birds

Category

By egrets and egrets

This was a mixed flock of egrets that passed over me at Jordan Lake.
The large birds are great egrets.
The 3 smaller birds are snowy egrets.
It is fairly common for me to see the great egrets during the warm months.
I see a very, very occasional snowy egret.

WALK3088 07-19-16 @ 09-31-34 Ebenezergreat egret snowy egret

By UPDATE on Proposed Rule changes on Eagle Take Permits
UPDATE on Permit Rule Changes proposal. The filing period ended July 5. I and 1,822 others (both private and organizations) submitted our thoughts and suggestions on the proposed rules.
If you would like to look at the comments, they are on line at https://www.regulations.gov/docketBrowser?rpp=100&so=DESC&sb=docId&po=0&dct=PS&D=FWS-R9-MB-2011-0094.
I will post information as the decision process by the US Fish & Wildlife Service becomes available.
The photo is a 2 year-old bald eagle fishing at Jordan Lake.
IMG_2075

By broad-winged hawk

I added a new bird to my life list today.
I was near a small pond when a hawk dashed out of the trees.
I thought first that it was an Accipiter – maybe a Cooper’s hawk.
It wasn’t. It was a small Buteo.
The dark line along the trailing edges of the wings and the bold central white tail strip were diagnostic.
I had just seen a broad-winged hawk.     2 photos

WALK0239 06-14-16 @ 13-54-25 Anderson Park broad-winged hawk

WALK0234 06-14-16 @ 13-54-24 Anderson Park broad-winged hawk

By H&G nest report 06/06/2016

The first photo is Hershey.
He came hurtling across the cove, chasing another adult eagle.
They were traveling at high speed and crossed the cove as I was shooting.
The time stamp on the second photo was 08:41:44 and the first photo of Hershey was 08:41:56.
Both birds passed so close over head that I only got partial shots of Hershey. Whew!

WALK8425 06-06-16 @ 08-41-56 Pea Ridge Hershey & intruder

WALK8411 06-06-16 @ 08-41-44 Pea Ridge Hershey & intruder