Tag Archives: molting

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Ron LeValley spotted what he believes was a young Elephant Seal molting.

Ron reports that the seal left after three days on the beach.

Here's a male Elephant Seal - notice the big proboscis [snout]! - seen some years ago north of Anchor Bay. Frank Jackson got this photo. I hope he used his long lens, as it isn't a good idea to get close to one of these big guys. They can move surprisingly fast when they want to!

Thanks to Ron and Frank for allowing me to share their photos with you here. To see much more of Ron's nature photography, here is the link to his website: http://levalleyphoto.com/home/

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Craig Tooley recently photographed a juvenile Acorn Woodpecker growing in new feathers.

I love these clown-faced Woodpeckers. They fly in, with their swooping motion, and land on Bishop Pine trees near our bird feeder. Once on the feeder, the bird acts like a secret agent, looking here and there while bobbing its head.

Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photo with you here. To see more of Craig's wildlife photography, here's the link: http://ruffimage.com/

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Siegfried Matull photographed a juvenile Western Scrub Jay all "puffed up." He caught the bird molting - growing in its new feathers. For instance, the gray feathers on its head are being replaced with blue ones.

Jays completely molt once a year, an activity that takes place in times of low stress - after nesting and before migration. Other birds that have a complete molt are Chickadees, Flycatchers, Hawks, Hummingbirds, Owls, Swallows, Thrushes, Vireos and Woodpeckers. It's an amazing phenomenon, don't you think? To completely replace each and every feather, that is a lot of energy expended.

To learn more about molting and much, much more about birds, here's a link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: cornell lab of ornithology

Thanks to Siegfried for allowing me to share his photo with you here.