Experimentation, time and patience

I can hardly believe that it is already July.  My life has been so busy, that I have had few opportunities to get outdoors and explore.  However, I carry my camera everywhere, unless extreme temperatures prevent doing so.  This allows me some time everyday to practice my photography and do a little experimenting at the same time.  Sometimes I am even pleased with the results.

First wave-ducks from a new perspective

Juvenile mallard

Although I have not been seeing many birds, I did get some shots of other delightfully winged creatures.  Some of these are new to me, which is always exciting.  The Dragonflies have emerged for example, and some of them are real beauties.  When I was a child I was absolutely terrified of dragonflies, now I love them, funny how time changes one's perspective.  The ones I present here are quite large, about three and a half to four inches long.  I believe these are classified as cruisers.  If anyone knows their identification please let me know.

A beautiful blue and black dragonfly at my front door

I caught the Dragonfly above near my work at lunch time.  I have never seen one this color.  He's quite the handsome fellow.  Before he settled on the wall above me, he landed on my hip, I was both astonished and delighted.

Pearl Crescent

 Butterflies have also emerged in more significant numbers.  I don't know about anyone else, but I find butterflies more difficult to photography than birds.  Their flight is more erratic and I find they are more hyperactive than flycatchers.

Red Admiral

White Admiral

With birds you can usually tell by their body language when they are about to take off,  and even in which direction.  Butterflies give no visible clues that I can tell.  They are also hyper alert to movement of any kind around them.  The result is that they are difficult to approach.  Patience is the key to photographing butterflies.  They do settle for a few minutes, if undisturbed and a preferred food source is available.  The White Admiral above for example was feeding on the sap of new pine tree buds, and he was there for quite some time.

Enjoy,
Susan 

Northern Flicker feeding young

The past few of weeks have been rather drenching, with rain pouring down every day, almost all day long. Not that I'm complaining, we really needed the rain.  However, I had plans to take videos of a pair of Downy Woodpeckers feeding their young.  I discovered at the end of last week, that the nest I had found to observe has since been abandoned.  Hopefully the baby woodpeckers fledged successfully and are now surviving nicely on their own.

Downy Woodpecker feeding young

Parent removing the waste

Parent rushing off to gather more food

I did manage to get in a couple of enjoyable hours of bird watching this past weekend.  However, this time of year most birds are difficult to spot, they are very  busy gathering food for their young, much quicker in their flight, and somewhat secretive besides, no doubt to protect the location of their nests.  When I do catch sight of them, they usually have a beak full of insects to carry back to the nest.  And I did catch sight of several birds in just this way. 

The highlight of this outing however, was the Northern Flicker parents feeding their fledglings in the tree tops.  I had stepped into a dense part of the little forest to try and spot a singing bird, when I caught sight of a dark shadowy bird figure with a red head, which was clumsily moving around in some bushes.  This turned out to be a fledgeling Northern Flicker.

The parent and the fledgeling

The Fledgeling

Notice the not quite finished look and the shorter tail of this fledgeling

Northern Flicker parent

The moment that I realized that I was viewing some fledgling flickers was made sweeter by the fact that I really didn't expect to see them.  I have never seen Northern Flickers nesting in the little forest.  In fact, I usually see Northern Flickers only in spring and fall.  So when I caught sight of  the parent feeding the fledgeling I was absolutely delighted and totally fascinated.

Opening wide in anticipation

Parent feeding fledgeling

Is that all?

There wasn't a lot of light under the trees for my first series of photos.  However I lucked out when I caught sight of them a second time in a part of the forest with much better light.  So I'm really glad that these birds were not stationary. 

As far as I could tell there were two fledgelings, and the parents were busy taking it in turn to feed them both.  The fledgelings seemed never to stay still for very long, and made their own attempts at finding food, but were still fairly clumsy.   Between the first and second sighting, I watched them for perhaps half and hour before they all disappeared into the denser part of the forest.  It was both an awesome and delightful experience.


Enjoy,
Susan
 

Birds amongst the blossoms

I was very fortunate this spring to catch several images of birds perched among, or near various spring blossoms this year. 

Cedar waxwing  and crab apple blossoms

 The crab apple blossoms in the photo above, actually caused the Cedar Waxwing's cinnamon and yellow coloring stand out.

Black bird and blossoms

I must confess that I do not know what species of tree this Red-winged Blackbird is perched on, but the blossoms sure complement the birds coloring.

