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… :-)

Visit in the wetlands

 

It has been three weeks since I had my last visit in the Green Island Wetlands. The water level in the Mississippi River is still very high and this effects the wetlands as well. It was relatively quiet yesterday afternoon. I have not seen a single duck, not very many Canada Geese, and the strangest thing was that I didn’t see any goslings. I really wonder if the flood has destroyed some of the nests. This all doesn’t mean there was nothing going on. Some Great Egrets stood either in groups or alone in the water and hunted for fish and frogs. I saw a Yellow Warbler, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, an Eastern Kingbird, and even had my first sighting of a Yellow-throated Vireo.

This muskrat looks like it is dozing but it was actually feeding and chewing on plants in the water under a carpet of duckweed.

Probably thousands of Red-Winged Blackbirds have finished their nests and the females sit on the eggs right now. This female here was irritated by my approach because I drove by very slowly with my “mobile blind”. She left the nest but returned within a minute. The first photo was made as she entered the nest again and pretty soon the breeding business continued. The males sit on higher perches, like trees or the remains of last year’s reeds, and watch out for predators. I have seen them in the past defending their territory very aggressively against crows or even eagles.