Free email delivery
Please sign up for email delivery in the subscription area to the right.
No salesman will call, at least not from us. Maybe from someone else.
Through the Lens: Yellow-billed Loon | Cornell Lab of Ornithology
The Yellow-billed Loon is the largest and most spectacular of the world’s five loon species. It breeds around the globe in arctic and sub-arctic tundra lakes and is the northern counterpart to the Common Loon. Watch this rare video shot by The Lab’s Gerrit Vyn of a mated pair calling and foraging just after arriving on the partially frozen breeding grounds in Chukotka, Russia.
A film from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. If no film or link appears in this email, go to the blog to view it by clicking on the blog title above. If the film stops & starts in an annoying manner, press pause (lower left double bars ||) to let it buffer and get ahead of you. The Lab is a member-supported organization; they welcome your membership and support. [Chuck Almdale]
Huntington Central Park – A Little Rain: Oct. 13, 2018 Field Trip
A rare rainy day seemed an inauspicious time for a bird walk, but five of us were willing to dampen our shoes and get rain spots on our binoculars. In spite of the concurrent Boy Scout Jamboree, which spread over even more of the park than last year and was very noisy, we saw quite a good number of birds.
White-faced Ibis (Ray Juncosa)
Fortunately, “bird whisperer” Chris Lord was along, and found and identified most of the birds. Much of the water was covered with green algae, which may have kept the ducks away. Most of what was swimming were American Coots, but there were Mallards, plus a few Gadwalls and American Wigeons. Egrets and herons were well represented, including a beautiful Green Heron, and one White-faced Ibis seemed to find a lot to eat. Seven peeps, too far away to identify, were pecking in the shallow water. A Belted Kingfisher swooped around.
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Ray Juncosa)
Warblers were mostly of the Yellow-rumped persuasion, but we also found Orange-crowned and Townsend’s Warblers and Common Yellowthroats. Raptors showed up also: a Cooper’s Hawk blended perfectly into a tree; we had also a Kestrel and a Red-shouldered Hawk. A pair of Northern Flickers, whom we heard early on, finally showed up on the ground between some dense trees.
Townsend’s Warbler (Ray Juncosa)
Happily, the Scaly-breasted Munia, beautiful and well adapted immigrants, and a good reason for birding this park, were found early on. The flower garden boasted a few Hummingbirds, including Anna’s and Allen’s.
Hermit Thrust (Ray Juncosa)
A few Hermit Thrushes skulked in the undergrowth. All in all, 42 species was more than we thought we would see! [Elizabeth Galton]
Adult Red-shouldered Hawk in fine form (Ray Juncosa)
| Huntington Central Park | Bird List – Oct. 13, 2018 |
| Egyptian Goose | Black Phoebe |
| Gadwall | American Crow |
| American Wigeon | Common Raven |
| Double-crested Cormorant | Bushtit |
| Great Egret | House Wren |
| Snowy Egret | Blue-gray Gnatcatcher |
| Great Blue Heron | Hermit Thrush |
| Green Heron | American Robin |
| Black-crowned Night-Heron | Black-throated Gray Warbler |
| White-faced Ibis | Orange-crowned Warbler |
| Cooper’s Hawk | Townsend’s Warbler |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | Yellow-rumped Warbler |
| American Kestrel | Common Yellowthroat |
| American Coot | California Towhee |
| Peeps (too far to ID) | Song Sparrow |
| Anna’s Hummingbird | White-crowned Sparrow |
| Allen’s Hummingbird | Western Tanager |
| Belted Kingfisher | Brewer’s Blackbird |
| Downy Woodpecker | House Finch |
| Northern Flicker | Lesser Goldfinch |
| Pacific-slope Flycatcher | Scaly-breasted Munia |
| Compiled by Jean Garrett | Total Species – 42 |
They may be dressed in black, but crow funerals aren’t the solemn events that we hold for our dead. These birds cause a ruckus around their fallen friend. Are they just scared, or is there something deeper going on?
This is another installment of the PBS Deep Look series; this installment is adapted from the “It’s OK to be Smart” series. If no film or link appears in this email, go to the blog to view it by clicking on the blog title above. If the film stops & starts in an annoying manner, press pause (lower left double bars ||) to let it buffer and get ahead of you. [Chuck Almdale]
Dance: and the Birds-of-Paradise | Cornell / National Geographic
The bizarre dances of birds-of-paradise aren’t mere flights of fancy. Young males inherit those dance steps from their fathers, then refine them through practice and watching adults. Less obvious but equally important are the watchful females—look for them in these video clips. It’s ultimately their choices that decide which dances reach the next generation. The Cornell Lab’s Ed Scholes explains. Filmed and photographed by Tim Laman.
There are currently seventy-two short films in the entire Birds-of-Paradise Project playlist, ranging from 26 seconds to 8:29. In the upcoming weeks, we will present some of our favorites.
A film from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. If no film or link appears in this email, go to the blog to view it by clicking on the blog title above. If the film stops & starts in an annoying manner, press pause (lower left double bars ||) to let it buffer and get ahead of you. [Chuck Almdale]
Blog News – Advertising
You may have noticed advertising appearing on the bottom of emailed blog postings, and on the blog itself. We noticed their appearance starting with the Sept. 28, 2018 posting. There is nothing SMBAS can do about these ads or “you might like” postings. We use a free version of WordPress for our blog and we would have to pay for the ads to go away. WordPress has always had the right to insert these ads which they say “offset the cost of supplying the program for free,” but they haven’t done so until now. Rumor has it that this has something to do with communicating with FaceBook, but we don’t know if that’s true.
We like WordPress and think it’s a very good webhost (and we’re used to it), so we’re going to stay with it. If you don’t like the ads at the bottom, please ignore them. If you save the emails from out blog, you can delete the ads from them while saving our critically important text and fabulous photos.
We’ve put a message permanently into the right sidebar which reads:
Advertising on this site and in the
emails sent to subscribers is inserted
by WordPress and not by SMBAS.
Thank you for your attention.
[Chuck Almdale]
SANTA MONICA BAY AUDUBON SOCIETY BLOG 