Trail camera pictures

I recently got a trail camera and hung it from a tree in the woods. My first pictures were of a 9 point buck. Even though the quality isn't that of my Canon camera it wasn't that bad either.

Mount St. Helens is most famous for its catastrophic eruption on May 18, 1980 which was the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in the history of the United States. Fifty-seven people were killed; 250 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles of railways, and 185 miles of highway were destroyed. The eruption caused a massive debris avalanche, reducing the elevation of the mountain's summit from 9,677 feet to 8,365 feetand replacing it with a mile-wide horseshoe-shaped crater.
The picture shows the side of the volcano and its reflection with a fishman getting ready to cast.

My Favorite

I have taken a few hundred deer pictures this fall and so far this one is my favorite. I like how he is sandwiched between white oaks and the remains of understory flora are in front of him.

Leaping Buck

I was lucky to capture this young buck starting to leap and in mid air.

More Big Bucks

Whitetail deer have over populated in East Central Illinois as they have in many areas of the United States. I remember as boy hardly ever seeing deer and if one photographed in the county it would surely make the front page of the paper. Now during the rut season I drive my four wheeler through the country side and take pictures regularly and since they are very common they never make the front page. Well I take that back I did have one on the front page last year but he was white. Pictured are three bucks I have taken in the last couple of weeks.

Big Antlers

In the late winter and early spring of the midwest buck white-tail deer lose or shed their antlers and then proceed to grow them back. Shed hunting is very popular and good exercise. Fall shed hunting is a bit more unusual. I found the antlers pictured recently but in this case the old guy shed head and all. I also found the shed to this buck in the spring which I am guessing would be a rarity to find the same shed in one year. If I find his shed next spring I am writing Ripley's.

Big Buck

The Rut is the period of time when white-tailed deer mate. During the rut (also known as the rutting period), males rub their antlers on trees or shrubs, fight with each other, and pursue estrus females by their scent.The Rut is the time when white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), especially bucks, are more active and less cautious than usual. This makes them easier to hunt, as well as more susceptible to being hit by motor vehicles or in my case easier to photograph. I caught this guy this morning more interested in his mate than me.

One Antler Buck

This the season when Big Bucks fight to see who is the toughest and gets to breed the Does. This guy apparently lost since he only has one antler.

Common Buckeye

Pictured is the Common Buckeye. It is thought that the eyespots of the Common Buckeye Butterfly may be used to scare away predators. The Common Buckeye was featured on the 2006 United States Postal Service 24-cent postage stamp.

Viceroy

The viceroy butterfly is dark orange with black veins. A row of white spots edge its wings. Its color and pattern mimics the monarch butterfly's pattern except for a black horizontal stripe that crosses the bottom of its back wings. The viceroy caterpillar is white and olive-brown. The viceroy and monarch were once thought to exhibit Batesian mimicry where a harmless species mimics a toxic species. Studies conducted in the early 1990's suggest that the viceroy and the monarch are actually examples of Mullerian mimicry where two equally toxic species mimic each other to the benefit of each. Just goes to show you there's always something new to discover in the natural world!
The picture shown is two Viceroys in copula and was taken today in Coles County.

Coyote

The coyote is a member of the dog family. In size and shape the coyote is like a medium-sized Collie dog, but its tail is round and bushy and is carried straight out below the level of its back.
One of the most adaptable animals in the world, the coyote can change its breeding habits, diet and social dynamics to survive in a wide variety of habitats.
Alone, in pairs or in packs, coyotes maintain their territories by marking them with urine. They also use calls to defend this territory, as well as for strengthening social bonds and general communication. Coyotes can easily leap an 8 foot fence or wall. They have been spotted climbing over a 14 foot cyclone fence.
Environmentalists firmly believe that the coyotes are necessary to preserve the balance of nature. Some sportsmen feel the coyote is responsible for the declines in game species. Biologists agree that individual animals preying on livestock and poultry should be destroyed but that the species as a whole is not necessarily harmful, because much of its diet is made up of destructive rodents. Biologists also agree that coyote populations have no lasting effects on other wildlife populations. So the controversy rages on.

