Nature clicks #245 - Hermit Thrush, first sighting!

 

I like to interrupt my series about Colorado for the report of a first sighting that I had in our woods here on the bluffs above the Little Maquoketa River. I aimed at some American Robins and Cedar Waxwings that came to our bird bath in the front yard this afternoon when I saw this bird foraging on the ground between the leaves. First I thought it was a Fox Sparrow, which we have seen here before, but after reviewing my photos on screen I found out that it was indeed a Hermit Thrush. The bird is obviously on its way to the southern states were it will spend the winter.

The Hermit Thrush wasn’t the only migrating bird that came through here today. Fifteen minutes earlier a Yellow-rumped Warbler landed on a branch right in front of me but I didn’t nail the shot. We live here now since almost ten years and it is amazing to me that we can still add another species to the list of birds we have seen here.

Looking for a new generation

 

It became kinda quiet here in the woods around. We don’t see so many bird activities as just a month ago. Many species moved further north where they will spend the summer and those that are here sit either on their eggs or feed already their offspring. Maybe it just seems that there are less activities because of the lush vegetation we have here that covers the birds a lot better than in early May.

It takes sometimes a little effort to make a photo of the young birds but sometimes they just show up when you don’t expect it. In any case, approaching the offspring has to be done with utmost caution in order not to disturb them or the parents that feed the young ones.

When I was working with the Cliff Swallows a few days ago I suddenly heard something chirping right beside me. It was this young House Sparrow and I was clearly too close to the bird. I took quickly a couple shots and moved away so that the parents were able to feed the young sparrow again.

This young Red-winged Blackbird wasn’t even aware of me. I was well hidden in my car and used the long lens for this shot. Shooting out of a blind, and you know I consider the car my “mobile blind”, has the disadvantage that sometimes you can’t really change the shooting angle but in this matter I found the gap between leaves, flowers, and grass. This photo was made when the mother approached the little guy with an insect in her bill. She called it but the young blackbird just opened its bill and didn’t move.

The last one was made in the grass of an empty campsite. Two of these birds just landed in front of me while I was walking and looking for birds in the trees. I just laid down and made this eye level shot. Unfortunately I still haven’t figured out what kind of bird this is. I thought it was a young robin but back home and after looking at other pictures of juvenile robins my doubts grew. I still work on it… :-)

Nature clicks #232 - Philadelphia Vireo

 

An eventful and very nice weekend is behind us, although not much photography was involved. We finally got our kayaks out and paddled on the Mississippi. On the first tour Friday evening I left the camera at home and of course, missed my chance to make a photo of a mink that I saw climbing over drift wood along the shore. The lesson learnt was, never, I mean never ever leave your gear at home when you go out into nature… :idea:  Joan joined me on the second trip Saturday morning. We had a really good time but a chance like the night before did not repeat. We saw some herons, an egret, muskrats, and lots of turtles. The photography results were mediocre, nothing I like to show here…

Instead I show you for the first time a Philadelphia Vireo. I still have some photos with birds from last month that I haven’t been able to identify yet. I made several shots from different perspectives of this Philadelphia Vireo and even if not all of them are tack sharp, or sometimes a branch covers parts of the bird, every image can be helpful for identification. At this particular picture you can’t see it but another one shows clearly that the vireo’s bill has a little hook at the upper mandible. This was the final hint for me in this matter.

I have never seen this vireo before, they come through here only during their migration to Canada, but I’m very happy that we can add another species to our list of birds that we have seen here on the bluffs above the Little Maquoketa River.

Nature clicks #231 - Semipalmated Sandpiper (?)

This Semipalmated Sandpiper should be in the lower Arctic regions by now, where it usually breeds during the summer. Nobody probably knows what inflicted the large wound below its left wing. This could be the reason that the little guy was left behind during migration. It may have been a bird of prey or any other predator the sandpiper maybe managed to escape from. However, it seemed to do OK and the bird enjoyed a bath and the following drying and preening process of its feathers at the boat launch of Finley’s Landing at the Mississippi.

As always, sandpipers are not easy to identify (at least for me). There are many combinations of feather patterns and color changes, and that’s why I put a question mark behind its name in the headline of my post. If you have another idea, please let me know. I’m always open for suggestions and like to learn the differences.

Nature clicks #229 - Nashville Warbler

 

I still have a backlog of photos that I like to show you here in the blog. Not so much because of image quality but I like to wrap up my series about the warblers that we have seen in our woods in May. The Nashville Warbler is one of them. I had three sightings between May 12, and May 19 2014 but none of them ended with a photo that I’m halfway satisfied with. I just could not get it sharp. The photo may work here in the blog but if I would try to make a larger print there is just not enough sharpness.

