"What a thousand acres of Silphiums looked like when they tickled the bellies of the buffalo is a question never again to be answered, and perhaps not even asked." -Aldo Leopold
This series was taken on the joint outing of the WGNSS Entomology and Nature Photography Groups at Council Bluff Lake. Here we have eastern black carpenter ants (Camponotus pennsylvanicus) feeding on a freshly dead ring-necked snake (Diadophis punctatus).
Along with finding the typical rarities that everyone looks for during spring migration, I will not count spring as arriving until I lay eyes on a male Blackburnian Warbler. This past Saturday, not only did Miguel and I find my prize at Carondelet Park, but I got my best photos to date of this tree-top dwelling, piece of greased lighting.
With a throat this bright and luminous, a song that is so high-pitch that dogs aren’t safe for blocks and a never resting habit, more than one birder has assumed these guys must be powered by a battery. Seriously, there’s a reason these guys eat all day long. They have to!
Well, hopefully I might have another before the season has completed springing. If not, I’ll always have something to look forward to next year.
-OZB
For the first time since junior high I did not watch a single down or minute of the NFL this season and I couldn’t be happier for it. Rape my town three times, NFL – shame on you. I’ve been pleased to get those precious free minutes back for my Sundays, several of which I found I could spend not dreading the upcoming workweek.
When the forecast showed a near perfect meteorological condition for shooting the Short-eared Owls of BK Leach, I figured this could be promising. While most other naked apes with functioning vision would be in front of the picture box and ingesting mass quantities of wings and beer, I would enjoy the warm and lightly breezy evening in my own kind of chair with friends of a different sort.
Of course there is never a sure thing. Often, when I have expected the best due to light and temperature, the owls don’t show where I set myself. On this particular day, all conditions came together and I had a super time.
I want to give huge thanks for my lovely and talented wife, Sarah, for the special help she gave me this season in getting my best to date SEOW in flight shots.
A perfect day ended in the perfect way – with a great sunset on the Lincoln Hills.
Until next time…
-OZB
When traveling to a new location it is always interesting to see what gull species is the local equivalent to our Ring-billed Gull. In the case of the Texas gulf coast, that is definitely the Laughing Gull. We found that a really great place to see hundreds at great distance is the ferry ride between the Bolivar Peninsula and Galveston. Be sure to check the water as well as the skies if you take this 20 minute boat ride. Steve and I were able to spot a bottlenose dolphin or two during the crossing.
After hearing their vocalizations for quite a long period, we can say this species is quite aptly named!
In summer plumage, this is obviously one of the easier gulls to identify. Largest of the hooded gulls, with red bill, legs and feet, slate-colored back and black primaries.
Most birders who have had the opportunity to travel will know about High Island, a small township along the gulf coast that is among the most famous of birding locations in the country. This relatively small plot of land, along with other spots within a few minutes drive, can boast bird lists higher than many states, if not whole geographic regions of the country. What surprised me during our visit last May was the diversity in habitat. High Island is mostly famous for its potential for massive fallout during spring migration – migrating songbirds either traveling up the coast or flying directly over the gulf will stop here for a drink of fresh water and to fill up on grub before continuing north to nesting grounds. We realized we were going to miss most of the migration at the end of May, but still wanted to pay a visit. The place is so popular that there is bleacher seating around key ponds to allow for visitors to watch as birds by the hundreds land for a drink and forage through the live oaks.
The numbers and diversity of songbirds across the Houston/Galveston coastal areas we visited were even sparser than we anticipated, but on arriving pre-dawn at the rookery we were quite surprised. Every bit of vegetation on this relatively small island was being used by wading birds. We were in awe by the numbers of Neotropical Cormorants and Roseate Spoonbills that filled the branches as well as the skies.
Lighting was quite challenging – what little light available at this time of the morning was often coming from behind the subject. Evening may have been better photographically but we had lots of ground to cover. One of the sights that had me the most excited was a nesting Great-Egret. These are birds that are routinely found during the warmer months in Missouri, but finding one feeding chicks was a real treat.
Early in the dawn hours we were treated a Common Gallinule (Moorhead) hen bringing her chicks down to the water for a drink.
Prehistoric looking Spoonbills would sometimes fly right overhead.
I hope to visit High Island some spring during a nice fallout period one day, but I will be just as excited to watch and photograph at the rookery once more.
You can see more photos from the High Island rookery and the Texas Gulf Coast by visiting me on Flickr.
