A Christmas Quest

What would qualify a bird to be the native, Union Bay Christmas Bird? It could be a bird that visits Union Bay only in during the winter. This swan for instance returned to Union Bay around the first of December.

By the way do you know whether this is a Trumpeter or a Tundra swan? If you would like to determine which it is you can read, Trumpeter vs Tundra. While beautifully white and elegant it still doesn't really make one think of Christmas, although it does make me think of snow.

(Speaking of birds and Christmas you might enjoy the following birds from the 12 Days of Christmas which popped up while doing research. Click here to see it. )

Given that Christmas colors are red and green maybe we should focus on birds that show us both colors. For fun you might try to list all the Union Bay birds you can think of that qualify.

There are a number of birds that almost qualify. These birds have green but their "red" coloring is reddish brown at best.

So we can discard the Mallard, the Northern Shoveler and the Green-winged Teal because their reddish color is not sufficiently red. Sadly, the Green Heron's colors must also fall in this category even though they are very complimentary.

What about hummingbirds? Does the Anna's hummingbird actually reflect red as well as its normal green?

Yes, it does reflect red sometimes, but it is generally more of a purple red so it still doesn't quite have that Christmas color feeling.

The Bufflehead generally appears to be a black and white bird. However when the light catches its iridescent feathers just right the Bufflehead seems to explode with color.

Still the reddish color is also more purple than red. Click on the photo to see a larger more colorful version.


What about the Common Merganser?

Now we are getting close. The green on the head is right and the red on the beak is almost right. The rest of the body doesn't make one think of Christmas. As a matter of fact the head and body actually don't even look like they belong together.

 What about the Wood Duck?

It has a crazy mixture of colors which tend to make one think of a child's toy that could be given as a Christmas gift.

The closer one looks the more the Wood Duck seems appropriate as the Christmas Bird from Union Bay. Not only does it have the green and red but it has a wild iridescence that can range through blue and purple as well. 

Does this make you wonder what causes some feathers to be iridescent? Here is one answer, Click Here.  (If you have trouble sleeping tonight, click on and try reading this link, iridescense.)

If you think of another bird you would like to recommend as the Union Bay Christmas Bird please send in an email with a photo or leave a comment below. The first photo of each new type of red and green, Christmas Bird will be added to the post with the name of its "discoverer".

Happy Holidays!

Larry


Odds and Ends:

By the way we had a Summer Tanager visit Seattle last week. If anyone has photos of this beautiful red bird and would like to share, please send them in and we will add them as well. Even though this bird lacks any green color, because it wandered so far from home to visit Seattle just before Christmas, it seems fair to consider it our honorary Christmas Bird of Seattle for 2012.

On another note, here is a Snowy Owl related email from a reader who is interesting for her premonition, location and philanthropy.

Hi Larry

I was staying at the 11th Avenue Inn on 11th Avenue ;-> in Seattle when the snowy owl was there.  Seeing the snowy owl was one of the highlights of my vacation.  She was absolutely beautiful!!!  She chowed down on the seagull as any number of us oh-ed and ah-ed about how wonderful she was.

One of the stranger twists of her "stay" for me, was the evening a photographer was taking pictures with a spotlight focused on the snowy owl.  I said I thought the bird must be injured or sick to let us get as close as we were to her.  He preceded to tell me how the snowy was fearless because she was the top of the food chain.  He might have been right but I was concerned about local dogs seeing her.

I was quite pleased to hear she had been picked up by the rescue organization. I am sending a donation to that organization.

So thank you so very much for your update on the snowy owl of 11th Ave!  I have wondered about her recovery since returning home.

Your own photos of snowy owls were WONDERFUL and your "guest's" photos of the green heron were also delightful!  Loved those red dragonflies :->!

Good birding
Belinda
Munich, Germany

Green Heron Hunting

Bill Anderson responded to the earlier post titled, "Great Blue Prey" by sending in the following Green Heron Hunting photos and story. A complete contributor posting including a biography section is new territory for Union Bay Watch. I hope you enjoy this change of pace.

