Rosyfinch Ramblings

Virtual New Mexican, who winters in Florida and migrates annually to Illinois, remembers growing up, birding and practicing in New Jersey, and finds birds and beauty close to home.

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May 2012

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05/12/12

Illinois yard birds

Filed under: General, Birding & Outdoors, Illinois, Birding "Patches"
Posted by: Ken @ 4:44 pm

The car can serve as a very effective blind (or hide). One morning earlier this week, with thunder in the background, I drove around the vacant block in front of our northeastern Illinois condo. We are partially surrounded by three city block-sized parcels of land that, within the next week or so, will start to be built up into townhouses. In what was formerly a cornfield, roads and utilities had been installed and 44 of the planned 144 units were finished before the housing slump halted development in 2006.

This is the view from our front door, looking west. Not very pleasing to most folks, but I enjoy all the birds that visit and nest there. After the snow melts and the spring rains come, several large puddles (”fluddles”) attract ducks, geese, cranes and wading birds. The utility markers serve as perches for a variety of prairie birds.

Earlier that morning, I had heard both a Spotted Sandpiper and a Vesper Sparrow singing. Both have nested here in the past, but within a few days, ground will be broken for the remaining 100 new townhouses on this site. Almost immediately I found the sandpiper atop a favorite rock pile, but it flew away as I readied my camera, only to be replaced by a Savannah Sparrow.

The amount of yellow in their eyebrows differs in the several subspecies that breed across the US. The local birds have very prominent yellow brows.

I found the sandpiper again further away in a fluddle across the street.

The sandpipers have nested in the vacant lots every spring since we moved here in 2007. Last year, this one posed on a rock pile.

I had given up the search for the Vesper Sparrow, but stopped in front of our condo to get the mail that I forgot to pick up the day before. I heard it singing on another rock pile and drove back. It posed briefly before disappearing, just as rain started falling.

This streaked Vesper Sparrow shows its characteristic white outer tail feathers and a reddish shoulder patch.

Other species that have nested in this field in past years include Killdeer, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlark, Dicksissel, Song Sparrow and Horned Lark. I had not seen the latter species until a couple of days ago. It’s sad to think that their homes will probably be gone before the end of breeding season.

I photographed an American Kestrel from our front door as it hunted for grasshoppers.

This Eastern Meadowlark appeared to have a swollen ‘ankle.”

A pair of Red-tailed Hawks shared a street light pole.

Late that afternoon, we were leaving our condo to join our daughter and family for dinner. Mary Lou suggested I put the camera in the car instead of storing it in the trunk, as almost every time we pass the vacant lot in front of our building we see interesting birds perched on the posts and rock piles along the road. Sure enough, this Horned Lark posed for several minutes in perfect light.

These are the first photos I have processed on my new wide-screen LCD monitor, a gift from our son-in-law. It is attached to the clunky laptop, and in reviewing my recent shots on FLICKR I can see how poorly I have been able to gauge their quality on the laptop’s murky screen. I also have switched from shooting in RAW, as the laptop’s memory can barely handle the large file size.

In our daughter’s back yard, as I was BBQ’ing fajitas, I heard a Savannah Sparrow singing. I ran for my camera and caught the Savannah Sparrow perching on the fence rail. As I was taking this shot, it stopped moving and cast an anxious glance skyward.

I also looked up to find a Red-tailed hawk soaring overhead, hardly a threat to so small a bird, but enough to trigger its instinct to freeze in place to avoid detection.

A Chipping Sparrow displaced the Savannah Sparrow on the fence and then perched on the tip of a small Blue Spruce tree in their next door neighbor’s yard.

12 comments

05/05/12

The least of the terns

Filed under: General, Birding & Outdoors, Florida & SE US, Birding "Patches"
Posted by: Ken @ 6:15 am

We often joke that Florida has two seasons, hot and hotter. We also generally have a dry fall and winter season that gives way to a wet and humid summer. Although our mangoes and avocados put out inconspicuous blossoms, south Florida experiences no explosion of color to mark the onset of the vernal equinox. The mockingbirds sing all year around, though their tempo and volume picks up just as the Palm Warblers depart to breed in far northwestern Canada.

Up north, robins herald the arrival of spring, but we rarely see a robin at any time of the year. For birders looking for warblers, spring migration can be a non-event. If the usual east-west wind pattern persists, it drives northbound birds to the west coast of the Florida peninsula, or they may fly directly from Cuba across the Gulf of Mexico to make landfall.

One bird that can be counted on to arrive at our back yard lake in the middle of April is the Least Tern (Sternula antillarum). While it is the smallest of the tern family at about 9 inches long with a wingspan of 20 inches, it makes up for its small size with graceful energetic flight, strident calls and interesting behaviors.

