June 12, 2011

Bird Fever

Today, on a hike to Lake Mountain, Steve spotted the red-naped sapsucker shown above.  Since we didn't even know there was such a bird until we matched the photo to the name in a bird book, it was quite a find.   This bird is considered a "keystone" species because it drills holes in trees that will produce sap consumed by many other species.
A few days ago, on Pole Mountain, we saw a bird flying out of the bushes and discovered a robin's nest.
A robin parent looked on with agitation while we took photos.  Sorry the photo is blurry, but this is the actual nervous parent.  I'm sure she/he was relieved when we left. 
Meadowlarks flit around our pasture routinely, then perch for awhile on an old fence post or on the irrigation wheel line.  I love their lilting song.  I also love this photo and was eagerly awaiting a chance to use it in a post!

19 comments:

  1. Wow! Great photos. We had a love bird fly into our garage the other day which after no one claimed it we kept it as a pet. It's made me much more aware of all the bird calls in the neighborhood.

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  2. Great post. I love it when I find birds that are new to me. Enjoy the week.

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  3. I'm glad you found a good excuse to post that meadowlark picture -- it's fabulous, but then too are the others. The robin patent does look nervous, but I guess that's understandable.

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  4. Oh my goodness! These are beautiful pictures!!! I love that 1st one....and the eggs...and the yellow bird...Oh they're all so good:)!

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  5. That is a great shot of the Meadowlark. We have a lot of those here too. I think Robins' eggs are the most exquisite color.

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  6. Love the variety of colors!

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  7. Gorgeous! I learned about keystone species from my EarthDoctorSon . . . so interesting. Mycelium are also keystone species, creating a matrix in the soil. Who knew!? Fabulous bird photos!

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  8. Great bird sightings. That Meadowlark capture is excellent.

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  9. Great pics. I really like the meadowlark photo. We had several around the house when it was so cold (below zero) last winter. We had some more a few weeks ago and then they were gone.

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  10. Wow, that bottom picture is great. At first I thought you'd just taken one off the internet. It looks so perfect.

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  11. the meadow lark is my favorite shot. I just love their cheerful song.

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  12. The meadowlard photo is gorgeous. Love those blue egss...not loving the evil look from the parent. :)

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  13. Beautiful photos!! You should submit them to the Wednesday World meme (http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/)
    It's fun!

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  14. Wonderful! The meadowlark is stunning. We have two larks, song lark and wood lark, but neither of them is quite so striking as this one.

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  15. The meadowlark looks like a perky bird! The red-naped sapsucker is new to me.

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  16. The meadowlark is beautiful! Great shots!

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  17. There is no cheerier sound than the song of a meadowlark. Perfect pose.

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