Nomadic Lifestyles
View allAll Photos Tagged Migrator
A shorebird you can see without going to the beach, Killdeer are graceful plovers common to lawns, golf courses, athletic fields, and parking lots. This time the killdeer is behaving like a typical Shorebird, searching the mud flats.
I am honored that this capture has won the second place in the November 2021 Photo Contest in Flickrology.
Kingfisher - Alcedo Atthis
Double click..
The common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) also known as the Eurasian kingfisher, and river kingfisher, is a small kingfisher with seven subspecies recognized within its wide distribution across Eurasia and North Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but migrates from areas where rivers freeze in winter.
This sparrow-sized bird has the typical short-tailed, large-headed kingfisher profile; it has blue upperparts, orange underparts and a long bill. It feeds mainly on fish, caught by diving, and has special visual adaptations to enable it to see prey under water. The glossy white eggs are laid in a nest at the end of a burrow in a riverbank.
The female is identical in appearance to the male except that her lower mandible is orange-red with a black tip. The juvenile is similar to the adult, but with duller and greener upperparts and paler underparts. Its bill is black, and the legs are also initially black. Feathers are moulted gradually between July and November with the main flight feathers taking 90–100 days to moult and regrow. Some that moult late may suspend their moult during cold winter weather.
The flight of the kingfisher is fast, direct and usually low over water. The short rounded wings whirr rapidly, and a bird flying away shows an electric-blue "flash" down its back.
The common kingfisher is widely distributed over Europe, Asia, and North Africa, mainly south of 60°N. It is a common breeding species over much of its vast Eurasian range, but in North Africa it is mainly a winter visitor, although it is a scarce breeding resident in coastal Morocco and Tunisia. In temperate regions, this kingfisher inhabits clear, slow-flowing streams and rivers, and lakes with well-vegetated banks. It frequents scrubs and bushes with overhanging branches close to shallow open water in which it hunts. In winter it is more coastal, often feeding in estuaries or harbours and along rocky seashores. Tropical populations are found by slow-flowing rivers, in mangrove creeks and in swamps.
Like all kingfishers, the common kingfisher is highly territorial; since it must eat around 60% of its body weight each day, it is essential to have control of a suitable stretch of river. It is solitary for most of the year, roosting alone in heavy cover. If another kingfisher enters its territory, both birds display from perches, and fights may occur, in which a bird will grab the other's beak and try to hold it under water. Pairs form in the autumn but each bird retains a separate territory, generally at least 1 km (0.62 mi) long, but up to 3.5 km (2.2 mi) and territories are not merged until the spring.
Very few birds live longer than one breeding season. The oldest bird on record was 21 years.
They are also listed as a Schedule 1 species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act offering them additional protection.
Population:
UK breeding:
3,800-6,400 pairs
Bullfinch - Pyrrhula Pyrrhula (F)
The Eurasian bullfinch, common bullfinch or bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) is a small passerine bird in the finch family, Fringillidae. In Anglophone Europe it is known simply as bullfinch, as it is the original bird to bear the name bullfinch.
The bullfinch is a bulky bull-headed bird. The upper parts are grey; the flight feathers and short thick bill are black; as are the cap and face in adults (they are greyish-brown in juveniles), and the white rump and wing bars are striking in flight. The adult male has red underparts, but females and young birds have grey-buff underparts. It moults between July and October, but males do not have the duller autumn plumage that is typical of some other finches. The song of this unobtrusive bird contains fluted whistles, and is often described as 'mournful'.
This bird breeds across Europe and temperate Asia. It is mainly resident, but many northern birds migrate further south in the winter. Mixed woodland with some conifers is favoured for breeding, including parkland and gardens.
This species does not form large flocks outside the breeding season, and is usually seen as a pair or family group.
The food is mainly seeds and buds of fruit trees, which can make it a pest in orchards: in England for centuries every parish paid a bounty for every bullfinch killed. Ash and hawthorn are favoured in autumn and early winter. If wild bird cover is planted for it, kale, quinoa and millet are preferred, next to tall hedges or woodland.
Population:
UK breeding:
190,000
Spring encounter with a male white-throated sparrow in Anoka County, central MN. This species does not usually nest in central MN.. migrates to northern MN & Canada for that activity.
Visitors: Invited to peruse my photostream & albums for various seasonal images of wildlife/scenics/florals.
A migrating bird from Africa, not what you would expect to see on a cricket field in the UK. A first sighting in England for me.
Taken on the last day before departing for warmer climates.
Collingham, West Yorkshire
Migrating geese stop for some rest and wet grass.
