusual to see them there at this time of year. Perhaps they are stragglers from last winter's migration. Since there was no other geese in sight, I am assuming that this pair was not where they were supposed to be. There is another explanation that is possible. The female snow goose returns to where they were hatched to breed and nest. Maybe one of these geese is a female, and it is possible she was hatched in the Seattle area. This is more likely given that both of these birds are missing feathers on their wings, and migration is not conducive to this. Also, the female lines her nest with down, so perhaps she took these feathers for the nesting area (even though they aren't down feathers). Either way, it was a nice surprise to see these geese on the beach. You can read more about philopatry, the returning to the hatching area to nest, here, and more learn more about the snow goose here. You can also read more about feathers here. Thanks to Collin Moore for taking awesome pictures.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus)

This bird was seen at Green Lake in Seattle, Washington on the afternoon of May 31st, 2011. These birds are not found in the eastern part of the United States. You can read more about them here.

Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)

Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) and Western Gull (Larus occidentalis)

These swallows were seen at Green Lake in Seattle, Washington on May 31st, 2011. I think that Washington is the land of the swallow- they are seemingly everywhere (like the bald eagle). It is hard to get a picture of these birds since they fly around so quickly. You can read more about these birds and see their brilliant coloring here. Tree swallows exhibit counter shading, which you can read more about here.

Mew Gull (Larus canus brachyrhynchus)

Mew Gull (Larus canus brachyrhynchus) - Short-Billed American juvenile.

This mew gull was seen on the docks at White Rock, British Columbia on the afternoon of May 25th, 2011. This is a juvenile in it's first summer. There are 3 different kinds of mew gulls, this one being the American Short-billed version. These gulls are found almost exclusively on the west coast of North America. You can read more about these gulls here.

Western Gull (Larus occidentalis)

Western Gull (Larus occidentalis) - here with some swallows

Western Gull (Larus occidentalis)

The western gull is another one of those Pacific coast gulls- seen up and down the west coast of the United States and Mexico. This is the gull that will hybridize with the glaucous-winged gull. I saw this gull on the afternoon of May 31st in Green Lake in Seattle, Washington. The gull was standing on a man-made swallow nest while the swallows came and went. There was also a northwestern crow in the area that was dive-bombing the gull, so it was a hotbed of bird activity at that PVC pipe. You can read more about the western gull here.