It was much quieter with the passing of the breeding season but I was surprised to still hear some songs here and there from the local males. The songs were, however, noticeably shorter and often lacking the trill. I didn't get a good look at the singers but it's quite possible there were some hatch-year males testing out their vocal abilities for the first time.
In total we were able to identify 10 different banded individuals. That's not to say there aren't more out there - we birded only a small segment of the lake! The breeding territories have all broken down and most of the white-crowns were spotted grouped together in foraging flocks. Below are some photos Pete was able to snap of some of the color bands:
I love this action shot:
This young bird puzzled us a little because of its plumage - it looks like it just fledged from the nest. Most of the hatch-years we saw had the same characteristic brown-and-tan crown but had gone through a molt to grow in smoother feathers. This guy/gal still has the characteristic "fluff" of a bird fresh out of the nest, which is odd given how late it is in the year.
Some other feathered friends spotted in the morning:
Clark's Grebe
Fox Sparrow
Townsend's Warbler
The rest of Pete's photos from the morning can be found at his Flickr account!
And then happiness of seeing the banded white-crowns foraging about was topped off by this unexpected graduation present from Pete and Linda:
A toast to the birds!
Awesome, I wish I was there to join you guys! The Nuttall's white-crowns have had an incredibly long breeding season this year, maybe due to drought? Anyway, I love seeing Pete's photos and reading this! --Jenny
ReplyDelete