Just a few of the resident pair of Great-horned Owls at Wild Acres Park.
GHOW at Wild Acres
Tag: wildlife photography
The Grassland’s Cutie – Bell’s Vireo – Again
I have featured Bell’s Vireo on this site before, but it is one of my favorites and I never get tired of hunting, watching and photographing this grassland cutie.
A Couple of Eagles
On a rainy March day at BK Leach CA Sarah and I came across a couple of young Bald Eagles hanging out. The bird on the left is a 4-year old and his partner is likely a 2nd year bird.
Have a nice weekend.
-OZB
The Turkey Vulture
While driving around BK Leach Conservation Area this spring, we came across a Turkey Vulture feeding on a raccoon carcass. Did you know that the Turkey Vulture has the most advanced olfactory system of any known bird? They can pick up the smell of a rotting animal from more than a mile away. As shown below, we noticed the bird would attempt to cover up its meal when it spotted other vultures soaring nearby.
Turkey Vultures can often be seen with their wings widely spread in what is referred to as an “horaltic pose”. The benefits of doing this are not entirely known but have been hypothesized to be an aid in warming the birds and helping to dry feathers. The bird posing in the shot below was taken one morning while I was hiking at Shaw Nature Reserve.
Finally, I thought I would share some video footage that this patient bird let us take whilst it was digging into some coon.
Bird Species of Conservation Concern – Rusty Blackbird Revisited
The northernmost breeding blackbird of North America, the Rusty Blackbird unfortunately has the distinction of being in one of the steepest population declines of all N.A. bird species.
Rusty Blackbirds nest throughout the boreal forests of Canada and Alaska, but winters throughout the eastern United States in areas including wet forests near permanent bodies of water. They will also utilize agricultural environments. Among the protected areas considered important for overwintering habitat is Mingo NWR, located in south-eastern MO.
Rusties exhibit an interesting variability in plumage throughout winter and spring, as can be observed in the different birds photographed in this post. Males are dressed with varying amounts of the rusty warm color that gives this species its name. This coloration is located on the tips of newly emerged feathers during the molt. As these fine feather tips wear and break off, the males will become primarily black and luminescent in summer breeding plumage. Female Rusties are even more interestingly plumaged, with tans, browns and blues.
Different survey methods, such as the Breeding Bird Survey and Christmas Bird Count all suggest that the Rusty Blackbird population has declined by more than 90% over the past three decades. Reasons for this decline are not well understood, but are likely to include the acidification of wetlands, loss of wetland habitat in general, loss of forested wetland habitat on wintering grounds and poisoning of mixed-species wintering blackbird flocks in south-eastern United States, where they are considered as agricultural pests.
In his book Birder’s Conservation Handbook – 100 North American Birds at Risk, where much of the information in this post was collected, Jeffry Wells suggests the following actions to address the population decline of the Rusty Blackbird:
- Limit global warming pollution and acid deposition via air pollution.
- Implement protections and management plans across the boreal forest of North America.
- Stop deforestation of wintering habitat and implement habitat restoration.
-OZB
A Few From Wild Acres Park
Today I will share a few photos taken this spring at Wild Acres Park in Overland, MO.
Fascinating, Rusty Blackbirds are always a treat to find. I am planning on publishing a post focused on Rusties soon.
A morning with a singing Pine Warbler is as good as it gets…
I have been surprised a number of times this spring by the waterfowl I have come across in the park’s lake. Unfortunately, the skittish birds often flush as soon as they see people. This pair of Bufflehead stayed for the entire time I visited the park and allowed me to get close enough to photograph. I have found Wood Ducks, Hooded Merganser and Scaup this spring as well.
Finally, although it looks as there will not be young Groundhog in the park this year, I still see the adults from time to time.
Thanks for the visit
-OZB
handsomeozarkbillyboy@gmail.com
Return to the Kingdom of Quivira
I have previously discussed and shared a number of our photos from previous trips to Quivira NWR. Steve and I recently returned from a short trip to central Kansas and I wanted to share a quick photo. Last year we had sure looks and photos of Hudsonian Godwits. This year one of the highlights of the trip was finding a group of 23 Marbled Godwits.
We were a bit earlier this year than last and this combined with a longer, cooler spring, bird species diversity and overall numbers were a tad lower. Constant abusing winds made the cool temperatures nearly unbearable to sustain for long, especially with two dudes who dressed for spring. But, we just worked a little harder and made the best use of good light, higher temps and calmer winds when we could find them. Another unforgettable trip.
A Tale of Three White Giants
Missouri is home to three giant white swan species that can be difficult to distinguish without a bit of training or education. All three swans belong to the genus Cygnus and rank among the largest waterfowl on the planet. The first species we will consider is the Trumpeter Swan (C. buccinator). Ranked as both the largest waterfowl species in the world and the largest flying bird of North America, the Trumpeter Swan is considered a conservation success. Beginning in the 1600s the birds were collected for their meat, skins and feathers. This unregulated slaughter lasted until the passage of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which provided the species some protection. Their population rebounded from a level as low as 32 birds documented in 1932 to 15,000 – 20,000 estimated today. Trumpeter Swans only winter in Missouri, spending their summer nesting season from the upper great plains up to Alaska. As many as 600 birds have been counted at Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary during a winter season.
