Keeping watch

Keeping Watch

In the morning

When I began to wake,

It happened again

That feeling

That you, Beloved,  

Had stood over me all night

Keeping watch,

That feeling That as soon as I began to stir

You put Your lips on my forehead 

And lit a Holy lamp 

Inside my heart. 

Hāfez was a 14th century Persian lyric poet and Sufi mystic. Honoring his poetry about keeping watch somehow fits my favorite eagle pair. They are so very devoted to one another, especially as they begin a new nesting season. They, too, are mystical while at the same time quite predictable.

As we round the corner where their aerie is tucked just out of sight, papa eagle patiently watches from a favorite snag on one side of the nest. From a distance, he looks like a giant pinecone capped with snow.

Mama must be carefully tending their eggs. Last year, we started seeing her at the end of April and "junior" a few weeks later. 

So now we keep watch, with occasional trips to the delta to sustain the Beloved.

Returning to keep watch from the other side. 

I'm gradually adding new images to my Talons Gallery. Let me know if you have favorites from past blog posts.

 

Hatchlings ahead?

 

My favorite bald eagle pair are spending more time near their nest, but not in it. Looking back at when I first started photographing them a year ago, it looks like they were tending eggs in April. So perhaps soon we'll see mama on the nest and papa guarding from the snag.

 Yesterday, we saw both land in a tree near the aerie. Then papa flew off to the delta and mama flew to the snag.

Coming soon, segments from my book, tentatively titled "Learning the Eagle Way, a raptor's rhapsody."

In the meantime, take a look at my Talons Gallery.

Snowy owls

This winter Washington experienced a much larger influx of snowy owls than normal. These magnificent birds have been reported everywhere from wildlife refuges to city rooftops. Normally quite rare here, the word is these tundra-dwellers experienced a population explosion up north, followed by a population crash among their favorite prey animals: lemmings and voles.

In January, birders talked about seeing a pair of snowies at Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. I have been at the refuge frequently this winter and saw lots of other wonderful birds but no snowy owls.

I decided to take a trip over to the coast to visit an old friend and see if we could spot any snowy owls. A couple of weeks ago, local birding sites were showing reports that snowies were still hanging around Damon Point, a windswept spit of land about a quarter mile wide with Grays Harbor on one side and the Pacific on the other.

Hoping to see one or two, we talked to people returning from the point as we headed out. All said they saw two or three owls. We took the bay side trail and saw a few water birds but no raptors. We approached the tip and stopped for lunch. Over the grassy area between the two waterfronts, there were a few photographers taking up position. That's when we spotted two owls sitting on a log and two more beyond. Altogether, we saw seven snowies, all looking like they were ready for an afternoon snooze.

Unlike many owls, snowy owls are diurnal and hunt day and night. The owls we saw are youngsters. Adult male snowies are pure white. Females have some black. Juvenile males and females have quite a bit of black bar markings. They were all quite tolerant of human and even dog activity. They allowed people to get pretty close, maybe within 30 feet.

Urban eagles nesting

My favorite eagles have been adding fresh branches to their urban aerie. The branches look cut with human tools during the clearing that's been happening on our trails. I spotted this pair carrying branches from the trail near my house a few months ago after a wind storm. Maybe next month there will be eggs to nurture.Their nest is in a ideal spot protected from winds and predators. It makes it tough for photographers to get a good view of growing babies though.

"Listen! I think I hear a human!"

I'm going to try out some names for this pair, other than mama and papa eagle. Maybe Adonis and Aphrodite or Artemis and Orion. Last year, I called the papa eagle (on the right in this photos) "Spot" because I could see him like a white spot in the trees. 

Raptors up close

Peregrine falcon

I splurged part of my tax refund on a 400mm zoom and have been itching to try it out for the past week. With a break in the rain, I headed for the Nisqually wildlife refuge this morning. Low tide was at 10:30 a.m., so I figured there would be lots of activity. There wasn't so I think I will stay with my usual visiting time of late afternoon. The few birds I did see were quite far away, so a good test of the new lens.

I misidentified the peregrine as a Cooper's hawk but thought it might be a peregrine because he was so high in the tree. And I always think northern harriers are red-tailed hawks, until I compare my photos with my bird books at home (too heavy to take along).

Northern harrier

Northern harrier close up

Juvenile bald eagle far in the distance

Raptor rhapsody

 

I watched a hunting northern harrier for more than an hour today at the wildlife refuge. No surprise why the fighter jet was named for these fast agile raptors. I think this one's a female. Most males have more gray, so I mistook her for a smaller red-tailed hawk.

A pocket guide I've for many years titled "Talons" says that "when in doubt, call it a red-tailed hawk." Juvenile bald eagles can be mistaken for golden eagles or red-tailed hawks, for example, because they change so much during their first 2-3 years.

Harriers have a pretty distinctive flight pattern–low over the ground in search of prey. Kestrels also hunt low to the ground but are much smaller raptors. She found something scurry into an underground burrow, tried to dig it out, then flew off to try another hunting area.

Let me know if you have a favorite anywhere in this blog that you think I should add to my Talons gallery. I'm getting ready to add a few more images. Thanks for reading and thanks for your support.

The many moods of Jim

Jim the hummer

This weekend,  we've had a dusting of snow and overnight deep freezes here in western Washington. At daybreak Jim, my resident male Anna's hummingbird, takes up his post in the plum tree a few feet from the feeders on my porch.

If I puff myself up, I'm bigger than you, finch!

At one point, there were three males and one female in the birdie spa, although not all at the same time. "Buzz," another male, must be kin because Jim tolerates him at the feeders for quite awhile before chasing him off. There must be a kind of winter code among normally territorial hummers. Food is scarce and no one is quite sure why Anna's winter here and elsewhere in the west. Most hummingbirds migrate south. Jim stayed in the tree until sundown, along with 2-3 dozen finches, juncos, chickadees, and pine siskins. The only time he left the area was to chase off another hummingbird that was spending way too much time at his feeders. I have been photographing hummingbirds for the past several years. To see others, visit my Hummer Gallery.

Scarf? I don't have no stinking scarf!

Now I'm really seeing red! Scram!

Time for a stretch

This is my unicorn impression.

This is my phoenix impression.