Personality Plus--The Hermit Thrush

Can you find the bird in the photo below?

I saw her land in the rocks, but when movement stopped, I could no longer see her.  I aimed the camera and snapped a few images anyway.  Within a few seconds, she hopped up the rocks and into the grassy area above to forage.

The camouflage function of feathers is fascinating.  I think the Hermit Thrush has a combination of several kinds of camouflage: cryptic coloration, disruptive coloration, and countershading.  In the first, the coloration of the feathers is similar to the environment in which the bird forages or nests causing her to blend with her surroundings.  That would be the soil, sticks, rocks and decaying matter covering the ground--all that gray and brownish neutral you see around the bird that she matches so well.

Disruptive coloration describes the broken blocks of color, such as the specks on her breast, that cause her to blend with the environment even more and not stand out as much as she would if solid brown.  "Countershading" is the dark on top and white underneath phenomenon that is nature's way of taking away the appearance of depth. Without motion to give her away, the thrush flattens and disappears.  Above you see her where I often find her first, hiding in the shrub or foraging underneath in its shadows.

And then, she runs out onto the lawn in pursuit of an insect.

Here's where you will notice something interesting.  Hermit thrushes often forage on the ground with a "quivering" foot , tapping the ground in a strategy that is believed to stir insects. In the image below, you can see one foot is lifted.

 And below, she appears to be listening....for insect movement?  Also notice her lifted right foot.

Hermit thrushes generally nest in higher elevations and more northern states. I am curious about this individual since migration is said to occur in March and early April. It is now mid April and she's still hanging around. I am more than happy for her to stay.  

Links and resources:
Cornell All About Birds on the Hermit Thrush.  Be sure to listen to its song.
More on the hermit thrush

Spruce Grouse in Riding Mountain National Park

One of the Spruce Grouse's primary defenses against predators is the disruptive coloration of its plummage, tricking the eye and enabling the bird's shape to blend with its surroundings.  In addition to this camouflage, the grouse instinctively stops, remaining perfectly still in the presence of a predator.  This behavior makes them very hard to see!  

Christian Artuso, our guide while bird and mammal watching at Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba, was an expert at spotting birds, both finding them as he was driving and recognizing them by sight, movement and sound.  He spotted six Spruce Grouse on the edge of the road, a very exciting moment, a bird high on my list.

We all piled out of the truck with our cameras as the birds scattered into the forest or the spruce branches on either side of the road.  Divided, they were alert and wary but did not leave the vicinity of their flock mates.

Above a male walks alertly toward the forest, and below a female sits motionless under a spruce.  If you did not know she was there, she would disappear, blending completely into the browns and grays around her.

Spruce Grouse are specialist birds that live in the northern coniferous forests, usually in remote areas, feeding on spruce and pine needles much of the year.

Our behavior giving them little reason for alarm, the birds that had flown to tree limbs, one-by-one, flew down to the ground to re-join their flock mates.  Since they seemed to be in no hurry, and even pecked at the ground around them, we, in our separate places, slowly followed.

Walking into the forest with Spruce Grouse is magical.  The thick spruce and pine needles blocked and silenced the relentless wind that had been blowing at 40 mph since our arrival.  Dense piles of peat moss and needles cushioned the forest floor so that with each step, it felt like my feet were sinking into pillows.  Even more fascinating, the grouse returned to foraging and we found ourselves walking along side them as they plucked berries and rose hips from their stems.

An example above and below, of how the female's brown, black and white markings enable her to blend right into the stems and grasses of her habitat.  Without movement, she becomes a clump of dried grass.

This is the third in a series of posts on my journey to Churchill, Manitoba to see Polar Bears including a visit to Riding Mountain National Park.
Also visit my post on the Gray Jays we encountered in RMNP:  Gray Jays--Smart, Bold, Resourceful!

More about Spruce Grouse
Camouflage and disruptive coloration in bird plumage.
Christian Artuso's blog
Riding Mountain National Park
Mooswa Resort
Learn about Polar Bears

Greater Sandhill Cranes—Are We Dancing?

