Birds of WalMart

One of the great secrets of our day is how many birds can be seen in our own backyards.  Walmart has a bunch of those backyards all over the country, and many of them contain wetlands that were created when the excavation was done for the project.  Many jurisdictions have required wetland mitigation as a condition of the development of shopping centers where these big box stores are located, and these can and often are a gold mine for birds.  They are particularly good for photography as the birds have gotten used to humans. A good example is how close to these Kingfishers I was able to get.

This particular WalMart is just off of Interstate 89 in Lebanon, New Hampshire.  It is in a larger shopping center, but the best spot to bird is just behind the WalMart.  These photo's were taken in April of this year.

Common Mergansers are really common this time of year.  The Female's of this species (above) are in many ways more impressive than the males.

For the Hooded Merganser however, the male is really spectacular, and even though the female is nice as well, nothing quite matches the hood of a Male Hooded.

I also had some Green Herons and Kingbirds in this same location in the summer of 2009.  See the post here.

Here is the female Hooded.  I really like the way she can also puff up her head feathers.

 

Here is a pair of Hooded's relaxing, and below is a common display when the males are competing for a female.  This guy was really trying, but I think she had already made up her mind.

 So this was one of the fun wildlife exchanges I witnessed at WalMart outside the store. ( There are obviously plenty of wildlife experiences inside many of the stores of course.)

Kingfisher is sitting on a stick, and Grackle comes by to talk.  Kingfisher is busy hunting and not interested.

Grackle pretends not to be troubled by this and feigns indifference.

Really wants to talk however and just can't help himself.

After a very long wait, the Kingfisher turns to engage, but the Grackle is coy, and doesn't want to look too eager.

Not sure what the Grackle said, (one of the many languages I don't speak), bit whatever it was, Kingfisher wasn't interested.

Which just got the Grackle even more determined to get his point across.  

Kingfisher is honestly trying to give Grackle a chance, but the guy just isn't very interesting.

And so it is that on sticks and stumps behind Walmart things work like they do on buses, trains and elevators.

 

I just love birding (Walmart)!

Liberty Park, Salt Lake City, Utah

A few weeks ago while working yet another 14 hour day, this time in SLC, I decided to take a lunch break and found myself at Liberty Park.  These are pictures I took at the Tracy Aviary.  This is a project under construction in Liberty Park containing some really great birds. 

I hand carried the Sigma 300 - 800 on the D3.  I didn't have the tripod, and just rested it on a post or rock.

Canvasback

Redhead

Ringnecked Duck

The White-Faced Whistling Duck breeds in Sub-Saharan African and South America. 

This pair of Golden Eagles was beautiful.  Almost unreal in their regal bearing.

The Chilean Flamingo's were really fun to watch as they groomed each other.

The Golden-Eye's are really fun to see close up.

Craziest bird on the planet perhaps is the Southern Ground Hornbill from Africa.

Puna Teal, another South American specialty. 

This post's mystery critter.  This duck like bird is also from South America, and is related to a beautiful North American bird.

Both the male (above) and the female (below) golden eyes are very distinctive.  The Barrow's have a bit of a crown on the head, while the common's are more round headed.

American White Pelican are plentiful in Utah in winter, and seemed to be breeding in Liberty Park.