This Clay-colored sparrow just loved hanging out with the honey suckle blossoms.  In fact, it was the only place I saw this bird over the period of several hours.

This House-wren on the other hand wasn't at all choosey.  I saw her perched on Lilac bushes, in Crab-apple trees and several other blooming trees, whose names I don't know.  Both birds and blossoms are beautiful, but when combined...well you decide.

Enjoy,
Susan 

Tiny, fiercely protective and courageous

Over the last couple of weeks, I have had occasion to be stunned by the courage of some of the smaller bird species.   You see, I unintentionally ventured too close to their nests, or perhaps their fledgelings.  Although I didn't see them if they were there.  

On the first occasion, it was the Dark-eyed Juncos who started zipping by, and all around me, on the little trail I was following.   They were deliberately vocal too, and quite obviously wanting me to follow them away from the direction I was going.  When I didn't do so, they approached even closer, while their voices rose in volume.  Both male and female were present, each taking it in turn to get closer and closer to me, in an effort to get my attention.

Here the Male Dark-eyed Junco still has a beak full to feed his chicks

The Female Junco protesting loudly

On the second occasion I was bombarded by the voice and attention of a pair of Song Sparrows, coincidentally enough along the same little trail, only a week later.  Except this time I was heading in the opposite direction. It made me wonder what other bird species had chosen nest sites there and it was also brought home to me just how little we humans really see of our surroundings, when we are visiting with nature.  

Very Vocal-Song Sparrow

On another fly-by

Just yesterday the same happened again while I was exploring a new trail alongside the creek in the ravine just a few blocks from my home.  This time it was a pair of White-throated sparrows.  They got so close to me, that I literally had to watch where I put my feet.  At first the male was trying to get my attention from below and the female from above. There was dirt flying from the male's feet as he scurried around on the forest floor trying to get my attention.   In fact, both parents were so quick that I was hard pressed to keep track of them.  They also switched places frequently.

Male White-throated sparrow

Set for another fly-by

I can't imagine the amount of courage it would take for such a tiny creature to accost another who is  likely to be several hundred times larger than itself.  On each of these occasions it was obvious that these were parents in their fiercest protective mode.  Of the three species, the White-throated sparrow was the fastest and the Song-sparrow the loudest, but each was quite determined to protect their young from any perceived threat and I feel privileged to have witnessed the behavior. 

Enjoy,
Susan

Great Horned Owl

Sometimes, when you least expect it, the most amazing magic moments take place.  These are the wow moments, when you want to shout awesome, or something similar, at the heavens or dance with joy.   During those moments everything within you sparkles and shines, and you feel much like a child again, and hopefully your gratitude is complete.  I was fortunate to have one of those wow moments today when I visited a local pond that is surrounded by a small patch of  forest.

Owl giving me his back

I was not looking for any bird species in particular.  My intention was to simply enjoy whatever nature had in store for me and I was not disappointed.  My first clue that it was not going to be an ordinary outing was that I kept getting glimpses of bird species and snippets of bird song, but not really seeing much of any one species in particular, except of course the Black-billed Magpies which seem to be everywhere at this time of year.  I also kept hearing what sounded like a raptor fledgeling begging for food.  I had heard the same on a previous outing, but was unable to spot the source.

Great Horned Owl spots me

At this particular location there has been nesting pair of Swainsons Hawks for several years now, and I made the mistaken assumption that I was hearing one of their offspring.  But shortly after arriving this morning, I saw that the Swainson's nest had been destroyed.  Half of it was hanging off the lower portion of the tree it had been built on.  No doubt the heavy snowfall we had earlier this year caused it's collapse.  I also haven't seen much of the Swainson's Hawks recently, when normally they would be the first bird that I see here.

Owl chooses to ignore my presence

In any case I kept hearing this "begging", but couldn't spot the bird and decided to concentrate on other birds.  After circling the forest and spending some time on a side path photographing wildflowers, I realized that the begging sound was really close.  And I just knew something good was about to happen, as I stepped under the canopy of  trees to have a look around.  The forest was really dense here and difficult to navigate, but after negotiating several fallen logs and a downward slope, I finally spotted him.  My very first Great Horned Owl, one who was objecting very loudly to being harassed by hordes of Magpies.  I was stunned, amazed, overjoyed...well it was just awesome.

Enjoy,
Susan 

One second with nature: June

We've had a lot of rain lately, bringing refreshed beauty and accelerated growth, and in some instances new life.  Have you ever really looked around after a good rainfall?

