Posts in Category: Wildlife Photography

Tips and advice for getting great wildlife photos

A Morning With The Loon Family, June 24, 2021

On June 24, 2021 - Loons, Wildlife Photography

Thursday morning I got to spend a few hours following our little loon family. Best guess is that on 6/24, the chicks were five and six days old. They’ve already grown noticeably. Both seem active and were eagerly feeding. 

Check back regularly. There’s another pair of loons with eggs due to hatch as soon as tomorrow. I’ll be following both families when I get the chance. 

My research suggest that loon chicks in the Upper Valley are fully 18% cuter than other baby loons 😉 

Easy to believe when you get a look at them. 
The parents take turns foraging for the chicks. This pair seems partial to feeding crayfish to the chicks. Loons aren’t strong on the concept of ‘volume,’ many of the crayfish offered are almost chick size.  
Our chick has to lean out for the crayfish….
…and falls off and swims over for breakfast.
The crayfish appeared to object to being eaten, and managed to get free. The other parent retrieved it and offered it again. 

It was a job to get it down, but our chick was up to it!
A few shots of chicks stretching. 
Stretching the wings westbound….
and eastbound….
The parents are still keeping the chicks very close, and often on the parent’s back. 
Sticking close…
This little one takes a moment to preen. Loons, like other waterfowl, have a gland, called the uropygial gland, that excretes a  waterproof oil that the loons spread over their feathers. They have to do this regularly to remain waterproof. 
One chicks swimming along with a parent, one tucked under the wing. 
One chick has climbed aboard preparing to nap.
And our other chicks climbs aboard.
Climbing all the way up can be a challenge for a little chick.
Eventually, they get aboard.
And a nice portrait of our loon family.
Shortly after the babysitting parent took the chicks aboard and got them settled, the other parent returned from foraging with another crayfish for the chicks – waking everyone up again.
And inbound again with another crayfish.
A chick hops off to grab the crayfish.
After feeding again, the babysitting parent gathered up the chicks, and after a bit, got everyone settled again. And I had to call it a morning.

First Loon Chicks of 2021

On June 23, 2021 - Loons, Wildlife Photography

UPDATE: When I first posted this, I didn’t know which loon was banded. I contacted the Loon Preservation Committee with the band information. They wrote back that this bird was banded on Lee’s Pond in Moultonborough, NH, in 2017. The were unable to determine the sex while banding. I eventually observed the banded bird yodeling. Since only males yodel, that let us determine the banded bird is dad. I’ve updated this post to reflect that in the captions.

Loon chicks are hatching around the Upper Valley. One of the pairs I follow had two chicks last Sunday morning. They were still on the nest, the chicks probably hatched Friday and Saturday. They stayed on the nest for a bit Sunday morning, before heading out to tackle life. 

A note on photographing loons. Please give them their space – keep well back. Even if you aren’t a threat, you may distract the parents from something that is a danger to the chicks. Loon chicks face tough enough odds, don’t make it worse. These images were all taken with an 800mm lens on a crop 35mm body, comparable to a 1,280mm lens on a traditional 35mm camera – something like a 26x scope. And, they’re heavily cropped. You can get good images without crowding the loons. 

Here’s our little family, still on the nest. That’s dad with the chicks, we can one of his leg bands.
Mom returns with a small meal.
Getting the family ready for launch.
The chicks ventured into the water a few inches from the nest when the mom brought food. Here they’re working to climb back into the nest. Loons’ legs are placed far back on their bodies. Perfect for swimming and flying, but they have real trouble walking on land. This shot gives a good look at how far back their legs are. 
The loon sitting on the nest turns out to be dad, identified by his bands. The silver band on the close leg has a nine digit number to give the bird a unique identifier. But, it is next to impossible to read unless you catch the bird again. Loons are banded with two bands per leg, with different colors to increase the odds of being able to ID the bird without catching it. This bird has green over silver on the starboard side, yellow over green on the port side (way back on the left of the photo). Traditionally, loon banders put the silver band on the right leg if they band the bird as an adult, the left if they band a chick.
The chicks seemed to grow a bit restless, venturing further from the nest after each feeding. Eventually, the loon on the nest decided it was time to go. The family probably will not return to the nest. 
After leaving the nest, dad got a well-deserved stretch. 
Loons are very attentive parents. Both loons will guard and feed the chicks. They spell each other, a few times a day one parent will wander off to forage, preen and occasionally fly a couple laps around the pond. 
Loon chicks have some sibling rivalry and will occasionally squabble. 
But, mostly they eat and look cute. 
One of the parents bringing a crawfish to the chicks. This crawfish was too big for the chicks to handle. They both made valiant efforts to swallow it, but it was too big. They kept dropping it. The parent probably retrieved and offered again it 10 times before just eating it. 
After the crawfish, the parents tried what appeared to be damselfly and dragonfly larva. Which worked much better. 
A more chick-sized morsel.

