SEEDS FOR BREAKFAST, LUNCH, AND DINNER

Male American Goldfinch on a Purple Coneflower

It is the perfect season for American Goldfinches because food is here in abundance. They are real vegetarians in the bird world, preferring strictly a vegetable diet. They breed later than most birds, starting not before June or July when plenty of seeds are available to feed their young ones. Most of our purple coneflowers are fading away at the moment but we still leave them standing until the seeds are gone. As you can see the American Goldfinches love them and we can see them often at other places hanging on thistles or wildflowers that produce seeds.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head.   @600 mm, 1/3200 s, f/8, ISO4000, cropped

LEAVING THE NEST, IT’S SCARY!

Young House Wrens leaving the nest

It has been already a week ago but I still like to share this little photo story with you. This is already the third brood of House Wrens that was a successful one this summer season in one of the nest boxes around the house. When the parents think it is time for the offspring to leave the nest they still bring food, like caterpillars, crickets, or bugs but they wait outside the nest box without feeding the little chicks inside. When the first one stuck more than its head out of the hole I knew the time was coming and made the camera ready. Number one didn’t hesitate very long and flew into the bushes nearby after about five minutes. Number two, the one on the right hand side in the picture, waited a few minutes longer, despite the parents called and tried to lure the little guy away from the nest. Well, the desire to eat made the chick finally jump, but only onto the little perch that sticks out of the nest box. There was fear about what’s coming next and he tried to climb back into the box. But no way, number three was already there and the entrance was blocked. Oh boy, after a few seconds of balancing on the wooden stick the young wren finally followed the parents into the woods. Number three didn’t hesitate very long and the nest box was empty.

It’s still early in the season and we hear again a couple male House Wrens around here sending calls out to attract another female. It has been a good breeding season so far, not just for the wrens. We see many young birds around here in the woods and that’s a good thing to write about and to capture it with our photos.

RETROSPECTS 2023 - #3

Great Blue Heron, Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, California

In March I had a chance to go back to one of my favorite wildlife shooting locations, the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, the well known laguna next to the Pacific Ocean in Southern California near Huntington Beach. I have been there numerous times before over the years and every visit holds another surprise. It is not difficult to find and photograph the Great-Blue Heron here in the Mississippi Valley or its side valleys. Well, we can’t offer a shot of breeding herons in a palm tree here, but for the first time I was able to watch Great Blue Herons building nests in these palms that grow at the edge of the Bolsa Chica Wetlands. While one bird was out to find sticks and other material to built a nest, the other one watched the nest site and made sure the neighbors from the next palm tree didn’t claim any of their possessions. Fascinating and worth to mention in this year’s RETROSPECTS…

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head,…@600 mm, 1/800s, f/6.3, ISO 2000, image slightly cropped

NATURE CLICKS #563 - RED-HEADED WOODPECKER

Red-headed Woodpecker, Valley of Eden Bird Sanctuary, Illinois

Not long ago I wrote here about a migratory Red-headed Woodpecker in our front yard. Today we were in for a special treat. Joan and I drove over to Illinois and made a visit to the Valley of Eden Bird Sanctuary, not far from Stockton, IL. This 409-acre property contains managed grassland areas, upland forests, prairie restoration areas, and managed pasture. With other words, this area provides cover and food mix for many birds that have been in decline due to habitat loss and alteration of the land.

The breeding season is in full swing and some of the birds, like Dickcissel or Bobolink, which I hoped to see, stayed low in the grass and didn’t give much opportunity for a picture. Instead a pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers came to our attention. With our binoculars and the long lens we spotted a cavity in a dead tree on the other side of a small but steep valley where they seemed to work on. I couldn’t let this opportunity pass by and hiked around the valley over to the other side. With the 1.4 teleconverter on the long lens I was able to maintain a safe distance. The birds did not stop their activities. One flew into the hole and I heard it chiseling with its long bill. The construction work for a nest cavity was obviously not finished. This wood pecker is a gorgeous bird and I had this kind of a shot in mind since a long time. Today was the day.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head,…@850 mm, 1/800s, f/9, ISO 1600, image cropped

NATURE CLICKS #557 - HOODED MERGANSER

Hooded Mergansers, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

I shoot a lot more than what I ever can publish here in my blog. But today I have a photo from a couple weeks ago that I really still like to share with you. Hooded Mergansers form pairs between November and January and after they migrate here from the south there is only a small time window to take a picture of male and female together. They are monogamous but ones the female starts to incubate, the male abandons her. I try it every year, often with mixed success or no results, to make a photo with both birds together. This time a pair of Hooded Mergansers gave me enough time and finally swam to an area at the pond where the background was not too much illuminated but still enough light to make the mergansers stand out. I never see the males during the summer and just wonder if they immediately move south after their part in the breeding process is done?