The Tundra Swan (C. columbianus) are more widespread across North America compared to its larger relative, the Trumpeter. And, although they far outnumber the Trumpeter in total population, the Trumpeter is actually the more abundant winter resident in Missouri. For reasons unknown, this winter we have seen an unusually high number of the comparatively rare Tundra, giving birders something to be excited about.
In single species groups, especially at a distance, the two species can be challenging to tell apart. However, when seen up close and spaced closely together, the differences are more easily identified. On average, the Tundra is 1/3 to 1/2 the size of the Trumpeter. In addition the border of the black color surrounding the bill is different in the two species and the Tundra usually has a yellow spot on the lores, near the base of the bill. I’ll guide you to your favorite field guide for more specifics. With this information, can you spot the four Tundras in the image below?
Here is a closeup of the two species in flight. Easy to spot the Tundra here. Right?
It was such a treat being able to watch a group of Tundras carrying on…
Finally, our last (and quietest) of Missouri’s Cygnus – the Mute Swan (C. olor). The Mute is native to the old world and exists in North America as a naturalized resident. Still raised and sold on the captive market, the Mute is typically a year-round resident in these parts, moving only to find open water in the dead of winter. These birds are easily recognized by the large, orange-collored bills, often with a bulge at its base. I photographed this pair at Binder Lake S.P.
There you are, a quick overview of the Missouri’s white giants.
Thanks for the visit.
-OZB
Floating the Upper Current
I’m finally ready to share a few more images from a float down the upper third or so of the Current River that Steve and I had the great fortune to experience this past October. We started at navigable mile 8.0 at Cedar Grove Access and pulled out three days later at mile 51, the confluence of the Current and that other, oh-so desirable, Ozark stream – the Jacks Fork. If one floats slow and quiet, the opportunity to see wildlife is very high in this National Park (Ozark National Scenic Riverways N.P.). I’v shared a couple of images of these guys previously. I believe we found 8-9 Mink during the first day of this float. It was enjoyable watching them busily hunt along the stream banks, mostly oblivious to our presence. As usual, Steve did a great job in keeping us quiet and pointed in the optimal direction for capturing some images.
It was quite a challenge to keep up with these guys as they fished. This one below had caught a nice-sized crayfish and barely slowed to stop and enjoy his snack.
Here is a photo of one investigating the water prior to dipping back in.
Not only does a float down the Current allow for great observations of wildlife, but many geological features are most easily seen by being on the river as well. Cave Spring can now be accessed via a nice newer trail, but it is much nicer accessing it by boat. The endpoint of a vast and interesting karst drainage system, Cave Spring rises from the back of a short cave. At the rear of this cave one can guide a boat over the vertical conduit of the spring, which is ~155 feet deep! What an eerie sensation it is to shine your light down and still see no more than a fraction of the length of the conduit shaft. In the image below, I am on a dry exposed shelf adjacent to the spring’s outlet and Steve is guiding the canoe towards the river.
Pultite is a spring found on this upper stretch of the Current River that is surrounded on all sides except the river by private property. This means that one must boat or wade/swim to visit it. At only ~ 1/10 the output of Big Spring, Pultite is still quite a good-sized spring with and average daily output of ~ 25 million gallons. The effluent channel on this one is quite attractive and I hope to visit more often.
If day one was for the Mink, day two was our River Otter day. We had no Mink, but 5 or 6 of these large weasels were spotted.
Not to forget the birds! These days, a trip to nearly any permanent Missouri water source will likely bring an encounter with a Bald Eagle. Observing these guys in the Ozarks will never get old to me.
Another constant companion on these floats are the Fish Crows, here pictured finishing up a little Ozark lobster.
We were fortunate in having mostly clear and dry skies on this trip, which allowed us to throw our bags directly on whatever gravel bar that struck our fancy and sleep directly underneath the stars. A morning fire was necessary – not only to burn the dew off of our sleeping bags, but of course, for the river-water French-press coffee. Dark skies on these streams afford great opportunities for astrophotography. My only wish for this trip is that I was a little more tolerant of the cold, tiredness and laziness that limited my patience for getting better nightscape images… 😉
I will be posting more images of this trip on my Flickr account in the near future. Thanks for visiting and I hope to post again in the near future.
-OZB
Birds of Quivira – The Thunder Boomer of the Great North (Pectoral Sandpiper)
One dream I have is to visit the tundra nesting grounds of the shorebirds in the arctic of northern Alaska and witness the territorial displays and nesting activities of these fascinating creatures. Probably the species I am most keen on observing would have to be the Pectoral Sandpiper.
The “Pec” looks like a larger, slightly better dressed Least Sandpiper, and are relatively common to see during migration in Missouri. It is when on the nesting grounds when this “pre-lek” species shows its true colors. Watch this video and this video. Their “thunder booming”, reminiscent of a Prairie Chicken, while in flight display is truly impressive and can be heard here:
http://www.xeno-canto.org/139702/embed?simple=1
As the above photo suggests, this is a species more comfortable with its feet in grass than on the sand or mud, such as typically found with other calidrids.
Well, see you in Alaska one lovely summer day. 😉
Thanks for stopping by.
OZB
email: handsomeozarkbillyboy@gmail.com
A Thousand Acres of Silphiums 