Golden Cadence

Evening light, still water, and the unmistakable silhouette of avocets. 

 

Notes to Self. Where the American Avocets Have Settled

 

The new temporary auto tour on Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge turned out to be not so bad after all—though I still need to get to know it better.

It’s encouraging to see some birds settling into this new territory, especially the American Avocets. The pelicans will likely never visit—but who knows? Perhaps, out of curiosity, they might stop by.

Generally, life is good.

An Unexpected Drama - II.

It's difficult to say exactly how long the siege of the pair of Sandhill Cranes lasted. Looking back, I had a strange feeling that the entire event stretched on for an unusually long time.

The American avocets' aggression steadily intensified. They grew increasingly frustrated by their inability to dislodge the two impudent cranes from their territory.

Despite the cranes' actions, the Avocets were relentless.

I was struck by the cranes' remarkable resilience; their behavior seemed to declare that they would continue foraging and leave "their" field only when they deemed it necessary.

Generally, life is good.

An Unexpected Drama - I.

 

My favorite pair of Sandhill cranes graced this field each dawn, their peaceful routine undisturbed by any intrusion. 

This morning, however, an unexpected drama unfolded. 

For reasons unknown, cranes were besieged by a boisterous flock of American avocets, whose behavior was surprisingly aggressive as they attempted to drive the cranes away.

Over the past years, the avocets had never contested this territory. Perhaps a new generation of these birds had decided to assert their dominance. 

Far from being intimidated, the large cranes appeared merely surprised and increasingly annoyed by the Avocets' behavior. Sandhill Cranes had no intention of leaving their territory.

to be continued

Generally, life is good.

American Avocets

 

American Avocets are migratory birds and come to the Bear River MBR each spring to breed and raise their young.  I always look forward to their arrival.

Generally, life is good.

Gathering

The Bear River residents often gather together in the morning.  One of the moments during the gathering one group made me smile. A White-faced Ibis was surrounded by American Avocets and Black-necked Stilt.  The ibis looked very much like a "preacher".

Now this is quite a large crowd, which pushed the "preacher" aside.

Generally, life is good.

Ordinary Story

 

These moments were supposed to be about the American Avocet and they weren't that special until a White-faced Ibis walked by and made the whole story more interesting.

  

Ibis and Avocet share one space pretending that they are alone there.

It's time to go fishing.

Apparently, this is a very popular spot for fishing.

Generally, life is good.

A Curious American Avocet

Birds are curious creatures, and their curiosity often leads them to new discoveries.  

So the Avocet above decided to check out the stone and if it was suitable for perching and possibly for fishing.

Would it be more comfortable to stay in the middle of a stone?

Or it's better yet stand up tall.

Why not try this more stable pose?  

This way I can search for food without walking through the swamp.

As I watched this curious Avocet I thought how resourceful and persistent this bird was at exploring something new.

Generally, life is good.

 

A Female American Avocet with Her Chick

 

While recently looking through my archives, I came across one of the photos I have never posted before and decided to give it a chance to be here. 

It was a windy and rainy morning on the Bear River MBR when I encountered a female Avocet trying to keep her chicks dry and warm under her feathers.  

When the rain stopped briefly, the chicks left their mother to explore the place but it didn't last long. With mama is always safe and warm. 

Generally, life is good.

In November on the Great Salt Lake

 

Seeing a variety of ducks in November on the Great Salt Lake was very exciting  and at the same time challenging adventure.   

I wasn't wrong when I said "challenging", because I don't see ducks often, I know so little about them and having observed these wonderful birds, I knew that identifying them would be quite difficult.

 

In the photo above, an American Wigeon swims past with great dignity.  

I love when birds interact with each other because they are somewhat reminiscent of us, humans. 

Gadwall stopped swimming for a while because watching the avocet march past him was a funny show that couldn't be missed.

A magnificent trio. 

Two avocets and Wigeon seem to be oblivious to each other, but this is very deceptive. 

Generally, life is good. 

Was That a Willet?

 

For the first time in two months, I finally made it out to Antelope Island and the first birds I spotted on the island were the shore birds as American Avocets along with Ring-billed gulls.  Sometimes the Eared Grebes joined them but not for long.

