A preening heron is momentarily left with a pompadour on a cold New Year’s Day. I thought it a good look but it must not have agreed, for it pulled the feathers back tight against its head and resumed its grooming.
Category: Birds
Pouring Rain
A bittern hunts as a downpour pelts the surface of the water. Rain or shine, this is the bittern’s domain, and I saw it catch worms and frogs before swimming over to my side of the water to hunt some more.
Golden Hoodie
The new year got off to a sunny start in 2012 and I spent the morning beside Bull Lake watching this merganser, a male/female wigeon pair, a mallard, a hungry heron, and a bunch of coots. There were big crowds at the refuge so I left early and took Ellie on an extra walk up to the dog park.
Lovely start to the year.
Not Endemic
While some species in Olympic National Park are endemic to the peninsula, others like this dark-eyed junco can be found elsewhere – including my backyard. The junco in the top picture is perching in a subalpine fir at Hurricane Ridge, the one on the bottom in a dogwood in our backyard. Earlier this week one was flitting about in a tree just a few feet away as I walked to the cafeteria at work, while others were feeding on the ground near the track across the street from my office where I walk when I need a break from programming.
Listing
A bufflehead leans to one side as she preens as the ice melts on a thawing Horse Lake.
Preening
I love watching how various animals clean themselves, like this great egret cleaning its feathers by running them through its long beak. One sign an egret has recently been preening is the downy feathers that get stuck to the tip of its beak.
The Cold Stretch
A shoveler stretches early in the morning as a cold snap finally breaks and the ice covering the frozen ponds slowly begins to melt.
A Splash of Yellow
The yellow coloring in yellow-headed blackbirds is mostly confined to their heads and chests, even for females whose coloring is not nearly as bold as their male counterparts. But, as you can see from her acrobatic pose, there’s also a little splash of yellow on her rump.
Peek-a-boo
An American bittern pokes its head out of the tall grasses as it hunts in the soft light at the end of the day.
Tiny Catch
I’ve frequently seen bitterns catch tiny little fish like this one and I often wonder if it’s worth the effort (especially so when the larger herons and egrets do it). I guess they’re not expending much extra effort while on patrol looking for all kinds of prey, be it fish or frog or vole or snake or earthworm.
Boolie 