Mondays Are For The Birds – Red-shouldered Hawks

birds, Mondays Are For The Birds

Although I still have quite a few images from this year’s nest in my “to process” list, this one may be my favorite pic for the year.  In this image the smallest chick, who was always the last to be fed, is looking up at mom and seeming to wonder where her share of the latest kill was.  Mom is taking a break after tearing apart and passing out the meat.  She has a look around before taking again to the wind to find more.  While watching the nest I was always excited to see this small one be able to swallow down a large piece of meat and I was always prompted to send the camera’s mirror flapping.

“Hungry Eyes”

Technical details: Canon EOS 7D camera,  EF400mm f/5.6L USM lens, ISO 400,  f/6.3, 1/160 sec

An Autumn Hike Along the St. Francis

landscape

I started my autumn vacation early on a Saturday morning with a hike along one of the prettiest of Ozark Streams, the St. Francis River.  I was joined by my new friend, Stephen, who knows these waters quite well.  While I had previously visited a couple of the destinations I’ll be describing, I had long wanted to take the hike between two of Missouri’s great shut-ins – Tiemann Shut-Ins and those located downstream a couple miles at Silver Mines Recreation Area.  Stephen and I met at the trail head at the USFS Silver Mines Rec Area, located in Madison County near the towns of Fredericktown and Arcadia.

“Store of Summer Rains″
Technical details: Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM @ 58mm, ISO 100,  f/11, 2.5 sec

There is a relatively easy path between these two points, but Stephen and I followed along the river, jumping from boulder to boulder for most of the stretch.  We were pleasantly surprised arriving near dawn to find a nice blanket of fog.  While fog tends to lessen contrast considerably in a photographic frame of mind, the lighting helps those wonderful fall colors pop.  In person, eyes are drawn to a bright warm maple growing between riverside rocks.  Once my camera was out, we were in danger of spending the entire day within the first quarter mile of our hike.  I do appreciate Stephen’s patience as I took the time to set up the tripod and repeatedly dove into my bag to swap lenses.

“Solid Out of Liquid″
Technical details: Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM @ 58mm, ISO 100,  f/11, 1/5 sec, Orton processing in PS CS6

The St. Francis is one of the more productive of Missouri’s Ozark streams.  While this means you won’t see the crystal clear waters of the Black, Current, or Eleven Point, the mass of life and biological diversity is more obvious.  Moving along the banks one is forced to path-find between Ozark Witch Hazel and Sandbar Willow.  Organic matter deposited on rocks makes food for algae and makes any wet surface as slippery as ice.  A hike-ending fall was a possibility in the early part of the day.  More than 50 species of fish have been documented in this river and this stretch is home for the St. Francis Crawfish, an endemic species to the St. Francois Mountains and a species of conservation concern.

“Sweet Kisses″
Technical details: Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera, EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, ISO 400,  f/6.3, 1/25 sec

Although making Stephen a bit apprehensive, I was completely stoked that were able to cross paths with five cottonmouths, including this cute little juvenile.  This one I spotted almost on the trail as he flapped his bright-white mouth at me, mere inches from my boot.  My first thought was of a small moth or butterfly flapping its wings in alternating bright dorsal and dull ventral aspects.  Taking a second, closer glance I was able to pick out this well-camouflaged beauty.  I think Stephen will pay me well to save the story of what happened when we came upon a larger relative of this guy in the crevice of a couple of boulders.  😉

“Einstein Mine Dam On The St. Francis″
Technical details: Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM @ 65mm, ISO 100,  f/11, 1/25 sec

Here you have a view of the granite block dam built to supply power to the milling operations of the nearby Einstein Mine.  The mine did not last long and is now a nice home for bats.  Did you know that Missouri has almost continually been first in lead production of the USA for almost two centuries?  Today Missouri produces nearly 90% of the nation’s lead and 75% of its zinc as well as large amounts of iron, silver and copper.  This area is of great interest to geologists.  The rock you see in this post, primarily granites and rhyolites, are among the hardest and oldest exposed rocks on the planet.

“Endless Forms Most Beautiful And Most Wonderful″
Technical details: Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM @ 67mm, ISO 100,  f/13, 0.6 sec

Many thanks to Stephen for being a great guide and showing me a lot along this hike.  I definitely would not have been able to find as much on my own.  We passed Mud Creek Shut-ins and eventually found ourselves at Teimann Shut-Ins, described as the largest shut-ins in Missouri.  Located within Millstream Conservation Area, Teimann SI is truly impressive.  This spot has a great deal more potential than Johnson’s SI for photography and is on a much larger scale.  I do not know for certain, but I imagine Stephen is contemplating the diverse biological community and if these “endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful” go about their existence without contemplating us.

“Wayward Rivulets In Autumn Flowing″
Technical details: Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM @ 40mm, ISO 100,  f/16, 1 sec

It took almost the entire day to meander over the boulders to Millstream Gardens.  It was getting so late that in the end, we took the relatively straight and flat trail back to our cars, arriving just after sunset.  We topped it off with a nice meal in nearby Farmington.  I couldn’t have asked for a better way to start off my autumn break.  This was just the beginning to a fun week across the Missouri Ozarks.  I look forward sharing more real soon.