At some point, I noticed the grayish bird with a pointed sharp beak and began to watch this bird.  This unfamiliar bird constantly followed the Avocet and I got the impression that it for some reason wanted to stay close to it. 

There were several moments when an unfamiliar bird made me smile.  The bird decided to climb onto a rock to be noticed, but all its efforts to attract attention were futile.

Aggression to get attention? Or defend the rock as its own territory?

The bird eventually returned back to the rock and continued to watch the avocet.

I watched the unfamiliar bird for a long time; one might say that I dedicated almost all morning to it. The bird was amazing in its behavior.

Unfortunately, I had a difficult time to identify the interesting bird.  I wrote "Willet" in the tags, but I am not sure if this bird is a Western Willet.

Interestingly, that Willets do often hang around with other birds and are not as skittish as some and importantly they are larger than most sandpipers.  Whether was it Willet or not, I leave the question open.

Generally, life is good!

Persistence

A brave American Avocet chick, despite the warnings of his parents, decided to cross the most viscous part of the swamp and reach the shore.

It was interesting to watch how slowly this little one moved towards his goal.  He constantly got bogged down in the swamp, stopped for a few seconds, gaining strength and went on.

A few more steps and the chick will be on relatively hard surface.

This сhick has many more adventures ahead of him until he grows up and becomes independent. 

Generally, life is good!

Female American Avocet Protects Her Chicks from the Wind - I.

 

Tomorrow will be the first day of summer in Utah but early this morning a stormy cold wind with rain raged over the Bear River MBR.

My trip was coming to the end when I came across the Female American Avocet who tried to keep her chicks dry and warm under her feathers protecting them from wind and rain.  

Af first, only one chick was hiding under the mother's feathers, but soon another appeared and was eager to join this sibling.

The chick is in no hurry, trying to figure out how to squeeze under mother's feathers.

It's probably more convenient to start right from the center.

The chick is slowly goes down.

The young is almost under the mother's feathers and is trying to get comfortable.

 

   

The mother patiently stood in one spot for almost half an hour until her chicks got out and began to look for food.

It was a true motherly love, tender and caring.

Life goes on.

Nice Landing

 

American Avocets have arrived in Northern Utah a few weeks ago, when it was still cold and it snowed almost every day.  

I was worried about how Avocets were doing but this week welcomed us with the first warm sunny days.  I am sure that these birds are happy that spring has finally arrived.

Life goes on.

American Avocets Huddle Together in a Strong Icy Wind - II.

 

That day weather changed constantly on the Great Salt Lake.  Sometimes the strong wind calmed down a little and the sun appeared from behind the clouds and then it became cloudy again.  

When the sun shone the avocets perked up, the birds raised their heads and looked around.

and then hid their heads and bills in their feathers patiently waiting for the wind die down.  

Life goes on.

American Avocets Huddle Together in a Strong Icy Wind

American Avocets have made a long migration journey to Northern Utah without knowing what awaits them this early spring.  

Yesterday, an icy strong wind raged on the Antelope island for a couple of hours in the early morning.

Avocets huddled together, waiting for wind to die down.  Some were lucky, they managed to get to the center, where it was warmer, other found place on the edges.

The wind was so strong that my only choice was to photograph birds from the car, using my bean bag to keep my telephoto lens steady.

The Avocets reminded me of Emperor Penguins who also huddle in response to survive a severe wind storms in the icy Antarctic winter. 

An hour later the wind began to subside and the sun appeared from the clouds.  Avocets came to life.  Soon most of them will rise into the air.

Life goes on.

Lessons from Mama

The lessons from mama can be tough.  Thus, the female American Avocet decided to teach her baby a lesson how to get through the sticky mud by introducing it to brine flies. 

The blurry brown bits in the background are brine flies, Avocets feed on them on Antelope Island.,

Mama took her baby in the muddiest part of Great Salt Lake and started to get stuck in the mud.

 It's not so easy to walk in the mud, you get stuck in it.

The chick is patiently waiting for his mama to get out of the mud and continue their journey.

Life goes on.