Heron lies the truth!

About what, I'm not sure but I am certain that today was the closest I've ever got to a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) while on foot!
Most of the time I photograph from my work truck but this time I figured why not go on foot and see just how close I can get; besides if I spook him then it's a win as well because I still need to scoot him off the airfield. I probably got within about ten feet before he bugged out. Pretty cool!

A Savannah Bath Party!

 We had rain the night before, which is rare in Southern California -- although they say we're going to see much more as an El Nino cycle hits us this winter. The birds don't know about forecast models, but they do know a good place to take a dip when they see one! These Savannah Sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis) wasted no time, despite my presence.

Of Ravens and Pipits

 This Common Raven (Corvus corax) was actually my guide the other day. He had been picking at something out in one of the infields, and had his presence not piqued my curiosity I would not have investigated was ended up being a wildlife strike by an aircraft. What was left of the Barn Owl (Tyto alba) after predation were legs, vertebrae with some of the occipital skull, wings from humerus, some primaries, and body feathers all over the place. 

This American Pipit (Anthus rubescens) happened to stay on the fence long enough after I came to a stop in my work truck to get a few pictures. The second shot made me think of "Grumpy Cat" when I was finally to home and editing!

Red-tailed Ramblings

It certainly has been a while since I've posted anything here. I'll be honest, it's been busy with work, family, and school. I've found it easier to quickly throw something up over on the CTWA (Call of The Wild Airport) Facebook page. So I've kind of decided to keep this for more a "quality" versus "quantity" over on the Facebook side, not to say that there's not good stuff over there. Pop by and you be the judge.

Three Amigos

So just what are these three juvenile European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) up to? Are they newest thing in non-destructive airframe inspection? Are they conducting a pre-flight inspection before they take her up, or just simply trying to figure out this mechanical contraption does what they do naturally? Well it actually something a little more basic than any of that. See if you can figure it out. I'll give you a hint these photos were taken in the morning not long after some light fog had burned off.

Focus in on what I just told you about the weather. It had been foggy.
Visible moisture had been present in the air. What happens to metal while sits out overnight in the open air? What does your own vehicle look like on foggy morning?

 Next, I want you to look a little closer at the surface of the stabilator -- that's the horizontal surface upon which the "inquisitive" bird is standing on. (I did tell you that I have pilot's license right?) You will notice that the stabilator is not perfectly smooth, it has grooves which run front to back. And now guess what these grooves have collected? 

Yup, that's right! Condensation has formed and has pooled enough in the grooves of the stabilators to provide a drink for our three thirsty starlings! If you look close enough you can actually see a droplet of water is this bird's beak. 

Stand by to stand by

So my camera has been in the shop since my trip home to Montana, three weeks ago. In the mean time I've returned to school and I've decided to and a Facebook [page] presence to this blog. So now you can also go to the "Call of The Wild Airport" on Facebook and see more. Available here

Oh it's just another one of Bill's birds

William that is, William J. Swainson.
Swainson, a British naturalist and illustrator best known for the quality of his art and being the first of his contemporaries to use lithography. According to Cornell University our friend here, the Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni) was originally identified in 1872 by Mr. Swainson as a Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) until five years later when French biologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte classified it as it's own species and named it after Swainson.
I've only seen a Swainson's Hawk one other time and it was so far away from that it was only through close examination of the photos I had taken of it that I was able to deduce an identification. So this was Marty Stouffer, Wild America moment!

Something more to peregrine about

During this morning's airfield inspection, while on the runway, I glanced across at something which I thought was maybe a raven across the infield along the edge of the taxiway. Later on as I cruised up the previously mentioned taxiway who do I see but yet another Peregrine Falcon.

Raven about peregrines

 This raven caught me off guard, I was not expecting him to get as close to my truck as he did but he just keep walking closer and closer, until he was probably a good ten to fifteen feet away. It was only after I had stopped taking photos, got the abatement pistol out, and fired a couple of blank starter caps that he and the adult with him (in the distance) took off. Later on, while reviewing the photos after work, I realized he must have been a young adolescent bird due to "patchwork" feathers and his atypically unwary behavior -- none the less it was a rather cool encounter!