And another morsel…

It takes a long time to get a chick full on tiny tidbits.
Stretching out a leg – notice how far back the chick’s legs are.
The parents keep a close eye on the chicks when they’re small, one of the parents is usually within a few feet of them. 
The chicks learn to be loons by mimicking their parents. You can often see the chicks at it, if a parent turns to look at something, the chicks are likely to turn as well.

The chicks will hitch rides on both parents’ backs, often tucking in under the wings to keep warm.
And sometimes riding high to enjoy the view.

Round Up The Usual Suspects, June 21, 2021

On June 21, 2021 - Loons, Wildlife Photography

Let’s round up the usual suspects once again. I’ve had some time in the kayak, exploring several local ponds and marshes. 

I’ve been keeping an eye on several pairs of loons. Most have two eggs, one pair doesn’t seem to have built a nest yet.

One of the loons I’ve been following was napping in nice light, I tried to drift into position for a peaceful shot of a sleeping loon. This otter had other ideas. 

The loon, which was not far from the nest, was not amused. It woke and dove after the otter several times.
It was a busy morning for this loon pair, while headed back to check on its mate on the nest, the loon found a snapping turtle which was encouraged to move along.
Shortly after, an eagle flew over their pond, causing the loon to flatten out to hide. 
Another pond on another morning found a nice early morning scene with a pair of loons. 
Spring time brings turtles out to lay their eggs. This pretty lady was laying eggs in West Newbury. That’s a snail hitching a ride. I asked him what was going on, he replied, “beats me. Its all happening so fast….”
Swamp police are on the lookout for this masked bandit, known as the common yellowthroat. They urge extreme caution, as he’s known to be winged and dangerous. 
He had a sidekick, known as cedar waxwing. 
Even our swamp sparrows are looking good this season. 
And they were busy singing.
This pair of kingbirds had a prolonged interaction that I couldn’t figure out. They were alternately perching near each other and swooping each other off their perches. There were several kingbird nests around the pond with birds still sitting on eggs, so it is probably too early for a fledgling. And, if they were courting, knocking your potential sweetheart off her perch repeatedly seems an odd way to win her favor. 
The orange crown is what gives kingbirds their name, it is rare to see it. 
Heading out to fly some errands.
This spotted sandpiper was kind enough to pose nicely several times throughout one morning. 
Oh! Deer! This doe popped out of the brush not far from where I was tied off. I’m not sure she approved of my being on her pond. 

Readers who don’t wish to see nature being nature may want to stop with this shot of the doe. Following are a pair of pictures of raptors with prey, including some gore. 
A broad-winged hawk gave me a fly by with some Vermont Flied Chicken. I can’t really tell what the prey is, we were a long ways from anyone keeping chickens, it may be a turkey poult. 
An osprey with a breakfast of catfish.

Wood Ducklings

On June 15, 2021 - Wildlife, Wildlife Photography

Sunday morning found this family of wood duck ducklings out and about. Mom was nowhere to be seen, but seven ducklings went about their business. 

They explored around the brush lining the edge of their pond. 
They foraged in the shallow water and picked insects off the brush.
We’ve nabbed some clear-winged insect….
They were finding a variety of insects along the way. Sometimes the insects are in easy reach…
…sometimes they’re on the top shelf. 
You can see the terrain their camouflage is designed for. 
Even ducklings have to put up with the flies. 
This little duckling tried some sort of salad, it chewed on it for a bit before deciding it wasn’t very good. 
Ducklings are masters of disguise. When they sense a threat, they rapidly disappear into and under the brush. 
After a bit, the ducklings crawled out on a log to preen and stretch. And I paddled off to see who else was out and about.
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Piping Plovers On The New Hampshire Coast

On June 14, 2021 - Wildlife Photography

Piping plover chicks have hatched on the New Hampshire Coast. I visited last week. In the short section of beach I visited, I found two families with chicks, one with three and one with four chicks. There were also a number of common terns terrorizing the beach denizens, winged, armed or legged. 

