BREAKFAST AT THE MAPLE TREE

Brown Creeper, Little Maquoketa River Valley, Iowa

I have shown you the Brown Creeper before here in my blog but I still have room for improvement for my photos with this little tree climbing bird. This morning I watched him going up the big maple right in front of the house several times in a row. There must have been an abundance of good breakfast snacks for the creeper. Usually they spiral up on a tree trunk in search for little insects and then fly to the bottom of the next tree. Not so today. I watched the Brown Creeper five times going up our maple tree but it climbed always a different route. They move quite fast and it took me some time to nail down some sharp shots. It is always amazing how well they blend into their environment. The photo shows how the Brown Creeper uses its stiff tail for support while climbing. Can you tell that I love this little bird? I’m so glad we see them here in our woods.

I GOT HIM!

Brown Creeper, Little Maquoketa River Valley, Iowa ----------     

This photo was on my ‘Most Wanted List’ since a long time. I showed pictures of the Brown Creeper (Certhia americana) before here in the blog but none of them was well crafted (heavily cropped and lack of sharpness). It is not unusual to see them here in our woods but their appearance is almost unpredictable. They fly to the bottom of a tree and spiral upward very quickly while pecking for insects. The Brown Creeper uses its stiff tail for support when climbing. Their curved bill helps them to get the food out of the smallest cracks and from behind the bark. After the bird is done with one tree it hops down to the base of another tree and starts all over again. Here is some trivia, in my home country Germany lives a relative, called the ‘Gartenbaumläufer’ (Certhia brachydactyla). It looks very similar to the American species.

Male White-breasted Nuthatch

While waiting for the appearance of the Brown Creeper another tree climber showed up several times. The White-breasted Nuthatch is a regular visitor here and we can see them all year long. Beside the obvious visual differences between the creeper and the nuthatch, the White-breasted Nuthatch flies to a higher point of the tree and usually hops down the trunk. ‘Nuthatch’ is derived from its habit of placing seeds or nuts in crevices of trees and prying them open with its bill. (source: iBird Pro App)

NATURE CLICKS #318 - BROWN CREEPER

According to my field guides the Brown Creeper is supposed to be around here in eastern Iowa all year long. This photo was made in the Mines of Spain, a mostly wooded recreation area south of Dubuque, Iowa. So far I have photographed this small bird only during winters or in the early spring. And I admit, I still haven’t been able to make a tack sharp image I could be very proud of. The bird blends very well in while creeping along tree trunks, always from the bottom upwards. They are almost always in motion and it is very difficult to lock the focus on. The picture has a little motion blur too, despite a shutter speed of 1/800s and fill flash for bringing out its colors. With other words, the Brown Creeper still remains on my “most wanted” list…