Why is the crowing of a rooster so regular, so persistent? The Upper Skagit River in northwest Washington is a favorite sashimi restaurant for hundreds of eagles. A light snow falls on her back, as her mate roosts nearby. There is an element of luck in birdwatching, and sometimes that luck is mostly bad.
A Winter Wren may dart from hiding to grab a meal. The call of the Common Loon brings to mind a summer visit to northern lakes with sunny blue skies. But with many hawks and falcons, the pattern is reversed.
Does the image of a frozen birdbath bring to mind a small yellow bird with ice skates? The finches nest high in the mountains in summer, and roam the countryside in large flocks in winter.
A pint-sized Northern Pygmy-Owl, not much bigger than a pine cone, hoots from a tree-top on a winter morning. Does the image of a frozen birdbath bring to mind a small yellow bird with ice skates? With names like the Screaming Piha, the Blue-crowned Motmot, and the Black-necked Red-Cotinga, these are not your average birds. A recent bonanza of fossils has intensified debate over how contemporary birds are linked to the extinct dinosaurs.
Snow Geese migrate long distances, stopping at traditional stopover and wintering areas. One piercing, cheerful yelp catches your ear. The Twelve Days of Christmas began as a French secular love song.
Among the most dramatic wildlife sights of a Northwest winter is that of a huge, silent, all-white owl perched out in the middle of the day: a Snowy Owl, visitor from the Arctic.
As the winter sun sinks over the Coulee Lakes, hundreds of Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches suddenly appear, an undulating cloud that swarms into the upper levels of the basalt cliffs. Like our flu, there are many commonly occurring avian types. Sounds painful, if not downright disabling! Its skillful hunting is enhanced by exceptional sight and acute hearing.
Some are designed to help the bird fly or shed water. Yet one immense field appears snow-covered, blanketed in white. When a Black-capped Chickadee visits your feeder, you may find its cousin, the Chestnut-backed Chickadee, tagging along. Local guides, including those that specialize in birds, are often listed in travel books or are available through hotels or nature preserves. A recent bonanza of fossils has intensified debate over how contemporary birds are linked to the extinct dinosaurs. The plight of the gravely endangered Spotted Owl illustrates the imperiled status of old-growth forest in the Pacific Northwest.
Washington's population nests on Wrangel Island in Russia, northwest of the Bering Strait, and winters on the deltas of the Samish, Stillaguamish, and Skagit Rivers.
A Spotted Owl hoots from deep within a Northwest forest, calling out a four-note sequence distinctive of the species.
But the supply is limited.
Some are designed to help the bird fly or shed water.
A Spotted Owl hoots from deep within a Northwest forest, calling out a four-note sequence distinctive of the species. Washington's population nests on Wrangel Island in Russia, northwest of the Bering Strait, and winters on the deltas of the Samish, Stillaguamish, and Skagit Rivers.
Why is the crowing of a rooster so regular, so persistent? Why is the crowing of a rooster so regular, so persistent? the largest and tallest bird on the planet. Along the Columbia River, apples litter the ground, and a few still hang, frozen and thawed again and again. As the winter sun sinks over the Coulee Lakes, hundreds of Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches suddenly appear, an undulating cloud that swarms into the upper levels of the basalt cliffs. Western Scrub-Jays are on the move.
Could this be the same sound you remember from a Saturday morning in your childhood?