Sandhill Crane End Week 8

Sandhill Crane Despite a very wet couple of days at the end of the week, the juvenile felt full of energy.

Sandhill Crane Feathers ruffled more from excitement than anything else. Always something to be excited about.

Sandhill Crane Wing flapping while running takes up more and more of the time.

Sandhill Crane Being wet excites the parents much less.

Sandhill Crane Droopy wings seem to express the mood.

Sandhill Crane For the juvenile the sky is more interesting by the hour. Something up there calls.

Sandhill Crane And this is what it is. Another run with an impressive display of the fine wings.

Sandhill Crane The wings have taken on a life of their own, not wanting to be tucked back in. They need to be used.

Sandhill Crane With all the rain, foraging has become more difficult since the mud sticks readily to the probing bills.

Sandhill Crane Despite the juvenile being almost as large as the parents, the parents continue to offer food. Fuel.

Sandhill Crane Side by side for comparison. Almost there. The tail feathers have not quite kept up yet.

Sandhill Crane Being the center of the universe for its entire life of barely two months might make socializing outside the family difficult.

Sandhill Crane The ability to stand on one leg is coming along nicely too.

Sandhill Crane Things stick to the bill with all the mud glue, requiring a careful cleaning with the foot.

Sandhill Crane Sharing worm parts.

Sandhill Crane Enough of eating, time for more flapping practice.

Sandhill Crane After a run ahead of the parents, the juvenile pauses and stares for the longest time at the pond and beckoning sky.

Sandhill Crane And off again, full of steam and enthusiasm and need.

Sandhill Crane A near collison with the flowers and weeds as an excited parent follows along with the almost flight.

Sandhill Crane Flapping, flapping, standing tall. Are the parents aware of how close the juvenile is to making it up into the air?

Sandhill Crane More food, but the offer seems as reluctant as the demand is strong.

Sandhill Crane Emerging from the vegetation into the open, the juvenile does a couple of good, strong flaps.

Sandhill Crane And a little lift-off, across the walkway, but not a lot of elevation.

Sandhill Crane Still airborne, another flap or two, another few feet.

Sandhill Crane Mid-flight, in the air, coasting.

Sandhill Crane And touch-down, a huge flight of ten or twelve feet. The neck feathers start to ruffle from the excitement of it all.

Sandhill Crane Finishing up and a full ruffling of the feathers. A good start.

Sandhill Crane That calls for one thing to express the vast thrill of it all. A quick squat and poop. Something had to give.

Sandhill Crane Back to business as usual. The juvenile's wings will not stay put. One parent echoes some of the excitement.

© Michael Bailey All Rights Reserved; Not for reproduction.
No photograph from this blog may be reproduced or used
in any form or by any means whatsover.

Juvenile Birds

Gray Catbird juvenile Where the upper and lower mandibles of the bill join is the gape, which is more flexible and brighter in a juvenle. Just visible here, along with the still-short tail.an>

Gray Catbird An adult with the darker bill and a fully formed long tail

Cedar Waxwing juvenile Almost an adult, but with stripes on its breast, and still following its parents around.

Cedar Waxwing A parent perched on the same branch as a juvenile.

Cedar Waxwing Not as social as normally. two adults decide to have some kind of dust-up.

Cedar Waxwing Sitting on a freshly made nest, incubating eggs at Owen Park.

Chipping Sparrow juvenile Hopping around on its own in the grass in search of food. No parents in sight.

House Finch juvenile Still sporting one or two of the distinctive little feather tufts on the top of its head.

Song Sparrow juvenile Finer stripes along the breast and side, with the distinctive black smear just forming in the center.

Green Heron juvenile First the long look of this shape-shifter, crest up and still retaining a few of the head pin feathers.

Green Heron juvenile Then the short look of the same individual.

Green Heron juvenile A hop to another metal pole and a medium-length look as something below has become really interesting.

Green Heron With an occasional call, it perched high up in a dead tree at Owen Park, sharing space with a variety of birds.

Osprey The small golden carp, or goldfish, of Stricker's Pond make for a good meal for herons and Ospreys alike.

Great Blue Heron Taking a time-out from the hunt, a Great Blue Heron climbs through the air up to a favorite dead tree.

Great Blue Heron Even a tiny retaining pond at Owen Park has the huge goldfish of the carp family. They're everywhere.

Indigo Bunting female You wouldn't know this was the same species as the male.

Indigo Bunting male The more familiar brilliant color of the male.

American Goldfinch For late nesters like these, when thistle seeds form, August is a prime month. It can be both food and nest material.

Baltimore Oriole Though mating and nesting season have wound down for them, they still find the energy for a territorial dispute.

Blue Jay Noisy and highly visible, they elusively appear and disappear in the blink of an eye.

Northern Flicker With a wing flared out for a stretch, all the yellow shafts of the feathers show.

Red-bellied Woodpecker A male sitting briefly on a branch before zipping off, trailing chatters, to do the same elsewhere.

© Michael Bailey All Rights Reserved; Not for reproduction.
No photograph from this blog may be reproduced or used
in any form or by any means whatsover.