Tag: birds of prey
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Hummingbird Nesting Material
A broad-tailed hummingbird gathered a tuft of dog fur for nesting material.
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Angry Cooper’s Hawk
My husband and I were working in the yard yesterday and heard what we thought was Northern flicker calling as it flew overhead. Reflexively glancing up to see the bird, I was startled to see not a flicker, but a hawk or very large falcon slicing through the sky, crying as it did so. Whipping…
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Red-tailed Hawk in the Backyard
In the past few weeks, I’ve noticed several instances of a hawk flying fast and low through our back yard. I had assumed it was an accipitor — either a Cooper’s or a sharp-shinned hawk that specializes in hunting in open forests like back yards. But while my husband and I were out working in…
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Loggerhead — OOOPS — Northern Shrike
Author’s Note — after writing this post last night, I realized that I got the two browser windows confused, and wrongly identified the bird we saw as a Loggerhead, when it was actually a Northern Shrike. I have struck out the wrong name where appropriate. My next post compares the two birds. (https://amylawscigeek.com/2022/01/27/my-bad-its-a-northern-shrike-after-all/) Like so…
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Turkey vultures have returned to Front Range
Some people watch for the first robin of spring. In Capistrano, they look for the return of the swallows. I know it’s spring when the turkey vultures return to the Front Range of Colorado. (https://amylaw.blog/2013/04/08/it-must-be-spring/) Turkey vultures are big birds — the biggest you are likely to see, with the exception of an eagle or…
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Birds coming back
We’ve been following the Bald Eagles at Fort St. Vrain power plant closely this spring. But other birds are showing up, too. Spotted Towhees scratch in the soil for insects. But in the spring, you can hear the males calling “tche-tche-tche-cheee!”as they perch on the tips of trees. (https://amylaw.blog/2014/06/02/spotted-towhee/) A pair of black-capped chickadees spent…
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Ten days of growth…
Mama eagle shades the chicks. At this point, they are 9 days old. Up until this day, I hadn’t seen them out of the central depression, where the failed egg remains. But once they started exploring, they rambled all over. I’m a little annoyed, because Mama eagle is in the way of a nice shot…
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Two out of Three
It’s been ten days or so since the first two eagle chicks have hatched. They have grown and become much more active. The third egg, though, is probably not going to hatch. Today, the mother eagle stopped brooding the egg entirely. Even if the last egg did hatch, the chicks get fed on the basis…
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Bald Eagle Egg #3, Day 1
The Fort St. Vrain Bald Eagles have been busy. They’ve added more sticks to their nest… … they are eating well… … and as of this morning, they’ve laid a third egg. If I’ve counted correctly, we should start seeing eaglets around March 20.
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Bald Eagle Egg #2 Day 1
The Fort St. Vrain Bald Eagles fussed about their nest again today. Those sticks just aren’t quite right! The larger eagle, in the foreground, flew off, and left us with a view of the smaller eagle — and two eggs. Of concern: snow and single digit night time temperatures for the next few days…
Amy Law, Science Geek 