Yellowstone Birding

Scavenging is an important way of life in Yellowstone, especially in the spring time. During the long Yellowstone winter those animals that are weak or sick often succumb to the weather and die. The carcass, which is preserved by the cold temperature, becomes a food source for predators and scavengers after the snows melt and the land begins to thaw. Some scavengers come with claws, like wolves, coyote, weasels, and bears, while others come with wings.
One of the most numerous winged scavengers that we saw was the common raven. Even though the raven is the largest passerine in North America its high intelligence have allowed it to adapt and thrive in areas populated by man. Another member of the crow family that can be seen scavenging in Yellowstone is the black-billed magpie. Besides scavenging the magpie's diet consists of eggs and young chicks, that it finds in the nest of other birds, ticks, that it picks off of the backs of ungulates, insects, small mammals, as well as seeds and grain.
As with the ravens these birds are intelligent and do well around people. These shots were taken in Mammoth where these birds take advantage of what people leave behind.
We also spotted a Yellow-headed blackbird on our way out of Yellowstone. Although some what similar in appearance to crows blackbirds are actually members of the Icteridae family which also includes orioles, grackles, cowbirds and meadowlarks. Yellow-headed blackbirds nest in the tall reeds in wetland areas. The male will establish a territory and defend it from red-winged blackbirds and marsh wrens as well as other male yellow-headed blackbirds. The male will usually attract multiple females to nest with in his territory. This bird had just finished singing his territorial song from his perch above the reeds when we took this pic.

Sax Zim Winter Birding Fest Northern Hawk Owl and More

There were several other types of birds that I spotted at the Sax Zim Winter birding Festival. On the day that I arrived I spotted a black-billed magpie on Sax road near the intersection with Cranberry. I later found out that there was a dear carcass there that some of the magpie, as well as some other members of the Corvidae family, were scavenging from. The American black-billed magpie is more closely related to the yellow-billed magpie then it is the European black-billed magpie. The black-billed magpie range across the western US, however there is a small population now living in the Sax Zim Bog area which makes it the farthest east extent of their range.
On the Friday which I arrived I also spotted a rough grouse in the middle of Blue Spruce Road. After I took a couple of pics a truck came by and spooked the bird off of the road.
It did not go far. A few seconds after the noisy truck was gone the grouse came back out of the brush and began eating the tiny buds on the bushes lining the road. We did see more grouse on each of the field trips but it was early on both days and still a bit dark.
We did see one of the northern owls that make the Sax Zim Bog well known for its winter birding opportunities. A fairly reliable northern hawk owl has been hanging out on highway 7 near the Zim Sod Farm. The first time we spotted him he was on a short pole in the middle of a field. When a second bus arrived he moved to a higher vantage point in a spruce tree behind a building across from the sod farm. It was cloudy that morning and we were a ways away so the pictures were not really turning out very well.
Sunday after the convention I drove over by the sod farm and located the owl in the same group of spruce. When I pulled of the road to park the owl moved from the top of the tree to a less conspicuous position on a branch about 4' from the top. I set up my camera and was waiting for the clouds to clear and give me some better light. While I waited the owl moved back to the top of the tree and when the clouds finally parted I was able to get a much better shot then I was able to take the day before.
I also spotted a bald eagle on Sunday. When I first saw his large form through the trees as I was driving I thought that he might be one of the larger owns, possibly a great gray, so I pulled over and walked back along the road until I got to an advantage point where I could see around the trees. Fortunately for me he chose that moment to fly across the street and perch on a snag, which was located near the road, on my side of the street, and in perfect light. A lot of birding is a matter of luck.

This is the last of my posts on the Sax Zim Winter Birding Festival, at least for this year. The festival was a great success, thanks in large part to Mike Hendrickson, and I had a great time. I may try to get up to the Sax Zim area again one more time while the winter residents are still around, but I will need to hurry because we are starting to see some of the early signs of spring.

Yellowstone Birding 3: Back to the birds

We did see a few birds during the snow storm on Tuesday. Besides for lesser scaup we also did see a couple of yellow-rumped warblers. I believe that this is a male of the Audubon's variety. There were a few of them scavenging the beach of Yellowstone Lake.

On Wednesday after we finished photographing the male black bear near tower I noticed a guy taking pictures of a blue grouse. The bird seemed to stand still and very close to the photographer as though it enjoyed having his picture taken. I stopped to get a couple of shots myself. As the other photographer moved the grouse seemed to follow him. This happened for a couple of minutes with the bird following behind the photographer.
It was pretty apparent that this bird was very habituated to human contact. I am guessing that he had been fed in the past and was looking for a hand out. He finally stopped following the poor guy and decided to try some more natural food.

While photographing the coyote den on Wednesday I spotted a female mountain bluebird flying around. I managed to snap a shot when she stopped to pose on a branch. We saw several male mountain bluebird during the trip but were not able to get close enough to get a descent shot this time around.
Floating island lake is named because of the small island which appears to be floating in the middle of the lake. Every spring that we have been there we have seen sandhill crane nesting on this small island. This year was no exception.

Since the nest is a little ways from the road I decided to break out the scope and digiscoped a couple of pictures instead of using my Canon.

We also spotted the male foraging the fields to the east of the lake.

Talk about foraging. Birds like crows, ravens, and american magpie, as shown below, were always around the gift shops, visitors centers, and picnic grounds waiting for food to drop. The little beggars reminded me of my cat, always begging for food.