I’m starting to get some new batches of wildlife photos, and I encourage readers to submit their good photos for consideration.
Today’s installment features the photos of UC Davis ecologist Susan Harrison, who recently went birding not too far from Chicago:
Birding in the Upper Midwest
Minnesota and Wisconsin may not be at the top of everyone’s list of nature travel destinations, but do they have darned nice birding? You betcha! On a late May work trip to Minneapolis, it was my good fortune to visit some of the Upper Midwest’s riparian forests, wetlands, and restored prairies during spring migration. Friendly people and well-tended parks and nature reserves helped make it delightful.
Large birds….
Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis):
Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator) on a nest:
Great Horned Owlet (Bubo virginianus) in a nest:
Common Loon (Gavia immer):
Common, medium to small birds….
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus):
Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) bathing:
Eastern Kingbirds (Tyrannus tyrannus):
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater):
Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus):
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius):
Rarer small birds that were new (a.k.a. “lifers”) for me….
Kirtland’s Warbler (Setophaga kirtlandii), a specialized inhabitant of young Jack Pine (Pinus banksiana) forests, only recently removed from the endangered species list:
Louisiana Waterthrush (Parkesia motacilla), a warbler that lives on the banks of crystal-clear headwater streams in forests:
LeConte’s Sparrow (Ammospiza leconteii), a secretive marsh dweller that sings in the dark and scurries around on the ground:
Henslow’s Sparrow (Centronyx henslowii), a stealthy bird of the region’s much-diminished grasslands (historical note: it was named by John James Audubon in honor of Darwin’s mentor John Stevens Henslow):
Other exciting Midwestern firsts for me included seeing Greater Prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus cupido) dancing at their lek, and hearing the weird nocturnal songs of Yellow Rails (Coturnicops noveboracensis), Eastern Whippoorwills (Antrostomus vociferus), and American Woodcocks (Scolopax minor).
Thanks for these good photos. I live in Indiana and have never seen some of the smaller birds you’ve photographed.
Other big birds: Here’s an osprey incubating her eggs in MT, quite exercised by the presence of a fledgling starling in her nest. Surprising that she didn’t just flick it out of the nest.