I just saw a fantastic video about migrating geese:
_NZ01418
A song bird makes a brief stop near the Lake Erie shoreline on his journey north during the spring migration. (Explore # 292)
Migrating Monarch butterfly pausing for a moment on its way to points south.
Common, but not abundant.
MOVING LANDSCAPES
Mr Wilde has said that sunsets are out of fashion. This defect
could undoubtedly be covered
up if landscapes constantly moved around. The fact of seeing a
landscape in the same place
- is necessarily boring. The contrary would be charming. And
spectacular. A cluster of
trees migrating under the sky. Or a tree going on its way to the
jungle - alone -straight-
on its countless little, white legs.
But then people would invent cages to trap landscapes. and a
landscape in a cage can't feel
very happy.
Luis Vidales
Translation: Nicolas Suescun
A bird with a distinctive crest on its head, the color is light brown, and its crest is brown, spotted from its edges with black feathers, and the lower half is black speckled with white feathers in beautiful arrangements. It has a distinctive way of flying, and it feeds on insects and sees individuals in agricultural areas. Worms, larvae and pests. Its presence and sighting is a sign of the purity of the environment from pesticides, and it is forbidden to hunt it (as is the case with Abu Qardan and Abu Fasada, as it is not eaten. It lives in the southern and central regions of Asia and Europe and is largely found in Africa, and lives in the terrain, vineyards and meadows, in particular The meadows of the savannah and in the scattered trees, and it is not stable in one place, but it is constantly moving and migrating from one place to another in search of food.
طير له عرف مميز على رأسه، اللون بني فاتح وعرفه البني مرقط من أطرافه بالريش الأسود ونصفه الأسفل أسود مرقط بالريش الأبيض في نظم جميل، له طريقة مميزة في الطيران، ويتغذى على الحشرات ويشاهد أفراداً في المناطق الزراعية، وهو من أصدقاء الفلاحين فهو ينظف الأرض من الديدان واليرقات والآفات. يعد وجوده ومشاهدته علامة على نقاء البيئة من المبيدات الحشرية، وممنوع صيده (كما هو الحال بالنسبة لأبو قردان وأبو فصادة، حيث أنه لا يؤكل. وهو يعيش في المناطق الجنوبية والوسطى من آسيا وأوروبا ويتواجد في إفريقيا بشكل كبير، ويعيش في التضاريس وكروم العنب والمروج وبالذات مروج السافانا وفي الأشجار المتفرقة وهو غير مستقر في مكان واحد، بل هو دائم التنقل والترحال من مكان لآخر بحثا عن الغذاء
Piping Plover
Cape May County, NJ
I have not seen this guy lately so he must be migrating. I did see three migrating juveniles.
My favourite shot a Vireo from earlier this spring. This shot was taken through some low vegetation which is why parts of the bird are slightly blurred, I love the colours and level of detail in this shot!
i got an "ear-full" and ran with the telephoto, i managed to catch a "museum" of waxwings through the trees, they have been passing through our garden for a few weeks now .
happy sliderssunday!
enjoy your week!
♥
Middle Creek reservoire is a stop-over for snow geese on their migration path from Florida to the Arctic, as well as for swans and Canadian geese. Many thousands can be converging on this relatively small body of water, completely covering it in white.
Back to the Garden of the Museum of the Republic, another species found is the domestic goose ((Anser cygnoides domesticus / Anser anser). This type of goose is part of a family of birds that includes ducks and swans.
There are more than 40 varieties of geese. Wild geese inhabit temperate regions, migrating to warmer locations during the winter.
Geese were domesticated in Ancient Egypt for meat production and feathers for making arrows.
In general, domestic geese are more active at night, and due to their territorial sense they can play guard dog functions, as mentioned about Signaler Geese. The captive bird can live up to 50 years.
Something interesting I noticed about the geese and ducks that live in the garden of the Museu da República is that everyone takes care of and protects the goose or duck chiks. So, no matter who are the parents they taking care of everyone.
Actually our storks should have migrated south by now, but an increasing number of them decide to stay here during the winter. Right now lots of meadows are flooded and they seem to find enough food.
Created for KP April 2019 Contest 71.
BiG THANKS to EVERYONE for your personal comments and also your support from selected groups.
Awards are always encouraging and especially appreciated from those add my work to their collection of 'faves'.
Cheerz G
The Eurasian dotterel (Charadrius morinellus), also known in Europe as just dotterel, is a small wader in the plover family of birds.
The dotterel is a brown and black streaked bird with a broad white eye-stripe and an orange-red chest band when in breeding plumage. The female is more colourful than the male. The bird is tame and unsuspecting and the term "dotterel" has been applied contemptuously to mean an old fool.