Defining Irony

macro

Who or what is your favorite Halloween story or character from pop culture?  Many of us would say “The Exorcist” or give you the name, Freddy, Jason, Leatherface or Tammy Faye Bakker. Before you say another word, let me tell you what I did this Halloween evening.  I spent a little more than two hours in a dentist’s chair getting three fillings and a root canal.  “The horror!”  Actually, my dentist is great and much better than I deserve.  After spending the first 25 years of my life making candy, cookies and ice-cream the staple of my diet (no exaggeration, trust me) and exercising less than optimal dental care, I have been paying the price to the dentist for the past 12 years or so.  The thought of all those wonderful Halloweens coming back to haunt me in this way!  Ironic horror, or not ironic at all?

Take care of your teeth, kids.

Today’s photo is not really representative of autumn, but it is an example of something I’d prefer to be munching on these days and about as close to a Halloween image as I could come up with.  This sulfur shelf polypore is more commonly known as chicken of the woods.  It is so named due to a texture that is similar to that of chicken meat.  The one sample of this I took for eating was quite tough; most often the outer edges of the youngest leaves are most fit for eating.  I do look forward to trying this again with a more sophisticated recipe.  Unfortunately I had my bird equipment on this outing and this was as best an image I could make of it.

What is my favorite horror movie moment?  This Bill Murray character.  “I’m sure I need a long, slow root canal”

I’m going to go cry now…

“Sulfur Polypore”

Technical details: Canon EOS 7D camera,  EF400mm f/5.6L USM lens, ISO 1000,  f/5.6, 1/400 sec

The Dichotomy of Autumn

abstract, landscape

Is there more of a season with dramatic ups and downs than autumn?

Good: cooling temperatures that are often a respite to a long, torrid summer

Bad: the inevitable freezing temp, rains and gloomy weather that will show up sometime in November

Good: the astounding autumnal palette that the fortunate can find, depending on where you live

Bad: picking up those leaves and cleaning gutters after the show

Good: the backing of the clocks in losing “daylight savings”

Bad: going back to school

Good: feasts of the late summer/fall harvest season

Bad: knowing that in a month or two you’ll have better luck growing a second head than finding something worthwhile of being called a “tomato”

Good: apple season!!!!

Bad: end of the baseball season

I think I’ve made my point.  No other season is packed with so many highs and lows.  I’d be hard pressed to find many complaints about spring.  Even the most diehard winter fanatics must feel the hope and renewal that warming temperatures and fresh greens that spring in spring.  Autumn will always remain a season of two faces for me.  Now I can’t wait for the winter resident birds to show up!  Come on winter!

“Autumn’s Dichotomy″
Technical details: Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM @ 32mm, ISO 100,  f/16, 1/6 sec

Autumn Explodes in the Ozarks!

abstract, landscape

Following the winter that never was of 2011/2012 came one of the hottest and driest summers on record in the Ozarks.  Of course the autumn would be some sort of disappointment, right?  Boy was I pleasantly surprised!  Sarah and I have taken an October vacation, exploring the Ozarks, looking for color for about four years straight.  Even if our trip coincided with “peak color”, more often than not that peak wasn’t necessarily anything to jump up and down about.  Well, this year was nearly everything I dreamed an Ozark autumn should be.

Every tree tried on it’s best outfit a couple of weeks ago.  The black gum and dogwood were draped in their dark warm shades of reds and violet.  The maples were a schism of warm tones – sometimes on separate trees, sometimes with contrasting leaves on the same tree, and often with a mix on the same individual leaf!  My personal autumn favorite, the grand sycamore was gloriously showcased in yellows, burnt umber and mild reds that set off so nicely it’s bright, ivory bark.  Hickories, normally easily forgotten as the dull yellow leaves drop so quickly, were an incandescent display of quintessential amber.  Even the usually boring – white oak wasn’t going into its winter nap without a show, bringing out a variety of mild warm tones before dropping brown to become part of next year’s forest floor.  As usual, the small sumac and sassafras brought their best to stop you in your tracks.
This was darn-near too much!  Driving hundreds of miles and putting tens of miles on the trails I wanted to stop every five minutes and find a composition.  There was the problem.  Everywhere I looked was a potential composition, but actually putting something together was often a tremendous difficulty!  I now truly understand the concept of chaos in the biological world.  There were periods of frustration as I realized I wasn’t going to be able fulfill my desire to nail all the potential autumn shots that I dreamed about.  As I begin delving into and processing the several hundred images I took that magical week, I can only hope I nailed a few images.  Over the next several weeks I hope to post a lot images here with some info or story behind it.  Hopefully not all of the photos will be the typical cliche’.  Geez, are there any autumn photos that aren’t?

“Explosion of Autumn in the Missouri Ozarks″
Technical details: Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera, EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens zoomed during exposure, ISO 100,  f/20, 1/5 sec

Mondays Are For The Birds – American Redstart

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It is late summer/early autumn and the warblers and other songbirds are moving en masse south to their tropical wintering grounds.  Bring your binoculars to one of several wooded lots in the St. Louis metropolitan area this time of year and you’re almost sure to find one of the birds pictured here, the American Redstart.  I am calling this particular bird a mature female, although it is possible this may be an immature female or first year male.  Females and young males have yellow where adult males are always dressed for Halloween in reddish orange and dark browns.  This observation has prompted many a birder to call these guys the “American Yellowstart” .

