Category Archives: Crex Meadows
Weekly Photo Challenge: Close
Friends, these loon chicks stick close to an adult bird for protection from osprey and snapping turtles. They are also dependent on the adults for food. Both adult birds take turns babysitting and feeding the chicks and they grow very fast. But for several weeks they ride piggy-back and enjoy the spring sunshine. Good thing they are cute and cuddly, not hard to keep them close, til Tomorrow MJ
Butterflies-small and large
Friends, the top image is a pearl crescent butterfly with a wing span of 1.25 inches, very small but the orange dot on the end of the club-shaped antennae is the defining mark. The bottom image is a swallowtail that is much larger as seen on a blue flag iris, all of them wild, wild, wild. til Tomorrow MJ
Chick Antics-Loon Style
Friends,these loon chicks are entertaining, the first four images show a chick trying to squeeze into a space between his sibling and the adult’s head, in the first image he is jumping from the water, in the second image he is trying to fit in a small space, the third image shows him protesting loudly, and in the fourth image he has settled uncomfortably for his nap. In the bottom image he abandons his napping spot to mount the other adult who happens to be swimming by. I got a few good chuckles, til Tomorrow MJ
Loon Family
Friends, this is a rare image of the whole loon family in one frame. Usually the chicks are on the back of one parent while the other parent is off fishing, grooming or doing what single loons do. This pair have very young chicks and are sticking together and both participating in feeding the chicks and spell each other with babysitting duties. The dark head and red eye are difficult to expose properly and to get both head positions in the right plane takes a great deal of my patience :). But I was patient and after about 40 GB of images over six days, i finally got this image which captures the whole family with good eyes and on a sunny day. Perseverance pays off. til Tomorrow MJ
Proud Parents
Friends, this proud parent (Common Loon) is stretching his wings while his 5 day old chicks swim around. In the bottom image, you can see how fast the little ones mimic their parents. The little chick is stretching his wings (?) . I have been camping out with the new parents and now today the chicks are 7 days old. The parents have always used a deep water channel near a road and i guess they trust me, they seem to be content with me sitting in my car with my telephoto pointed in their direction. I typically don’t leave the site until they have gone away so i don’t alarm them. Tomorrow back to work in the swamp, til Tomorrow MJ
Bald Eagle Portrait
Friends, this a mature Bald Eagle with her chick of this year are sitting on the nest. I have been following the chick progress since about early May, now the chick is getting ready to fly. When both adults are on the nest with the chick, there is peace and harmony, but when the adults leave him alone, the chick jumps around the nest and spreads his wings to make them strong. The bottom image is a composite showing that he is getting lift from his powerful wings, soon he will take flight, maybe today, since the wind has diminished from the 40 mph gusts of the last two days. til Tomorrow MJ
Little Yellow Warbler
Friends, this little bird is a yellow warbler and hangs out in the willow bushes in Crex. I was photographing the various butterflies, bees, dragonflies and hummingbirds that were pollinating the blue flag iris, when two of these little curious birds peeked out of the bushes to see what was up. Their songs are delicious and i enjoyed a serenade while i worked. They went back to chasing insects in the willow leaves. til Tomorrow MJ
Suspended Animation-Hummer Style
Friends, this female hummingbird, was flying much slower than her male counterpart, I was able to focus on her and maybe she felt the lens vibrations, cause she hovered in front of the iris before she came into it, the male was never this cooperative. He just bounced from bloom to bloom never once stopping like this. This image was a challenge to post process and i still feel that the composition is unbalanced somehow. maybe time will tell, til Tomorrow MJ
Hummers on the Wild Blues
Friends, I call these wild Iris, the wild blues although when they have been out in the sun, they soon fade to a light blue or white. This ruby-throated hummingbird was jumping from bloom to bloom. He would periodically disappear into the willows and when he exited he flew above the iris in a u-shaped diving back and forth. I witnessed a male showing off for his girl. Although this shutter speed 1/1000 of a second is fast enough for most flying birds, hummers are too fast to freeze without special means. Their wing speed is 50 flaps/second and they do hum when they fly hence their name, hummingbird. til Tomorrow MJ
Bobolink
Friends, this beautiful bird is a bobolink, a male in breeding plummage, the yellow on the back of his head is a defining mark. After the summer solstice, he will become just another drab brown bird, but now in his heyday, he is busy showing off for the ladies. They nest on the ground, mostly in grassy fields, but the cutting of hay crops have dented their population. Here in Crex, the grass is allowed to grow forever and i find bobolinks occasionally. Emily Dickinson writes of their boisterous nature:
The Bobolink is gone -The Rowdy of the Meadow -And no one swaggers now but me -The Presbyterian Birds-Can now resume the Meeting-He boldly interrupted that overflowing Day-When supplicating mercy-In a portentous way-He swung upon the Decalogue-And shouted let us pray -Emily Dicinson
I love the last line. til Tomorrow MJ
MJ Springett 