USFWS gets jiggy with it?

Government agency doesn't exactly scream hip and modern (with all their regulations and red tape), but the US Fish and Wildlife Service has a fun side.  Check out their version of the Harlem Shake:

It certainly made me smile :)

Maffitt Reservoir

It was unseasonably warm yesterday (plus the Great Backyard Bird Count is going on), so I had to get out and do some birding.  Sundays mean dinner with Mr. Pescador (my fiance)'s family, but I talked him into stopping at Maffit Reservoir for an hour or so first.  Not that it was a hard sell, whether he wants to admit it or not he's something of an amateur birder himself. :)

There were hundreds of waterfowl out on the water. (Click on the photo to see it larger.)

In the foreground we have mostly Canada and Cackling Geese, with a Trumpeter Swan on the right.  There were also some Greater White-fronted Geese (aka "specklebellies") but I didn't get them in this photo.  Swimming in the background we have drake and hen mallards.  And what's that flying in the left hand corner?  Why it's a male Common Goldeneye - note the white wing patches close to the body and the white belly (if this photo were zoomed in better you could also see the white cheek patch).

This was my first time at Maffit but I'll definitely be going back.  It has a little bit of everything - water, some marshy areas, some prairie, and wooded hills and valleys.  When I was being paid to do bird surveys most of my sites were woodland or forest, so it just doesn't feel like a successful bird trip to me if I don't get some of those species.  Finding them is like running into old friends.  There was a fair amount of foot traffic, including some people with dogs, and there were some fishermen out on the ice, so the non-waterfowl were staying pretty quiet.  I did find some American Tree Sparrows lurking in the bushes, so I got a better photo of one.

Sorry for repeating species, but I know these birds will be gone soon so I'm enjoying their presence while it lasts.  And the reservoir had one last surprise we were heading out...

An American Coot!  This is Mr. Pescador's favorite bird, he calls them "little black ducks" - mainly because he's teasing me, he knows they aren't ducks.

Big Creek SP

Late this afternoon I got outside for a little while and headed to Big Creek State Park.  Is "eBird stalking" a thing?  It probably should be - I chose Big Creek because some sparrows I've been trying to see were reported there on eBird over the weekend.  Inspired by the movie The Big Year I've started keeping a year list.  It's fun to start each year with a clean slate and see how quickly I can add species - although this year I've been slowed down with a persistent injury.  That didn't stop me from taking an hour today to try and chase down some sparrows (by chase down, I actually mean observe from a respectful distance which is the reason for my poor-quality photos below; most people would probably know I don't literally mean chase down but this is the internet).

There were hundreds of Canada Geese doing their geesy thing on the frozen lake - squabbling, chasing, wandering about, and then taking off in a huge loud flock for reasons only other geese know.  I did hear a few Cackling Geese in the mix.  I wasn't able to pick out any other waterfowl, but I was driving and there wasn't a shoulder so I couldn't pull over to get a really good look.  I finally settled on a place to park that looked to me like prime sparrow real estate - restored prairie up against woodlands on one side of the parking lot and scrubby woodlands on the other.  I got out of my car, tried to stand as unobtrusively as possible, and waited to see if anything showed up.

I didn't have to wait too long before I heard the quiet sparrow "chip" - a kind of warning/alarm one bird will call out to let the others in the flock know they've spotted something potentially dangerous.  (Random aside: Researchers have discovered that many different species speak chickadee - such as nuthatches, kinglets, vireos, woodpeckers, and other birds that will sometimes hang out with chickadees in a mixed flock.  These other species can recognize a chickadee alarm call so they can hide too when a chickadee spots something.  Another random aside: Chickadees have different alarm calls for different threats - meaning what they call when they see an aerial predator is different than what they call for a ground attack.  How cool is that!)  Anyways, the sparrows must have decided I wasn't too threatening, because pretty soon they popped up into sight.

Success!  Note the red crown, red stripe through the eye, and black dot on the middle of the chest - American Tree Sparrow.  These birds will head up to northern Canada to breed, so I guess this is their idea of a "warm" place to winter.  Normally I'd disagree but today it was mid-40s and sunny with only a slight breeze, so pretty spectacular for February.

Also seen and heard were Red-bellied Woodpeckers, a Hairy Woodpecker, American Crows, American Robins, Black-capped Chickadees, a Mourning Dove, the geese, and some White-breasted Nuthatches.  Most of the birds kept their distance, but I got some more photos of a nuthatch - this time a male.  This one was very accommodating and stopped to show me his solid black cap before continuing on around the tree searching to bits of food.

These guys (and gals) will cache food for later by hiding it under bits of loose bark.  At my last job, I was lucky enough to have my office at a state park.  One of my coworkers hung some bird feeders in front of his office's window, and one day while we were having a meeting a nuthatch started tapping on the window.  Coincidentally (or not?) the feeder was empty.  So the nuthatch was either letting us know he wanted more food, or was investigating his reflection.  Or perhaps something else entirely, I can't say I know what goes through a nuthatch's mind...

Jester Park

I spent about an hour birding Jester Park today.  I split my time driving (stopping when I spotted or heard birds) and in the blind.  I was hoping for redpolls, even though they haven't been spotted around the lake in a couple weeks, but struck out.  Instead I just enjoyed the residents.

This Downy Woodpecker was digging through the safflower seeds - I don't know what he thought he would find beneath them (peanuts or sunflower seeds?) but all he found was more safflower.  That didn't stop him from flinging them everywhere though.  Note the small beak size compared to the head (meaning it's a Downy and not a Hairy Woodpecker), and the red patch on the back of the head means it's a male.

The White-breasted Nuthatches were busy chasing each other (and the Black-capped Chickadees) and caching seeds but I snapped a photo of this female when she paused.

It's not shown very well in the photo, but the dark cap on the head isn't solid black - it's dark/slate gray instead.  Male White-breasted Nuthatches would have an all-black cap and nape.

All the birds seem to be gearing up for the breeding season - chasing and singing.  That means spring is on its way!