There are three distinct populations (subspecies) of Least Terns in the US. One group nests in limited areas on the beaches of western Mexico and California. A second finds sandy places to nest along rivers and streams in the mid-west. Both of these populations are of particular conservation concern. With protection of its nesting areas, the endangered California population has increased from less than 600 pairs in 1974 to over 4500 pairs, while the interior subspecies have increased to 7,000 pairs from a low of 1,000 pairs in 1985 .

Our Florida birds belong to the third subspecies, which breeds up and down the entire US Atlantic coast, wintering in the Caribbean and along the east coast of Central and northern South America. All three populations face threats from human activities, notably destruction of beaches and loss of beach and stream-side habitat. Plume hunters took a huge toll in the late 1800s– I have seen photos of ladies’ dainty hats adorned with the whole bodies of one or more Least Terns. Though not on the Endangered Species list, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service lists the east coast Least Terns as a Species of Management Concern.

I bought my Canon 60D camera just a year ago, and my very first practice flight shots were of Least Terns flying past our back patio. This was my first “keeper.”

This spring the terns began competing for mates as soon as they arrived. Once bonded, the pair stays loyal to each other for the entire breeding season. The male must prove his prowess as a provider by catching fish and offering it to his intended mate. The male and female plumage is very similar. During breeding season, the males are said to have brighter orange-yellow bills, legs and feet, though this is not very noticeable.

Following the age-old Least Tern courtship ritual, the female waits patiently while her suitor hunts for a small fish. When he catches one, he calls excitedly and flies toward the female’s position, sometimes adding a dramatic flourish by swooping past her. The female eagerly awaits his arrival, calling back and begging.

He then offers her the fish…

…which she gratefully accepts.

As she eats the fish, the male assumes various postures, usually freezing in place for a few seconds.

Here, after she has swallowed it, he continues to point his bill skyward for a moment.

The pair bond is strengthened, and he will repeat the procedure many times. After two or three weeks, if he is accepted, they will mate as he offers a fish. Courtship usually occurs in the foraging area rather than on the nesting grounds.

I am quite sure that Least Terns have nested on the gravel roofs of an elementary school and a strip mall in our neighborhood. Young terns are precocious and are able to walk about soon after hatching, but they remain dependent upon their parents until they move south in late summer.

Last summer these two immature terns were being trained to fish by their parents. The adults would catch a fish and make their youngsters chase after them. The adults would then drop the fish in the water and fly down as if to get to it before the “trainees.” If not retrieved, the parents would pick up the fish and try all over again.

Note that the white area on the forehead of the adult, to the left in this photo, is enlarging. After breeding the adults’ bills and feet also become darker.

Least Tern immature in flight, July 27, 2011.

First-year birds may remain on their wintering grounds through the next breeding season.

Shared on BIRDING IS FUN, May 3, 2012

9 comments

04/28/12

Parting shots from Florida

Filed under: General, Birding & Outdoors, Florida & SE US, Illinois, Birding "Patches"
Posted by: Ken @ 12:23 pm

The past few weeks have kept us occupied with the welfare of the downed Bald Eagle chick (now presumed to have perished– follow events at our nest watch FORUM) and that of the heron nests in trees that are dead or dying from the effects of a herbicide.

Add to this my dismay in witnessing the destruction of one of my favorite warbler birding spots, the place I called the “Fake Hammock.” (To see it in happier times, visit “Birding in a make-believe hammock“) Now a “roadway” has been cut all the way through the grove of trees.

A large open area has been created by removal of most of the underbrush, and worst of all, the secluded area is being ravaged by “sport” riders of all-terrain vehicles. Instead of a dark cool place under a canopy of native Trema trees, it is now shaped like a doughnut, with full sky overhead, and a fire ring in the middle. Two of the five mature Tremas have been pulled over with chains, presumably attached to the ATVs, and a third is badly de-barked and will surely die. Tremas produce berries continuously all winter and are an important food source for birds and other wildlife.

On a happier note, we have headed north, and hope to catch up with the spring warbler migration that, this year, has bypassed our Florida home.

Just before we left Florida, The first Yellow-crowned Heron chicks began hatching. There were two chicks visible in this nest, which is totally open to view because of the defoliation of the nest tree by herbicides (See: Courting herons unaware of danger). Last year the nests were barely visible through the leaves. Now they are exposed to predators and any rock-throwing vandals who happen to notice them from across the 30 foot canal.

Look closely at the above photo and notice that one of the 3-5 day old chicks is trying very hard to swallow something that is awfully big.

The prey item looks like a fat white creature– maybe a horsefly larva, but I could not be sure, as it looks larger, more the shape of a siren that has been skinned. Whatever it is, it may have been partly digested by the parent. The parent bird attempted to pull the partially-swallowed item out of
the chick’s mouth, but, despite its small size the chick resisted the adult’s attempts to dislodge it from its gullet, protesting vigorously.
Initially, the parentt’s efforts did not succeed.

