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Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) photos by Larry Jordan
One of my favorite things about winter in northern California is seeing my first Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) and hearing their short little tchup, tchup, tchup call, which I usually seem to think is an American Robin calling.
They come down from their breeding grounds in the higher elevations, where they sing that beautiful flutelike song, to partake of the fruit or pome of my Photinia bushes. Range map courtesy of Birds of North America Online.
They stay fairly well hidden in the shade of the bushes for the most part but occasionally flutter into the open while snagging a berry, similar to a Black Phoebe hawking an insect.
Occasionally they will briefly be seen in the leaf litter on the ground but…
more often they are noticed on a perch, cocking their tail and dropping it slowly
This week I watched two Hermit Thrushes as they quickly flew out of their hidden places to snatch a photinia berry and disappear back into the bush before you could say “Catharus guttatus.”
But every once in awhile, they would work their way to the outer branches and pause just long enough to catch them red berry beaked!
If you like seeing birds form all over the world, you will really enjoy World Bird Wednesday. It’s even more fun if you join us and post a photo of your own!
Gray Wolf (Canus lupis) photo courtesy of Rocky Mountain Tracking
Our environment is under attack by the United States Congress! Current members in the U.S. House of Representatives have cast the most anti-environment votes of any Congress in history.
You can read the minority report in its entirety from the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce here.
The conclusion of this report is:
The House was in session for 165 legislative days in 2011 and took 191 anti-environment votes during that period. On average, the House Republicans averaged more than one anti-environmental vote for every day the House was in session.
More than one in five of the roll call votes taken in 2011 – 22% – were votes to undermine environmental protections.
On average, 228 Republican members of the House – 94% of the Republican members – voted for the anti-environment position during these roll call votes.
On average, 165 Democratic members of the House – 86% of the Democratic members – voted for the pro-environment position.
The anti-environment votes included 27 votes to block action to address climate change, 77 votes to undermine Clean Air Act protections, 28 votes to undermine Clean Water Act protections, and 47 votes to weaken protection of public lands and coastal waters.
The Environmental Protection Agency was the target of 114 of these votes; the Department of the Interior was the target of 35 of these votes; and the Department of Energy was the target of 31 of these votes.
I don’t know about you, but this kind of news scares the hell out of me! We obviously need to keep an eye on our elected officials and write letters or send emails to our representatives when they are doing the right things, and most definitely when they are doing harm to our environment.
When congress begins erasing the environmental safeguards we have been putting in place for decades and strips away protection for the planet’s biodiversity, we need to act.
You can check out how your legislators are doing by checking this Conservation Report Card from Defenders of Wildlife. You can look up records of individual Congressmen both from the House and Senate on that page.
I found this cartoon from Joe Liccar depicting the U.S. Congress score card and thought it was way too generous.
Washington, D.C. — Today, the Obama administration rejected the permit for the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline sought by Canadian oil firm TransCanada, determining that the project was not in the national interest.
President Obama listened to the American people and stood up to Big Oil by rejecting a critical permit for the tar sands pipeline. His game-changing decision represents a victory of historic proportions for hundreds of thousands of committed environmental activists who have waged an uphill, years-long fight against one of the most destructive fossil fuel projects of our time.
Climate Change: Keystone XL is the fuse to North America’s biggest carbon bomb
Read a full report from Oil Change International showing that the purpose of the pipeline is to give Canadian tar sands producers access to international markets not to supply America with cheaper oil from a “friendlier government.”
Big Oil is sure to fight back and we are mobilizing the public to fend off new attempts in Congress to gain approval for the tar sands pipeline. As House Speaker John Boehner said “This is not the end of the fight. The Republicans in congress will continue to push this.”
I urge everyone concerned with the environment to send a “thank you” to President Obama for rejecting the Keystone Pipeline proposal, a project which would further harm the environment with absolutely no benefit to our country or our citizens.
Links to online thank you letters from environmental organizations:
Falcated Duck (Anas falcata) Male photos by Larry Jordan
A vagrant Falcated Duck (Anas falcata), a bird you would normally see in Asia, was first spotted at Colusa National Wildlife Refuge on December 8th (click on photos for full sized images). Colusa National Wildlife Refuge is part of the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex located about 90 miles North of Sacramento, California’s state capitol.
Colusa National Wildlife Refuge is part of this complex of five national wildlife refuges (NWR) and three wildlife management areas (WMA) found in California’s central valley. It is located about 6 miles east of Interstate 5 on Highway 20. A map of the refuge can be found here showing the location of the viewing platform, auto loop, restrooms and photography blind.
Colusa National Wildlife Refuge occupies 4,567 acres, including seasonal marsh, permanent ponds, and uplands1. It includes a three mile auto loop, a one mile walking trail and a photography blind that you can reserve like I did this weekend
I didn’t see this Near Threatened (NT) species from the photo blind though, it has been visible to everyone from the observation deck at the refuge entrance!
Birdlife International and the IUCN Redlist categorize the Falcated Duck as Near Threatened mainly because of its rapid decline in China due to over hunting2. You can read more about the status of this duck by clicking the link above.
This Falcated Duck drake has been seen in the constant company of a pair of American Wigeon near the observation platform almost daily since it was discovered. Notice I said almost daily. I missed seeing the bird in my first attempt a few weeks ago but I figured I had another shot at him this weekend since I had the blind reserved anyway.
It was lucky Friday the 13th for me when he showed up at about 2 o’clock in the afternoon and moved to within about fifty yards of the platform to the thrill of the birders in wait. He spent most of his time foraging with the American Wigeon pair but I caught this video of him as he bathed and preened.
As you can see, this drake is beautiful with his iridescent green and bronze head and the elongated, arched tertial feathers after which it is named.
Here is a sweet shot of him preening. A good time was had by all!
This post is linked to Bird Photography Weekly and will be linked to World Bird Wednesday on Tuesday morning. Please go check out both of these wonderful bird photography memes.
