Photo Study Of Black-necked Stilts And Friends At Bombay Hook NWR, June 10th, 2011

     Ed Norman and I were able to get to Bombay Hook, Taylor's Gut and Port Mahon yesterday. Many of the Black-necked Stilts were still on nests but there were several pairs
     with fledglings. One pair at Bear Swamp put on quite a show:

    
Male Black-necked Stilt Flies To His Fledglings

Four Fuzzball Black-necked Stilts Feed Actively At Bear Swamp 

Male Black-necked Stilt Lands

Female Black-necked Stilt Stands Guard

    The Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) is a locally abundant shorebird of American wetlands and coastlines. It is found from the coastal areas of California through
    much of the interior western United States and along the Gulf of Mexico as far east Florida, then south through Central America and the Caribbean to northwest Brazil,
    southwest Peru, east Ecuador to the Galapagos Islands. The northernmost populations, particularly those from inland, are migratory, wintering from the extreme south of the
    United States to southern Mexico. The Black-necked Stilt forages by probing and gleaning primarily in mudflats and lakeshores, but also in very shallow waters near shores.
    It seeks out a range of aquatic invertebrates, mainly crustaceans and other arthropods and mollusks as well as small fish, tadpoles and very rarely plant seeds. Its mainstay
    food varies according to availability; inland birds usually feed mainly on aquatic insects and their larvae, while coastal populations mostly eat other aquatic invertebrates. For
    feeding areas they prefer coastal estuaries, salt ponds, lakeshores, tidal flats and even flooded fields. For roosting and resting needs, this bird selects alkali flats (even flooded
    ones), lake shores, and islands surrounded by shallow water. The stilt chooses mudflats, and small islands for nest locations, as long as the soil is friable. Reproduction occurs
    from late April through August in North America, with peak activity in June. The clutch size generally is 3-5 eggs with an average of four. For 22–26 days both sexes take turns
    incubating the eggs. The young are so precocial that they are seen swimming within two hours after hatching and are also capable of rapid running on land at that early time.
    In spite of this early development, the young normally return to the nest for resting for one or two more days. They fledge after about one month but remain dependent on their
    parents for some more weeks. Birds begin to breed at 1–2 years of age. (Cornell BNA; Wikipedia; Sibley Guide To Birds)

    Of course, there were other birds there too:

Male Blue Grosbeak

Eastern Kingbird

Female American Goldfinch

Marsh Wren

Willet

    But the sight of the day was watching Park Rangers rescue a young buck who had somehow gotten stuck up to his proverbials in the tidal muck at Shearness...

     The unfortunate buck (in velvet) tried to cross a tidal flat. He sank into it and the more he struggled, the deeper he went in. Someone spotted the poor thing and reported it to
     the rangers. They put three four by eight sheets of plywood on top of the mud and were able to reach the buck who was in up to his chin. They looped a rope around his antlers
     and pulled him out. When the rangers released him, the deer ran off like nothing had happened.  "Thank You Park Rangers, Job Well Done!!!"

       Species seen today:

 To see a larger image of any of the photos below, please click on either the thumbnails or captions...thanks!

     © Howard B. Eskin 2011      Please email your comments to hbeskin@voicenet.com    Please click here to go back to Bird Webpage Index