Until next time…
-OZB
It was a pleasant surprise to be able to add two new owl species to my bird species photographed list over my long holiday break. The second owl species and subject of this specific post is the Northern Saw-whet Owl. Although this species can be found in the Show-me State during winter, I heard of a location along with a Radagast like wizard who could conjure up this species upon request within a mere eight-hour drive from our front door. Having waited longer to do this than we should have, Sarah and I loaded up the Subaru and headed for the wilds of west-central Iowa.
Don Poggensee is no mere wizard, but an accomplished photographer, pilot and naturalist who loves spending time during his retirement monitoring the park’s owls and showing them to anyone interested in getting exceptional looks and knowledge about these visitors from the north. Don has been monitoring, helping in banding projects and showing folks (in the hundreds, if not thousands by now) the owls since 1989. Sarah and I met up with Don one morning along with a couple of other birders, including The Birding Project’s Christian Hagenlocher. We grabbed our cameras and binoculars – not that we would be needing these and followed Don to the specific roost tree that he knew the owl would be found.
Winter weather in this part of the Midwest can be brutal and unpredictable. In the days preceding our visit, temps bottomed out at ~ -25 F. As Don explained to us, colder temperatures and heavy snowfalls often force the owls to find more suitable roost sites that he is typically not able to find. We lucked out and had rather comfortable conditions for the short hike to the owl’s roost tree.
Saw-whets are year-round residents across southern Canada and the northern U.S. but winters across most of the continental U.S. They typically can be found roosting 3 – 12′ in conifers but can also be found in honeysuckle tangles in winter locations where their preferred conifers may not be abundant. Banding programs, made up of mostly citizen scientists have only recently begun to shed light on the seasonal migratory movements of this species. Along with locations and dates, these banding programs have shown that most migrants are females or immature males. Adult males stay on breeding grounds during winter, presumably to hold onto prey-rich territories.
In case you are wondering, Saw-whets got their name from the apparent similarities that one of their common vocalizations has to the sounds made by the sharpening, or whetting of a saw’s blade. They actually make at least nine distinct vocalizations, including an ascending wail that is reminiscent of an Eastern Screech Owl.
At six to nine inches high, our typical response is to wish to put one in our pocket to take home. They are quite cute. However, to nearly anything that is their size or smaller, these guys must be regarded as horrifying. While checking roost trees we found a number of their tiny pellets, each with surfaces studded by the stained bones of their rodent prey.
Works used and recommended readings:
Until next time…
-OZB
The one-eyed man referred to in the title of this post is, of course, the photographer with a telephoto lens sticking out of a well-placed blind. Yes, we are all aware of and use to good effect the mobile blind – our warm vehicles. However, shooting from a car in a place like RMBS leaves a bit to be desired.
From a car, the angle at which the birds are photographed will always be at the same downwards angle that in my opinion is less desirable than being close to eye level, which sitting low in a a portable ‘bag’ style blind can afford.
Although I have owned such a blind for a few years, I have only recently given it some real use with friend and fellow like-minded nature photographer, Miguel Acosta. All of the images from this post were made in our first attempts at this and even with limited light and opportunities, I can already see the potential in using this technique for improving photography of waterfowl.
Getting an eye-level perspective yields more benefits than just a resting duck. Catching birds taking to flight from the water’s surface from this angle makes for a more powerful image than from above.
I’m really glad we tried this out. It is something I’ve been wishing to do for quite some time and I guess it just makes sense that this is the way to do it. Now I just need to think of places and opportunities to try more.
Until next time.
-OZB
It is always interesting to find a bird species you are pretty familiar with in a new location or season. Such was the case and pleasant surprise that Steve and I found when stumbling upon the Willet in coastal Texas in May, 2016. This giant puppy dog of a sandpiper is typically a relatively low-key, almost dull bird when spotted in Missouri during its migration. The individuals we observed in Texas, however, were quite conspicuous as they combined long vocalizations with slow flights that really showed off the contrasting black and white wings. They were a pleasure to watch and photograph.
-OZB
The 275th bird species I have photographed in Missouri and contiguous states turned out to be a special one. This Eastern Screech Owl is definitely the current most famous bird in the bi-state area. Many thanks to Miguel Acosta for the information. A long time coming.
-OZB
I happened to notice that I had a few in the queue that featured the color yellow. In most of them the yellow is featured on the bird, but in the one above the yellow is of a flowering plant, perhaps yellow rocket (Barbarea vulgaris), in the foreground and background.
-OZB
A Thousand Acres of Silphiums 