Lauren's Life Book

Sunday, December 5, 2010

American Pipit (Anthus rubescens)

I saw these American pipits at Summit Lake (12,863 ft) while traveling to the summit of Mount Evans. Summit lake is a tarn, which is a lake formed in a cirque that was carved out by a glacier. You can read more about Summit Lake here. American pipits are one of a few birds that are located above the tree line in Colorado. You can read more about these pipits here, and you can read more about the tundra here.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Northern "Red Shafted" Flicker (Colaptes auratus cafer)

A pair of Northern "Red Shafted" Flickers (Colaptes auratus cafer) at the top and bottom of the picture

Northern "Red Shafted" Flicker (Colaptes auratus cafer)

I saw these Northern Flickers in Old Town Fort Collins today in my backyard around 11:30AM. They blended in with the tree trunk, so I didn't immediately see them when I was tracking the Black-capped Chickadees. Once I did see them, I ended up getting some so-so pictures of them, with the last one really showing the typical coloration of these birds. According to the literature, these birds are in Florida too, so be on the look-out in your back yards, Easties! You can read more about this bird, and how it's name was assigned in error, here.

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)

I saw this bird on Mulberry Street in Fort Collins, Colorado today around 11:30AM. I was walking home and ended up tracking it around the block to my back yard of all places. These pictures aren't the best, mostly because they were far away and I was just using a point and shoot style camera. This is the first time I have seen these birds, so that is kind of cool. Also perched in this tree was a pair of Northern Flickers and an American Robin. More on those birds later. For now, you can read more about this kind of chickadee here, including how they smash seeds on things to break them open.

U P D A T E:
I saw this chickadee on Green Lake in Seattle, Washington on May 31st, 2011 in the afternoon.

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)

I saw this chickadee in Bothell, Washington in the morning on June 1st, 2011.

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Upland Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum)

I walked by this cotton field while on my way to a beaver dam near State Route 609 in Capron, Virginia on the afternoon of Thursday, August 19, 2010. I ended up seeing the dam, but there were no beavers in sight. One day I will go back there and find one of nature's engineers for this blog. In the meantime, you can read more about this variety of cotton here, and about harvesting cotton here.

Dusky Grouse (Dendragapus obscurus)

I saw this grouse while hiking in the Rocky Mountain National Park on September 4th, 2010 around 6:00PM. My sister actually spotted it by chance from about 15-20 yards, which was quite impressive since she had no clue what she had seen. This grouse is typically hard to spot by the casual observer because of it's cryptic coloration. I believe this is the female, and given that they place their nests on the ground, sheltered by tree stumps, this looks like it might be the location of a nest also. You can read more about this bird here.

Great Egret (Ardea alba)

I saw this egret in the Urban Wetlands of Greenwood Cemetery in downtown Orlando, Florida in the afternoon on August 11, 2010. You can read more about these egrets here.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Gray Jay (Perisoreus canadensis)

I saw this gray jay hiking on the Twin Sisters Trail in the Rocky Mountain National Park on September 5th at 6PM about a mile from the trailhead. I was sitting on the ground in one spot for a while and the jay flew up to inspect what was going on, probably looking for food. I was in a crazy amount of pain from what appears to only have been a sprained ankle, but being able to see this bird somehow made it better. Or at least it was an interesting way to pass the time while waiting for mountain rescue, and my sister had to take the pictures because I was a little incapacitated. Yes, even in the middle of a little mountain emergency I still take the time to look at birds. The cool thing about these birds is that they mate for life (but if one of the mates dies or goes missing they will find another mate). An interesting thing about the offspring of these mated individuals is that once they are out of the nest, but still living with their parents, they kick the less dominant offspring out of the nesting area where it most likely won't be able to survive on its own. The dominant offspring are the ones that go on to live with the aid of their parents. Gray jays are usually found in forest regions where there aren't that many people, so sorry all you city people. You won't be seeing these jays anywhere around. You can read more about these jays here, and even though this isn't a strict example of siblicide, you can read more about siblicide here.