I’m leaving the backyard for a bit to muse about sandhill cranes and their enchanting behavior, a species that captured my heart about ten years ago. But I'm not alone. People have watched them for centuries and used their behavior to symbolize good health, long life, peace and happiness.
And this reverence is well-earned. Like many animal and bird species, cranes mate for life, are territorial and protective of their families, and show emotion, including grief when a mate is lost. Sandhill cranes migrate in large flocks of family groups. You hear them even before you see them, that wonderful melodious call that fills the air and causes you to look up with wonder. And then you hear the tiny "peeps". The juveniles, though nearly the size of their parents, still have their chick voices until their vocal chords mature sometime near the end of their first year.
Animal behavior has always been one of my loves, second only to people behavior. So it was with great pleasure that I attended an eight-hour crane behavior workshop at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in San Antonio, New Mexico several years ago.Sandhill cranes are peace-loving birds but it is their wonderful array of postural communication that allows them to co-exist in harmony while in wintering flocks of thousands. Though they do not require a large territory while staging, they still have territorial boundaries within the feeding area and they protect their feeding space with determination.
The crane above is not dancing. Though elegant and full of grace, he is displaying aggression. Cranes use a variety of postures and vocalizations to let intruders know they aren’t welcome.

Among the postures are the head down position below, showing the bald red patch which can be engorged with blood to intensify color and display aggression or excitement.Above you see a crane family with the male in front with head down, the juvenile in the middle and the female in the back. You will see some mud stains on the adults from painting themselves, a ritual that is of uncertain purpose but believed to be a part of courtship and an assist to camouflage while nesting.
Notice that the juvenile below still has rust feathers on his head and his wings and he has not yet developed the adult white facial marking. The rust feathers on the juvenile are more uniform in appearance than the painted mud stains on adult breeding birds.

The feather ruffling you see below serves as a mild threat called a ruffle threat--a general expression, "you better not mess with me".

And the crane below, after issuing some warning calls, is getting into some serious displays of attitude and intent to defend his feeding territory.
These behaviors are usually sufficient to cause the intruder to back off. But when retreat does not occur the dispute intensifies and dust flies.

Cranes avoid physical disputes whenever possible using calls and posturing. When disagreements escalate to the point of contact, they are settled rapidly and peace is restored. Maybe the human species could learn a few pointers from cranes.

Child-Mind and the Pond

“Child-mind doesn’t question itself, stop to adjust clothes, worry about rules or approval. Child-mind dives in, breathes in the mystery, tastes all of it, the wonder and the intrigue. Child-mind moves without moving. It swims with the pollywog, rides the dasher’s wings, freezes invisible with the frog. Child-mind becomes everything that is.”
--morning pages, 5-10-08, Vickie HendersonWhen I first came to the pond, I couldn’t find the frogs. I asked someone, a wise someone, “are there any frogs in your pond?” He answered, ”yes, there’s lots of them. But they’re hard to see. Just be still in one spot and pretty soon you’ll see them.” And I did. Their camouflage is so flawless they are invisible and they're expert at using it--at being still. It was like looking at a hologram and seeing something wholly different emerge. And this was the day I also met the blue dasher. And through my camera lens I began to notice the different ways he holds his wings.It was by accident that I discovered the one female I saw. I wandered to another area of the pond to see what was happening over there and to find some shade. “Ah! What is this? Two salamanders mating underwater. How intimate. And whose this? A beautiful red dragon fly. What is she doing? Wow--laying her eggs.” I watched her, she was never still. She hovered close to the water's surface, touching it with the tip of her abdomen, depositing her eggs. Dipping up and down, touching the water, making the water ripple in rings. And sometimes when she hovered above the water, I could see the tiny eggs still falling.
Female blue dasher
In this photo you can actually see eggs falling, just above and below the saw-tooth edge of the leaf.

By chance I also saw her mate. He was perched on a long blade of grass, watching, standing guard. That a dragonfly has this kind of connection with his mate, with procreation, amazed me. How incredible, all of it. That these tiny creatures are busy in their pond community, creating life, living the delicate balance. That I could share this intimate moment and join them. That our lives could go by in their busy way and we could miss all of it.

Raptor Rhapsody Festival--Cumberland Gap National Historical Park--Part II

Each time I go to a nature festival, like a walk in the woods, I come home with something new to think about--new information, new friends, new insights, new experiences with nature.  Exhibiting and presenting at a festival stretches that experience to another dimension, one that is especially heart warming and gratifying.