Bill's Green Heron Hunting Story:

Last summer a fellow Edmonds bird photographer told me that he had seen a green heron in the small pond at Scriber Creek Park in nearby Lynnwood. On 8/30/12, my son Daren and I drove over to check it out. The heron was hidden in the shadows on the south side of the pond and flew across to the north side as we approached.  I snapped some photos of the heron in flight using the "walk & stalk" weapons of choice from my photo arsenal: a Canon 5D Mk III + 100-400L telephoto zoom lens.

The heron looked as though it were going to remain in the sunshine on the north side of the pond for awhile, so we returned to the pickup to drag out the heavy photo firepower: my long range package of a Canon 7D + 1.4 teleconverter + 2.8/400L telephoto lens mounted on a heavy duty tripod.  The cropped frame sensor of the 7D coupled with the 1.4 teleconverter gives me an economy class .35mm equivalent of a 4.0/876mm telephoto lens. 

The heron initially stalked dragonflies, some of which are visible in the photos.   

(Did you see the two red dragonflies in the previous photo? Larry)

It found a large bullfrog tadpole...

...which had not quite developed into a full grown adult ...

    ...and ate it.

The Frog Lady, whose shop is at the Edmonds Marina, told me that the bullfrog is an invasive species which threatens our native amphibian population, 

...so bravo for the heron. 

Bill Anderson's Birding Bio:

Larry: When and what inspired you to get interested in photographing birds? 

Bill: I have always been interested in nature since I was a kid and I began photographing trains back in the 70's.  It was only natural to take up photography after I retired nearly six years ago. Birds are all around us and the easiest of the wild creatures to find and photograph. Without the costs of purchasing and developing film, the new digital cameras make learning relatively easy and inexpensive after the initial capital investment in photography equipment.

Larry: Tell us about the one, single bird siting that you found most enjoyable?

Bill:  I find all bird sightings enjoyable.  One of my most memorable occurred last year when I spotted a snowy owl for the first time.  It was sitting on the roof of a house in Edmonds only about two miles from my home.

Larry: Are you an active member in any birding organizations or activities?

Bill:  I am on the planning committee of the annual Puget Bird Fest in Edmonds.

Larry: What books, software, birding gear, etc. would you recommend to someone who is interested but never done any birding?

Bill:  Being firmly rooted in the 20th century, I forego the latest electronic gadgets with the exception of my high end (Canon) digital camera equipment.  For our local birders, I recommend "Birds of the Puget Sound Region" by Bob Morse et al, which is available in many local book stores.  It is small enough to take to the field in the pocket of a jacket or cargo pants and it contains 99% of the birds you will see locally. Keep that heavy Sibley's at home on the bookshelf, as most of the birds in it are not found in our area. I also recommend local birders subscribe to "Tweeters", an internet bulletin board, where members report recent bird sightings in Washington and adjacent areas in Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia.   

I hope you enjoyed Bill's story as much as I did. Please let us know what you think.

Thank you!

Larry

Odds and Ends:

Capitol Hill Snowy - Freedom!

After weeks of anticipation the Capitol Hill Snowy Owl was released this morning! Her arrival to Volunteer Park was anticipated by a wide variety of Seattleites. 

The variety extended from Ambre's young son, Loren, who was dressed up as an owl...

(Thank you to Barbara Deihl for this very sweet photo and to see another shot (Click Here). 
...to bird watchers and photographers of both the amateur and professional variety. 

The hundreds of Seattleites at Volunteer Park respectfully left the Snowy Owl a grassy runway to freedom. 

There was a brief introduction.

Thank you to Doug Schurman for this photo and for three other in-flight photos below that display his name.

Then upon release the Snowy immediately took to the air, flying precisely down the middle of the runway.

 Thank you to Joe Sweeney for the next four photos, especially the first two which are so amazingly well balanced.

Her flight to freedom was truly majestic and beautiful. Thanks again to Doug Schurman for the next three photos.

Not surprisingly the Snowy was chased by a few of our Seattle crows. 

Still neither the people nor the crows seemed to bother the owl too much. With calm stately wing strokes she simply pulled up above the trees and disappeared to the northwest. Free at last.

The folks at Sarvey Wildlife Care Center obviously deserve tremendous credit for this rescue and rehabilitation. As this bird took to the air it looked nothing like the sad, hungry, injured bird we saw huddling above the remains of gull a few weeks ago. Today the Capitol Hill Snowy is clearly healthy, strong and ready to find her own way in the world. Thank you to Sarvey WCC, Kestral, Suzanne and all the others who give of their time and love.