A few minutes later I captured this short video clip that demonstrates that the little guy finally gave up the prize, which was quickly swallowed by its parent.

Baby Yellow-crowned Night-Heron almost chokes to death from Ken Schneider on Vimeo.

If you have trouble viewing this VIMEO clip, here is a direct link to it on FLICKR.

I have accumulated a backlog of non-heron and non-eagle images from our recent morning walks in our local wetlands. Among them:

Common Nighthawks arrived during the past two weeks.

Their flight is so erratic and unpredictable that it is very hard to catch them in the viewfinder, much less get a decent photo when they are on the wing.

Here, the first light of morning creeps underneath an overflying nighthawk.

A male Eastern Towhee sings on territory. Its yellow eyes indicate that it is a local bird.

As usual, I do not pass by an opportunity to photograph a singing male Northern Cardinal.

This year, for the first time, we heard and saw Pileated Woodpeckers in our neighborhood. I finally find one out in the open.

A flock of Cattle Egrets is joined by a lone Snowy Egret.

Another Snowy Egret casts its reflection in the stillness of a misty morning.

A Little Blue Heron is changing from the white phase of a juvenile into dark adult plumage .

Nearby, a Great Egret barely disturbs the calm waters.

A pair of Mottled Ducks will also nest along the shore. The male, showing a clear yellow-green bill, is on the right.

Later in the morning, a Killdeer flies by,

Killdeer may be planning to nest on this spit of land that has been exposed by the dropping water levels.

I am pleased to find a native Green Anole in our birding patch. They have been almost entirely displaced by exotic Brown Anoles.

A Black Vulture is graceful in flight.

A yearling female White-tailed Deer eyes us from the edge of a dense tract of exotic Melaleuca trees.

A curious (and presumably near-sighted) Raccoon stands on one foot, trying to figure out who is right in front of him/her in the trail:

A Queen butterfly sips nectar from a Lantana flower

7 comments

04/22/12

Excitement at the rookery

Filed under: General, Birding & Outdoors, Florida & SE US, Birding "Patches"
Posted by: Ken @ 3:29 pm

We had high winds and driving rain overnight, as several thunderstorms passed through. I was concerned about the safety of the herons nesting in the rookery near our South Florida home, particularly in the trees defoliated by herbicide treatments that exposed their nests to the elements.

To keep track of the nests we have given them numbers, based upon their location relative to the row of ornamental Live Oaks planted on the bank of the canal opposite the nests. We also designate whether or not the nest trees have been treated by herbicides (HT or non-HT). Nest #4 HT is occupied by the first pair of Green Herons, and the next 5 are those of Yellow-crowned Night-Herons. Nest 9 HT and 10 non-HT respectively have nestlings and eggs. Nest 9.5 non-HT is newly constructed and we have not yet seen any eggs. Nest 19 HT and 20 HT contain eggs.

Nest 22.5 non-HT (we call it the culvert nest because it is opposite a culvert) belongs to Green Herons that now have eggs. The male of the pair that occupy the culvert nest was very likely the same one that became entangled in fishing line and was rescued by Steve Siegel (see earlier post). It spent 3 days in rehabilitation and rejoined his mate.

This morning, in between thunderstorms, I checked on the welfare of the herons. All the nests were intact. The chicks in the night-heron nest #9 HT were 2-4 days old.

The next wave of storms was approaching from over the Everglades.

Green Herons have a 19-21 day incubation period. We first saw eggs in the Green Heron nest on March 25, when the pair exchanged incubation duties. This was probably within a few days of when they were laid, so we expected them to hatch around mid-April. The young may leave the nest as early as 16 days of age, but are weak fliers and depend upon their parents until they are 30–35 days old.

We again saw the blue eggs on March 27.

The female was still incubating on April 4…

…and on April 10, when an adult was sitting very low on the nest.

On April 13 the parent was possibly brooding one or more nestlings, as it was sitting higher on the nest.

We got our first look at the nestlings on April 15.

On April 18 we saw only three chicks.

I made a video of the nest on April 19 (if not visible just below, click to view it here) and counted four nestlings.

Green Heron nestlings 7-9 days
old from Ken
Schneider on Vimeo.

The smallest one must have hatched out a few days later than the others, as it was still downy. Note its soft gray coat and lack of pin feathers.

This morning, the smallest of the chicks was missing, probably blown off the nest, which is very flimsy and sways even in a slight breeze. When I arrived they were alert and seemed to be waiting to be fed, looking in every direction for a parent.

