wildlife – Page 60 – A Thousand Acres of Silphiums

Death of a Pollinator

I had been watching this exquisitely camouflaged spider on this Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) all week. This evening I noticed it had grabbed itself some tucker and grabbed the camera. In these two photos (not the same bee) check out the pollinium (pollen sacs) that are attached to the honeybee’s legs. This is quite the interesting pollination system that milkweed use. As an insect is having a meal on the nectar the flowers provide, the pollinium attaches itself to the leg of the visitor and is removed from the donor flower. Upon removal, the pollen sack is turned perpendicular to the receptor sight, known as the “stigmatic slit” – thus avoiding self-pollination. A few minutes or so later, as the insect is visiting other flowers, the translator arms begin to dry and that flat sack of pollen now orients itself to be able to fit in this slit – thus pollinating another flower. Often, these pollinium can attach to themselves, forming long, branched chains, which may increase the chances for successful pollination.

Obviously the honeybee is not the natural pollinator of milkweed, but this exotic insect is now the primary pollinator of A. syriaca and several other milkweed species. Scientists are unsure which native species were primarily responsible for this service prior to the introduction of the honeybee, or why they are not found in more abundance currently. With the current plight of both the honeybee and the monarch butterfly, it would be a wise thing to plant as many milkweed as we can in neighborhoods and in reconstructions of prairie habitats. So far my milkweed are looking good and I hope to collect plenty of seed this year (aphids really limited flower and seed production the last two years). So, if you are interested in planting some milkweed, let me know.

OZB

email: handsomeozarkbillyboy@gmail.com

The Kingdom of Quivira – Found!

birds, Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, wildlife, wildlife photography

In that half-forgotten era,
With the avarice of old,
Seeking cities he was told
Had been paved with yellow gold,

In the kingdom of Quivira-

Came the restless Coronado
To the open Kansas plain,
With his knights from sunny Spain;
In an effort that, though vain,

Thrilled with boldness and bravado.

In the year 1540 a band of Spaniards led by ultra-badass Francisco Vasquez de Coronado set out to find the fabled “Seven Cities of Cibola” within the kingdom known as “Quivira”. You can probably guess why. The region was supposedly overflowing with rich mines of gold and silver, and New Spain was bound and determined to get some of that. Coronado’s righteous expedition, into what is now central Kansas, yielded no riches to return to the crown and was thus considered a failure.

Fast forward 475 years when a two-man expedition, this time based in the french port of Saint Louis, set out for the Kingdom of Quivera. This expedition would in fact find riches that Coronado wouldn’t have noticed unless they were hanging from his fire spit. Way back in early May (where in the world is time going?), Steve and I packed up the N.E.V. and headed west to Quivira NWR to observe one of the natural wonders of the great plains.

League by league, in aimless marching,
Knowing scarcely where or why,
Crossed they uplands drear and dry,
That an unprotected sky

Had for centuries been parching.

But their expectations, eager,
Found, instead of fruitful lands,
Shallow streams and shifting sands,
Where the buffalo in bands
Roamed o’er deserts dry and meager.

This section of south-central Kansas (near the town of Great Bend) is a crossroads of different habitat type and is a critical staging area for migrating birds throughout the central flyway. Parts tallgrass prairie, shortgrass prairie, sand prairie, salt marsh, salt flats and fresh water wetlands – this region is used by birds of the east and the west. More than 340 species of bird have been documented within the NWR and it has been estimated that up to 90% of all shorebirds that use the Central Flyway (and up to 45% of all NA shorebirds) on their way to arctic nesting grounds will stop here and in nearby Cheyenne Bottoms Reserve to have a fill-up.

Back to the scenes more trite, yet tragic,
Marched the knights with armor’d steeds;
Not for them the quiet deeds;
Not for them to sow the seeds

From which empires grow like magic.

For centuries the Europeans looked upon the prairie – particularly the short-grass regions of the great plans – as worthless desert. Although the livestock – cows and green-colored deere the Europeans introduced nearly extinguished these grassland habitats, these few low and wet patches were mostly spared and are now offered some, if imperfect protection.