As the Snowy flew to freedom the moment was truly magical. For me at least the beauty of the bird exceeded that of the most beautiful artwork. The fact that literally hundreds of people would turn out for this moment tells me there is hope for the future. Maybe we will be able to figure out how to co-exist with nature in a healthy way. The history of Union Bay has numerous examples of abusing nature and also some very special cases of restoration. Will we continue the restoration or the abuse? (If we could clean the water of Arboretum Creek enough for salmon to successfully spawn, it would be a clear indication that we have begun to learn how to co-exist with nature.)

Kestral from Sarvey Wildlife Care Center was surprised that so many people were interested in the Snowy Owl. We the people living around Union Bay have an opportunity to set a new standard for how nature is protected and nurtured within a modern, industrialized city. We have all read the thought, "Think Globally, Act Locally". Restoring Union Bay and Arboretum Creek, is a local opportunity to act. The better the bay is for fish the better it will be for birds and other wildlife as well.

In regards to photographing the Snowy Owl release I looked the wrong direction at the wrong moment and was only able to catch a couple of shots. I would love to publish more of the good photos that others took today. If you would like to see your CHS owl photos added to this post. Please send them to: 

ldhubbell@comcast.net

I will give credit to the photographer and will attempt to keep extending this post as long as with photos keep coming. This will be a new experiment so please have patience with the process.

Thank you to all who shared this magical moment. Plus, a very special thanks to Joe Sweeney and Doug Schurman for sharing their exquisite photos!

Larry

More Photos:

The following photos are from Brian Cruess and give us another angle on the Snowy. Thank you to Brian!

Thank you to Barbara Deihl for sending in this link to photos of this and another Snowy Owl release.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31069968@N08/

Barbara also sent in these photo from Caryn Schutzler. Thank you both!!

Here is another link to the story:

http://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2012/12/08/chs-pics-snowy-owl-doesnt-leave-much-time-for-goodbye-in-volunteer-park-release


Barbara just pointed out two more links to Snowy Owl stories. Thank you! Barbara

In case you missed these...
http://www.komonews.com/home/video/Snowy-owl-released-at-Volunteer-Park-182690261.html


(Correction:  the owl was found in a residential/business area of Capitol Hill, not in Volunteer Park)

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http://www.king5.com/news/environment/snowy-owls-return-to-Western-Washington--182913211.html

Capitol Hill Snowy - Release News

The following email was sent this afternoon from Suzanne West at Sarvey Wildlife Care Center:

*****************************

Press Release:  The snowy owl rescued in the Capitol Hill neighborhood will be released this: 

Saturday, December 8th at 11:00 am       
Release location is Volunteer Park, 1247 – 15th Ave E, Seattle

The Sarvey Wildlife Care Center ambulance will be in the parking lot. Kestrel SkyHawk, SWCC Education Director will be releasing the owl and available for questions. 

This snowy owl captured the attention of the residents in Capitol Hill when it was discovered injured on the ground grasping its prey on 11/13/12. The snowy owl has recovered from its injuries and continues to gain endurance and put on weight. At intake the owl was emaciated. Original weight on 11/13 was 1.47kg, as of 11/27/12 the owl weighed 1.84 kg. 

More details and a photo can be seen on our Facebook post the day the snowy owl arrived at Sarvey Wildlife: 

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151246550134293&set=a.250790759292.137348.250767444292&type=1&theater

Additional photos of this owl before the rescue can be found here: http://www.unionbaywatch.blogspot.com/2012/11/capitol-hill-snowy-photos.html

The Seattle Times and local television networks covered the snowy owl rescue as well.

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2019794050_snowies30m.html

Please direct any questions to Suzanne West at  suzanne@sarveywildlife.org  or call Sarvey Wildlife at 360-435-4817 

Thank you,

Suzanne West 

Executive Director

Sarvey Wildlife Care Center

website: www.sarveywildlife.org

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sarvey-Wildlife-Care-Center/250767444292

****************************

There could be a fair sized crowd there to watch the release. This could be intimidating for the Snowy Owl, however the good news is the owl is now in good health, which will enable it leave the area as quickly as it desires. Hopefully, the owl will be able to return to its formerly anonymous life style, but with added vigor and strength.

