ozark bill – Page 36 – A Thousand Acres of Silphiums

Short-eared Owl – 2021/2022 Winter

birds, Short-eared Owls, wildlife, wildlife photography

A few more SEOW from last winter.

Anemone acutiloba (Sharp-lobed Hepatica)

native plants, WGNSS Field Trips

2022 Kansas Trip – Lesser Prairie Chickens

Bird Species of Conservation Concern, birds, wildlife, wildlife photography

With this crazy summer, full of a time-consuming work project and trying to keep establishing plants alive in the yard, there has been very little time for birding trips. Casey organized this trip from mid April of 2022 and it was definitely memorable. I still have hundreds of photos to process, but here are a few from our first stop, a couple of Lesser Prairie Chicken Leks in western Kansas.

2021 White-tailed Rut

wildlife, wildlife photography

The upcoming rut season brings mixed feelings. I’m definitely looking forward to shooting the brutes in a couple months or so, but I also know they’ll be trying their best to rub on my establishing trees and bushes in the yard. I have most everything protected but still have some trunks that I need to cover before the first of September when they’ll begin rubbing the velvet off of their antlers. We lost a flowering dogwood to one of them last year and hope not to have that repeated.

Here are some photos that I took on an outing with Miguel last autumn. All images were taken with a 500 mm lens.

Fishing Eagles (and a Herring Gull) – Clarksville MO, January 2022

Bird Species of Conservation Concern, birds, Nesting Birds of Missouri, wildlife, wildlife photography

Northern Harrier

Bird Species of Conservation Concern, birds, wildlife, wildlife photography

Snow Raptors

Bird Species of Conservation Concern, birds, Short-eared Owls, wildlife, wildlife photography

A few from a couple snow days this past January. Some of the first outings with the Canon R5. On one day, light levels were quite low and birds were at a great distance. Tried shooting with and without teleconverter to get more light. Difficult circumstances.

Short-eared Owl cruising over snow-covered grassland.
Settings: 700mm focal length, 1/2000 sec., f/5.6, ISO-3200.

Short-eared Owl shortly after leaving perch.
Settings: 700mm focal length, 1/2000 sec., f/5.6, ISO-2500.

Short-eared Owl with prey.
Settings: 500mm focal length, 1/800 sec., f/4, ISO-2000.

Male Northern Harrier
Settings: 700mm focal length, 1/2000 sec., f/5.6, ISO-2000.

Female Northern Harrier with prey.
Settings: 500mm focal length, 1/2000 sec., f/4, ISO-3200.

Northern Harrier and Short-eared Owl
Settings: 500mm focal length, 1/2000 sec., f/4, ISO-3200.

Squabbling Short-eared Owl and Northern Harrier
Settings: 500mm focal length, 1/2000 sec., f/4, ISO-3200.

Whenever a Short-eared Owl tried and missed its intended prey, it would immediately shake the snow and other materials from its talons.
Settings: 700mm focal length, 1/2500 sec., f/5.6, ISO-1000.

Short-eared Owl skimming snowy landscape.
Settings: 700mm focal length, 1/2500 sec., f/5.6, ISO-1000.

A great catch!
Settings: 700mm focal length, 1/2000 sec., f/5.6, ISO-1600.

Ozark Bill

Eastern Bluebird Nest – 2021

Backyard Gardens, Nesting Birds of Missouri, wildlife, wildlife photography

In the spring of 2021, I finally put up a couple of nest boxes in the yard of the new house. Both boxes were built and gifted by my father, Bart Duncan. Much appreciation! One box was designed specifically for bluebirds and a pair quickly staked their claim. They had an initial successful clutch, fledging three chicks, but on the next attempt, tragedy struck. During my monitoring visit, where there had been four half-developed chicks the day before I found not a single one. I believe the neighborhood racoons made a meal of them sometime during the night, leaving no evidence. It was early enough in the year that I wasn’t surprised that the pair tried again, but what surprised me was that they did not build a nest in the bluebird box, but used a box that was designed for Carolina Wrens that was bolted to the side of our screen porch. It made for some great photo opportunities that I am sharing here. I learned from my mistakes and have installed a baffle around the pole to the bluebird box along with a wire cage over the nest entrance. If a brood predator wants to get at them now they will really have to try hard. I am happy to say that to date, in the 2022 season, the pair successfully fledged two clutches – one of six and one of five chicks. Eleven new bluebirds this year, flooding the subdivision with bluebirds!