But before I leave my reptile exhibit neighbors, I want to introduce you to an Alligator Snapping Turtle, an incredibly prehistoric appearing creature that kept its keepers busy for three days.  Inhabiting mostly southern waters in the USA, this turtle weighed about 30 lbs though appearing much heavier, and seemed  intent on visiting the world outside his container.  Notice the star-shaped tissue around his eyes that gives the appearance of eye-lashes.  The hunting technique of this species of turtles depends upon camouflage and this  star arrangement breaks up prey's ability to recognize the eye.  

Peter Lindsey, handler from Kentucky Reptile Zoo, picked him up at the request of a visitor who was impressed by his long tail.  The automatic response from the turtle was to open his mouth wide.  Not a set of jaws I would want to accidentally encounter.

This is a defensive response but this same open jaw posture is also his hunting posture.  Peter explained that the worm-like appendage near the end of this tongue, technically called a 'vermiform', functions as a lure.  The turtle, who can stay submerged for three hours, holds his mouth open while at rest and the vermiform moves in the water acting as a lure to attract fish.  Snap!

His sidekick, a Gopher Tortoise, held in a separate dry container, had friendlier jaws and was a touchable exhibit member for the children (and plenty of adults).  Being located beside this exhibit kept me laughing.  I had forgotten how much kids love snakes and turtles!

Next post, a beautiful raptor with liquid eyes and a few other things that warmed my heart.

Links:
Cumberland Gap National Historical Park
Alligator Snapping Turtle--Wiki
Kentucky Reptile Zoo

Stinson Beach, California--Snowy Plover

An invitation from a friend, a plane ticket, an hour's drive north of San Francisco...

and the next thing I know, I'm hiking among giant redwoods, exploring intriguing beaches, discovering new bird species and enjoying spectacular views of the California coast.  Come with me to Stinson Beach!

On my first morning on the beach, I was presented with a life bird--the Snowy Plover--a captivating little shorebird that forages on terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates on barren beaches along the coast and inland waterways.

Even when I knew these plovers were in the vicinity, it was very hard to spot them unless they were moving. Though they are easy to find in the above image, walking on the beach is a different matter.  Their plumage coloration and broken patterns lends itself to blending right into the sand and shadows as you walk along the beach.  

The juvenile, above and below, left tiny footprints in the moist sand as he headed for a depression caused by an earlier human footprint.  Once he settled in, he became still and "invisible" once again.

The bird below, appears to be a female because of her light color, but it is winter (Feb 17th), even in California, and winter plumage in the plover sexes can sometimes be indistinguishable.  

Notice the leg bands worn by the birds in many of the images.  With the exception of the juvenile above, this group of plovers wore multiple colored bands, some wearing red, green, yellow or blue bands arranged in different combinations on both legs.  The placement and color of the bands helps researchers distinguish individuals and aids in monitoring nesting populations and nesting success.   (The bird above has bands of green over red, while the bird below wears red above.)

Snowy Plovers are either endangered or threatened in areas where they occur largely because of degradation of habitat and encroachment by expanding development. Humans and dogs frequently disturb nesting and foraging birds on beaches that are heavily used for recreation.

In fact, the online edition of the Birds of North American on the Snowy Plover published in 2009, describes studies showing that Snowy Plovers are 16 times more likely to be disturbed on a public beach than a protected beach.

In one study, on average, each plover was disturbed every 27 minutes on weekends and every 45 minutes on week days. Feeding rates decreased with human activity and disturbance was noted when humans were within 43 yards of the bird. The birds are disturbed by the presence of dogs at an even greater distance.

In the next several images, plovers in the small group stretch their wings and legs...

preen...

and probe the sand at the base of a low growing plant in search of invertebrates.

These behaviors give the impression that disturbance is minimal, which is what I hope for. I am using a 400 mm lens while lying stationery on the beach and the images I have posted here are cropped, making the subjects appear closer than they were in the moment. As you look at some of the images, however, you will notice that in several of them, the bird is looking at the camera. When a wildlife subject is looking at you, you have disturbed it.     

I thanked them for our short visit, wished them many seasons of successful nesting, and said goodbye to some of the sweetest little shorebirds ever!  

Next:  The rest of my first day at Stinson Beach--the Dipsea Trail.

Links and resources:

Cornell on the Snowy Plover

For more about the camouflage qualilties of bird plumage visit The Hermit Thrush and Willow Ptarmigans in Denali
Stinson Beach, CA

Birds of North America