What’s your vote for cutest bird? Piping plover chicks have to be on anyone’s list. 

Let’s start with the terns. They nest in the sand dunes not far above high tide. They make a shallow scrape for their eggs. And, they defend their territory with gusto! They’ll swoop, peck and sometimes poop on intruders. Once one tern gets upset about an intruder, it seems like all the terns on the beach join in the commotion and find some critter to drive off. 

Here’s one sitting on a nest. 
Another tern on a nest.
A tern looking for someone to divebomb….
And a tern escorting a gull from the premises.
Adult piping plovers are handsome birds. They’re not very large, about 7″ long. They hunt for small crustaceans, worms and insects along the beach. You probably won’t see them until they move. They run – very fast – for short spurts. They live along the northeastern coast and in the Great Lakes. They’re endangered. I’ve seen the figure 6,100 individuals, but never with a citation. 

Here’s mom – or maybe dad, only they know – overseeing the chicks running about on the beach. 
They seem to coexist with some of the other plovers, and drive others away from there territory. Perhaps they come to terms with their neighbors, but still view others as threats. This plover has spotted another plover it wishes would go away. 
Chicks are born ready to forage, the parents take turns supervising them as they run about the beach. The parents seem fairly laissez-faire about watching the chicks. They chicks are often well out of the parent’s sight. The parents call occasionally, probably to keep the kids relatively close. Every so often, the parent baby sitting decides the chicks are cold and calls them in and they duck under the adult and everyone sits for a few minutes. 
Calling the whole family in….
Tucking in….
This parent reacted to its mate returning to sit the kids by scrunching down and fluffing. 
And the chicks are just darned cute. They run about the beach exploring, foraging, stretching and fluffing. They run in short spurts, changing direction on a whim.  

Here’s one practicing being cute. 
It takes them a while to grow into their feet. 
Watching them walk, I can’t help but wonder if they were the inspiration for the two-legged walkers in Star Wars. 
Exploring along above the high-tide mark.
With a tiny snack. 
And a more substantial worm.
And, just learning how to be a bird.

This little guy may have some more learning to do….
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Osprey in Maine, May 2021

On May 22, 2021 - Raptors, Wildlife Photography

Greater Damariscotta, Maine, has been attracting bird photographers for years. Damariscotta Mills came to the attention of photographers when they restored the fish ladder on the Damariscotta River. The ladder was originally built in 1807 when mills blocked the fish’s trip up the river. in 2007 a group took to restoring the ladder which allowed the fish to run again. The fish attracted osprey and eagles. The birds attracted photographers. 

When the alewife start running, all sorts of birds and others come to feed on them. I got a couple days up that way last week. The action seemed to be better just to the east in along the Saint George River in Warren, Maine. There were a number of osprey coming and going, the most spotted at one time was six. There was also a pair of adult bald eagles and two immature bald eagles in the area as well as a large supporting cast of cormorants and gulls. 

The attraction for the wildlife is the alewife run. Alewife are marine fish that swim up rivers to breed in fresh water. They can grow to about 16″, but average about 10″. They swim upstream in large schools, with many millions of fish heading up the rivers in greater Damariscotta every year. Alewife apparently don’t appeal to humans. There are a few shops in the area advertising smoked alewife, but most of the fish caught become bait in lobster traps. 

The rivers are filled with schools of alewife.
Closer view of the alewife.
There were several flocks of herring and ring-billed gulls ranging in size from about 20 to over 50. They moved around on the river mixing then splitting up, making it hard to count. And, every time an eagle went over, the gulls would all take flight and squawk. They seemed to do their fishing around the lowest point of the tide.
When a gull managed to catch or scavenge a fish, it would be mobbed by several others attempting to steal it. 
A broad-winged hawk came by to check out the scene. The guidebooks say broad-wings will eat fish, but this one just circled overhead briefly before moving on. 
This immature bald eagle was my hero, he couldn’t go by the gulls without swooping them.
Another eagle resting on rocks in the river. The eagles seemed more interested in stealing fish from the osprey than catching their own.
The main attraction was the osprey. They fish at mid tide. The water has to be deep enough for them to dive into – they can go a couple feet down, but it seems they like the water shallow enough to keep the fish near the surface. Osprey glide in a slow circle over the water until they see an opportunity to grab a fish – or two – then dive. 
There are often multiple osprey circling over the river.
Osprey can pull up and ‘hover’ more or less in one place while they watch the action below. 
Still hovering…
Still hovering, in the “‘”angel’s wing” pose.
Still looking for a target….
The best part of watching them is the dive and climbing back out of the water.
Unlike eagles which grab fish from very near the surface, osprey dive much deeper, sometime submerging the entire bird. They make a slash when they hit!
Climbing back out of the water makes for some great pics. 
Another bird with another fish.
This guy looks kinda mad, glad I’m not a fish.
Sometimes they come up with a fish – or two – sometimes not. 
Another catch.
It was a bad day to be a fish.
After a dive, osprey shake like a wet dog to get rid of the water.
Shake it up!
After a catch, the osprey will often circle over the photographers to show off their catch.

