Posts Tagged: birds

Checking In With The Loons, August 4, 2021

On August 4, 2021 - Loons, Wildlife Photography

Our loon family with two chicks was receiving visitors yesterday morning, August 3. The chicks are now 46 & 47 days old. They both appear to be doing well. They’re diving, and occasionally catching food, on their own. But, they’re always hungry and encouraging the parents to feed them.

The loons will have to take a brief hiatus. I’ll be down at the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen Fair for through August 15. I’ll resume the story as soon as possible after the Fair.

The loons were foraging at the far end of the pond from the boat launch, I ran into some of the usual suspects along the way to see the loons. This is the most common view I get of common mergansers.

The fishing wasn’t very good this morning. Hank caught just one small fish while I watched.

This osprey made seven or eight dives without catching anything before perching to watch for a meal.

This was the largest fish I saw the parents hand off to the chicks.

The parents were foraging fairly far away from the chicks. They were covering a good portion of their pond.

One of the loons took some time off from feeding the chicks to preen….

The chicks are getting big. From a distance, it is hard to tell them from their parents. Their fluff is going and their feathers are growing in.

The chicks were actively foraging in the shallow water. They both managed to catch food. There appeared to be several dragonfly nymphs, but most of what they caught was too small for me to ID.

And one last shot of the chicks before I had to head out.

birding, birds, loons

Swallow Update July 15, 2021

On July 15, 2021 - Tree Swallow Cam

Another day, another egg for our tree swallows.

birds, nest cam, swallow nest, tree swallows

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.

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.

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.

This little guy may have some more learning to do….

birds, piping plover, piping plover chick, shorebirds

A Second Bluebird Egg April 17, 2021

On April 17, 2021 - Bluebird Cam, Wildlife Photography

Mrs. Bluebird returned to the box on schedule late this morning to lay a second egg. She’ll likely lay one a day for until she has four or five eggs. She won’t start sitting on them until they’re all laid.

I’m still looking for mammals to photograph this spring. If you know of a den – fox, coyote, bobcat – or have a racoon, mink, fisher or bear on some sort of a schedule I’d love to know.

Here’s Jeans settling in to lay her egg.

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.

bird video, birds, bluebird nest, bluebirdcam, eastern bluebird

Ruby Valentino on Guard

On July 6, 2020 - Wildlife Photography

We’ve got a hummingbird feeder just off our deck. It is a favored feeding spot for the neighborhood hummingbirds. There is always competition between a few males to protect the feeder. This afternoon, Ruby Valentino claimed the feeder and stood guard protecting it.

He’s on a perch we’ve clipped to the feeder pole. He’s kind of dull when the sun isn’t on his throat.

His colors really pop when he turns back into the sun.

There are at least three female hummingbirds coming and going with his approval. We love watching them swoop and buzz each other when another male appears.

birds, hummingbird, ruby-throated hummingbird

The Usual Suspects, May 2020

On May 22, 2020 - Wildlife Photography

My feeders have been attracting all the usual suspects, plus a few that visit less frequently.

Cal Ripken stops in a few times early every season to raid the suet. Here, he’s checking out the new suet feeder to see if it is worthy.

Cyrano and Roxane stopped by to add a little panache to the yard. Roxane claimed the feeder, everyone else had to scrounge elsewhere.

I caught Harold spying on me. He said my number had come up.

Sometimes, Atticus just likes to be seen out and about.

Felix stopped by to say he was in a fix, and did I have a bag of tricks handy?

Coo Hand Luke did some hard time in the yard.

My name is Indigo Bunting. You filled my feeder. Prepare to dine.

birding, birds, vermont wildlife

Four Quick Bird Photo Tips

On May 19, 2020 - Wildlife, Wildlife Photography

An eastern bluebird poses nicely in the photographer’s front yard.

Here’s a pretty photo of a male Eastern bluebird with four quick photography lessons.

First, you don’t need fancy gear or to travel to exotic locations for good wildlife photos. This was taken while I was sitting on my deck. A pair of bluebirds were raising chicks along the edge of my lawn. They would hunt insects over and on the lawn. I stuck a stick in the ground to give them a perch. They promptly took advantage of the perch and I got my photo.

The next lesson is to try and get the wildlife doing something. Seeing this guy with food in his mouth tells a story. You know he has a nest with chicks nearby and he’s hunting to feed them. That gives us a more interesting image that just the bird alone.

The third lesson from this image is to keep it simple. Here we’ve got a bird on a stick. There’s a nice, clean background and nothing in the foreground to distract your attention from the bird. Try to frame your photos to avoid anything that you don’t want viewers to look at instead of the subject.

The fourth lesion is simply to be ready to enjoy encounters with wildlife anywhere at any time. Vermont has lots of fascinating wildlife, pay attention and you’ll find photo opportunities all over the place.

birds, bluebird, photo tips, vermont wildlife

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