Red-tailed Hawk

The most common and widespread hawk in North America, the Red-tailed Hawk is a bird of open country. It is frequently seen sitting on utility poles where it watches for rodents in the grass along the roadsides. The hawk pictured is an immature bird and testimony to this was that he let me get quite close before he/she flew. Also notice the tail has not turned red yet.

Albino Deer

Last year I posted this same deer. He definitely has grown and has added 4 points to his rack. The rack is still covered with velvet and has a pinkish tint. He has moved about a mile from where I saw him last year. He is shown here eating soybeans about a mile south of Charleston.

Indigo Bunting

The Midwest has been extremely wet this year and even as July comes to an end several farm ponds are still full. I was driving by one today and noticed several Solitary Sandpipers feeding. They apparently were stopping here on their way south. I had taken a couple of pictures when this male Indigo Bunting stopped right in front of me. I quickly fired several shots and off he went. Sometimes you just get lucky...

Scarlet Tanager

A striking black-winged red bird, the Scarlet Tanager is a common species of the eastern forest interior. Despite its brilliant coloring it is often overlooked because of its rather secretive behavior and its preference for the forest canopy.

In late spring I was using a common call of "psssst" trying to attract warblers. I had seen a birder at Crane Creek a few days prior to this using this call with great success. I had attracted a couple of warblers when this beautiful Scarlet Tanager landed a short distance from me. He stayed long enough for me to snap a couple of shots.

Eastern Kingbirds

Featured in this picture is a mother Kingbird feeding her recently fledged babies. It also shows babies begging for food. These pictures were taken just west of my house.

Nesting Flycatchers

In my last blog, I featured Great Crested Flycatchers. The next day, from my back deck, I observed two Great Crested Flycatchers gathering in their beaks large amounts of old leaves which had been mowed and laid under a Shagbark Hickory tree. I watched as they flew over my house and disappeared. They kept coming back and forth and I finally went to other side of the house and located their nesting tree. If you read the last blog you know that they are cavity nesters and, true to form, they were using a large hole in a walnut tree.

Great Crested Flycatcher

The Great Crested Flycatcher is a bird of the treetops. It spends very little time on the ground, and does not hop or walk. It prefers to fly from place to place on the ground rather than walk. A treetop hunter of deciduous forests and suburban areas, the Great Crested Flycatcher is easier to hear than to see. The only eastern flycatcher that nests in cavities, it often includes snakeskin in the nest lining.

Spring Migration

Spring migration of birds across North America is a sure sign of spring. Each year birds which have been wintering as far south as South America return to nest and raise their young. Not all the birds seen in the spring stay here in central Illinois, but they do stop,rest,feed and continue as far north as Canada. Several travel at night using the stars to guide them which means that one day they are here and the next they are not. The three birds shown are warblers. The Palm Warbler and Yellow-rumped Warbler will continue north while the Common Yellowthroat will stay here. This is a great time of year to get out and check the trees. There are amazingly beautiful birds to see. The top photo is the Common Yellowthroat(not at all common!), the middle photo is the Palm Warbler and the bottom photo is the Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Spring Bird Count

Today was the Illinois Spring bird count. The rules are pretty simple, record each bird you see or hear. We are part of a group which covers Coles County. As of noon today the group had seen 118 species. There were 21 species of warblers with notable sightings Cerulan Warbler, Mourning Warbler, and Hooded Warbler. My wife and I covered our property and saw 63 different species. One of the species pictured is the American Redstart male and female.

Eastern Meadowlark

The Eastern Meadowlark has a bright yellow breast adorned with a distinct broad black necklace (in the shape of a V), short tails and short rounded wings, white outer tail feathers, long starling-like bills, and brown-streaked backs. Migrating adults arrive in Illinois in March and stay until October or November, flying by day short distances at low altitudes. Eastern Meadowlarks live in grasslands, prairies, hay fields and fallow farm fields, and in row crops. In tall grass they build a cup-like nest of dry grass, horsehair, pine needles, and plant stems. The female lays 2-6 white eggs spotted with reddish-brown. The eggs hatch in about 12 days. The bird pictured is in a small tree but most of the time they will be seen on a fence post or fence.

