Category Archives: Crex Meadows
Greater Sandhill Cranes
Friends, This Greater Sandhill Crane is tiptoeing through the meadows of Crex in search of food. Their rust colored feathers are being replaced by their more formal gray of winter. When the molting season is here, one can find many feathers along the road and lakes where the cranes are busy pulling out old feathers and growing new ones. The red head and white cheek patch signify that this is an adult bird. Soon they will be flying over every morning from their roost site and every evening into their roost site. They migrate to the Texas Gulf Coast and to Florida, mostly an eastern route thru Jasper-Pulaski National Wildlife Refuge in Northern Indiana. On the way they eat grains, mollusks, and any grasshoppers that might still be roaming about. When they are here at Crex, they often gather in large groups to dance and call, celebrating the raising of the young. They are quite the spectacle until the snow flies, then one day they are gone and we are sad, but we wait patiently (?) until they return in the spring. til Tomorrow MJ
Kingfisher Day
Friends, this kingfisher female is either molting or is a young one just getting feathers, she was a pretty good fisherwoman so maybe an adult molting. I wish i knew more about the various birds, but there is time for only time for so many passions in one’s life, and photography rates higher than birding, oh well, below is another kingfisher in flight, still practicing my flying shots, til Tomorrow MJ
Blue Heron Takeoff
Friends, this big blue heron takes off from a hiding spot in the marsh, we surprised him and he left the scene immediately. Had to dull down the background a little to make him more of the subject of the image, Hope you forgive a little photoshoping. I am practicing for the cranes in Crex and the Hawk Ridge in Duluth, both events are coming shortly. Probably all flying shots. til Tomorrow MJ
Weekly Photo Challenge:Merge
Friends, on a lovely day in late August, Crex Meadows is at its best. This is a landscape shot of the marshes of Crex. These wetlands are merged with the drier prairie as shown by the image below. These two photos were taken on one spot on the road, one facing west and the other facing east. They merge seamlessly in the sandy pine barrens of Northwestern Wisconsin. I usually take photos of the wildlife and especially the birds, but today was such a lovely sunny day that i backed out the telephoto to show you more of the surroundings. The waterlilies are still blooming and the Trumpeter Swans are still pulling roots from the water. Below is a less attractive image taken on the other side of the same road but shows the Big Blue Stem grasses. Behind the grasses is a row of trees, mostly oaks. Crex houses many different environments and merged together they make up the sandy pine barrens of Northwestern Wisconsin. enjoy til Tomorrow MJ
Snipe Hunt
Friends, I didn’t start the day looking for Snipe, we were chasing the wildflowers, asters, goldenrods and other late summer bloomers, when our leader flushed some snipe off the mudflats. I went back later and these tiny birds were back on their muddy bottom again searching for food. I spent an hour watching them tilling the soil with those long bills and peering at their reflections in the water, and sometimes sleeping with their heads tucked backwards. They are tiny birds, one easily fitting in the hand but such a bright eye. Had to use all my telephoto length and plus a 1.4x extender to get a decent image. til Tomorrow MJ
Another Bittern
Friends, this is how i most often see the American bittern, stalking thru the ponds hunting for food, the black stripe from the corner of his mouth and extending down his neck is a distinguishing characteristic of this stocky heron. He looks stocky in this image, but when alarmed or when hunting, he stretches his neck vertically and with the striping on his neck, he thinks that he blends in with the vertical sedges and cattails in the marsh. In the image below you can see the striping on his neck. til Tomorrow MJ
Green Grass Curtain
Friends, this American bittern is hunting from the cover of a curtain of grasses, he/she waggles the white on his chin over the water, we think he uses his waggle like a fishing lure, when something is attracted to the wiggle waggle, he stabs his bill in and comes back with a small fish other small swamp critter. til Tomorrow MJ
Blue Wings
Friends, this handsome fellow is a male blue winged teal, these ducks are dabblers and get their food from the vegetation around the ponds and marshes of Crex. They are particularly fond of wild rice that is a common grain in Crex Meadows. The Blue wings are one of the first birds to leave for South America so I expect that they won’t be around much longer. Fall is on the way! Crane time soon, sorry anna, til Tomorrow MJ
Bittern on the wing
Friends, I was practicing my flight shooting on some Great egrets that are migrating thru Crex, when this American Bittern flew down the path that i had been shooting, actually a pair of bitterns flew over, what a thrill, i have photographed these birds fishing for food and generally stalking the marshes, but never saw them fly, what awaits me tomorrow in the marshes of Crex? til Tomorrow MJ
Sandhills Everywhere?
Friends, this Sandhill Crane has either just molted into his formal gray or has arrived from Northern clearer waters. He is a clean gray and not stained red from the iron-rich waters of Crex. I found lots of molted feathers around the feeding fields of Crex which suggests that the Cranes are molting and shedding those red worn feathers. Some of the feathers are gray at the base and red on the outer tips. The Cranes are flying about getting ready for the Great Fall gathering on the marshes of Crex. I am practicing my flying shots so I will be ready for the fall migration that is the highlight of my year at Crex. Thousands of cranes concentrated on a few marshes flying into a roost in the evening and out of the roost at sunrise is a sight that should not be missed by any bird/nature lover. They will soon be everywhere in Crex Meadows of NW Wisconsin. til Tomorrow MJ
MJ Springett 