Warblers

I took these warbler pictures in May at Magee Marsh Wildlife Refuge. Pictured top to bottom is Magnolia, Canada, and Bay-breasted Warblers. This is a great place to view and take pictures of birds in the month of May.

Bambi

My west meadow is presently red clover and today this fawn was eating away (better than my field corn). He paused long enough to have his picture taken. Very cute.

Bucks

This must be the season for bucks to hang together. I counted 16 bucks in three different groups last night. Also they all seem to like soybean greens because that was what they all were eating.

In one picture the young bucks are nestled up to dad saying please be nice to me during the upcoming rut. The other was a pretty big guy getting ready to charge my camera. Fortunately I was able to dodge him and escape with only minor injuries.

Young Buck

Last week I caught this young buck in full stride. As I panned the deer the background steaked as if in motion. This is fairly easy to do so give it a try.

Lousiana Waterthrush

My wife found this little guy feeding below the spillway of the Versailles Lake. Reflection pictures are fun and this one came out pretty good. Just turn your computer screen upside down and you will see what I mean :)

Albino Deer

For the third year in a row I have managed to photograph the Coles County Albino Deer. Last night in practically the same location as a year ago he came out to graze on soybeans. His stay was brief but I did get several nice shots.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

A small bird of the deciduous forests, the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher is constantly flitting from one branch to another as it searches for small insects. This little guy is also always twitching its tail back and forth. Pictured is a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher leaving its perch and one about to swallow a huge gnat. :) Pictures were taken along boardwalk of Magee Marsh Wildlife Area.

Bay-breasted Warbler

The Bay-breasted Warbler is closely related to the Blackpoll Warbler and hybrids between the two species are known. The Bay-breasted Warbler is known to also hybridize with Yellow-rumped and Blackburnian Warblers. The Bay-breasted Warbler usually feeds on insects and spiders as well as fruit in the winter. I caught this guy feeding on an insect he had just caught. He swallowed the whole thing. Yummy!

Northern Parula

The Northern Parula ia a small warbler of the upper tree canopy. During spring migration, I often hear the "ziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip" of the Northern Parula but it is very difficult to see as it flits about high in the tree tops. The warbler pictured was in the upper branches of a tree but, luckily, I was also high in an observation tower at Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, a wonderful natural area located on Lake Erie near Toledo, Ohio.

Limpkin and Wilson's Snipe

Pictured are two uncommon birds found at Harms Marsh in SW Florida. The Limpkin is the larger of the two and this was not only the first time I photographed one but also the first time I had actually seen one. An unusual bird of southern swamps and marshes, the Limpkin reaches the northern limits of its breeding range in Florida. There, it feeds almost exclusively on apple snails, which it extracts from their shells with its long bill. Its screaming cry is unmistakable and evocative.

The smaller bird is the Wilson's Snipe. I had seen this bird before but, because of its' secretive behavior, had never gotten a good picture. The Wilson's Snipe has an extremely long bill that it uses to probe in the mud for small invertebrates. Its' camouflage is so good that it often is not seen before it flushes from the grass. The long bill of the Wilson's Snipe is flexible. The tips can be opened and closed with no movement at the base of the bill. Sensory pits at the tip of the bill allow the snipe to feel its prey deep in the mud.

Snail Kite

I have travelled to SW Florida each winter for over 20 years and have photographed birds in many locations. I thought I was familiar with a wide array of the birds that winter in this part of the state, but to my surprise I learned of a new birding location where I had the possibility of viewing a bird I had never seen. The new site and the bird both proved to be exceptional. The site is known as Harms Marsh and is about 3 mile east of Fort Myers. Shown in these photos is a Snail Kite. In one photo, you see the Snail Kite dining on his favorite meal, snails. A bird of tropical marshlands, the Snail Kite makes it to the United States only in southern Florida. This specialized hawk feeds primarily on snails. This beautiful bird is listed as a Federal and State endangered species because of its small population in the United States and its extreme habitat specialization. Widespread and common in Latin America.

