Uniting in Utah

It had been far too long since seeing K's brother and sister-in-law.  This reunion was long overdue.  We had the best time.  They are fantastic hosts and can't wait to get together again.  Here's another reason to put on the side of reasons to retire.  The picture of the bird seems to be saying "what are you waiting for?"

he Western Scrub Jay is found in the west, from Washington and Montana all the way south into Mexico. They are non-migratory and often found in urban areas where they frequent our home bird feeders. They feed on small animals, bird eggs, young of other birds, insects, as well as nuts and berries in winter time. Western Scrub Jays inhabit areas of low scrub and brush, pinion and juniper forests, stands of mesquite and oak. They are known to hoard and bury or hide their food for future hard times.

Colorado Country

This was taken on our way to a bird sanctuary. People see geese often, but I thought these were striking, and having read The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White, I have a curiosity about what kind of geese these are.  We had a terrific time visiting our kids in Ft. Collins.  We took a hike in the Rockies in which I got beautiful butterfly pictures (no birds), but learned how to use my camera more effectively thanks to Snark.  We played games every night, went downtown for food and music one evening, and shared an enchanting evening with some of their friends over a bar-b-cue in the backyard.  I can't leave out the wonderful walks with veggie dog and getting the garden growing.  Oh the zucs and tomatoes that must be ripening as I write!

The Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) is a wild goose with a black head and neck, white patches on the face, and a brownish-gray body. Native to arctic and temperate regions of North America, it is occasionally found in northern Europe, and has been introduced to other temperate regions.

 

Latin: Branta canadensis
Average length: M 25-45 inches
Average weight: M 3-13 lbs., F 3-11 lbs.

Description: Both sexes of Canada geese have a black head and neck except for broad white cheek patches extending from the throat to the rear of the eye. The female of a breeding pair is often smaller. The breast, abdomen and flanks range in coloring from a light gray to a dark chocolate brown, either blending into the black neck or being separated from it by a white collar. The back and scapulars are darker brown, the rump is blackish and the tail is blackish-brown with a U-shaped white band on the rump. The bill, legs and feet are black. Most subspecies are uniformly large and pale and exhibit the characteristic "honking" call.
There are 7 recognized subspecies of Canada geese: Atlantic, Hudson Bay or Interior, Giant, Moffitt's or Great Basin, Lesser, Dusky and Vancouver. In general, the subspecies nesting farther north are smaller in size and darker in color to the west. The Giant Canada goose is the largest goose in the world, with some individuals weighing more than 20 pounds. They can also be long-lived, with a banded Giant Canada goose at 30 years and 4 months currently holding the longevity record for waterfowl. David Sibley has developed an informative webpage that can assist in subspecies identification for Canada geese. Also, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has a helpful field guide (PDF) to identify Cackling and Canada geese.

Packin' my bags - headin' out

This picture tells the whole story - I'm outta here.  Off to visit family.  Well, there's a few things to accomplish yet, but the feeling is there. I've already blogged about storks and pelicans.  I believe this one is a pelican.  I still get them mixed up.  This was taken is the Caribbean.  Apparently the brown pelican is also in the Caribbean.   Let me learn something more:

Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis Linnaeus, 1766

Length 106–137 cm (42–54 in), wingspan 1.83-2.5 m (6–8 ft), weight 2.75-5.5 kg (6-12 lb). Smallest pelican; distinguished by brown plumage; feeds by plunge-diving.

Five subspecies. Coastal distribution ranging from North America and Caribbean to northern South America and Galapagos. Status: Least Concern.

Fast Facts

Type:

Bird

Diet:

Carnivore

Average life span in the wild:

10 to 25 years or more

Size:

Body, 5.8 ft (1.8 m); wingspan, 10 ft (3 m)

Weight:

30 lbs (13 kg)

Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man

There are more than half a dozen species of pelicans, but all of them have the famous throat pouch for which the birds are best known. These large birds use their elastic pouches to catch fish—though different species use it in different ways.
Many pelicans fish by swimming in cooperative groups. They may form a line or a "U" shape and drive fish into shallow water by beating their wings on the surface. When fish congregate in the shallows, the pelicans simply scoop them up. The brown pelican, on the other hand, dives on fish (usually a type of herring called menhaden) from above and snares them in its bill. Pelicans do not store fish in their pouch, but simply use it to catch them and then tip it back to drain out water and swallow the fish immediately. The American white pelican can hold some 3 gallons (11 1/2 liters) of water in its bill. Young pelicans feed by sticking their bills into their parents' throats to retrieve food.
Pelicans are found on many of the world's coastlines and also along lakes and rivers. They are social birds and typically travel in flocks, often strung out in a line. They also breed in groups called colonies, which typically gather on islands.
In North America, the brown pelican is endangered, but populations are recovering to some extent. The sea birds were devastated by chemical pesticides, such as DDT, which damaged the eggs of pelicans and many other species.