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S,   @ 600 mm, 1/3200 s, f/8, ISO 800

FORMING A PAIR

Trumpeter Swan, Mississippi Valley, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

With the end of winter and spring knocking at the door Trumpeter Swans dissolve their large congregations we may see sometimes during the icy season. We now find them separated in pairs , and if old enough hopefully ready to breed. I have photos of this swan and its partner but the distance between the two was a little too big for a picture that would say, we are a pair. As the sun started to get closer to the horizon the quality of light improved by the minute. The composition of the swan in the frame was kinda logical and at the end of the day I would call it an easy click. Trumpeter Swans form long-lasting pairs and may identify a nesting site when less than 2 years old, but often wait several more years to breed. The bird above has still some gray feathers, telling it might be still too young for breeding this year. This once-endangered and now recovering species is a great example about what can be done for wildlife protection, conservation, and restoration.

NATURE CLICKS #505 - PROTHONOTARY WARBLER

Protonotary Warbler, Mines of Spain, iowa

A dream came true having finally, after many years of trying, a pair of Prothonotary Warblers in front of the lens last week. They were feeding their offspring at an old woodpecker hole in a dead tree log. I owe a big thank you to a photography friend, who discovered the location and gave me a call. Although the nest site is not far from a relative busy location in the Mines of Spain, it is not easy to access. My approach was very slow and careful and I was able to hide behind a layer of dense underbrush. The last thing a photographer should do is to disturb the birds. No photo is worth to risk the well-being of an animal. The warblers seemed to ignore my presence and never hesitated to approach the nest or fly away from it.

Both parents were feeding the young ones in the nest. They showed up in average intervals of about 6-7 minutes. I made a clear decision to shoot without the help of some fill flash, although the tree was in the shade. With the sun almost overhead, there was still enough light to make the warblers stand out against the tree. This required some slow shutter speeds, mostly between 1/80s and 1/125s at the widest aperture f6.3 of the SIGMA lens.

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head

KILLDEER FLEDLINGS

Killdeer fledgling out for walk

I always worry when I go to the Green Island Wetlands and see a Killdeer, a larger plover, running around in one of the gravel covered parking lots. The parking lots are empty for most part of the year and only during the duck hunting season you may see a number of pick-up trucks with boat trailers there. But visitors use them to turn or look around. And that’s where the danger for the Killdeer starts. They lay their eggs in a shallow depression in gravelly areas or grass and the parking lots are obviously a preferred habitat for breeding. The incubation time is between 24 and 28 days and that’s a long time when bad things can happen and the brood is at risk.

Back under the wings

Killdeer are masters in luring an intruder away from the nest. I have seen this Killdeer and its partner running around and had an idea where the nest would be. I avoided the area and just watched with my binoculars or through the long lens from the distance during the last weeks. Yesterday evening I spotted a fledgling for the first time and a little later a second one. One of the adults was still on the nest while the other one foraged nearby. The adult bird on the nest called the young ones but they had their own mind and took their time to go back under the wings. The second photo tells the last part of that story pretty good.

We all hate rules, but there is one I like to bring to mind. When birds are active with nesting you have to remember, no photo is worth sacrificing the welfare of the animal! Keep your distance and don’t keep the parents away from the nest for a long time.

GARTENROTSCHWANZ (COMMON REDSTART)

Gartenrotschwanz at nest box, Templin, Germany ---------   

During our recent travel to Germany I took just a small amount of photo gear with me. The bag contained the Nikon D750 and two lenses, the Nikkor 16-35 and 70-200. I used my feet to “zoom” if I had to fill the gap between 35 mm and 70 mm focal length. It served me well most of the time and I didn’t regret to leave a 24-120 mm lens at home. We moved around every day and traveling “light” was my aim.

As you can imagine I didn’t plan for any wildlife photography. When this opportunity of a breeding pair of “Gartenrotschwanz” in the backyard of our friends in Templin came up, I was a little short with 200 mm focal length since the nest box was high up in a giant pine tree. This is not an “every day” bird in Germany’s gardens anymore, I hadn’t seen one in ages, and the light was just great. With other words, I couldn’t let this chance go by and rather chose to crop the image in post. Both parents were feeding the offspring and this click was made when the male paused for a few seconds before he delivered the bug in its bill to the little chicks in the nest box.

BREEDING PLUMAGE

American Goldfinch in breeding plumage, April 2017

It is quiet around here, except for the never ending sounds of the crickets and locusts. At least we see a few goldfinches every day at our feeders. They are one of the latest nesting birds. They start not much before July, when most other songbirds are finishing with breeding. Pretty soon the American Goldfinches will change from breeding plumage to winter plumage by a complete molt of their feathers. It is the only member of its family that has a molt in spring and fall. All other species have just one molt each year in the fall.

The males still have their yellow feathers at the moment but the plumage is not as bright and beautiful as it was back in spring, when this photo was taken.

