An osprey on its way to the great fishing grounds to seek prey to nourish its mate and itself as the nesting season gets into full swing. Ospreys are the only North American raptor that eat primarily fish. Long-term records indicate they are fairly successful hunters, grabbing fish on an average of 25% of their dives into water. They will position their larger catches in a head-first orientation while flying to make them more aerodynamic. Their feet have barbs on their pads to help hang on to slimy fish.

Ospreys mate for life, and usually use the same nests each year. Despite their large size adults weigh only between 3 to 4.5 pounds.

Tags:   Osprey Pandion haliaetus raptor in flight Sawhill Ponds Boulder Colorado penetrating eyes

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A black oystercatcher patrols the shallow waters of Bandon beach in search of tasty bivalves and crustaceans to crack open and devour. Oystercatchers do most of their foraging as the tides are falling when their prey are more susceptible to being seen and captured.

Black oystercatchers are found on the shores of the west coast of North America from Alaska to Baja California. Toward the northern part of their range their feathers are all black, but in the southern part they have more light feathers mixed in with their plumage, suggestive of an adaptation to thermal regulation.

btw, the title is a variation on a Louis Armstrong song

Tags:   Black oystercatcher Haematopus bachmani Bandon beach Oregon

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Seemingly shy, but actually very tolerant of entranced human admirers, an Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) peers out toward the setting sun, contemplating fish, eels, and egg tending. Their short strong wings work well for both flight and swimming. During the breeding season puffin beaks become more brightly colored. Puffins spend only a short time on land during the two month breeding season, mostly confined to rocky cliffs such as here on the Látrabjarg cliffs in northwestern Iceland. The rest of the time they live on the open ocean.

I will be away for a week in the wilds of Utah (visiting the Maze for the first time), so please forgive my absence from Flickr.

Tags:   Atlantic puffin Fratercula arctica Látrabjarg cliffs Iceland Ísland

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A splash of color in the mostly drab plumage of the spring avifaunae (particularly the icterids/ blackbirds), a male Bullock’s Oriole brightens up the season around Boulder. After spending its winter in the warmer climes of southern Mexico, the orioles return to the western U.S. to breed in the summer. They are one of only a few bird species in temperate North America that construct hanging nests from tree branches to discourage nest predators.

Tags:   Bullock’s Oriole Icterus bullockii Boulder Colorado handsome devil

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He rules the feeder with an iron bill, a shrill whistle, and a circular flight path that achieves dizzying speeds. He is the alpha male broad-tailed hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus) of the feeder next to my cabin. His throat (gorget) is marked by an array of beautiful iridescent feathers that vary from rose to copper and black, depending on how the light hits it. He is the most interesting hummingbird in the world.

Tags:   broadtailed hummingbird Selasphorus platycercus

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