 

A Day In Redding, CA

K and I spent the weekend visiting our son and daughter-in-law.  The weather was perfect and it  sure was good to see both of them since it had been several months.  We spent Sunday at Turtle Bay  wandering through the Chocolate exhibit and collecting on the free samples at the end of the tour.   yum!  We flew over to the the bird exhibit as our son got a little carried away wheeling his wife  around in the wheelchair.  We braved the cage where apparently all the lorikeets have a sugar  addiction just like we humans.  Hence...my bird of the week.  This feathery friend fell in love  with our son and didn't want to leave him.  We had to practically pry him off.  It was all fun  though.  This is a rainbow lorikeet, I believe.

Lories and lorikeets have specialized brush-tipped tongues for feeding on nectar and soft fruits.  They can feed from the flowers of about 5,000 species of plants and use their specialized tongues  to take the nectar. The tip of their tongues have tufts of papillae (extremely fine hairs), which  collect nectar and pollen.

Lorikeets have tapered wings and pointed tails that allow them to fly easily and display great  agility.[citation needed] They also have strong feet and legs. They tend to be hyperactive and  clownish in personality both in captivity and the wild.[citation needed]

The multi-coloured Rainbow Lorikeet was one of the species of parrots appearing in the first  edition of The Parrots of the World and also in John Gould's lithographs of the Birds of Australia.  Then and now, lories and lorikeets are described[by whom?] as some of the most beautiful species of  parrot.

Saturday Afternoon Get-together

This is the third time I have tried blogging today and lost it.  What is going on?! 

I chose this picture of all the chickens chatting it up at Loma Vista Farm because it reminded of all the humans and other animals I saw out there visiting with each other and having a great time.   The weather could not have been more perfect and a good time was had by all, from the youngest to the eldest.  I saw several friends I hadn't seen for some time and it was great to reconnect.  I also got to know the ladies that I shared the booth with a little.  What a great day.  It was their Spring Festival.  I was helping out at Food Co-op booth.  They are trying to get a food co-operative started here in Vallejo and are looking for people with experience in finance, grants, and grocery, and especially PEOPLE with a little money (not more than $300) to buy ownership so this can happen.  It would be fantastic for the people of Vallejo.  We talked to a lot of interested people which was exciting.  Again, I am overwhelmed with the amount of different breeds of chickens that exist.  Here is some info about a couple of breeds they have at the LV farm:

The Plymouth Rock, often called simply Rocks or Barred Rocks (after their most popular color), is a chicken breed that originated in the United States. The Plymouth Rock is a dual-purpose, cold-hardy bird and therefore makes a great breed for the small farm or backyard flock owner. The Barred Rock is often called the Plymouth Rock, but this title correctly belongs to the entire breed, not just the Barred variety.

Plymouth Rock
A Barred Rock hen as part of a small backyard flock (with eglu in background)
Conservation status	Recovering
Country of origin	USA
Nicknames	Rocks or Barred Rocks
Classification APA American
[show]Traits
Notes
Dual purpose breed
Chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus)

Famous Hamburgs

Perhaps the most famous devotee of the Hamburg chicken was L. Frank Baum, author of the Oz books. He began a monthly trade journal, Hamburgs, in 1880 and in 1886, published his first and only book on the subject, The Book of the Hamburgs: A Brief Treatise upon the Mating, Rearing, and Management of the Different Varieties of Hamburgs.^[3]
In Baum's third Oz book, Ozma of Oz, he introduces Dorothy Gale's chicken, Billina. He must have drawn on his experience in breeding Hamburgs when creating her character, as she is appropriately spirited and active.

