Sunday, June 12, 2011

Sam's Club Family - Eastern Kingbird

Parking lot habitat
Jan and I went to Sam's Club yesterday to pick up her new sets of contact lenses. When walking back through the parking lot looking for our car, I spotted a bird I hadn't seen before circling and then landing in the upper branches of a crepe myrtle tree. I walked up closer and spotted a nest about five feet above me with a female perched on the brim looking down on several naked chicks, with the male close by - I thought maybe a Martin. The air was heavy with humidity and the temperature was in the 90's°, so Jan wanted to get the car going with the air conditioner on. Later last evening after doing yard work and eating dinner on the patio, I asked if she wanted to take a quick drive back to Sam's to take a photograph of the birds - a nicely said "No" was the reply. I still wanted to figure out what the birds were, so this morning after church we drove straight to Sam's Club to get a picture. The male wasn't around, but I could get a decent view of the female on the nest. After getting home I got out my Stokes Field Guide to Birds - Eastern Region and figured out the birds were Eastern Kingbirds. From their vantage point at the top of the tree looking down on the cars and shoppers coming and going, the Tyrannus tyrannus family have earned the title, tyrants of the Sam's Club parking lot.(1)
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(1) It is interesting, after making this post I did a Web search and found a posting for Eastern Kingbirds at Sam's Club on a laurel oak tree - and it looks like the photographer lives in Riva area around Annapolis. Click here to check out the photograph - maybe it's the same family, or at least the parents.

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