Trumpeter Swan

Dodging rain showers on 8 December 2021, Erika and I captured this image of two of 15 Trumpeter Swans on Olympia’s Capitol Lake. Not quite creating the heart design often formed when two swans face each other, I thought these birds communicated an interesting design. We recorded swans here every winter. This photo is number 56 in our 50-images-in-December eBird challenge.

Spotted Towhee

December finds us running around greater Olympia as we try to meet eBird’s 50 images for the month challenge. Initially I though this goal was unobtainable. But, on 5 December 2021, when we banded this male Spotted Towhee—one of the most frequently seen species in our backyard feeders— our photograph total topped 50. (Not  50 different species, but close.) What with all the rain for which the Pacific Northwest is famous, any additional images will be icing on the proverbial cake.

Short-eared Owl

After three days of rain, Erika and I vowed to go birding whatever the weather. 7 December 2021 was a foggy, drizzling day. My camera instructions say, “Whatever you do, don’t get this camera wet!” But I knew, if we left the camera at home, we would see a rare bird. After three winters of searching, we finally encountered a distant Short-eared Owl, a new bird for our Washington list. These large, owls hunt during the day and night for small mammals, especially voles. Vole populations cycle, and in years with few rodents, Short-eared Owl numbers plummet. The owls may stop breeding or disperse to other regions—perhaps why we have taken to long to see one. Another result of this dispersing tendency is that Short-eared Owls have an almost world-wide distribution.

Northern Pintail

Each month eBird conducts a drawing from lists meeting challenges issued to its users. Most of these challenges are reasonable. Some are not. Submitting sound recordings if you live in northern climes is difficult. Sending three files a day results in being glued to your cell phone while entering data and distracted from actually bird watching! Usually the monthly challenges offer some spice to daily birding, although the odds of winning are less likely than winning something playing Power Ball. Several thousand entries are submitted each month. December’s challenge is to submit 50 photos or sound recordings acquired the month.  

This Northern Pintail is one of my first images of the month. This duck greeted us on 1 December 2021 at the Nisqually national wildlife refuge. I have taken many images of this common bird, but never one so clearly showing the drake’s pin tail feathers. I guess acquiring different images is the object of eBird’s challenge. With over 33.5 million photos and sounds currently archived in the Macaulay Library, you wouldn’t think eBird and Cornell would really need so many images from its users.

Red-tailed Hawk

This post might well be titled “How does a Red-tailed Hawk scratch its throat?” The answer is probably “Very carefully.” Erika and I encountered this relatively pale, western Red-tailed Hawk along the Kennedy Flats logging road in nearby Mason County, Washington, on 3 December 2021. Only recently I wrote about plumage variation in these hawks, and posted a photo of a much darker individual--https://dantallmansbirdblog.blogspot.com/2021/11/red-tailed-hawk.html.

European Starling

At the Nisqually national wildlife refuge on 1 December 2021, Erika and I followed an European Starling as we walked down the estuary boardwalk. Suddenly the starling stopped, and its bill disappeared into the boardwalk. 

We checked out what the bird could be eating, but we found nothing. We suspect the starling drank rainwater that collected in a shallow depression in the wood. Freshwater may well be at a premium in the saltwater estuary. Starlings are known to drink water from crevices in tree bark (Cabe 2020).

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle nest maintenance on 1 December 2021 at the Billy Frank Jr National Wildlife Refuge. This nest is the same one I blogged about on 20 January 2021—perhaps even the same birds. I wrote that Bald Eagles begin nest building one to three months prior to egg laying. In Washington, the breeding season begins in January (Wahl et al. 2005). Adults often maintain nests all year. A result is that Bald Eagle nests are among the largest of all birds. Buehler (2020) reports that a nest in Ohio was used for 34 years and weighed almost two metric tons! The nest we photographed was nowhere near that size.

Red-breasted Sapsucker

Red-breasted Sapsuckers, found along the West Coast, from southern Alaska to southern California, are common summer residents that are less common during the winter in western Washington. Erika and I took this photo on 1 December 2021 at the Billy Frank Jr National Wildlife Refuge. These woodpeckers were considered to be a race of Yellow-bellied Sapsucker until 1983, when molecular studies suggested they deserve species rank. Sapsuckers get their name from the holes they drill and then mine for sap and insects trapped in the sap. Other species raid sapsucker holes. Rufous Hummingbirds nest near sapsucker holes and often follow sapsuckers as the woodpecker make their sap runs (Walters et al. 2020).

Franklin’s Gull

Franklin’s Gulls breed in the Northern Great Plains and in the southern Canadian prairie provinces. These gulls winter off Peru and Chile. They migrate south, most passing over Panama on their way south. In western Washington they are uncommon fall migrants and very rare at other times. One was reported from Tolmie State park in late October. This observation is actually my second for Thurston County. On 16 August 2020, Erika and I photographed one in Olympia (https://dantallmansbirdblog.blogspot.com/2020/08/franklins-gull.html).

Even for me, waiting until 30 November to see the bird gave it more than ample time to depart. I tried unsuccessfully for it a couple of weeks ago. On a rainy end of November, I returned and found the Franklin’s Gull sitting solitary on the beach at the park. The gull was probably not in peak health—I suspect vagrants seldom are. The bird’s belly was an odd, muddy color—probably not a healthy symptom. After walking towards me and then swimming a short distance off the beach, the bird flew. I might mention that I stood still and did not try to approach too closely. The bird appeared to be circling, waiting for me to leave.  

Bufflehead

Although not a stellar photo of a pair of Buffleheads, I liked the mood it presents. We took this image on a foggy 21 November 2021 at Olympia’s Capitol Lake. Buffleheads are the smallest North American diving duck. This size allows Buffleheads to breed in holes abandoned by Northern Flickers. Tree cavities are often a scarce commodity and females often return to their nesting areas, keeping the same mate over several years. Buffleheads also breed in human-made nest boxes.