Hamburg
A Silver-Spangled Hamburg Rooster
Conservation status	Watch
Other names	Hamburgh
Country of origin	Holland
Nicknames	Dutch Everyday Layers Everlayers
Classification APA Continental
[show]Traits
Notes
Layer breed
Chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus)

 

doves - twin posts

These mourning doves were out to greet me this morning.  Well, really they were interested in eating whatever was out there on the sidewalk.  They were enthusiastically munching away right in front of me when they knew very well that I had to go weigh in at Weight Watchers.  I lost .2 which I am not surprised as I had two difficult days - one being Day of the Teacher in which the union put on a celebration.  I did forego the dessert except for one bite of apple pie.  I know, I know - I have to count every bite, lick, and taste.  Let me put it this way - I'm glad I didn't gain.  This is so difficult!!!  Anywho - I chose the mourning doves because they are closely related to pigeons and I am blogging very closely together - at the end of one week and the beginning of the next.  alls and Songs
Sometimes mistaken for an owl, the male's courtship and territorial call is a series of cooing notes.  It sounds like coah cooo cooo coo.  Both adults give a shorter call like oowa when near the nest.  There is also a whistling twitter when they take off.
Hear Mourning Dove Sound

Range and Habitat

In late fall mourning doves gather in large flocks across nearly all of the United States, and southern Canada.  Many, but not all northern mourning doves migrate south in winter.  They can be found in grasslands, farmlands, open woods, and roadsides.  They are equally at home in backyards with evergreens, fruit trees, and suburban gardens.  In fact they are at home in virtually any habitat.  When you hear talk of a bird for all seasons this is it.

Breeding and Nesting

Mourning doves breed in all 50 states, southern Canada, Alaska, Mexico, and into Panama.  Breeding starts in March and April.

photo by Lee Karney U.S. Wildlife

Courtship starts with the male cooing call while puffing out his throat, and bobbing his tail. The Fish and Wild Life Service actually counts them by listening for this call. Another part of the courtship is the flight of the male. He will fly to around 100 feet then glide back down to the female in large sweeping circles. He will also strut and bow repeatedly in front of the female.  After mating the male vigorously defends the nesting area.  What is unusual is the Morning doves will do most of their feeding outside the nesting area.

The nesting site is often on a tree branch 10 to 25 feet up, and is chosen by the male.  He then gathers sticks, and bring them to the female, landing on her while she sits on the partly built nest.  Although they seem to take great care, their nest is one of the flimsiest of all bird nests.  The eggs can even be seen through the twigs.  Often they will just use old nests from other birds such as robins.

Usually there are two white eggs with both birds taking turns on the nest.  Many nests are lost to bad weather.  In addition doves have many predators such as squirrels, snakes, and other birds.  Both adults will feed the young, and they can leave the nest in 10 to 14 days.hey will have as many as six broods of two chicks each during a season.  This fast reproduction allows them to thrive and spread even with high predation.  Young birds leave the nest in around two weeks and the parents continue to feed them outside the nest for another two weeks.

Food and Feeding

Mourning doves natural foods are a wide variety of wild seeds, grains, and insects.  They often feed on grain in open fields, and croplands.  They will be seen at feeders in larger numbers when the ground is covered in deep snow.

Just as with other songbirds, food, water, and cover will attract them to your backyard.  Stock your feeders with cracked corn, millet, and a variety of other seeds to attract Mourning doves.  Doves are ground feeders, so tray feeders are best.  While many songbirds will scatter when jays or crows arrive, Mourning doves will just ignore them and keep eating.

Water
Birdbaths will attract them, but running or dripping water will draw more birds. You are also likely to get more birds if you have trees, and shrubs for cover.

Pidgeon Power

I never knew there were so many different types of pigeons.  This I believe is the rock pigeon though I don't see the bands of the wings that is talked about on Wikipedia.  I know they have a bad reputation just because there are so many of them everywhere (just like my students). They do have some beautiful coloring, and just like my students, I need to remember to look at the individual and not just the entire group.  That's not often easy (it's hard to see the trees for the forest).  Oh my! I'm full of this as this is what we have been working on in class.  These feathered friends were hanging out at the waterfront this week where I took a walk with my former partner, but still friend - P.  Here are some fun facts about pigeons.

Cool Pigeon Facts

Origins: Pigeons and doves have been around for a long time—long before humans. Rock Doves are thought to have originated in southern Asia several million years ago. Compare this to modern humans that first appeared about 120,000 years ago.
Size and weight: A pigeon is about 13 inches (32 cm) in length from bill to tail and weighs a little less than a pound (0.35 kg). Males are slightly bigger than females.
A pigeon family:

• Hen: an adult female pigeon
• Cock: an adult male pigeon
• Hatchling: a newly hatched pigeon
  just a few days old
• Squab: a young pigeon from 1–30 days old.
  When ready to leave its nest, a squab can sometimes weigh more than its parents.
• Peeper or Squeaker: a young bird that is learning to eat
• Fledgling: a bird that is ready to fly or that has just taken its first flight
• Juvenile: a bird out of its nest and flying but less than eight months old

Nest and roosting sites: A pigeon nest usually is constructed on covered building ledges that resemble cliffs, a Rock Dove’s natural habitat. They also nest and roost on the support structures under bridges in cities and along highways.
Nests: Pigeons build their nests with small twigs. A cock brings the nesting material to his mate, one piece at a time, and she builds the nest. Nests are usually well-hidden and hard to find.

