Gophers to Rave About

I've talked about it over on the Facebook side of, "The Wild Airport" but I don't think I've touched on it over here -- it being the simple fact that whenever the airfield sees heavy rains many gophers are flooded from their burrows.

We in Operations end up removing a good number of these drowned lil' critters and with good reason. Flooded out, dead gophers attract predators, and the longer they sit out the more predators they bring in. I remember one year after a really heavy rain we started seeing a whole lot of hawks, crows, ravens, and vultures near the approach end of main runway. This influx of bird activity presented a huge threat to the safety of aircraft using our airport and as such I finally just walked the infields with a bucket to collect them up. I ended removing nearly six five-gallon buckets full of dead gophers, which did greatly reduce the interest of the birds.

Here a Common Raven (Corvus corax) circles me as if to show off it's catch.

No Lesser To Me...

They may indeed be Lesser Goldfinch (Spinus psaltria) but they are still plenty fascinating to me. This certainly isn't the first time I've seen them working the downy seeds of flowering plants on the airfield, but this was the closest!

Cassin Quite a Ruckus

So the first thing I notice other than the vocalizations of kingbirds in the area, is this Red-tailed Hawk being harassed by some smaller bird. I thought maybe it was a Northern Mockingbird, however after review of the photos I see that it is indeed not a mockingbird. It is instead being tormented by kingbird -- quite a bit of pluck for bird that's considerably smaller than the hawk! What would motivate such a persistent attack? A near-by nest? Probably.
I went on about my business until the chatter from these kingbirds piqued my curiosity. It was then that I noticed the parental activity -- back and forth, to and from and light pole on the ramp next to me. I cruised over to investigate further and guess what I discover? Sure enough two adult Cassin's Kingbirds (Tyrannus vociferans) are feeding one, possibly two chicks.

A Red-tailed close up

I tried something a little different today. Something which I've only done once so far; I got out of my work vehicle and attempted to get as close as I could to my subject. I managed to get pretty close -- granted this is a juvenile.

The Bluebird Bar

 Western Bluebird Sialia mexicana

This little fella surprised me the other day. I thought I had simply gotten lucky and discovered him atop a bollard next to where I park my work truck, but there was more to it than merely a simply encounter. I crept up to him as close as I could while he was perched atop the bollard and then he flew off. I had some things to unload from the back of the truck, so I started in on that. As I unloaded I noticed that he had returned, however this time he was atop one our building services' Rubbermaid wheeled trash carts that was upside down. So I grabbed my camera, stood still, waited, and observed. Well, guess what he was up to? 
He flew down from the wheel to the ground, then flew over to edge of the cart's upside down lip and began to drink. See we had had a decent rain a few days back and because the overturned trash cart had stayed in shade all that time the rain water it had collected had not evaporated and our bluebird had discovered this along with a few of his friends!

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)