Mourning Dove

 

Erika and I do not see many Mourning Doves in the Olympia, Washington, area. Our paucity of observations is a bit odd since Wahl et al. (2005) write that this dove should be fairly common all year in the south Puget Sound region. Perhaps this situation is due to our mostly birding away from agricultural land, the preferred habitat of these doves. We occasionally see or hear them, especially in the Kennedy Flats of neighboring Mason County, where we found several birds in a forest/clear-cut mosaic landscape on 18 August 2020. 

Mourning Doves are found across North America, through most most of Mexico to southern Canada. Birds vary from dark in the east to pale in the west. Eastern and western races are described, with intermediately colored birds in the Midwest. Otis et al. (2020) warn, however, that genetic analysis inticates that the “separation of these two groups into sub-species [has] minimal genetic support.” 

Striped Meadowhawk

I took these photos of Striped Meadowhawks on 28 July 2020 and 28 August 2020. The first was patrolling Erika’s garden, the second  pair were in tandem at the Darlin Creek Preserve south of Olympia. Striped Meadowhawks breed across most of the American west and are very common in the Pacific Northwest lowlands. The pair are in what is called the wheel position. The male grasps the female’s neck while she collects sperm to fertilize her eggs. The neck hold prevents the attachment of other males, whose first order of business would be to flush out fertilized eggs from previous males.

Autumn Meadowhawk

Autumn Meadowhawks appeared in Erika’s garden on 26 August 2020. These are among the last dragonflies of the season. Fall and winter can not be far ahead. Males, like the dragonfly in the first photo, will become bright red as the season progresses. Kaya Shirao (1738-1791) wrote:

The start of autumn

is decided

by the red dragonfly

Franklin’s Gull

Not the world’s greatest, but this photo confirms the distant presence of a Franklin’s Gull at Olympia’s KGY point on 16 August 2020. Reported the day before, Erika and I decided to drive the two miles from our home to search for this bird. We sat on a park bench when another birder appeared and asked “are you looking for the Franklin’s Gull?” We replied, “Yes, but we have not seen it.” A few moments later, we spied a small gull. “Is that the gull?” I asked. Indeed, it was. 

Franklin’s Gulls breed in the northern Great Plains and the central Canadian Prairies. Most migrate south Mexico and along the Pacific Coast of Central America, to winter in the Pacific Ocean west of South America. This gull is uncommon in Washington during the fall migration, and is rare to casual in other seasons. During the past fifty years, the breeding range has drifted westward, with nesting birds discovered in Idaho and Oregon. Increasing observations in Washington may reflect post-breeding dispersal rather than southward migration (Wahl et al. 2005; Berger and Gochfeld 2020).

Lance-tipped Darner

While Erika and I returned to our car at the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge on 24 August 2020, a dragonfly flew up and perched in the tall roadside grass. With help from Dennis Paulson, we identified it as a Lance-tipped Darner. This species can be told by the female’s large, prominent cerci—the terminal appendages at the end of the abdomen. Lance-tipped Darners are found across the northern United States and southern Canada. Although they are common east of the Cascades, very few records exist in western Washington. The wildlife refuge is only one of two locations were populations are known—the other records are from the Columbia Valley in the southern part of the state. Unlike other darners, this species lives at seasonal ponds that dry up in late summer (Paulson pers. com.). I found Lance-tipped Darners in Minnesota, including in Erika’s Northfield garden.

California Tortoiseshell

On the afternoon of 25 August 2020, on a dragonfly search of the yard, I happened upon an unfamiliar butterfly—a California Tortoiseshell. This species is said to be enigmatic (Pyle 2002). They breed in much of the Rocky Mountain West and in southwestern Canada. Populations build up over the years and then numbers explode, their caterpillars defoliating host plants like Mountain Balm and Deerbrush. The butterflies spread out across the northern Great Plains. Butterflies reach Minnesota, Iowa, the Great Lakes, and even stray east to Vermont. During non-invasion years, these butterflies may be absent. What causes these fluctuations is unknown. 

Band-tailed Pigeon

Anywhere from one to a dozen Band-tailed Pigeons visit our feeders every day. These birds appeared on 20 August 2020. The rather drab immature bird, as evidenced by its lack of a white collar or iridescent nape, is the first pigeon that I have seen in the birdbath. Previously I only saw them occasionally drinking at the water. I call these birds Vulture Pigeons, as they gluttonously consume my birdseed. Erika is more fond on them. Sibley (2014) writes that young pigeons, although most common from June until November, can be observed at any time of the year. These pigeons are only common in Washington in the west and they are usually less common in the winter, when many birds migrate south of us. Apparently Band-tailed Pigeons at bird feeders suffer from outbreaks of protozoan diseases (Wahl et al. 2005).

Pacific-slope Flycatcher

Another bird at the bird bath, although on 19 August 2020, several days after the birds in the previous few posts. This Pacific-slope Flycatcher is the second one I’ve seen bathing. The first was almost in the exact same location and nearly the same time of month as the first, about which I previously blogged. Both birds repeatedly dove at the birdbath, splashing into the water, and quickly flew to a nearby perch. You can see the result of these belly flops, evidenced by the flycatcher’s wet breast.

Red-breasted Sapsucker

On 16 and 19 August 2020,  two young-looking Red-breasted Sapsuckers visited the tree next to the birdbath. Both birds looked down toward the water and both flew over towards the bath, hovered a few seconds, then returned to their original perches on the tree. After another minute or so, both birds flew away, not to be seen again. Curiously, Walters et al. (2020), in the newly published and encyclopedic Birds of the World, do not mention anything about Red-breasted Sapsuckers’ bathing.

Swainson’s Thrush

The exceptionally hot 16 August 2020—with an official temperature of 98 degrees—brought three Swainson’s Thrushes out of the shade of the forest surrounding our home. We enjoyed thrushes singing from the woods all summer. Swainson’s Thrushes normally do not visit bird feeders. But these birds drank and bathed in the birdbath. The second image is of a very young thrush banded on 11 August 2020. Note the heavy molt and the teardrop spots on the bird’s shoulders and wings.