Tag Archives: juvenile

•

Drew McCalley found this young Cooper's Hawk perched on top of his bird feeder recently. The hawk wasn't looking for birdseed, that's for sure. Cooper's Hawks eat smaller birds.

If you see a hawk staking out your bird feeder, you could take the feeder down for a day or so, encouraging the hawk to move on.

Cooper's Hawks are very agile fliers and very fast! They are year round residents of the Mendonoma Coast.
To hear their calls, here is a link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/coopers_hawk/sounds.

Thanks to Drew for allowing me to share his photos with you here.

•

Though this photo wasn't taken off the Mendonoma Coast, we do see Humpbacks this time of year. Jan de Vries was traveling in Panama a few weeks ago when he took this photo. It's such a wonderful photo that I couldn't resist sharing here with you.

We have a storm front approaching the Coast, the first rain we have seen in three months. Our rains usually don't begin until October. As we've had a very dry year, we are welcoming this storm!

Thanks to Jan for allowing me to share his great photo with you here.

•

Connor Angwin was visiting home recently and found this young Sea Lion in the tide pools at Arena Cove in Point Arena.

Here's what Connor wrote, “Last time I was back home I was at the Point Arena Pier taking some pictures and came across this young Sea Lion taking a dip in the tide pools. I ended up taking a bunch of pictures, but this is my favorite. Living in Los Angeles for the past ten years, I appreciate growing up in Gualala on the north coast that much more.”

Thanks to Connor for allowing me to share his beautiful photo with you here.

• 2 Comments

•

Peter Baye was kayaking on the Navarro River when he saw this adult Black-crowned Night Heron.

Peter let his kayak drift towards the Heron and didn't move. As he said, it worked! Peter got a great photo. I love the reflection in the river.

Several years ago Peter photographed the juvenile below. There sure is quite a difference in coloring.

Kayaking on one of the Coast's wild rivers - sounds idyllic, doesn't it? Thanks to Peter for allowing me to share his photos with you here.

•

Siegfried Matull photographed a juvenile Western Scrub Jay all "puffed up." He caught the bird molting - growing in its new feathers. For instance, the gray feathers on its head are being replaced with blue ones.

Jays completely molt once a year, an activity that takes place in times of low stress - after nesting and before migration. Other birds that have a complete molt are Chickadees, Flycatchers, Hawks, Hummingbirds, Owls, Swallows, Thrushes, Vireos and Woodpeckers. It's an amazing phenomenon, don't you think? To completely replace each and every feather, that is a lot of energy expended.

To learn more about molting and much, much more about birds, here's a link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: cornell lab of ornithology

Thanks to Siegfried for allowing me to share his photo with you here.