This is one of the easiest warblers for new birders to identify, not only for its flashy coloration and pattern but for its particular behaviors as well.  These guys will usually position their wings low and drooped when sitting still and almost always are fanning their flashy tail feathers.  These birds are quite active and display a lot of “flycatching” behavior and will actually hover-preen.  Watching them hunt is a treat and as they catch flying insects you can literally hear these little guys snapping their beaks shut.  They can be quite responsive to pishing.

As mentioned above, this bird is heading south where it will over winter somewhere between northern Mexico and northern South America.  It has an extremely large breeding range, nesting anywhere between the gulf states and Alaska where it can find deciduous or mixed deciduous/coniferous forests.  These guys will also readily nest in secondary woodlands and forests, making them one of the few species who has not been altogether troubled by logging.

I wish this guy the best in her/his long journey south.  I am getting quite addicted to shooting these guys just when they are heading out.  I’m already looking forward to the spring.

“American Yellowstart”

Technical details: Canon EOS 7D camera,  EF400mm f/5.6L USM lens, ISO 640,  f/5.6, 1/100 sec

Mondays Are For The Birds – Red-shouldered Hawks

birds, Mondays Are For The Birds

Monday greetings, human.  Another great day at work instead of taking pictures of birds.  I heard the migratory songbird fallout was quite nice around the St. Louis area today.  Good thing I was at work.  One or two days a week being able to do what I want just doesn’t seem to be enough anymore.  I will have a week’s vacation coming up next month, but that seems a long way off.

Anyway, I’m finally getting around to processing some photos of the Red-shouldered Hawk nest I photographed over several weeks this past May.  Here, this little one is showing off one of those innate behaviors.  I’m sure those of you with human babies wish they could do something like this a lot earlier than they do.  Have a great week.

“Red-shouldered Hawk Nest”

Technical details: Canon EOS 7D camera,  EF400mm f/5.6L USM lens, ISO 640,  f/6.3, 1/250 sec

Mondays Are For The Birds – Red-Eyed Vireo

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Hello again.  Today I am starting a new blog series that I am calling “Mondays Are For The Birds” and today’s first spotlight bird is this Red-eyed Vireo.  For anyone fool-hardy enough to do some summer hiking in the deciduous woodlands and forests of the Missouri Ozarks, the Red-eyed Vireo shouldn’t be new to you.  When almost all other songbirds have given up claims to their nesting grounds and quit vocalizing for the season, the REVI is just warming up.  In the middle of a sweltering summer’s day one will still hear the questions this guy’s song seems to ask. “Who are you, who am I, Here I am, Look at me, In this tree!”

This photo was taken recently during the fall migration.  This species along with other vireos and warblers will eat primarily caterpillars and other arthropods during spring migration and throughout the summer breeding season, but in fall will switch to a diet primarily consisting of berries, such as those found on the wild grape.

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope you like the photo and I hope you had the best possible Monday.

“Red-Eyed Vireo”

Technical details: Canon EOS 7D camera,  EF400mm f/5.6L USM lens, ISO 800,  f/5.6, 1/250 sec

Sunshine On My Shoulders Makes Me Happy

birds, Uncategorized, wildlife

Hi everyone.  It’s an absolute gorgeous Saturday here in the northern Ozarks.  I hope the weather is to your liking wherever you are reading this.

This post is dedicated to my grandmother, Genny, who is currently recovering from a health crisis.  Sarah and I are so glad you are getting better and we wish you all the best in a speedy recovery.

Today’s post is a result of one of the magical times I spent recently at Ellis Island at Riverlands.  During an evening hike I noticed I was in the middle of a huge mayfly hatch.  There seemed to mayflys in the millions.  This rang the dinner bell for migrating passerines for miles around the confluence!  This was definitely one of the coolest bird experiences ever for me.  The bird pictured below, a Yellow Warbler, was one of near 50 of this species I came across.  Also in huge abundance were Black and White Warblers, Empidonax Flycatchers, Red-eyed Vireo and many others.  Thirteen total warblers, four vireos and a large handful of other species were all gorging on this insect feast.  The swarm, so thick the flies were perching on me, lasted until sunset and unfortunately I had limited opportunities for getting decent lighting for photographs.  That was frustrating, but being able to watch this natural wonder was reward enough.

This is one of those species that I’ll always remember the first time I found.  It was a springtime male perched on a dead branch singing his heart out and touched by the morning sun.  I never truly saw the color yellow until that morning!  The image bellow does that guy no justice.

Enjoy the weekend and remember, in Missouri, dove and teal are in season so hunters will be out there doing their thing.  There are places nature watchers and hunters use in close proximity, so be careful and considerate.

“Sunshine On My Shoulder”

Technical details: Canon EOS 7D camera,  EF400mm f/5.6L USM lens, ISO 400,  f/5.6, 1/800 sec