Great or Snowy Egret????

Even though this bird looks similiar to the Great or Snowy Egret, closer examination shows it to be the White Morph of the Reddish Egret. Even a closer look shows a pinkish bill with bluish legs, suggesting breeding plumage. This bird is restricted to the saltwaters of the Southeast and the uncommon white form is a treat to see. Also note, unlike the Little Blue Heron which is white as an immature bird, the white morph of the Reddish Egret will keep this white form for its' entire life.

Cooper's Hawk

Well, sometimes you go looking for birds and sometimes they come to you. As I was leaving my office for lunch yesterday, I spotted this hawk next to a large factory water tower who had already found his/her lunch. I carefully turned my truck around, readied my camera and headed back to hopefully snap a few pictures. I hurriedly fired off a couple of shots before the raptor retrieved the bird he was feeding on and flew away. I identified the hawk as a Cooper's Hawk because of its'size. It is very similiar to the smaller Sharp-shinned Hawk. I ID'd the dead bird as a pigeon. I am not 100% sure it was a pigeon but I am 100% sure it was dead.

Wood Ducks

Spring is an exciting time of year in the Midwest i.e. bird migration. The warblers haven't quite made it yet but the water fowl are here in full force. North of Charleston is a slough built some time ago with approx. 20 acres of water and in close proximity to Interstate 57. In the last two days, we have counted 15 species of ducks, 2 species of geese and 1 species of swan. The ducks are in their most magnificent of colors so, if possible, get your binoculars and head for a lake, a pond, or river. Pictured are Wood Ducks. So gorgeous! Actually taking these photos is a real experience. To see the ducks, geese and swans without disturbing them, you have to scramble up a huge embankment, lay down on your tummy before you reach the top and then crawl the rest of the way to the top of the hill. You can't let any of the waterfowl see you at all or they all take flight. Then, you have to just barely raise your head to view them. You have to photograph them through a lot of grasses and while not moving or lifting your head very far off the ground. Talk about a pain in the neck! The variety is so spectacular and the birds so beautiful, it is so worth it!

Great Horned Owl with baby

About three weeks ago, Charleston received a good 8" plus snow, so we put on our Carharts and went 4-wheeling. On a portion of the farmland that we own, there is a farm lane that runs along a ridge and looks down on a large amount of bottom ground that we farm. In the past few days, we noticed that as we drove up to the highest point on the little ridge, we had scared a bird from a tree in the same location several times. It didn't look like a hawk so we thought possibly it could be an owl. Diane soon located the nest high in a tree that was rooted at the base of the ridge at the edge of the farm field. The next day, we cautiosly approached and sure enough, a Great Horned Owl was sitting on a large bunch of sticks with snow hanging from the sides. Great Horned Owls usually don't build their own nest but use old hawk nests, cavities or other animal nests. In Coles County, these owls are the first birds to mate and have young. We were adviced by friends to not scare her from the nest by our presence too much, especially when it is cold. Today was my first chance to get a photo of one adult and one owlet. There are two owlets in the nest, but the other one was evidently taking a snooze. We are so pleased that the owl family is nesting on our farm and that we have habitat that is suitable. If you look at the lower left part of the nest, you can see the furry remains of a meal. Male owls will bring food to the nest as much as ten times a day. It will be so fun to watch them grow, but we are going to try and not be intrusive either. Stay tuned for more photos!!

Texas Birds

We found Texas to be a great place to bird. We added thirty-three new birds to our life list. The three that I have shown only live in the southern part of Texas or farther south.
Pictured from top to bottom is the Clay-colored Robin, Long-billed Thrasher, and Great Kiskadee.

Black-necked Stilts

We have been staying on South Padre Island and today is our last day. We hadn't done any birding here but had heard that the Convention Center had a nature trail, so we tried it. The elevated boardwalk that eventually led us to the Laguna Madre Bay wound through a very nicely preserved wetland. We were told as many as 5 different species of rails lived in the wetland. We heard several, but they never let us see them - very usual for rails. At the end of the boardwalk was a nice viewing platform looking out over the bay. Many different species of waders, gulls and shorebirds were visible from this location. The bay was very shallow for quite a distance and this provided wonderful feeding and resting opportunities for the birds. There were three Black-necked Stilts close to the viewing platform. We noticed some odd behavior from a particular pair that didn't resemble the usual feeding behavior that we had been witnessing. The male circled around the female as she kept her neck extended and bill pointed slightly downward. He would sometimes cross her bill and sometimes he appeared to get some water and put it on her. Finally after circling several times, they decided to play piggy back with the male on top. After the mating ritual was over, they decided to cross bills and rest, apparently they were in a no smoking zone.