Eastern Kingbird

The Eastern Kingbird likes to perch on exposed fences, tree tops or utility poles. It is a highly aggressive bird, even towards birds much larger than itself. They may attack hawks and crows or any bird of this size, perching on the intruder's back and knocking the intruder's head with its' bill. It will vigorously defend its' territory against other Kingbirds. When feeding, the Eastern Kingbird waits on an exposed perch, and flies out to catch insects on the wing. It may also pick food off of vegetation. It is even able to pluck berries from a tree or vine while flying. It returns to the same perch after hunting and sounds a sharp, triumphant call. The bird pictured has just left its' perch and is hovering above its' prey.

Summer Tanager

A summer resident of Illinois is the Summer Tanager. One might know the Summer Tanager by its alias, the "beebird." Due to its diet of bees, it is a well-known pest around apiaries and is persecuted by beekeepers. They are excellent flycatchers, able to seize adult bees and wasps in mid-flight and take them back to a perch where it beats them against the branch until they die. It then wipes them on the branch to remove the stingers before eating them. One of their favorite foods is wasp larvae and pupae. Summer Tanagers harass or kill the adult wasps guarding the vespiaries. This leaves the wasp nest abandoned and by tearing the paper covering open, the larvae are easily plucked from their homes. Just thought you might want to know.

Prothonotary Warbler

In East Central Illinois, spring bird migration is at its' peak. We have had at least 12 warbler species on our property in the last two days. The Prothonotary Warbler pictured is a beautiful bird and the only one of the eastern warblers which nest in a cavity. They will nest in Illinois and usually are in a swampy, low area using an old Downy Woodpecker hole.

Lift Off

Pictured is a Song Sparrow leaving a tree branch. I capture this shot occasionally by either holding the shutter button down for multiple shots or, as happened in this case, there is a time delay from the moment the shutter button is hit and the time the image is recorded. In any case, I like the shot with the light coming through the feathers,the bill pointed straight up and the feet pointing straight down.

Spring Wildflowers

Spring is a great time of year to get to the nearest woods and look for the explosion of spring wildflowers, mushrooms, and deer sheds. If you find the two I have pictured please give me a call as they would be a rare find for east central Illinois, but I guess after seeing a Black-necked Stilt here yesterday, anything is possible. Someone asked if I take all my own pictures. Well the truth of it is, I don't, my camera does!

Black-necked Stilt

Sunday I was informed of a rare visitor to Coles County. A pair of Black-necked Stilts had stopped at the Douglas Hart Nature Center wetlands. I was there in the afternoon and only one was left. Truly a very exciting bird to see with its long pinkish legs and needlelike bill. I was told this was the first time these birds had been seen in Coles County.

Varied Thrush

Pictured is a Varied Thrush taken at Mount Taber in Portland Oregon. I had never seen this bird before and was quite excited to see one. This is a very handsome bird whose numbers seem to be on the decline. A special thanks to my son-in-law who led me to this beautiful spot.

Lighthouse

One of my very favorite things to do on Sanibel is to go to the lighthouse beach just before the sun comes up. I have never been disappointed. Today was my last visit to the lighthouse this year and I was rewarded with a special treat. Just as the sun broke the horizon a Magnificent Frigatebird appeared. It was riding a gentle thermal and circled between me and the lighthouse. As per usual, my camera was ready and I captured the silhouette of the bird as it passed the light of the Sanibel Lighthouse. That is all from Sanibel until next year.

Birds in Flight

Undulating back and forth, up and down and doing this without running into each other. Breathtaking to say the least. Featured in this show are Dunlins.

Prairie Warbler

In Illinois, the prairie state, the Prairie Warbler is a rare visitor. In fact, this bird is not well named because it favors dense second growth and thickets, not open prairie. It is common in Florida and frequents the mangrove swamps. This guy was feeding on little green worms in the mangroves lining the edge of the wildlife drive in Ding Darling NWR. We had never seen a Prairie Warbler so this was quite a treat as she darted from branch to branch.