American Avocet and Wilson's Phalarope — American Avocet and Wilson’s Phalarope

Thus Quivira was forsaken;
And the world forgot the place
Through the lapse of time and space.
Then the blue-eyed Saxon race

Came and bade the desert waken.

— Eugene Ware —

It has been a crazy spring, with this trip, a short sail along the Jacks Fork and a puddle jump to the enchanted isle of Puerto Rico (another former Spanish colony). I will be sharing much more about the birds and ecosystems of the Kingdom of Quivira as well as the rest of these locals over the coming weeks and months.

Thanks so much for paying a visit and keeping in touch.

OZB

You can email me at: handsomeozarkbillyboy@gmail.com

A Welcome Spring Visitor

bill duncan, wildlife

Here are a couple of pics of a Hooded Warbler that visited a favorite birding spot of mine a couple of weeks ago. Quite low light on a cloudy early morning, so I apologize for the grain and poor detail.

A Trio of Birds from Shaw Nature Reserve

bill duncan, birds, wildlife

Here are a few birds taken from SNR this spring.

Three Random Birds

birds, wildlife

Before we get to a few birds from this spring… Why do people like Adobe Lightroom so much? I know it definitely helps in cataloging my images and I am better off than what I was before, but the hassle and bugs I have to deal with… Just yesterday, we lost power during the storms and then next time I was able to load up LR, all my settings went back to default! I guess I should be thankful that all of my images appear to be in the right spot. Computers…

Hermit Thrush

Such a silent bird. Whenever I am lucky enough to cross its path, it is almost always found by eyesight. This guy patiently hung out with me for a bit.

Mallard Drake

Pretty much a staple in the pond at my working location. Sometimes I don’t seem to bother them, while others I cause them to flush.

Brown Creeper

I have seen these guys all over the place this spring. Always one of my favorites, it has been a real treat to seem them so regularly the past two weeks.

Winter Stonefly

macro, wildlife

While looking to photograph pollinators of Ozark Witch Hazel, Steve and I came across this Winter Stonefly, which is definitely not a pollinator. This photograph was taken on February 7th near Silver Mines Recreation Area.

Winter Stonefly - Taeniopteryx burksi — Winter Stonefly – Taeniopteryx burksi

American Woodcock

birds, wildlife

“Knowing the place and the hour, you seat yourself under a bush to the east of the dance floor and wait, watching against the sunset for the woodcock’s arrival. He flies in low from some neighboring thicket, alights on the bare moss, and at once begins the overture: a series of queer throaty peents spaced about two seconds apart, and sounding much like the summer call of the Nighthawk.”

-Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac–

Whether for a hunt, photograph or just to watch, knowing an animal’s favored habitat, the likelihood of finding them at a particular time (circadian and calendar), and specific behaviors are crucial for finding a species of focus. The American Woodcock, also known as a Timberdoodle or Bogsucker, arrives early in the spring to its preferred display grounds.

Young forest is required for nesting Woodcock, and to observe their courtship displays one must find their preferred singing grounds. Woodcock prefer young, dense, successional forest that is somewhat on the wet side, with marsh or forest streams nearby. The singing grounds are typically located in an opening with mixed grassland habitat. An optimal location would be a treeless opening large enough for several males to establish their ground and that allows room for flight. Around 10-15 minutes after sunset from late February to late April, the males slowly begin to peent (see video below) usually from a more covered location. As darkness takes over, the males will venture out onto their preferred open grounds to allow the girls the best possible views. A nice spot for this in Missouri is often a mowed path through native grassland habitat.

After a series of peents, the male jumps into a spiraling flight while emitting a twitter due to stiff feathers that he takes advantage of in his performance. Upon reaching 300 feet or so, he heads back to ground, this time in a zig-zag fashion and making a peculiar liquid-like warble, which sounds to me like an alien’s egg-timer counting down to a perfect soft-boil. While on the singing grounds, you may on occasion be “buzzed”; however, there is no need for alarm, as their eyesight at night is supposedly very good. This “sky-dance” as Leopold so perfectly described it, ends approximately 35 minutes or so after sunset. It is possible to hear them vocalizing and dancing throughout the night, but it is nothing compared to the concert that is just on the darker side of crepusculum.