Raindrops and Petals

 Enjoy,
Susan

Early morning surprises

The smaller of the two ponds

One of my favorite places to go for bird watch is a relatively new development on the southside of the city. There is a natural area there, right next to Walmart, where there are two ponds, a small forest and some farmers fields, complete with marshy areas. I haven't seen many hawks this year, and I knew I was virtually guaranteed to see some hawks hunting there.

I really needed some alone time as well, away from people, and this location was perfect.  I left earlier  than I usually do, just to ensure that I  would have the place to  myself, and I wasn't disappointed.  I was greeted almost instantly by a pair of Swainson's hawks riding the thermals, but ducked into Walmart  real quick to grab some breakfast at the Timmy's inside. 

When I emerged it wasn't to see the hawks.  Instead I was greeted by this lone, White Pelican.  What a fantastic surprise.  I nearly dumped my coffee on the pavement, as I scrambled to get my camera set and focused.  As I was snapping the photos, questions were popping into my head in rapid succession.  Why is it alone?  What's it doing here?  Are there more?  If so, where? So as I was taking photos I was trying to get to the ponds at the same time.  But hurried glances produced no more than this lone bird.

White Pelican

White Pelican circling above

I watched with delight, as he circled above me for a few more minutes, trying to catch an upward thermal and then he was gone off in a direction I couldn't follow, leaving me somewhat deflated.  I continued on to the smaller of the two ponds, where a bench was waiting and settled in for a bit of absolutely nothing.

My favorite flower

Right next to the bench is a silvery bush with tiny little yellow blooms that smell divine.  I don't know what it is called, but I look forward to taking in it's scent every year.  These little blooms don't last long, just a few days, but I never forget their smell.  I sat and relaxed, taking in the scent of the blooms, listening to the spray of the water fountain in the pond and soaking up the sun.

Swainson's Hawk

Red-necked Grebe

Swallow-tail

Before long I noticed a Red-necked Grebe on the pond, just drifting, a Swainson's Hawk above, and the song of a Clay-colored Sparrow, and then this gorgeous Swallow-tail landed on a bush a just few feet away.  That's what got me moving again about an hour later.  I took my time trying to locate the Clay-colored sparrow, but although I could hear more than one, they were no-where to be seen.  However, I did come across these Canada Geese at the far end of the pond.

Canada Goose and goslings

Which one is the youngest

I don't know how many goslings there are, but they were closely guarded by four adult geese. Who hissed at me  when I got too close, but once they got used to my presence, they just ignored me.  If you look closely you will see that the goslings are of several age groups.  I left them wondering how many families of Geese, the goslings actually belonged to.

My slow wandering eventually took me across the farmers field to the marshy area on the other side.

Small marsh

Red-tailed hawk

As I was crossing the field I spotted a Red-tailed hawk and saw a couple of Killdeer off in the distance.  When I reached the marshy area, the first thing that I noticed was that the frogs were silent, unlike last time I was here.  It was also much dryer.  I  guess the rains we've had in the past few days have not been enough to keep it from drying out.  There were some deer tracks in the dry mud, as well as the tracks of some very large birds, and, by my guess, a coyote.

Clay-colored sparrows were singing everywhere but there was also one other odd sound, not a song, but definitely a bird, that kept coming to my ears, and then a bird suddenly landed on the ground about twenty feet in front of me, that I didn't recognize.

Meadowlark

A meadowlark

It turns out to be my very first Meadowlark.  As is typical when I spot a new bird, I was dancing inside with joy, while I took as many photos as I could and attempted to move closer an inch at a time, over what seemed like an hour.  Just when I was getting close enough to make out some real detail, a Killdeer performed a very noisy flyby and the Meadowlark took off.  Oh well, if I see it once I will see it again.  Although I really wish I had gotten close enough to see if it is an Eastern or Western Meadowlark.


I returned to the ponds and spent the next couple of hours leisurely exploring the forested area and the edge of the fields.  When I returned to the bench by the small pond, I startled a young muskrat back into the water.  Another wonderful surprise, the last one for the day.

Muskrat

I don't know what this one was doing up and about during the day time, since they are nocturnal and it was almost noon by this time, but I'm very glad he was.  Notice how  he uses his tail like a rudder.  He looks fairly big in the water, but was small on land from the quick flash of him that I saw, a little smaller than a guinea pig.

Enjoy,
Susan