Owlets, Beautiful Red-Wings and a Sora

I spent a couple of hours at Prairie's Edge after Lynda told me that she had located the Great Horned Owl's nest. The former nest had been blown away in a wind storm last year.

Momma Owl chose wisely this year, choosing to nest in a dead tree....and fortunately in clear view!

In addition to the owls, I took some shots of the always gorgeous Red-Winged Blackbirds, and even called in a Sora in the wetlands.

My First Northern Parula of 2014

I saw my first Northern Parula at Buck Creek SP today. He was singing near the Meadow View plaground despite the snow and cold.

Rock Doves

These Rock Doves are nested in a dead tree stump at Old Reid Park. I caught them in flight during one of their "flybys."

Gadwall Antics

 

I watched these Gadwalls yesterday as the two drakes vied for the attention of this hen. They entertained me with their water and aerial battles....

 

 

 

Bigfoot

My....what big feet you have!

Redhead

Hooded Mergansers

Lots of Hooded Mergansers coming through....I love to photograph these beauties!

Downy Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker at CJ Brown.

Loons!

Lots of Common Loons at Buck Creek!

Mallards

These are "just Mallards," but they are so gorgeous!

White-Crowned Sparrow

White Crowned Sparrow from Buck Creek SP today.

Common Goldeneye Pair

We saw this pair of Common Goldeneye ducks at Eastwood Lake.

Heron

Kingfisher's Dinner

While driving through Old Reid, we saw this male Belted Kingfisher drop down and come up with a fish. It always amazes me how these birds can swallow a fish much larger that it would appear possible. The trick is for them to position the fish just right…headfirst so the fins do not open and obstruct swallowing. That’s what he’s doing in the second & third shot. In the fourth shot, the Kingfisher is tossing the fish up in the air to reposition it. Finally, belly full, he takes a look to see if I caught his performance!

 

 

 

 

 



Hooded Mergansers

Thursday morning there were at least 30 Hooded Mergansers at Old Reid. I really wanted to try out my new camera body, a Canon 5D Mark III, but the light was not good….it was overcast and windy.
Here’s a few images…despite the poor conditions, the 5D did well, even at iso 1200.

Coot & GHO

A couple of images from the weekend….an American Coot at Old Reid Park:

And a Great Horned Owl in a local backyard!

Reid Park Long-Tailed Duck

This female Long-Tailed Duck was seen a couple of days ago at Old Reid by Doug Overacker.
 She was back tonight when we checked.

Eastwood Metropark

Some pics from today’s outing at Eastwood Lake. There were at least 6 Red-Necked Grebes…

Squirrel in the Sunshine

David caught a great shot of this squirrel sunning on a branch on Baldwin Lane. It’s my favorite shot of the day!

Waterfowl Tuesday

David & I took our usual route today and found some fun subjects….
This Pied-Billed Grebe:

A Horned Grebe:

And this RedHead Duck

Red-Breasted Mergansers

A couple of red-Breasted Mergansers we photographed at Deer Creek State Park….the evening light was beautiful!

More Long-Tailed Ducks

Long-Tailed Ducks

We had some free time this week, so took a short drive to Deer Creek State Park. For several days, a male Long-tailed Duck had been seen at the dam in accompaniment with mergansers. To top it off, the previous evening birders had reported that several females had also arrived.
The temperature was about 20 degrees, but there were several fishermen along the banks when we arrived, and I was concerned that the ducks would not be visible. To my surprise, the Long-tails were cruising up and down the dam run-off area only yards from the fishermen.
Here are a few images….more to come!