WINTER SPARROW VARIETY (4 CHOICES)

I have been an advocate for paying attention to the more common species of birds since wildlife photography became part of my life. It means, the ones we may see almost every day or the kind of bird that doesn’t draw the attention as much as a more exotic looking species. Sparrows are mostly overlooked. They are small and because many of them are not so rare makes us thinking, a sparrow is just another sparrow. You know what I mean. Last weekend the appearance of a couple species, that are here only seasonal, made me focus with the camera on this agile ground feeders. You can decide which one you like the best. I just love all of them!

American Tree Sparrow

American Tree Sparrow

They have their breeding grounds high up in northern Canada and Alaska but during winter time the American Tree Sparrow spends its time here, in particular in trees and shrubs along streams. Most of the time I see them along the Mississippi River but this photo was made just on our snow covered balcony.

White-throated Sparrow

Another sparrow that breeds up in Canada, northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. It seems there is always one that hangs out with the local bunch of house Sparrows during the cold months of the year.

Dark -eyed-Junco

Although it doesn’t have the word ‘sparrow’ in its name, they belong to this family. I recently reported about this species here in the blog. The Dark-eyed Junco is our best “winter indicator”. If they show up, you can be sure temperatures below freezing are not far away. In late winter, when the Dark-eyed Juncos suddenly disappear, we just know, the snow shovel can be put away for the season (exceptions are possible! 😉)

House Sparrow

We have a little flock here every winter. They like the cover beneath the mountain pines we planted next to the house years ago. This one is obviously a young male sparrow. However, he doesn’t look right! It’s obvious that his tail feathers are missing. We only can guess if our local Sharp-shinned Hawk got a hold of him, but the most common of all sparrows escaped…

BRAVING OUT ANOTHER STORM

Another winter storm hit the area again a couple days ago. I tried to capture a photo with some storytelling about and how the birds brave it out. It doesn’t really need much to give the viewer an idea. The snow covered branch and the snow trails in the background set the stage for this male House Sparrow. Shutter speed had to be slow to make a trail and here 1/50 second at f/8 was used to make the click. Some people don’t think it is worth their time to aim the lens at such an ordinary bird but I strongly disagree. They are part of our natural heritage and just because they are abundant doesn’t mean they are less important. And look at at this guy, isn’t he pretty?

BRAVING A WINTER STORM

As I’m writing this a big snow storms still goes over the country and of course doesn’t spare our neck of the woods. I tried to make some storytelling photos as the storm developed during the late afternoon. All the birds that spent the winter here try to get some calories from our bird feeders and woodpeckers, cardinals, nuthatches, chickadees, dark-eyed juncos, and tufted titmice are always good candidates for a photo. 

Since about a couple years we have a gang of House Sparrows using the mountain pines around the house for protection and also benefit from food and water we provide in our heated bird baths. Today’s best storytelling photo in my books was this shot of a female House Sparrow, braving the storm. Oh yeah, the books and smart websites say, don’t use a flash if you have any kind of precipitation. I don’t disagree and there might be some  misses, but if the trails of snowflakes support a sharp image, without being “nuked” by the flash, well, the story of a tiny bird in a winter storm can be told….

SAME HOMES, DIFFERENT INHABITANTS

Cliff Swallows, Little Maquoketa River, Iowa

Last Sunday I went down into the Little Maquoketa Valley and checked on the activities of the Cliff Swallows that build their artful mud nest colonies under some of the bridges that cross the river. Several new nests were built and occupied and male and female swallows took turns between feeding and sitting in the nest. They defend their completed nests by sitting in the entrances, puffing up their head and neck feathers to look larger, and lunging at intruders. (source: allaboutbirds.org).

House Sparrow in a swallow nest

And they have all reasons to defend their nests. Many House Sparrows were present again and took possession of older nests or may have kicked out the swallows before they were able to complete the nest.

House Wren, “cleaning out” a nest

And here is a third candidate who liked to attract a female to these cave light mud nests. A male House Wren pulled out grass and feathers, probably from a sparrow’s nest. They usually prepare multiple sites and the female wren chooses the one for laying the eggs.

If you are a local photographer or birder in the Dubuque, Iowa area and like to know where to have a good view, feel free to contact me. Click on the “ABOUT” page and use the contact form. Be forewarned, bug spray and stabile shoes are mandatory for this location. Don’t go there in flip-flops, they will not serve you well!