Eastern Wood-Pewee, Bankston County Park, Iowa
It is pretty quiet in the woods already. Most birds are done with their breeding activities. Even the Eastern Wood-Pewee I saw today didn’t make its distinktive sounds. I consider the wood-pewee as a ”photographer friendly” bird. They prefer to perch on bare twigs, which makes it easy to take a picture. From there the pewee darts out to catch passing insects. Sometimes they return even to the same branch.
The low sitting sun this evening was shining through the trees in the background, leaving no doubt about that this photo was made in the summer time. Bankston Park is mainly a small wooded valley here in the driftless area of eastern Iowa. It’s steep slopes are formed by the Middle Fork Little Maquoketa River, a clear stream that is popular by anglers for trout fishing. Along the small river are plenty of insects and a flycatcher, like the Eastern Wood-Pewee, has no problems to find enough food.