Eggs and incubation: Pigeons usually lay two white eggs. The parents take turns keeping their eggs warm (incubating). Males usually stay on the nest during the day; females, at night. Eggs take about 18 days to hatch.
Food for young: Both male and female parent pigeons produce a special substance called "pigeon milk," which they feed to their hatchlings during their first week of life. Pigeon milk is made in a special part of the bird’s digestive system called the "crop." When hatchlings are about one week old, the parents start regurgitating seeds with crop milk; eventually seeds replace the pigeon milk.
Colors: There may be as many as 28 pigeon color types, called "morphs," but Project PigeonWatch groups them into just seven morphs. Pigeons also have colorful neck feathers. These iridescent green, yellow, and purple feathers are called "hackle." Adult males and females look alike, but a male’s hackle is more iridescent than a female’s.
White "color:" White feathers are actually feathers that have no color pigments. So, when you see white on pigeons you are actually seeing no color.
Feathers: Pigeons have many types of feathers including contour feathers, the stiff feathers that give the body its shape, and down, the fluffy insulating feathers. Many pigeon feathers are accompanied by one or two filoplume feathers, which look like hairs. These filoplumes may have sensory functions, such as, detecting touch and pressure changes.
Eye colors: Adults have orange or reddish orange eyes; juveniles that are less than six to eight months old have medium brown or grayish brown eyes.
Leg and feet colors: Pigeon legs and feet are red to pink to grayish black. Their claws are usually grayish black but can be white on some pigeons. Some birds have "stockings," which are feathers on their legs and feet!
Cere: The cere is the fleshy covering on the upper part of a pigeon's beak.  It is grayish in young birds or juveniles, and white in adults.  Albino birds may have pinkish ceres.
Eyesight: Pigeon eyesight is excellent. Like humans, pigeons can see color, but they also can see ultraviolet light—part of the light spectrum that humans can’t see. Pigeons are sometimes used in human search-and-rescue missions because of their exceptional vision.
Hearing: Pigeons can hear sounds at much lower frequencies than humans can, such as wind blowing across buildings and mountains, distant thunderstorms, and even far-away volcanoes. Sensitive hearing may explain why pigeons sometimes fly away for no apparent reason: maybe they heard something you can’t.
Sounds: Pigeons make two types of sounds: vocal (using voice) and nonvocal. The primary call used by males to attract mates and defend territories is coo roo-c’too-coo. From their nests they might say oh-oo-oor. When they are startled or scared they might make an alarm call like: oorhh! Pigeon babies make nonvocal sounds such as bill snapping and hissing. After mating, males often make clapping sounds with their wings.
Unique drinking behavior: Most birds take a sip of water and throw back their heads to let the water trickle down their throats. But pigeons (and all of their relatives in the family Columbidae) suck up water, using their beaks like straws.
Magnetic sensitivity: Do pigeons have compasses in their heads? Not really, but pigeons, especially those bred for their homing instincts, seem to be able to detect the Earth’s magnetic fields. Cornell University pigeon researcher Dr. Charles Walcott says that magnetic sensitivity, along with an ability to tell direction by the sun, seems to help pigeons find their ways home.
Locomotion: On the ground, pigeons don’t hop the way many birds do. They walk or run with their heads bobbing back and forth. Pigeons are strong fliers and can fly up to 40 or 50 miles per hour. Some pigeons are raised for their exceptional abilities to fly fast and find their ways home. These pigeons may fly as far as 600 miles in a day.  Although feral pigeons are good fliers too, most of these birds seem to stay close to their regular feeding sites.
Natural predators: One species of falcon, Merlin, eats so many pigeons its scientific name is Falco columbarius (with the "columba-" meaning pigeon) and it was formerly called Pigeon Hawk. Merlins are medium-sized falcons and although they are not very common in cities, you can bet they are preying on pigeons living in open parks near marshes and ponds. In cities where Peregrine Falcons have become established, they catch and eat feral pigeons, often carrying them back to feed to their nestlings. Red-tailed and Cooper’s hawks also prey on pigeons in cities and in rural areas.
Fancy pigeons: People raise all kinds of fancy pigeons. The breeds have names, such as rollers, tumblers, and fantails, which reflect the way the birds fly or the way they look. Sometimes, people take their fancy pigeons to compete in shows.