Welcome Spring

birds, wildlife

Happy first day of spring! To celebrate the outgoing winter, here are a couple shots of a Savannah Sparrow making a living in the snow. These were taken at Clarence Cannon NWR.

Clarence Cannon in White-Out Conditions

birds, wildlife

This past Saturday I headed up north on Highway 79. Knowing that the frigid temps and predicted winds of 30 mph + would not afford many great opportunities, the chance of snow in these areas made me think that something interesting could happen. Here are a few I thought worthy to share.

OZB’s Favorite Images from 2014!

birds, landscape, wildlife

Hello again. Although I promised myself I would get this post out on time this year, here we are on Valentine’s Day. Of course, I still have not processed everything I intend to from 2014, but I think I’ve finished the major images by now. Like last year, this is not necessarily my “best” images of the year, but a list comprised of images that captured something special to me, while being at least a competent photograph. Once again, I was nearly frozen by the list of images to choose from. I had one fewer landscape and one more wildlife image this year compared to last, for whatever that is worth. Follow the links to the posts that each image was featured in.

#10) “Acadian Flycatchers – Feeding Time”

Although it lacked a happy ending (see original post), Steve and I were absolutely thrilled in getting an opportunity to view and photograph a sought after nesting species. The nest location was poorly lit, being well concealed in the foliage at Hawn S.P. However, with a tripod and shutter release cable, it is something to see how slow you can take the shutter speed in these situations.

#9) “Wild Horizons”

This one was from our last stay in the cabins at Big Spring S.P. for a number of years (due to closing during renovation work). It turned out to be a pretty interesting sunset, with just a couple minutes of fire.

#8) “Male Pine Warbler, Big Spring State Park, April 2014”

From our vernal Big Spring trip. I was quite happy with this image, although I was hoping the white dogwood blossoms behind the bird would be a little more distinct. Oh well, always room for improvement.

#7) “Bald Cypress”

From our literally unforgettable day in the canoe in the waters of Mingo. This image was taken later in the day and showcases what a sun-star pattern from a nine-bladed aperture diaphragm can look like. Kudos to Canon for putting this feature in all of their new f4 zoom “L” lenses in the past several years.

#6) “Rufous-tailed Jacamar”

I had to place at least one image from my time in Brazil from this year. I was able to make images of quite a few species, but this patient Jacamar might be the most memorable. We came across this guy in Serra do Mar State Park in Brazil’s Atlantic Rain-forest while on a birding/nature hike. It sat while we got great views and some photographs.

#5) “Timber Rattlesnake”

Although I questioned why I would want to bring up the memory of not having an appropriate lens to shoot snakes on “Snake Road”, I still love this image and the memories it contains of shooting this Timer Rattlesnake with a 500mm “bird lens”. Shoot, I bet most of you are thinking I did have the most appropriate lens for the job. 😉

#4) “Twin Cottonwoods on Tetons”

Taken on Sarah and My trip out west this past September. This image was taken inside the National Elk Refuge. In the waning light, Sarah and I came across these two cottonwood with nicely shadowed foothills lying before the Tetons.

IMG_1944 High Clarity B&W — Twin Cottonwoods on Tetons

#3) “Swainson’s Song”

It’s a usable photograph of one of the rarest nesting birds in Missouri. What else is there to say? What a memory. My only regret is always forgetting that my dSLR cameras are capable of taking great video. Video of this guys singing would have been the icing on the cake.

#2) “Otter Family”

Steve and I had two great experiences with River Otters in 2014. This one was taken on the Eleven Point this autumn and shows mom and all four of the kids in one tight shot.

#1) Bald Eagle Nest Week Three – Mom Brings a Fish

I could have picked a dozen from the weeks spent at the nest to put into my top ten. I’m not sure why I chose this one, other than it is among my favorites of hundreds of keepers from the nest. Although mom never stayed to feed the young while we were watching, she did often bring prey to the nest as is seen in this image.

Well, that summarizes a good bit of what I was fortunate enough to capture in 2014. Thanks so much to Sarah and Steve and everyone who was part of these experiences. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for 2015!

Ozark Bill Duncan – February 14th, 2015