Common Raven (Corvus corax)

The next unexpectedly awesome encounter was not just one Peregrine Falcon, but two! I had stopped to check on the progress of an L.A. County Public Works crew that was cleaning out basin of a flood control channel that runs adjacent to airport property and when not cleaned out often enough has provided attractive habitat -- that's a story for another post. Anyways I had stopped to see the progress and as I was glancing over to them something darts past my peripheral field of view -- a Peregrine Falcon! So I quick reached down, grabbed the camera, and snapped off a quick few shots as it passed. Then I heard something -- something like a repeated cry of a raptor. So scanned the area and saw bird sitting on a light pole near the UPS ramp, but even with binos I couldn't be certain of what it was so drove over to investigate. So as in many case I start snapping photos as I approach, figuring the bird will scoot before I can get decently close, but this time I was able to get close -- in fact I got called away on business before I could fully push the limit. All that aside it was super awesome to be able witness and get photos of  not just one, but two truly amazing birds! If you look close enough you'll see it's got bands on both legs; I am still examining the photos to try and figure out who's banded it.

Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)

Kestrels gone wild

female Falco sparverius

In the last month or so we've seen a increase in the number of American Kestrels on the airfield as fledglings take to the skies. They're every where!










                          In the sky,  

another female

          


             


        









             on signs,

two males

          they're on guard rail posts,

they're even on above-ground runway guard lights!










Kestrels are one of the more trickier birds to photograph, as they are real skittish. It's hard to get close-ups, at least with my lens, because most of time if I do get close enough by the time I get the camera up they're gone.

The finch's dodder

This morning, once again, I was at construction sitting there waiting to escort another construction vehicle when I heard the song of a House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) only very close. I looked around and didn't see him. He sang. I looked. Nothing; until I looked over top of my truck's passenger mirror then I saw right there less than five feet from the truck singing away! It's nice to have company.



Another odd thing you'll see growing on the ground in various spots on the airfield is what looks like someone let loose with a can of orange silly string. It's actually a parasitic plant of the species Cuscuta, also known as Dodder or Witch's Hair. Here's some more information from UC Davis's integrated pest management program: Dodder Management Guidelines

No Hola...

There's typically no work in the construction site on Sundays, but today I had to escort a water truck for a couple of hours. So naturally what am I going to do while out there? That's right, I'm going to check-up on my little Horned Lark family! I looked around and didn't see the parents. I figured that I had probably caught them while they were both out -- not the first time. However, as I got closer to the nest I saw nothing. All four nestlings were gone and they hadn't all grown up that quickly! Somebody had got to them. The list of potential suspects is fairly long; a luck coyote that happens on to the nest, ravens which are frequently around (I saw two in the vicinity of the nest on Wednesday), there's our red-tails, gopher snakes, and heck I wouldn't put it past a kestrel either. The fact is the nest is empty.

juvenile Horned Lark

I am reminded that this is the nature of things, even here on this airport, animals will fall prey to predators. But don't you fret because I saw several juvenile Horned-Larks flying about with their parents.





Another fascinating thing to witness was a male lark jumping to reach grass seeds above him!

Hmmmm

Got it!

Hola little nestlings

From one egg to three, to four, and now there are four little nestlings in our Horned Lark nest! If you look closely you will notice that one is even trying to open it's eyes!

Now the mother and father are busy flying back and forth with bugs to feed their young, they also take turns sitting on the nest -- although it's the mother who spends most of the time. They also seem to disturbed by the presence of my truck parking less than twelve feet from the nest, nor my occasional visits.

female on the left, male on the right

Dad checking up on the kids

HOLA part deux

Do you see the nest?

Going out the construction site today I was a little curious to see what had happened to the nest, but not to fret it was still there with mom sitting on it. When she left I hopped out of the truck to check up on the condition of the nest and low and behold there was a single egg! After looking it up on the Cornell site I learned that their clutch size is typically two - five eggs per brood.

Additionally while I was sitting waiting to escort water trucks back and forth I got a couple of lucky once in a lifetime shots of the male almost hovering not far from my truck.