The Eurasian dotterel is a migratory species, breeding in northern Europe and Eurosiberia and migrating south to north Africa and the Middle East in the winter. It nests in a bare scrape on the ground and lays two to four eggs. The male does the incubation and rears the chicks, the female having gone off to find another male and lay another clutch of eggs. It is a common bird with a wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated it as being of "least concern".
Located in the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains, Lake Mathews is surrounded with the 13,000 acre Lake Mathews Estell Mountain reserve. Home to migrating Birds, Mountain Lion, Coyote and Bald Eagle.
It is a summer visitor, migrating to winter in Africa. It breeds in a variety of habitats in the UK, including arable farmland, wet pastures and upland hay meadows. Serious declines in breeding numbers accross all of these habitats place the yellow wagtail on the red list of birds of conservation concern.
For licensing on my images see: Getty images.
www.gettyimages.co.uk/search/2/image?artist=sandra%20stan...
"Each fall, white-crowned sparrows hop off branches in Alaska and begin journeys toward California, Arizona, New Mexico and west Texas. On their trip of several weeks, flying mostly at night, the tiny songbirds may cut back on their sleep by two-thirds....
Rattenborg and his colleagues wanted to see if the white-crowned sparrows that were sleeping less during migration were punch-drunk while awake, so they set up a test in which birds learned and repeated a three-response sequence of key pecks. The caged birds performed best on the test during fall migration time, when they were getting the least sleep....
When urges to migrate kick in, white-crowned sparrows and other songbirds begin flying perhaps as much as 300 miles at night while staying active during the day. Their ability to navigate, avoid predators and find food in different locations while sleep-deprived is a mystery ..."
Author:
Ned Rozell
Six inches of wet snow fell the morning where we went looking for waterfowl and Sandhill Cranes. This couple was strutting a pure white field in the marsh. Made for a great high key scene with the natural minimalism landscape.
Yes - I nearly got stuck - but experienced in driving in snow.
La Ceja, Colombia; Central Andes; 2.300 meters above sea level.
Piranga rubra
(Summer tanager / Piranga abejera)
The only completely red bird in North America, the strawberry-colored male Summer Tanager is an eye-catching sight against the green leaves of the forest canopy.
The mustard-yellow female is harder to spot, though both sexes have a very distinctive chuckling call note. Fairly common during the summer, these birds migrate as far as the middle of South America each winter.
Red-Bellied Woodpecker (female).
10 inches in length. Barred black and white above, pale buff below and on face. Sexes similar except that male has red crown and nape while female has red nape only. Reddish patch on lower abdomen seldom visible in the field.
Its habitat includes open and swampy woodlands. It also comes into parks during migration and feeders in winter.
It breeds from South Dakota, Great Lakes and southern New England south to the Gulf Coast and Florida. Northern most birds sometimes migrate south for the winter.
Kensington Metropark, Livingston County, Michigan.
Two wet goldfinches (female, left, and male) in the rain. I don't think they mind rain much.
Will be sorry to see them migrate inland and south soon. Already fewer of them.
Kingfisher - Alcedo Atthis
The common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) also known as the Eurasian kingfisher, and river kingfisher, is a small kingfisher with seven subspecies recognized within its wide distribution across Eurasia and North Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but migrates from areas where rivers freeze in winter.
This sparrow-sized bird has the typical short-tailed, large-headed kingfisher profile; it has blue upperparts, orange underparts and a long bill. It feeds mainly on fish, caught by diving, and has special visual adaptations to enable it to see prey under water. The glossy white eggs are laid in a nest at the end of a burrow in a riverbank.
The female is identical in appearance to the male except that her lower mandible is orange-red with a black tip. The juvenile is similar to the adult, but with duller and greener upperparts and paler underparts. Its bill is black, and the legs are also initially black. Feathers are moulted gradually between July and November with the main flight feathers taking 90–100 days to moult and regrow. Some that moult late may suspend their moult during cold winter weather.
The flight of the kingfisher is fast, direct and usually low over water. The short rounded wings whirr rapidly, and a bird flying away shows an electric-blue "flash" down its back.
The common kingfisher is widely distributed over Europe, Asia, and North Africa, mainly south of 60°N. It is a common breeding species over much of its vast Eurasian range, but in North Africa it is mainly a winter visitor, although it is a scarce breeding resident in coastal Morocco and Tunisia. In temperate regions, this kingfisher inhabits clear, slow-flowing streams and rivers, and lakes with well-vegetated banks. It frequents scrubs and bushes with overhanging branches close to shallow open water in which it hunts. In winter it is more coastal, often feeding in estuaries or harbours and along rocky seashores. Tropical populations are found by slow-flowing rivers, in mangrove creeks and in swamps.
