Local guides, including those that specialize in birds, are often listed in travel books or are available through hotels or nature preserves. Trumpeter Swans land in a plowed field to forage for remnant potatoes, grain, and other waste crops. Calling again, the Scrub-Jay perches boldly upright atop a tall tree, its long tail spiking downward. There is an element of luck in birdwatching, and sometimes that luck is mostly bad.
A stiff December breeze blowing down the Columbia River delivers an exhilarating chill.
The Tundra Swan is a bit smaller. What we hear as a blur of sound, the Winter Wren hears as a precise sequence of sounds, the visual equivalent of seeing a moving film as a series of still pictures. The Tundra Swan is a bit smaller. And you often find them together in winter. Both are smaller cousins to the American Crow and the Common Raven.
The prey may change hands several times, perhaps from harrier to Peregrine to eagle. Twenty-five years ago, there were twice as many Lesser and Greater Scaup in North America as there are today. They eat wood-boring insects and insects that nest in trees, including long-horned beetles and especially carpenter ants. A recent bonanza of fossils has intensified debate over how contemporary birds are linked to the extinct dinosaurs.
The evidence and theories are complex.
A pint-sized Northern Pygmy-Owl, not much bigger than a pine cone, hoots from a tree-top on a winter morning.
Although Common Loons rarely breed in Washington State, large numbers do visit during winter.
A recent bonanza of fossils has intensified debate over how contemporary birds are linked to the extinct dinosaurs. Local guides, including those that specialize in birds, are often listed in travel books or are available through hotels or nature preserves.
But its song belies a rather bloodthirsty feeding habit. Sounds painful, if not downright disabling!
And how do songbirds sit on metal perches with no problem?
And how do songbirds sit on metal perches with no problem? Twenty-five years ago, there were twice as many Lesser and Greater Scaup in North America as there are today. Who could have known then that the Peregrine Falcon would become first a casualty and then one of the biggest success stories of all?
Urban owls escape the harsh weather of northern Canada or the Cascade or Rocky Mountains, spending the winter in somewhat milder climes.
Local guides, including those that specialize in birds, are often listed in travel books or are available through hotels or nature preserves.
A Red-tailed Hawk soars on broad, rounded wings, the epitome of effortless flight.
Calling again, the Scrub-Jay perches boldly upright atop a tall tree, its long tail spiking downward.