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.
That Kirtland’s warbler has friendship bracelets! Adorable.
Thank you for the wonderful photos! I especially love the juvenile great-horned owl: he/she already looks impressive, even in the baby fluff.
And thanks to Hempenstein for the footage of the starling in the osprey nest. That really must have startled the osprey! I didn’t know that smaller birds use the undersides of osprey nests as their own nests.
Beautiful pictures! The one of LeConte’s Sparrow is particularly sharp and clear. And the Sandhill Crane looks like it’s using its nictitating membrane.
This brightens my morning. The photos are a delight. I’m glad to see the positive comments about Wisconsin and Minnesota.
The Sandhill Crane photo transported back to my summer in the Youth Conservation Core (1981). The cranes were endangered then and such excitement if one was spotted. The camp was located in Wisconsin on the Mecan River. One hundred earnest teenage girls lived in 10 cabins. I remember we all read A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold.
Thanks for photos it is great to see birds from Minnesota and Wisconsin as I grew up in the Great Lakes. Been in Pacific Northwest for 35 years now.
That is a masterful presentation! Very much appreciated.
A friend recently introduced me to a free cell phone app called Merlin Bird ID. Just run it, and it will immediately identify bird calls that you hear around you. It has opened up a new world to me.
Lovely pics. Thank you.
Lovely!
Great pictures. Thanks!
Beautiful bird photos, thank you!