Hopefully, photos of the release will be coming soon to a blog near you.

Larry

Great Blue Prey

With the help of Seattle Audobon the Great Blue Heron was selected as the Seattle City Bird in 2003. 

The "S" shaped curve of the neck and head somehow seems appropriate.

Under the circumstances it makes sense that we should know a bit about what the Great Blue will eat. If you would like a fun challenge write down every type of Great Blue Heron prey that comes to mind. Today's blog will not contain the complete, exhaustive list of GBH prey, but hopefully you will find one or two surprises

Around Union Bay the Great Blues eat lots of fish.

When it comes to photography sometimes you have to take what you get. In this case the light is on the wrong side of the heron, however the sun glowing through the fish tail and the bird's beak could not be seen any other way.

They will also eat tadpoles, frogs and anything in between.

If given a chance the Great Blues will even eat insects.

On the south side of Union Bay a dragonfly flew a bit too close to a quiet, but hungry heron. Faster than the eye could follow the heron turned and trapped the fly. Then slowly the heron worked the dragonfly into the prime consumption position. All the while the dragonfly beat his wings like crazy, hoping for a last second reprieve.

Near Whidbey Island the Great Blues like saltwater fish just as well as the Union Bay Herons like freshwater fish.

Could that be a Sculpin?

Whether the fish are wide or skinny it does not seem to matter.

By the way have you ever wondered what their tongues look like?

Check out the bird on the right from a photo taken in Edmonds. (Clicking on the photo will allow you to see a larger version.)

Still the most interesting encounter between a fish and a Great Blue happened last spring at the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. My first thought was what is wrong with that heron?

The next thought was, Is that a growth under its neck? After a few moments it became clear the bird was trying to swallow something. The bird tried and tried, but it just wouldn't go down. Finally the bird spit up a 6" long fish that was nearly as tall as it was long. Before turning and walking away the heron struck out and stabbed the stubborn fish with its beak. As if to say, "I may not get to eat you, but you are not going to live to tell the story."

Still what I found to be the most surprising meal for a Great Blue Heron was seen this week near Stanwood, Washington. The heron was stalking through the tall grass, clearly hunting on land rather than in the water. Suddenly the heron struck. Its head disappeared below the grass and then popped up with a mouse.

The following video demonstrates what seems to be a consistent approach among herons. Prey is generally caught from behind or from the side but it seems to almost always be repositioned and swallowed head first.

http://youtu.be/wgy7zatHcCs

The logical conclusion is, A Great Blue will eat any living creature, that fits down the pipe.

Have a nice day!

Larry

PS: Additional links sent in by readers include:

Thank you to CK Park,

You are right about their prey, which will also include rodents, small birds, and bullfrogs.  i've photographed them lunching on voles at ridgefield and, at juanita bay park, a norway rat and an incredible attempt at a full-grown salmon 

(https://secure.flickr.com/photos/parkgallery/3862874420/in/set-72157618183848099). 

Like crows and gulls, they are nothing if not opportunistic and catholic in their tastes.

Thank you to John Riegsecker:

They will also eat snakes:

Nisqually Wildlife Refuge

http://skygardener.zenfolio.com/p525708831

Theler Wetlands

http://skygardener.zenfolio.com/p416165412

The same day I saw the GBH at Nisqually I saw this American Bittern eating voles:

http://skygardener.zenfolio.com/p832218786/h2cae37ff#h2cae37ff

Odds and Ends:

My good friend and avid birder, Marcus Roening sent this link to a somewhat sad Snowy Owl story. Marcus says, "The title most likely doesn’t apply to all the owls we’re seeing, based on the number of owls that showed up and the same number were around all winter last year.  But, they are immature owls and definitely still learning the drill and some will never get it right."

Click HERE to read the story.

On another note, I just saw my first swan of the winter on Union Bay. It was swimming near the western one of the two new islands. The water level in the lake is as low as I can remember and it has exposed two flat, muddy islands that normally are under water. The birds seem to love them. The eastern island had two mature bald eagles sitting on it. While the other island had hundreds of birds of multiple species.