Posts in Category: Raptors

Peregrine Falcons Have Returned

On March 13, 2024 - Raptors, Wildlife Photography

Peregrine falcons have returned to Vermont and are getting ready to nest. I was able to visit a pair in Caledonia County this morning. They spent some time seemingly discussing their nest site, with one promoting last year’s site, the other agitating for a ledge a couple dozen yards to the north. They interrupted the discussion to head out for a flying courtship display. Unfortunately, the display was out of camera range.

Peregrines were extirpated (locally extinct) in Vermont after the introduction of DDT. The state started a recovery effort in 1975 and the population is increasing again. The last year I could find figures for was 2022, when there were an estimated 60 pairs nesting in Vermont.

Peregrines are thought to be the fastest animal on earth. They can dive in flight. Estimates online range from 200 to 240 mph, without my finding anyone who claims to have actually clocked a flying falcon. But, seeing one dive is indeed impressive and the estimates are believable.

When I arrived before dawn, this bird was on last year’s nest site, the other was about 50 feet to the north on a different ledge. They repeatedly called to each other, seemingly promoting the benefits of each site.

The second bird moved up to a tree more or less over the old site and the discussion continued.

The second bird swooped the first while it was on the old nest, probably the beginning of his courtship display.

Another swoop. Both birds soon flew off to trees to the south where they repeatedly called and answered. After a bit they flew, with one somewhat lazily circling while the other swooped and rolled. Unfortunately, they were too far away for pix.

After the courtship, the both settled in trees for a bit before one headed out, probably for breakfast. After a time, the bird returned to last year’s nesting site and sat for a bit.

Still sitting on the old nest site, the mate was still in the trees to the south.

Time to fly some errands, the bird headed out and off to the east and I headed off to get my errands done.

birds, Peregrine, Peregrine falcons, raptors, vermont wildlife, wildlife

Unexpected Action on the Middleton’s Pond

On May 3, 2023 - Loons, Photography, Raptors, Wildlife Photography

The forecast for this morning called for rain. I happily planned to sleep in. Owing two huskies often thwarts such plans. When I let them out, there were stars to be seen. There was a thick fog over the Connecticut River, but clear skies above. The Middleton’s – the loons that live on the pond between the other two ponds – pond is a few hundred feet above the Connecticut. Hoping for some mood shots, I packed up and headed out.

The pond had a moderate fog and flat water. I had guessed correctly.

There was no shortage of Canada geese on the pond. I noticed nine nests while I was exploring.

It didn’t take long to find the loons, they were in one of their favorite coves. And sleeping in.

After a time, they began to stir. They both did a very quick preen and stretched their legs.

Before giving a good wing stretch to get things going.

Loons on this pond have often nested in this cove. Two years ago, they relocated the nest. This morning, they took a quick tour around the old nest site, poking into the brush and hooting to each other.

When loons are courting, they’ll swim quickly along side each other, softly hooting to each other, and they’ll make synchronized dives. This morning, our pair made a quick courting display before heading off to breakfast.

With the loons off having breakfast, I spent some time exploring the marsh. Warblers are back, the pond was surrounded by yellow-rumped warblers and common yellowthroats. I saw a black & white warbler – briefly. And, the spider webs were covered in dew and standing out. Before I could concentrate on photographing warblers, bigger things were afoot.

A bald eagle that had been sitting out of my sight dove on the pond, coming up empty. I wasn’t quick enough to get the camera around for the dive. He? landed in a tree overlooking the pond and I settled in to wait for the next dive.

The osprey on the pond have returned to their nest and were not in the mood to welcome an eagle.

One of the osprey came in and dove at the sitting eagle.

The osprey came in close to the eagle. I’m glad I wasn’t on the business end of the talons.

The osprey pulled up and came around again.

The eagle was standing higher and calling louder this time. That didn’t discourage the osprey.

The osprey made five dives at the eagle. The eagle held his ground. The osprey headed down the pond towards the nest.

Having proved he could hold his ground (hold his tree?), the eagle sat for a time before flying off to a new perch – out of sight of the osprey. He eventually came back, dove for a fish and missed. Settling in a new tree, the osprey started in on him again.

The loons would be rooting for the osprey. Osprey’s diet is almost exclusively fish, they leave the loons alone, while eagles are a very real threat to loon families.

My luck with the weather ran out. A few raindrops remined me that the huskies needed their morning run. I had the boat packed up and was pulling out of the parking spot when the rain hit. The huskies enjoyed romping in the mud when they got their run.

bald eagle, birding, birds, birdwatching, common loon, eagle, loons, osprey, wildlife

A Visit With The Loons, Chicks Are 22 & 23 Days Old, July 11, 2021

On July 11, 2021 - Herons, Loons, Raptors, Wildlife Photography

I spent the morning visiting the loon family with two chicks in the Upper Valley area. Both chicks appear to be doing well, both are growing rapidly, are active and feeding eagerly.

The loons aren’t the only inhabitants of their pond. This great blue heron was out and about a little before sun up.

I got too close to Hank for the shot with my long lens before I noticed him. I debated it it was worth turning around, getting further back and waiting for the water to settle again. I figured he’d move along before I was set. Glad he didn’t.