The Green Herons treated my neighbor Scott and me to a great show. I had watched them for about an hour as they waited to be fed. Only minutes after Scott joined me, the female parent flew in and quickly fed the chicks on the nest. She then walked to roost on a limb that led up and to the right of the nest. The chicks began to climb up towards her.

Suddenly the male flew in and landed nearer the nest. He was immediately mobbed, first by the largest of the three nestlings.

The largest chick fought violently with the adult, attempting to grasp his bill. They struggled so much that I expected the chick to fall off the branch into the water.

The parent was surrounded by hungry little herons. They flapped and tussled.

The male herded the brood back into the nest, where he fed them in a more orderly manner.

Here is the culvert nest with the female sitting on the eggs.

Successfully rehabilitated, the male parent foraged for insects in the grass just opposite the nest.

For more photos and videos, visit my FLICKR photo pages at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosyfinch/

12 comments

04/14/12

Catching up

Filed under: General, Birding & Outdoors, Florida & SE US, Birding "Patches", Bald Eagle Nest
Posted by: Ken @ 6:31 am

Our two Illinois granddaughters are visiting, and birding must take a back seat to grandfathering. We finally were able to get out the past three mornings while they are away visiting the theme parks in Orlando. This morning, pouring rain is allowing me some computer face time.

As is our habit, we got out before sunrise. This is the view looking back east, towards the gate where we enter the gravel road that leads into the wetlands.

From the same spot, looking westward towards the Everglades, the ground fog is lifting, but sunlight has not yet reached the tops of the Royal Palms. Sad to think that this placid pathway will some day soon become the busiest parkway in our city. Actually, it will be the only road that traverses our entire city, running 22 miles from the Atlantic Ocean to Okeechobee Highway (US-27), which borders the Everglades preserve.

Welfare checks on the heron rookery have found them doing well, with eggs in five Yellow-crowned Night-Heron nests and one Green Heron nest. A sixth Yellow-crowned nest is difficult to see, but it appears to have been abandoned before any eggs were laid. We suspect there is a second Green Heron nest but is is probably deep in dense vegetation.

The Bald Eagle chick that disappeared from our local nest was probably not flight-ready. During the past three breeding seasons, we observed that the eaglets were usually seen branching or “helicoptering” for eight days prior to taking their first flight. This was never reported for this year’s single chick. Since we found no remains under the nest it probably had been carried off by one of the Raccoons, Bobcats or Gray Foxes that roam in the area. There was even an alligator trail that led to the base of the nest tree from an adjacent canal, also attracted by prey remains. Follow events at the nest and see summaries of observations over the past nesting seasons at the Pembroke Pines Eagle Watch FORUM.

Since we had been walking our birding patch every morning until arrival of our guests, I’ve developed quite a backlog of photos and observations.

At risk of overwhelming readers with heron photos, I must share my first video, taken with a Canon 60D DSLR. Our Texas grandson, after showing me how to set up Skype, then coached me on the features of Windows Live Movie Maker. It is a short clip of a threat display by a male Yellow-crowned Night-Heron.

Here is the link to the video, as some software does not support embedded code:

Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers have disappeared. We saw our last American Kestrel in late March.

We have not yet seen the hoped-for influx of northbound warblers, tanagers, vireos and orioles. Small flocks of Prairie Warblers have passed through. Some will stay to breed locally.

However, there are signs of spring. The Common Ground-Doves are cooing love songs.

Eastern Towhees are singing on territory. Their whitish eyes identify them as local birds.

In early April it was not unusual to see a half dozen Brown Thrashers along the paths. Most are passing through, but a few will nest locally.

Least Terns have arrived at the lake. Soon the males will be offering little fish to their mates. They probably will nest on the flat roof of a nearby elementary school as well as that of a shopping center.

A Fish Crow unceremoniously displaced them from their perch on the rock, but they returned to dive-bomb the crow and chase him off. My reflexes were too slow to catch the action.

The water levels are dropping in the wetland next to our South Florida subdivision. This concentrates prey and attracts long-legged waders. This week we had our first Black-necked Stilts, a flock of four birds.

A Double-crested Cormorant dries its wings.

The lake margin provides a nesting tree for a pair of Green Herons. Expert contortionists, they assume many different sizes and shapes. During breeding season, the female’s yellow legs distinguish her from the male, which has orange legs.

The female ruffled her feathers as the male flew in, perhaps a recognition signal.

They flew together back to the nest tree, where the male transformed from a compact ball of feathers…

…to a long-necked monster.

As the male took flight he provided me with an image of intricate feather patterns (click on the photo and view it in large size to study the plumage detail).

Before our guests arrived, I visited Plantation Preserve with the Tropical Audubon Society. There we saw this Limpkin.

Rather unusual, at least for me, was to witness the Limpkin’s habit of dunking into the water like a puddle duck.

13 comments