[Tweeters] Cold weather bird behavior - RCKI's

[Robert O'Brien]

Over many years I've seen many kinglets do this, but mostly Golden-crowned.
This recent time Bushtits were hopping around in the tall, weedy grass and
low shrubs.  Not sure I've seen that before.
Bob OBrien  Portland

On Mon, Jan 15, 2024 at 8:57 PM Scott Ramos <nearpost at gmail.com> wrote:


> This past Sunday, it was in the high teens at Magnuson Park and the cold

> certainly did seem to modify some bird behavior. As Eric mentioned,

> Ruby-crowned Kinglets--at least half the birds I saw--were foraging on the

> ground, some walking toward me to the point I could no longer focus my

> camera. They only seemed to notice my presence when I attempted to drop to

> a lower profile.

> RCKI - https://flic.kr/p/2psBtci

> Along the Lake Washington shoreline, while overhanging branches were laden

> with icicles built from splashing waves, the ground up to about a meter

> above the water line was not frozen, unlike the rest of the open areas. As

> a result, there were several species that came to feed along the shore that

> are normally not seen there. Well, Song Sparrows were abundant as they

> always are, but there were also several Fox Sparrow, Golden-crowned

> Sparrow, even a Bewick's Wren feeding around the pebbles.

> The hard freeze over the weekend softened some of the rose hips and a

> couple of Spotted Towhee were taking advantage. Normally, no one bothers

> with rose hips, they are just too hard.

> SPTO - https://flic.kr/p/2psG7tt

> There are often many Killdeer along the cobble beach adjacent the Sail

> Pavilion in the north end of the park. On Sunday, there were none. Instead

> several Killdeer were out in the middle of the grassy sportfields. Why?

> These fields were frozen solid.

> And, the huge flocks of Short-billed Gulls, sometimes numbering ~200

> birds, that normally cruise the sportsfields looking for worms, were

> absent. Why? Because these fields were frozen solid. A few dozen were on

> the swim platform but all the others were AWOL.

>

> Scott Ramos

> Seattle

>

> On Sun, Jan 14, 2024 at 9:41 PM Eric Ellingson <esellingson at gmail.com>

> wrote:

>

>>   Most Ruby-crowned Kinglets I've seen are usually quickly going about in

>> bushes and trees, sometimes way high up, other times closer to eye level.

>> However, even at eye level, they can be difficult birds to get a photo of.

>> Also, the scarlet crown is not always seen on the males or if seen just as

>> a red flash.

>>

>> So it was fascinating to see two of these hopping along the ground on the

>> trail at Point Whitehorn. They seemed oblivious to us standing in the

>> middle of the path. They would come toward us passing by our feet and

>> continuing along the path.

>>

>> The scarlet on the head was very visible but not raised as when agitated.

>> This and the behavior of feeding and hopping along on the ground are not

>> the norm.   My guess about this ground-level feeding is that with the high

>> winds and freezing weather (into single digits) their food of insects was

>> blown to the ground out of the shrubs and trees they would have been in.

>> Who, knows? Also, maybe a way to conserve energy?

>>

>> Camera in hand, as usual, I could not pass up the opportunity.  I took

>> many shots and videos of them hopping and foraging. Often they would come

>> toward me getting too close for my camera to focus on them.  If I had a

>> small insect in my hand I'm guessing they would have hopped into my had to

>> eat it.

>>

>> The 29-second video is comprised of some close-ups showing the scarlet

>> crown and foraging successes.  Watch it here: https://flic.kr/p/2pswNca

>> Enjoy.

>>

>> What unusual behaviors have you seen during this very cold and windy past

>> few days?

>>

>>

>> Eric Ellingson

>>

>> 360-820-6396

>> esellingson at gmail.com

>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/ericellingson/

>>

>>

>>

>>

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