Tied To Nature: May 2011

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Dusky or Hammond Flycatcher?

Here is the bird that I cant quite nail down as to what it is, the Dusky and Hammond Flycatcher look like each other enough that I cant tell and a few other people have told me both ways. What do you think?

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Its Spring Time! 05-19-2011

When people think about spring time in nature one of the first thoughts that come to mind is twiterpation and babies! Well something that is even more prevalent than these two things is COLOR. It is everywhere the birds, the mammals, the reptiles, the plants, everything is bright and beautiful.

As I have looked around specifically at the birds I thought “well camouflage just got thrown out the window”. If you look at the bullock's oriole below what part of this bird says I am camouflaged so you cant see me, it must be the bright orange. I am unsure why there are so many bright birds but I am sure there is some purpose for their color even if it is just for our enjoyment.

Bullock’s Oriole, Rexburg, ID. 05-16-2011, Canon 60D.

Speaking of camouflage I am surprised that I caught a glimpse of this guy he was pretty well hid in the top of this tree. These raccoons do a pretty good job of keeping a low profile one rason is they do blend in pretty well but they also are less active in the daylight hours. This is actually the first raccoon that I can remember seeing outside of California.

Raccoon, Rexburg, ID. 05-14-2011, Canon 60D

It is a great time to be out and enjoy nature, it is one of the most active times of the year, the water is running high, migration is at its peak, a lot of mammals are waking up or becoming more active, trees and flowers are starting to bloom, and it just makes you want to sing.

Red-winged Blackbird, Rexburg, ID. 05-19-2011, Canon 60D

It is so nice to see all of the green this time of year especially when the trees start to match the color of the grass. I don’t even mind the dandelions, I know they are a big pain to have in the lawn but think of what this picture (below) would look like with out the dandelions I just think that it would be missing something. Also if you look around notice the honey bees around already and notice the only real flower in bloom, well put two and two together. The dandelions are important to the honey bees right now and to all the beekeepers bring there bees back from California.

Osprey, Rexburg, ID. 05-16-2011, Canon 60D

Even this well camouflaged turtle has a bright side to him, I don’t know if he would have caught my attention if he was not displaying his belly. I have actually seen 4 turtles this year already at two different locations, I had no idea they would hang out here in freezing Idaho.

Turtle, Rexburg, ID. 05-16-2011, Canon 60D

I have seen hundreds of American Kestrels before but I have never noticed all the color these guys display. What caught my attention the most was the ring on his beak.

American Kestrel, Rexburg, ID, 05-12-2011, Canon 60D

Below is not the greatest shot of what I saw so let me tell you what it was I saw. I was walking along the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River as the sun was setting down river. The sun was making a beautiful red and orange reflection across the river. Now if you have ever watched a Western Grebe you know they can pop out just about anywhere and that is what this one did. So I just followed him down river watching him pop up and down as all the colors were on display across the river.

Western Grebe, Rexburg, ID, 05-12-2011, Canon 60D

There seems to be a lot of yellow birds or birds with yellow on them, this one is the first of its kind that I have seen. It is a Western Kingbird and it was not shy I parked a cross the road and watched as it flew out over the water feasting on insects and then come back to its resting place on the fence.

Western Kingbird, Rexburg, ID. 05-16-2011, Canon 60D

Speaking of colors this Wood Duck is not lacking in any, green, brown, tan, white, red, black, and maybe a few more. I spent three days wandering seeing the same wood duck just as it would go out of view or fly away. I kept looking, it had been my first time ever seeing a wood duck and I wanted to have a chance to really look at one. They have a lot of colors but they sure do camouflage well for the first while every time I saw one it took so real looking to find it and then confirm what it was. After all this looking one day I gave up and was headed somewhere else and here was a Wood Duck just sitting on some guys chimney. What's the chance of that.

Wood Duck, Rexburg, ID. 05-16-2011, Canon 60D

Here is another first the Lewis Woodpecker the first time I saw this bird I could not decide (looking through a dirty window at dusk a good distance off) if this bird was red or if it was blood stained. If you look t the picture below I thought it might have been eating a mouse or something. After getting a better look I did recognize that it had a red belly and then a day latter I got a better view of him.

Lewis Woodpecker, Rexburg, ID. 05-16-2011, Canon 60D

Lewis Woodpecker, Rexburg, ID. 05-19-2011, Canon 60D

To end one day a little light and a little color.

Sunset, Rexburg, ID. 05-18-2011, Canon 60D

Monday, May 9, 2011

Lessons from Dad! 05-08,09-2011

Saturday morning I received a call from my dad who was in town seeing if I wanted to go birding with him. We went our for an hour or so and had a good time, we were out for just a short time and as I was watching him I learned a lot that can apply for wildlife watching or anything else. Usually when I go out, not always, I am very fast paced, I look around don’t see anything and move on. While I was with my dad he slowed me down he stopped me in a few places and really observed when he was out looking. I have seen Canadian Geese a hundred times this year and did not think much of them when I saw them. On the other my dad pointed out some geese and noticed that she was nesting on goslings which soon got up and waddled around. If you are out and about enjoy yourself take time to observe and learn something, make it a goal to not move on until you have seen something new, because something new is out there.

I took this in to practice yesterday I was out looking for a great Gray Owl, hooting for it and quite a few Great Horned Owls respond. Some ended up being really close so I went and was able to take some decent pictures of them. After they had flown off I wandered around a little bit and notice a nest with a giant fir ball in it. After observing for a few minutes I saw that they were two Great Horned Owl Chicks. Had I seen the owls, and then just left I would have missed the owl chicks not only this time but in the future as I revisit this area.

Great Horned Owl, 05-08-2011, Rexburg, ID, Canon 60D, 500mm.

Great Horned Owl Chicks, 05-08-2011, Rexburg, ID, Canon 60D, 500mm.

As I was looking at the owl chicks I also noticed this osprey in the tree, knowing that the owl chicks were not going anywhere I took a second to snap a few shots. I am glad I did for a couple of reasons 1 I have never been close enough to an osprey to recognize details.Like the eyes they seem huge it is almost like it was raised by owls I would guess this helps in seeing into the water.

Osprey, 05-08-2011, Rexburg, ID, Canon 60D, 500mm.

At the end of the day I saw this Western Grebe letting the current take it down stream. It is to bad that my abilities did not allow me to capture what this scene really looked like as the sunset.

Western Grebe, 05-08-2011, Rexburg, ID, Canon 60D, 500mm.