Today’s photos are from Doug Hayes of Richmond, Virginia, showing birds in a nearby swamp (there’s also one mammal and one reptile. Doug’s captions are indented, and you can click on the photos to enlarge them.
A couple more trips back to the Chamberlayne Swamp, this time showing some of the diversity of life at one of our favorite birding spots.
This dead tree seems to have been a nesting site for some time:
I spotted some movement and a baby bird popped up, begging to be fed:
It turned out that there were four babies in the nest:
Finally, the parents showed up. A pair of common grackles (Quiscalus quiscula):
The parents made many trips out over the swamp to get food for the babies.
The first anhinga (Anhinga anhinga) of the season. Anhingas have been nesting in the swamp for the past few years now:
While I was photographing the baby grackles, a group of birders walked by in search of what they thought was a palm warbler (Setophaga palmarum). Apparently, the bird had been zipping from tree to tree, not staying still long enough for them to photograph it. About five minutes after the group had passed, a small bird landed not ten feet away from me and just sat there. Yep, it was the palm warbler!:
A belted kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) resting after a long day of fishing.
A pair of great egrets (Ardea alba) getting ready to roost for the night:
There are lots of smaller turtles in the swamp, but this was the first time spotting a common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina). This monster was at least two feet long!
Eastern kingbirds (Tyrannus tyrannus) are fairly common around the swamp:
A solitary sandpiper (Tringa solitaria) hunting along the edge of the swamp:
This muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) seemed to be curious about the group of birders standing at the water’s edge. It circled the area several times, getting close to us, then moving back to the center of the swamp:
Red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) are the most common birds in the swamp. Very territorial, they can be seen mobbing larger birds and driving them out of their domain. I’ve even seen them chasing hawks and herons:
A killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) searching for food. These birds tend to gather at the shallow end of the swamp, well away from the other birds:
Camera info: Sony A7RV mirrorless camera body – Clear Image digital zoom feature used on most shots, Sony FE 200-600 zoom lens + 1.4X teleconverter, iFootage Cobra II monopod.
Beautiful collection!
The picture of the solitary sandpiper is particularly captivating.
All lovely, but I also especially like the solitary sandpiper with its reflection.
Wow. Look at those hungry babies! So glad that this urban marshland appears to continue to be protected. Thanks, Doug.
The swamp is on private property, surrounded on all sides by trucking and industrial equipment rental companies. Birders are allowed on the site, but no hunters or fishermen. In fact, a couple of months ago some duck hunters set up a blind in the swamp. Owners of the trucking company reported it to Fish and Wildlife and the guys were arrested and fined.
What chutzpah duck hunters have. Shooting in a populated urban/industrial area. But a happy ending thanks to the truckers and Fish and Wildlife guys and gals. Lock ‘em up!
Beautiful photos. Thanks for sharing. one thing, I think the ‘palm warbler’ photo is actually of a female red-winged blackbird.
Probably is a female red-winged blackbird now that I take another look at it. Google Lens gets it wrong sometimes! Thanks for the catch.
Great pictures! And the diversity: dinosaurs, herps, mammals, and plants in the background.
All are great photos and really wonderful to see.
I was very glad to see the parents come to feed the baby birds. The photo of open mouth babies was worrying for a bird and animal lover like me even though I get how cruel nature is!
I especially love that snapping turtle.
All great photo. Thanks for showing your photos!
Nice! I especially love the photo of the Eastern Kingbird; beautiful composition.
Wonderful pictures. The Anhinga is striking.
Gee whiz….that looks like a female Red-winged blackbird, not a Palm warbler. Nothing suggests a warbler. Notice spotted breast, eye stripe, bill type/length. Kind of a messy bird so i can see why it was hard to identify.
thanks for the photos, especially the grackle nest.