The trip to see the fish ladder and osprey is worth it. The alewife start running in early May and go into June. The Damariscotta Mills Fish Ladder is open to the public. They harvest fish a couple times a day and are very used to visitors stopping by to watch. You can usually see osprey and eagles from the road by the fish ladder. Last time I was there, a pair of seals came upstream for a snack. 

More of the Usual Suspects, May 18, 2021

On May 19, 2021 - Wildlife Photography

Let’s check in on some of our local wildlife. I had a chance to get out to see who was out and about a couple times over the last few days. 

Either the painted turtles opened their convention, or they’re waiting for a couple more to show up to make a baseball team. 
Canada geese were coming and going all morning. 
And, of course, geese can neither come nor go quietly….
Canada geese were coming and going all morning. 
There were a handful of sandpipers working through the reeds. Here, a solitary sandpiper stopped briefly in the clear. 
Grackles are in good supply this year. Even they looked sharp in the morning sun. Here’s one not gracking.
And now gracking….
The resident loons spent their morning inspecting the real estate around the pond. They gave a long look at last year’s nesting site before heading off to see what else was available. 
On another outing, I found the marsh along the river a busy place. There are usually a handful of marsh wrens around, often heard and occasionally seen. On my visit they had a much larger presence. There were probably 40 or 50 of them chattering away and I spotted a dozen nests. They were darting about the reeds.
Wrens are very acrobatic while moving around in the reeds.
Wrens pull the fluff out of last year’s cattails to line their nests.
On another outing, I found the marsh along the river a busy place. There are usually a handful of marsh wrens around, often heard and occasionally seen. On my visit they had a much larger presence. There were probably 40 or 50 of them chattering away and I spotted a dozen nests. They were darting about the reeds.
On another outing, I found the marsh along the river a busy place. There are usually a handful of marsh wrens around, often heard and occasionally seen. On my visit they had a much larger presence. There were probably 40 or 50 of them chattering away and I spotted a dozen nests. They were darting about the reeds.
There were several sandpipers about. This solitary sandpiper was getting too sandy….
And took a bath to clean up….
Then told everyone about it….
The red-wing blackbirds are well along in building their nests. That didn’t stop the guys from telling us about it from the highest cattails.
Charles, the chipping sparrow, looked pretty dapper. 
And a pair of veerys were foraging along the bank. 

Still Waiting For Chicks, May 2, 2021

On May 2, 2021 - Bluebird Cam, Wildlife Photography

Our wait for bluebird chicks continues. Mrs. Bluebird spent most of her day sitting on her eggs. Today was the first day we could have expected the eggs to hatch. 


We’re looking inside a nesting box with the bluebirds in West Newbury, Vermont. The camera is permanently mounted in the box and we can watch without disturbing the birds. 

Mrs. Bluebird Spends Another Day on Her Eggs, May 1, 2021

On May 1, 2021 - Bluebird Cam, Wildlife Photography

Mrs. Bluebird spent the day sitting on her eggs. The first day the might hatch is tomorrow, Sunday May 2. There’s a big window, they could take until the 10th. Stay tuned. 

We’re looking inside a nesting box with the bluebirds in West Newbury, Vermont. The camera is permanently mounted in the box and we can watch without disturbing the birds. 

The Wait Continues… No News From Our Bluebirds, April 29, 2021

On April 29, 2021 - Bluebird Cam, Wildlife Photography

Mrs. Bluebird continues babysitting her eggs, venturing out occasionally. Mr. Bluebird sat in the rain on our deck roof above the box for a time this morning. Sunday is the first day we can expect the eggs to hatch. 

We’re looking inside a nesting box with the bluebirds in West Newbury, Vermont. The camera is permanently mounted in the box and we can watch without disturbing the birds. 

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