After the fog lifted, an osprey was up hunting for breakfast, and came to a hover almost directly overhead. Loons appear to differentiate osprey from other raptors at long range. Hawks and eagles are met with cries and the chicks flatten out to hide. But, the loons pretty much ignore the osprey (whose diet is almost entirely fish).

One of the adults stretching. I think this is our banded loon. The Loon Preservation Committee banded a bird with this combination of bands at Lee’s Pond in Moultonborough, NH, in 2015. The weren’t able to determine the sex while banding (I’m betting this is mom – the other loon is clueless about dealing with the chicks). It was spotted on Lake Tarleton in 2015 and on the current pond since 2018.

UPDATE: I guessed wrong. Eventually I was able to catch this bird yodeling, which only males do. He’s a much more attentive parent than mom.

This pair of adults seems particularly fond of crayfish for feeding the chicks. They delivered several large crayfish early in the morning.

This chick has learned to toss the crayfish up to grab it tail first for easier swallowing.

After the first feeding, there was a break while the parents preened and the chicks napped. One of the adults swam close to my boat to preen. I got great views as it cleaned and oiled its feathers. (And, ‘close’ is a relative term, these were with an 800mm lens and cropped.)

Feathers adjusted, time to give them a fluff and check to see if they’re repelling water.

The family spent most of the morning in shallow water, with the chicks practicing diving and foraging. It will be a while before they can feed themselves, but they’ve started learning. This guy made a successful dive and managed to catch a stick. Sticks apparently do not make good snacks.

The parents eventually got serious about feeding the chicks and started bringing in fish.

Adult loons seem unfamiliar with the concept of volume. They brought in fish that appeared way too big for a chick to swallow. This little guy was up to the challenge, but had to work at it.

The other chick got a shot at the next fish that was delivered.

The adult recovered it, and handed (billed?) it back over.

This fish proved to be too big, one of the adults ended up eating it.

And a last shot of one of the chicks stretching.

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.

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, in the “‘”angel’s wing” pose.

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.

This guy looks kinda mad, glad I’m not a fish.

Sometimes they come up with a fish – or two – sometimes not.

After a dive, osprey shake like a wet dog to get rid of the water.

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.

Eagles at Conowingo Dam

On November 18, 2020 - Raptors, Wildlife Photography

My travels took me through Aberdeen, Maryland, recently. It was just at the start of eagle season at the Conowingo Dam, so I felt that required a visit. I was able to spend a few hours over a couple days in along with a couple hundred of my closest eagle photographing friends.

The Conowingo Dam dams the Susquehanna River on the line between Cecil and Harford counties, MD. The original town of Conowingo is now under the reservoir above the dam. Conowingo is famous among photographers because something like 250-300 bald eagle winter in the area. The dam keeps the water open. Fish that would prefer to stay deep underwater get stirred up (or even injured) going through the dam and make easy pickings for waiting eagles. The eagles have learned that the lights and siren to alert people that the dam is about to increase the water they’re releasing means dinner is served.

Along with the eagles, there is a large flock of black vultures, several varieties of gulls, a gulp of cormorants and even a pair of peregrine falcons. Photographers new to the dam are allowed to shoot a few pix of the non-eagles before they are roundly abused by their fellow photographers.

Here we’ve got a black vulture flying over the river. The vultures are a problem for visitors, they’ve been known to eat windshield wipers and any plastic part of a car they can get their beaks on.

The fishing is pretty good for everyone. Here a double-crested cormorant has caught a nice catfish.

Of course, you can always try to take what someone else has caught….

But, the real action is the eagles. When I was there, the winter crowd was just beginning to arrive. The local birders estimated somewhere between 50 and 75 eagles had arrived. Many of the eagles were juveniles.

You get frequent close looks as they fly over.

But, the real attraction is the mature eagles.

Looking down from the parking lot on a mature eagle with a meal.

Another fly-by with a meal tucked up under.

Bald eagles often seem more interested in stealing fish from other birds than in doing their own fishing. A successful catch often leads to a chase. Here a couple juveniles tussle over a fish, look closely under their wings and you can see the eagle on the right has dropped what should have been his meal. There were several skirmishes between adults and adults and juveniles, but they usually took the fight over the trees along the river and out of sight.

There were good views of eagles fishing; this eagle has spotted a fish below and is banking to line up for his dive.

There were several flybys with eagles showing off their catch as they headed to perch in the trees behind me.

And, I was lucky enough to catch a few well-lit fishing sequences.

Look on the right side of the photo, that’s a fish breaking the surface and about to become breakfast.

And, like all fishermen, he wants to show off his catch.

bald eagles, birds in flight, eagles

Breakfast with the Loon Chicks

On August 7, 2020 - Loons, Raptors, Wildlife Photography

I got a chance to check in on ‘my’ loon family Thursday morning. Both chicks seem to be doing well, they’re big, their feathers are growing in and they’re diving and foraging on their own – as well as being well-fed by their parents.

Our pond was a tough place to be a fish Thursday morning. There were two osprey patrolling the pond. It looked like one was a juvenile and was pestering a parent to be fed (I’m pretty sure I heard the parent say ‘Get your own darned fish!’).