Looking for a new generation

House Sparrow - juvenile  

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.

Blackbird - juvenile

 

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.

Don't know yet

 

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 #206 - White-throated Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow  

There is no day without some good bird sightings here on the bluffs above the Little Maquoketa River Valley at the moment. Yesterday we saw briefly an Eastern Towhee for the first time in our neighborhood. Today it was a Ruby-crowned Kinglet that drew my attention but it moved too fast for the camera. Easy to identify is this beautiful White-throated Sparrow that is probably on its way to the breeding grounds up north in Minnesota and Canada. I checked my records, means the metadata of the photos I made in the years before, and this year the White-throated Sparrow is exactly ten days earlier here than in 2008 and 2013. Probably because of my travel activities I have not seen this medium-sized sparrow during other years. This bird doesn’t seem to be so skittish as many others and it came close enough to fill the frame without that I had to wait very long.

 

Nature clicks #199 - Female House Sparrow

Female House Sparrow  

It’s hard to believe but I have never made a decent photo of a House Sparrow around here. The truth is that we don’t see them very often in our neck of the woods, so there aren’t too many opportunities for a photo. Last week, when the winter struck again with snow and cold temperatures, a couple of these little birds paid us a visit at our bird feeders. Unfortunately I couldn’t get a hold of the male sparrow but this female posed nicely for a few seconds and so I made the click. I know some people may say, it’s just a damn sparrow, but sparrows play their role in our ecosystem and that’s why they deserve our attention as much as any other bird, at least in my books…

 

 

Nature clicks #194 - Fox Sparrow

Fox Sparrow 1  

Everyone has their way to battle the cold temperatures and to stay warm during the winter. This Fox Sparrow was captured while standing on one leg for a moment and having the other one in its feathers. The Fox Sparrow is normally in our area only during migration, according to my books, but it was already the second time that we have seen this species during the winter. I wrote about the first encounter in “Nature clicks #133”. It is a chunky little bird, bigger than other sparrows. It was actually a couple of them that we saw during the last few days and I’m sure our feeders and water supply play a role for this observation.

Fox Sparrow 2

 

 

Nature clicks #153 - White-throated Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow  

This is another bird that is just on its way north these days. I have seen it ones before in our woods in 2008. The interesting fact, at least for me, was that it was exactly the same day, April 27, when I saw it. There were three of them this time that stopped here for a few hours and enjoyed feeding on sunflower seeds on the ground that were spilled by the squirrels. The White-throated Sparrow is very pretty and I'm glad I can now replace my blurry picture from 2008 in my Iowa wildlife gallery (click HERE) with a better one this time.

 

 

Nature clicks #136 - American Tree Sparrow

American Tree Sparrow  

The landing of the Cassville Ferry near Millville, Iowa was another spot along the Mississippi where we went to watch Bald Eagles this weekend. While observing the action on the river I noticed a pair of American Tree Sparrows landing in a bush not far from where my tripod legs were put into the sand. They were not afraid about my presence and landed finally on a piece of driftwood right beside me. That was an easy click. Enough time to compose and focus, no crop, and very little time to finalize the image in the computer. It doesn't get much easier than this.

 

 

 

Nature clicks #133 - Fox Sparrow

Fox Sparrow  

I interrupt my 2012 "Looking back" series one more time for an actual picture of another "first time" shot. The blizzard that came through last Thursday left us with about a foot of snow on the ground and this brings a lot of birds into our yard here in the woods. A heated bird bath and different bird feeders all around the house are obviously well received by the birdies. Two Fox Sparrows were among them today, a bird species that I have seen only ones before here. At that time I didn't pay much attention and thought they were young robins. Todays photo shoot made it clear, no American Robins, no Hermit Thrushs (looks also very similar) but some nice looking Fox Sparrows were feeing on the ground. This sparrow is larger and almost chubby in comparison to other sparrows and that's why I made my mistake. They spend the summer up in Canada and in the western part of the United States. Here in Iowa they are usually seen only during migration and I wonder if we will have them all winter long here. Except for the last couple nights it has not been really cold and maybe that makes them stay here (beside the good food and drinks ;-)  ).

 

 

 

Nature clicks #112 - Lark Sparrow

Lark Sparrow  

If there is an abundance of wildlife in a particular location it is sometimes easy to forget the smaller birds and critters. It was very windy every day during my recent trip to Antelope Island and I didn't see many small birds anyway. This Lark Sparrow was a first sighting for me and so I made a few clicks, even if the bird was actually too far away for a good detail shot. This photo was sharp enough to consider a crop, and yes, I cropped it quite a bit. The result is an environmental portrait, good enough to show here and report about it, but too small for a large size print. Well, next time... ;-)