Saw The Two Newest Monk Parrots Being Fed

The monk parrots at White Rock make a lot of noise but in a way that's good. You know they are in the area. I pulled up on the parking lot at Winfrey Point this morning looking for the red shouldered hawk that hangs out there but heard, then saw the little green birds that look so much like the ones that were sold in the five and dime stores as pets. There are, however, a bit larger and there are some noticeable differences. However, seeing them in action is always a delight.

You might try enlarging them after you click them on for the default enlarging. At 100 percent, they are clearly cute to see.

The chick is on the left. Mom would drive the other bird away when she came back.

Here, she feed from her beak to the chicks beak.

There are two chicks and mom and dad.

It started out with shooting a couple on the sidewalk, then they flew off to the other side of Winfrey, then to the gang lights at the ball diamonds. Then, I noticed in the big tree at the edge of the circular drive that going around the side and front of Winfrey, two parrots sitting on a dead branch of the tree canopy. It wasn't long before I figured out that these two were fledglings and then came mom and dad to feed them. Then, it happened. I got to see mom feed the baby. To me, that was a rare shot. After a number of years trying to get a really good shot of them, I was able to get a couple of good shots of the feeding.

What Do Birds Do When It Rains?

Get wet! And get wet they do. It was interesting to watch them since their feathers are the key to their flight, they must be maintained at all cost. It was that thought that caused me to just shoot birds in the rain today. I also found some monk parrots on a high wire doing the love bird side-by-side. With the visibility very low and gray, the monks could also be in silhouette.

I also had an amazing encounter with a female coyote. She actually came ,toward me, wanted to play, picking up a drink lid like a Frisbee. She would get down on her front paws then take off running. As I went on down the hill to turn around, she had moved onto the road and was looking at me. I turned around and came back up the hill. As I did, she went back into the short grassy area and started to play again.

The North American Mockingbird Songbird.

The rain had let up but was still a heavy mist. The cold front was just miles away. Also, a clap of thunder hit just about the time I shot this. That was al the warm humid air being mixed up in the atmosphere. Even the birds were in anticipation of cooler weather and sunshine tomorrow, I think.

The Monk Parrots

Monk Parrot on a High Wire Paired with a Single

I have seen other coyotes from the car and they would stand and watch then go off into the tall grass. Not this one. She actually did kind of scare me at one point and I put up the window as she got closer. She was beautiful but out of 24 shots, not one came out because I did a silly thing. I could not wait to see the images and run them back through the view screen. I forgot to change my settings from the excitement and they were all distorted either by poor lighting, rain, settings or settings. No excuse. I messed up. But I do have the proof even distorted as they are. I will run them as a separate post following this one. But first, THE BIRDS!!

Good Signs After A Hard Winter, Thus Far

A few days ago, I went to check on the hive of bees that had swarmed in late fall along a trail were I do my cardiac walks. I was somewhat concerned that the coldest winter in 40 years might had taken a toll on the hive.  At first, I grew more concerned as there were not any bees coming and going from the hive. In the fall the bees had covered the entire knot-hole on the tree trunk. Soon, I began to see bees coming out of and going into the hive. In total there were not that many bees, but the hive was alive and well and the bees had survived the winter thus far. There are pictures in the archive if any of you  missed the initial post.

My second concern of winter's wear on wildlife were the Monk parrots that have an established colony of 70 to 80 birds. Today, I saw four. They looked very healthy and somewhat less noisy than in the past, but the missing birds of the colony were every evident. Most likely, more did survive but several people were telling me today that they had been looking for the Monks, too, but had only seen the same four that I had seen. In the past, I have read reports from New York and San Francisco that  had large colonies thinned out by mother nature but the strong had survived hard winters in the most unusual of places. I'm hoping that the WRL colony of Monks will venture back to the lake as the weather becomes more favorable toward Spring. While the little parrots are noisy, they are part of the character of the lake and missing them completely would be a loss no one wants to see.

The early part of the this coming week, it's time to see the cardiologist again. Last week, because of the ice and sleet and snow, the day before, I had cancelled my appointment because driving was not going to be worth the head aces. As it turned out, the weather was right on target and it was a nightmare avoided. This coming week it is going to be in the 70s. Spring is barking for the calendar to turn March!

Monk Parrots

Last falls colony numbered in the 70-80s. Today, there were only 4 sported.

 16/02/2014. Corrected for displacements.