Bald Eagle

Last Saturday the Aububon Society of Portland (Oregon) hosted a Raptor Road Trip at Sauvie Island. A map was given out at the start which showed 4 locations at which volunteers had set up spotting scopes and located any birds in the area. There were Red-tailed Hawks, Northern Harriers, American Kestrels, and much to my delight someone had located a Prairie Falcon. Also there were Sandhill Cranes, Snow Geese, and big variety of ducks. I think the thing that impressed me the most was the huge turnout of birders. Many of them brought their children to insure we will have future birders. Pictured here is an immature eagle in flight and having breakfast. There were several eagles in the area and while I was retrieving my camera my son-in-law saw 12 soaring overhead. Awesome!

Roosevelt Elk

The elk pictured were second only to the bison in numbers before the west was settled. Hunting almost drove this huge animal (male bull can weigh up to 1000 pounds) to extinction. Theodore Roosevelt helped save the elk with hunting restrictions and by starting wildlife refuges where they are protected. Consequently, they were named Roosevelt Elk.
The Roosevelt Elk are different from the Rocky Mountain Elk in several different ways. The Roosevelt Elk have much stockier bodies than the Rocky Mountain Elk. Also, the Roosevelt Elk's antlers are much thinner and the spread between the two antlers is much smaller than their Rocky Mountain counterparts. The reason for this is because the Roosevelt Elk's home turf is heavily forested. It would be difficult to run through these massive forests with antlers that have a very wide spread. While visiting the elk refuge, we were able to hear them vocalize, which is called bugling. It is a truly astonishing sound. We also were able to see the bulls jousting with their antlers. You could hear the clack-clack-clack of the antlers engaging. These jousts were just practice for the real thing during the rut season and were fairly low key but very fun to watch and hear.
The pictures shown here were taken at Jewel Meadows Wildlife Area in northwestern Oregon. There is a herd of 200 to 300 which live there year round. They are fed in the winter months which makes viewing easier. Interestingly, the wildlife area is operated with funds generated from the sale of Oregon hunting licenses and tags.

Mountain Bluebird

The Mountain Bluebird is most likely to be confused with other bluebirds. Male Mountain Bluebirds lack any reddish coloration on their underparts unlike Eastern and Western Bluebirds. Females are more difficult to separate.
In the winter they sometimes travel in flocks and feed on berries. I happened to catch this guy flying away with a prized Juniper berry. The picture was taken at Bosque del Apache visitor center.

Greater Roadrunner

The Greater Roadrunner is a signature bird of the desert Southwest. During the 20th century, its range expanded all the way to southern Missouri and western Louisiana. A ground-dwelling cuckoo, it feeds on snakes, scorpions, and any other small animal it can catch and subdue.
The Greater Roadrunner can reach running speeds of 30 km/hr (18.6 mi/hr). It holds its head and tail flat and parallel to the ground when running at its top speed.
To warm up after a cold desert night, a roadrunner will turn its back to the sun, fluff its back feathers, and expose skin along its back. This skin is black in order to absorb more solar energy.
Photographers new to the southwest are always asking where Roadrunners can be found. Luckily I found one and not surprisingly it was crossing the road.

Sandhill Crane Takeoff

At night Sandhill Cranes stay in shallow ponds. In the early morning they depart and head for the corn fields to feed. As they prepare for flight they start by pointing their heads in the direction of the wind. Shown here is flight preparation, takeoff, and flight.

Sandhill Cranes

Sandhills are one of two crane species found in North America. The other is the whooping crane, an endangered species, which has been recently reintroduced to Wisconsin. Unlike its' white whooping crane cousin, the sandhill crane is a tall gray bird. It has a huge wingspan of 6-7 feet! While the birds are tall, they only weigh between 8 and 11 pounds. Adults have yellow eyes, black bills, legs and feet, with a bright red patch on the crest of their head. Males and females look nearly alike. In the spring, they actually "paint" their feathers with mud to camouflage themselves in brown grasses. These birds also date back several million years and are highly revered in Asia.
Over 15000 Sandhills call Bosque del Apache their winter home.

Snow Geese

We are presently in southern New Mexico at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. This is the winter home of tens of thousands of birds. Pictured here are Snow Geese. One picture shows a very large group taken during one of their "blast offs". The noise and sight of thousands of birds lifting off at once is an incredible sight.