It’s spring birding season in Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. WC and Mrs. WC spent a few days over there seeing what birds had arrived. Here are some photos. The White-faced Ibis arrive every year. Much less common were the pair of American Bitttern along Center Patrol Road. Some of the migrating passerines had arrived as…

WC has been accused of posting photos of boring birds. While there are no boring birds, it’s true that some have broader appeal than others. So here’s a lot of folks’ candidate for the most beautiful bird in the Western Hemisphere, the Resplendant Quetzal. The bird is about 15 inches long, plus about 26 inches…

There are a staggering, bewildering number of birds in the Neotropics that eat bugs. Hundreds of species of flycatchers, alone. One of the more spectacular is the Long-tailed Tyrant. Long-tailed Tyrants feed exclusively on flying insects, especially stingless bees.  Insects are captured by making quick aerial sallies from a high exposed snag or branch. Not coincidentally, that perching…

The Golden-hooded Tanager isn’t even Costa Rica’s most spectacularly beautiful bird, but it’s pretty darn impressive.Besides, WC has neglected the avifauna of Central America. Tanagers as a group are an extensive, amazingly color family. But you are more likely to see Golden-hoodeds; they are enthusiatic visitors to fruit feeders. These photos don’t really begin to…

Tuesday WC and Mrs. WC headed out to attempt their first Short-eared Owl survey at Camas Prairie in southcentral Idaho. Readers will recall WC volunteers for the Western Asio Flammeus Landscape Study (WAfLS). Asio Flammeus is the Short-eared Owl. For more background on the project and WC’s other assigned route, see the Weiser posts. It’s a…

And now for something completely different. The Greater Rhea, the signature bird species of Brazil’s Cerrado and Pantanal. The Greater Rhea is the western world’s largest bird, flightless and a cousin to the Ostriches of Africa and the Emus of Australia. They are all Ratites, a super group of large, long-legged, flightless birds. The Greater…

WC didn’t post yesterday because he was chasing birds again. This time, Greater Sage Grouse. WC has the location of a very good lek, but it isn’t always possible to get to it. This year, the road was open – for a given definition of “open” – and access to the lek was possible, Yesterday…