It was the first time that we saw this bird but I guess we have to wait until next year, or maybe the migration in the fall, to make a photo with a little more detail. For now we are at least happy that we have seen the Nashville Warbler, the jinx is broken ;-) …

Nature click #222 - Rose-breasted Grosbeak

 

It has been an amazing spring for bird photography and right now I’m still in a position to make choices what pictures to publish and which one have to wait or will never be seen by the public eye. So let me start with some photo from earlier this month and finish with a brand new one from today. The Rose-breasted Grosbeak shows up here during the first week in May after a long journey from central or northern South America. Sometimes we see up to eight males in early May and they like our sunflower seed feeders a lot. Usually they stay for a couple days and then move on to Minnesota or Canada.

However, there is always at least one or two pairs left that will spend the summer here and raise their offspring. I looked in my archive but this is the first female with such a yellow chest. Most often the males get all the attention because of their bold black, white, and red color pattern but I think the females are very pretty as well. The photo of the female was made this morning and maybe we will see a young grosbeak sometime soon…

Nature clicks #219 - Orange-crowned Warbler

 

When I have a first sighting of an animal I try to make my research about the species with several sources to make sure the critter is correctly identified. Sometimes the photo doesn’t reveal all the distinguishing marks and some doubt is left. It took me a while to draw a conclusion about the Orange-crowned Warbler but now I believe that’s what it is. Many warblers have a variety of color patterns and females and immature birds can look totally different than the male adults.

The photo was made right after a rain shower under low light conditions and revealing the colors required fill flash again. The Orange-crowned Warbler has its breeding grounds in the western part of the US and almost all Canada. The Mississippi Valley is an important migration route for the northern subspecies and so it is no surprise that we have seen it here last week.

Nature clicks #218 - Blackpoll Warbler

 

I’m glad and thankful that you came back to my blog even if I have almost nothing posted but photos and stories about warblers recently. It was an exciting week with many sightings during their migration to the breeding grounds up north or just because of their arrival, since some will stay here in Eastern Iowa during the summer.

The Blackpoll Warbler was another first sighting for us. We saw males and females feeding on little insects for three days. The two shots of a male are pretty much what I saw, with just a slight cosmetic crop. The female image is a long stretch. It is not tack sharp and I had to crop a little more because I couldn’t get close enough. My blog is not just a portfolio platform for the best of my photography, it is also about sharing biological facts or giving hints about wildlife locations. This is why you have sometimes to put up with a shot that is not so great, but still tells a story within the story. This is what the photo of the female Blackpoll Warbler is about today…

Nature clicks #217 - Cape May Warbler

 

The last week taught us again how much we are blessed with the location where we live. Today we counted the 70th bird species that we saw here around our house on top of the bluffs of the Little Maquoketa Valley near Durango, Iowa. No, this post is not about today’s discovery, this has to wait for another blog post :-) .We know the close proximity of the Mississippi River plays a role in having this large variety of wildlife. The Mississippi is a highway for migrating birds but even all the species that are here all year long, or just during the summer, make for a never boring time when it comes to wildlife.

My “warbler week” series continues with the beautiful Cape May Warbler. I have seen this species last spring for a fraction of a minute. My 2013 shots were all blurry and I wondered if I will see this bird again. Last Tuesday came my chance. I saw the warbler from my office window, run outside, and shot like a maniac for a few minutes. We saw it later again but I never got this close a second time.

Rule #1 in wildlife photography is, if the eye is not sharp the image goes to the trash can or at least will not be published. Sometimes I keep a blurry photo just for the sake of identification and documentation within my own photo library. But there is always an exception to any rule and this is what this photo is about. I caught the moment when the Cape May Warbler was about to swallow a tiny little insect that looks like it was glued to it’s tongue. The body of the bird is sharp and the head in its extremely fast movement really tells the story how fast these warblers move and pick up little insects from the leaves.

Nature clicks #213 - Magnolia Warbler

 

We were thrilled last week when we had another first sighting here on the bluffs above the Little Maquoketa River Valley. The Magnolia Warbler is probably one of the most beautiful birds that comes through here during migration time. It breeds from British Columbia across central Canada to the northeastern US and also in parts of the Appalachian Mountains.

We had several thunderstorms moving through the area today but the Magnolia Warbler kept gleaning insects even in the rain from the underside of the leaves, that just come out at the moment, or from bark crevices.