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, Nikon SB 800 speed light, MAGMOD MagBeam flash extender, @ 600 mm, 1/1000s, f/7.1, ISO200,

BREEDING ACTIVITIES

Female House Wren, Little Maquoketa River Valley, Iowa

We have two identical bird boxes in our front yard that have been used since many years by meanwhile several generations of House Wrens to raise their offspring every summer. At the moment we can see different activities at each one of them. A pair of wrens feeds their babies in box #2. We can hear the chirping, but we haven’t seen the juveniles yet. Pretty soon, as they will grow bigger, the juveniles will stick their heads out of the hole in anticipation of food from the parents. At the moment the parents come back with food about every 5 - 10 minutes.

No, not food, just nest material!

Bird box #1 is right in front of our porch and nest building activities took place already in May. I can’t watch it all the time but it seemed we lost a brood a few weeks ago in this box. Today I watched a female doing some “fine tuning” of the nest. As you can see the wren has some soft “cotton” from a cottonwood tree in its bill. I can’t think of any better natural material to upholster a nest for holding the fragile little eggs of a House Wren. This all might be very boring for some, but watching this so close since many years has not lost its appeal to us…

HIGH HOPES

American Avocet, San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, Irvine, California ---------

Every local birder I met in the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Orange County, California a few days ago was excited to talk about the possibility that the American Avocets may breed this year at the ponds of the bird sanctuary. Someone must had posted something on social media because several people asked me where to find the avocets. That wasn’t really difficult to answer, since they were present right at the pond next to one of the parking lots. In the morning I saw only three, but later in the day I counted five birds. They bend down and sweep their bills from side to side in a scything motion along the bottom to stir up aquatic insects. Their diet also consists crustaceans and aquatic plants.

I started to understand the excitement of other bird lovers while watching a pair of avocets preparing a nest side or at least pretending to. Remember, this sanctuary is next to an airport and between extremely busy freeways and residential areas.

ANY NEWS ABOUT THE HOUSE WRENS?

Yes, this is a valid question, especially if asked by someone who follows my blog for a long time already. The House Wrens returned during the first week in May this year again and we always wonder if these are the same birds that were born in one of our nest boxes. 

The usual rituals happen as every spring. The males built first loose nests in every hole they can find and try to impress the females. Later, after the females arrive the air is full of love, the male wrens sing like crazy, and finally the female chooses a nest and will finalize its construction.

Photo from May 22, 2015

We have two identical nest boxes, each with two nest chambers. Usually there is one female in one nest box and it is either in the upper hole or in the lower one. This year things are a little different. The box closest to our house has two females and it seems there is only one male present.

Photo from June 4, 2015

A few weeks ago I have heard at least three males singing but since we can’t always follow what’s going on we don’t know the full story at the moment. Yesterday the female on the lower floor started feeding little baby House Wrens and the male brings food as well. The second female carries still twigs and grass to the upper chamber, which means it does not sit on eggs. The other nest box at the edge of our woods seems to be empty (we are not sure yet) and maybe the second female has lost its brood. There is a raccoon roaming around every night here and other predators are a possibility as well. Well, to answer the question above, yes, there are a lot of news about the wrens but it is fun to watch them as every year…

A DAY ON THE WATER

Lesser Yellowleg

Joan and I finally opened the kayak season yesterday (better late than never  ;-)  ) and spent several hours paddling in the backwaters of the Mississippi in the Green Island Wetlands. It is the time of the year when many birds incubate their eggs or have already young ones, like some of the Canada Geese. We had some wonderful wildlife encounters, like a mink swimming to shore, a Northern Watersnake, and lots of waterfowl, herons, and egrets. Not every sighting leads to a photo but it was just great to be out in the wild and enjoy the nice and warm weather

Nikon D750, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM, SB 800 speed light

After the paddle trip we went on “bird patrol” by car to all the places in the wetlands that I visit frequently. We saw this Lesser Yellowleg foraging in the shallow water and it surprised us still seeing one of them since their breeding ground is in Northern Canada. I’m aware that my identification of a bird species can be wrong, this is especially true for shore birds, but in this matter I don’t have a better suggestion. Usually I have more images that I show here in the blog and even if they may not be always good enough to be published, but they help me quite often to identify a bird. However, if you read this and have doubts about any of my identifications, I will be very happy to hear from you

Wilson's Snipe

This photo of a Wilson’s Snipe was taken earlier this season, although we saw one yesterday evening. We are at the southern edge of their breeding range and so it is not a surprise to see them still around. More to come…

GOING FOR THE COLORS

Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM, Nikon SB600 speed light

I couldn’t resist to hit the shutter release button yesterday when we had the new snow on the ground and this female Northern Flicker landed on the tree trunk not far from me. Not just because of the additional light by the reflection of the snow, but also for the wonderful colors the bird showed. Their breeding time is between April and July, depending on location, and they might be in courtship by now. That is usually the time when the birds look at their best. For curiosity I looked in my archive and yes, in March the colors look much brighter than during any other time in the winter. Here in Eastern Iowa we see the yellow-shafted race of the Northern Flicker, while in the western part of North America the red-shafted is more common. Populations overlap and hybrids are not uncommon in different parts of the country. I hope you enjoy!