Tag Archives: White-tailed starling

Gaslight

Posted by dkrashb on

While we were on Maclellan Island, several of us got ahead of the rest of the group.  When we arrived at the meeting place to wait for our ride home, one of the women suddenly asked, “One of you doesn’t have a tow-headed boy on the island, do you?”

None of us did.  She explained that she had just seen a boy in a pair of plaid bermuda shorts on the path.

We all looked.  No boy.

A few seconds later, she said, “There he is!” We all turned to look.  No boy.

This repeated at least 3 times.  The boy was playing hide-and-seek.  The poor woman was sure we all thought she was crazy.

Eventually, we all saw him, but he immediately ran away.  We decided he was a wild boy.  Of course, I’m not sure how common it is for wild children to wear plaid bermuda shorts.

On the theme of unusual sightings, I continue to try to create photographic evidence of my white-tailed starling.  I have, over the course of the last few days, come to think of this bird as my own personal starling.

I have made a habit of taking my camera with a long lens every time I take Tisen to the park.  But having seen it 3 times when I couldn’t get a picture, I have yet to see it when I’ve had my camera at the ready.

I managed to get a few shots of other birds, including a cedar waxwing.  The cedar waxwing, like the wild boy, always plays hide-and-seek with me.  I feel fortunate to have gotten one in my frame at all even though it’s not a great image.

I also spot a very strange looking turtle.  I’ve seen one like it at the aquarium.  I guess I will have to go back to find out what it is.  It has a long neck and a pointed nose and a very long tail.  I couldn’t hold still enough without a tripod to get a good shot of it–it really is like some of the pictures of big foot you see!

This morning I slept in.  When I got up, poor Tisen had decided to let me sleep even though he couldn’t hold it anymore because of his medication.  We had quite a puddle.

I rushed outside with him feeling guilty that I was so late taking him out.  It was raining and Tisen really didn’t want to spend a lot of time in the rain, so he started heading on the short route we usually only take at night.  When we got to the parking lot, there, pecking at some trash from Krystal burger, was a group of starlings.  Sure enough, the white-tailed youth I’ve been hunting was among them!  And, as one might predict, I was there without even a cell phone.

Oh well.  At least I know it’s still hanging out in the neighborhood.

Finding Big Foot

Posted by dkrashb on

It all started several days ago when Tisen and I were on a typical walk.  Noisy European Starling toddlers tormented their parents, which has become a common scene of late.

On this particular day, Tisen charged a starling family grazing on a slope.  They flew away together in a little flock, just as one expects.  The adults were clearly starlings.  The juveniles were all the same shape and size.  But there was a flash of unexpected white.

I did a double and then a triple take trying to make sense of what I was seeing–it was a white tail. I have seen thousands of starlings and I have never seen one with a white tail.  I have read descriptions of starlings dozens of times and never has anyone mentioned a starling with a white tail.

But, there it was.  A bird who acts like a starling, looks like a starling, hangs out with starlings ought to be a starling.  It was the right size and shape, but what’s with the white tail?

I could not think of a single possible bird it could have been.  I began to think I had either imagined it or the bird had somehow dipped its tail in a bucket of white paint.

Then, two days later, I saw it again.  This time, it flew across the path just about 10 feet ahead of me.  I watched it whiz by, still harassing its parents, and felt certain it had to be a starling with a white tail.

I asked a knowledgable friend of mine.  She asked an ornithologist and informed me that, yes indeed, starlings do, on rare occasions, have white tails.  Unfortunately, we were having cell phone challenges and I didn’t catch the explanation.  Amazingly, I’ve not had any luck finding an explanation online.

Today, for the third time, I saw the white-tailed juvenile hanging out with its parents in the park.  This time, I got a long look at it as Tisen was too groggy to give chase.  I even managed to get out my iPhone, unlock it, and bring up the camera app before it flew away.  Unfortunately, I didn’t actually get to take a picture first!

This evening, I am on the hunt.  It’s like a quest for Big Foot, I think.  The elusive white-tailed starling lurks in the park across the street and I aim to catch it in pixels. . .

No luck tonight.  I found normal starlings galore.  And I saw song sparrows, mocking birds, brow-headed cowbirds, cliff swallows, carolina wrens, and even a downy woodpecker.  But, no white-tailed starling.

I did, however, seen another interesting thing.  A hawk was circling overhead.  When I looked at the photos enlarged, I realized it was probably a red-tailed hawk, but it has a fish in its claws.  I never saw that before, either.

Maybe a red-tailed hawk with a fish is like finding Nessy?  Big Foot, however, will have to wait for another day.