Like all kingfishers, the common kingfisher is highly territorial; since it must eat around 60% of its body weight each day, it is essential to have control of a suitable stretch of river. It is solitary for most of the year, roosting alone in heavy cover. If another kingfisher enters its territory, both birds display from perches, and fights may occur, in which a bird will grab the other's beak and try to hold it under water. Pairs form in the autumn but each bird retains a separate territory, generally at least 1 km (0.62 mi) long, but up to 3.5 km (2.2 mi) and territories are not merged until the spring.
Very few birds live longer than one breeding season. The oldest bird on record was 21 years.
They are also listed as a Schedule 1 species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act offering them additional protection.
Population:
UK breeding:
3,800-6,400 pairs
We get large flocks of three kind of migrants this time of year, red-winged blackbirds, grackles and starlings. These are the grackles.
Central Kalahari Game Reserve
Botswana
Southern Africa
The springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis) is a medium-sized antelope found mainly in southern and southwestern Africa. The sole member of the genus Antidorcas.
Active mainly at dawn and dusk, springbok form harems (mixed-sex herds). In earlier times, springbok of the Kalahari desert and Karoo migrated in large numbers across the countryside, a practice known as trekbokken.
Primarily a browser, the springbok feeds on shrubs and succulents; this antelope can live without drinking water for years, meeting its requirements through eating succulent vegetation. Breeding takes place year-round, and peaks in the rainy season, when forage is most abundant.
Springbok inhabit the dry areas of south and southwestern Africa. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources classifies the springbok as a least concern species. No major threats to the long-term survival of the species are known; the springbok, in fact, is one of the few antelope species considered to have an expanding population. – Wikipedia
A few thousand migrating common starlings doing their famous acrobatic airshow near my house. Except for red-winged blackbirds, starlings and Mallards, migrating birds seem to be in short supply here this fall, perhaps because of our severe drought conditions. Starlings are an invasive species native to Eurasia.
Video of this activity is always fun to watch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOGCSBh3kmM
Starling info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_starling
I found a small group of Great Egrets at my local marsh that were migrating through. This was the only bird that allowed me to get close enough for a portrait. Kane County, Illinois
First saw Black-bellied Whistling Ducks in the Rio Grande Valley, at the very south of Texas, three years ago. Today they are in large numbers in many colonies throughout my suburb of Houston, 3.5 degrees farther north in latitude, about 385 kilometers (240 miles). Global warming? This shot was taken on my morning walk about Double Lake, Sugar Land, Texas. Notice an Egyptian Goose in the background, also a new migrant, hanging out with the ducks.
Lost count of the migrating Bald Eagles we saw a couple of weekends ago on our trip South of Calgary.
The great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) is a medium-sized woodpecker with pied black and white plumage and a red patch on the lower belly. Males and young birds also have red markings on the neck or head. This species is found across the Palearctic including parts of North Africa. Across most of its range it is resident, but in the north some will migrate if the conifer cone crop fails. Some individuals have a tendency to wander, leading to the recent recolonisation of Ireland and to vagrancy to North America. Great spotted woodpeckers chisel into trees to find food or excavate nest holes, and also drum for contact and territorial advertisement; they have anatomical adaptations to manage the physical stresses from the hammering action. This species is similar to the Syrian woodpecker.
Pieris rapae is a very common resident, in fact, the most common resident butterfly species. It occurs in a variety of open and half-open habitats. Various Brassicaceae are used as larval foodplant. The species usually has three generations from mid-April until mid-September, the second and third overlapping. It hibernates as a pupa. Its distribution has probably been stable since the beginning of the 20th century, but large swarms of migrating butterflies have not been seen in recent years. The Dutch Monitoring Scheme indicates a moderate decline since 1992.
Het klein koolwitje komt in grote delen van Europa voor, maar ook in Noord-Afrika, Azië en Japan en is een exoot in Noord-Amerika en Australië. De vlinder vliegt van zeeniveau tot 3000 meter in berggebied. Het stelt geen specifieke eisen aan zijn omgeving en kan daarom overal worden aangetroffen waar de waardplanten groeien.
Onder de waardplanten van het klein koolwitje bevinden zich verscheiden koolsoorten, vandaar ook de naam. Door kwekers van koolsoorten wordt de rups algemeen als een plaagdier gezien. Meer specifiek zijn de waardplanten: De kruisbloemenfamilie (Brassicaceae), de resedafamilie(Resedaceae), de kappertjesplant (Capparis spinosa), de Oost-Indische kers en andere (Tropaeolaceae) en enkele soorten uit de amarantenfamilie (Chenopodiaceae) zoals vooral meldes (Atriplex).