Birds and Nature

I just read on Texbirds that some jerk drove into the closed off area of the Rockport Beach Park in the dsrk July 1/2 and ran over 37-39 Black Skimmer babies in a nesting area. The post indicated that this amounted to 20-25% of the total count for Black Skimmer babies counted the day before. How awful. Here is a eyewitness description: "There were young chicks lying everywhere on the paved road, having been crushed by vehicles. The birds had been driven to high ground and careless or mean drivers had gunned them down. I counted thirty-seven dead chicks in the road. Only one adult. That could well be a third of the entire hatch for this summer. It was devastating to see." From the Muse is Loose blog. SeEtta

This is another video clip showing the adult female foraging almost as close as in the other one As in the other clip she appears to find tasty morsels; and the dark stripes on her crown are clearly visible hear also. This is the last of the video clips of my viewing of this Long-billed Curlew family on June 23. SeEtta

In this video clip the younger chick in the Long-billed Curlew family in northern Otero County, CO is seen with the adult male standing behind (and watching vigilantly). This clip shows the chick trying to cool off in the upper 80's temps, which are the movements around the throat area as it 'vibrates the muscles and bones in it's throat', a technique called 'gular fluttering' . Young birds do not have well developed thermoregulatory function so have to supplement with techniques like this. After loafing for a bit, the chick does some grooming and then some stretching. SeEtta

This is a pretty short but interesting video clip showing the adult male Long-billed Curlew, that had flown to a new foraging spot, flying back in and is seen landing. There is a good view of his plumage as he lands. Though the wind is seen blowing the grasses in this (as well as the other video clips), some heat waves can be seen in the background. Still more videos to come. SeEtta

This is a composite of two short video clips of the older chick in the Long-billed Curlew family I have been following in Otero County, CO. This chick is loafing, looking around, first in a closer lowland area then on top of a hill--meanwhile the adult female forages nearby while the adult male and the younger chick forage across the road. Like the younger chick, it is more pinkish than the adults and appears to lack the dark crown stripes found on the adult birds. It's bill is almost as long as the adult male's bill. In the first section of this clip dragonflies can be seen in blurry silhouette flying in front of the camcorder. Towards the end of the video a smaller bird flies between the curlew and the camcorder. SeEtta

This is a very good but short video clip of adult female foraging, apparently fairly successfully, about 60-75 feet away. I didn't approach her at this close of a distance (I believe she would have fled if I had approached this close--I find birds will approach closer and behave more naturally like this bird when they are given their personal distance to work with),she walked this close to where I was video-ing the family. Nice native grasses billow in the brisk breeze that has come up. SeEtta

This is the younger chick in the Long-billed Curlew family I have been following in northern Otero County,CO. This video clip provides some very good views as the chick is only about 125 feet away. It's quite short bill is clearly seen and the light is good so the pinkish underparts are evident. The chick mostly looks around but then does a little stretching which provides some interesting views. The adult male, though out of view, is only about 100 feet away. There is a prairie dog town in the background and at least one prairie dog can be seen in the clip. Also some heat waves are visible in the background. More Long-billed Curlew family clips to follow. SeEtta