On Saturday May 14th Tom Scribner and myself took a day run over to Anatone, WA which is south of Clarkston on a high plateau above the Snake River Canyon.This is a view across the plains of Anatone. There was a lot of agricultural areas with wheat and other crops. Lots of beautiful open fields and territory for the birds.
We put up 24 Blue Bird boxes at various locations, repaired a few others and cleaned out some. At every stop, and there were many, we saw and heard Western Meadowlarks. They were very common and it was wonderful to hear their singing.
This was not one of Tom's boxes. There were many other Blue Bird Boxes in the area of various designs. You can see the damage to the front of the box. There was a female Western Bluebird sitting on eggs in this nest. We will probably go back to the area in the late fall and clean and or repair and or replace various Blue Bird boxes. We chose not to disturb the occupants at this time.
We did see a variety of sparrows and other birds as we traveled about. This is a most striking Lark Sparrow. Beautifully marked bird.
You can see grasses and pine needles sticking out from the opening of this supposed Blue Bird box. It had been taken over and stuffed full by a house wren. This box was affixed to a large Ponderosa Pine tree and the House Wrens seem to like that habitat. They don't seem to bother the nest boxes that are out in the open grasslands.
As mentioned earlier there were many other boxes in the area. This design, and there were many boxes just like this one, did not have any way to clean the box other than taking the box down and emptying the contents. Additionally the box was very narrow in construction and seemed to be really cramped for Blue Birds. They were however very well made and had metal hinges and a metal clasp to keep the top closed. Most boxes have either the front or the side that opens allowing access for cleaning.
This is a striking example as to why the boxes should be cleaned either at the end of the season or early in the spring before the Blue Birds arrive. This is probably 5 or 6 years of nesting material that has been built up. You can also see some old eggs, most likely from last season, that are buried in the nesting material. There was a female Western Blue Bird sitting on top of this pile. We left her alone.
Yes we did see lots of Blue Birds. This is a female Western Blue Bird. We saw both Western and Mountain Blue Birds though the Western was the most common. There were at least 4 occasions where Tom opened the box to check the contents only to find a female sitting on eggs. They did not fly off but chose to sit there and keep the eggs warm. Interesting flight or fight phenomena.
This was just an interesting perspective of the Blue Bird Eggs. Tom has the side of the nest box open and the light is coming in. There were 6 eggs in this nest box. A typical clutch is 5-6 eggs. They are, as can be seen, a light blue in color.
This is an image of a cooperative Male American Kestrel. He allowed us to get some decent pictures of him. He is in bright breeding plumage and most colorful. He sat on the post just across from our vehicle and posed in various positions. He even flew up the road a few posts, we followed, and he posed some more. Beautiful bird.
Several of the boxes had been taken over by Tree Swallows. They eat lots of bugs also. Neat bluish colored birds.
Swallow eggs are totally white in color as compared to the bluish tinged Blue Bird Eggs.
This is a Grasshopper Sparrow. It has a really flat head and proportionately large bill or beak. They are somewhat secretive sparrows of the Grasslands. They not only eat grasshoppers in their diet but their song is unusual in that it is similar to grasshopper's buzzing.
Along one road over near the canyon of the Snake River we found this wild Turkey. We did not expect to see this species. It was close to a wooded canyon that led down into the Snake River.
Many of the fields were blanketed with wildflowers. Yellow and blues and various other colors. Quite striking to see.
Overall a very enjoyable and productive day. Thanks Tom
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