Category: birds

Readers’ wildlife photos

April 28, 2024 • 8:15 am

It’s Sunday, and that means an episode in the continuing series of John Avise‘s bird photos. John’s captions are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

Costa Rica Birds 

As a Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation, I was privileged to attend the annual Pew Fellows meetings, which were held at a different marine location each year.  In 2008, the conference was held at a resort on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica.   Each such three-day meeting consisted of a series of highly focused symposia and workshops on marine conservation that typically kept us extremely busy indeed.  Nevertheless, during lunch or on short breaks, I managed to take a few avian photos that are the subject of this week’s post.

White-winged Dove (Zenaida asiatica):

Ferruginous Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium brasilianum):

Great Kiskadee (Pitangus sulphuratus):

Groove-billed Ani (Crotophaga sulcirostris):

Groove-billed Ani, headshot:

Ringed Kingfisher, female (Megaceryle torquata):

Rufous-backed Wren (Campylorhynchus capistratus):

Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius) in non-breeding plumage:

Spotted Sandpiper in flight:

Streak-backed Oriole (Icterus pustulatus):

Tropical Kingbird (Tyrannus melancholicus):

White-throated Magpie-Jay (Calocitta formosa):

Cinnamon Hummingbird (Amazilia rutila):

Readers’ wildlife photos

April 27, 2024 • 8:20 am

Today is part 2 of photos of a part in southern Africa from reader William Terre Blanche; this is the second of two installments (the first is here).  His notes are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them. I begin by quoting his introduction from yesterday:

Here are some photos from a visit last year to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park  (Kgalagadi means “place of great thirst” in the San Language).

This vast wilderness reserve used to comprise two separate game parks, the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park (South Africa) and the Gemsbok National Park (Botswana) separated by an unfenced border. However, in a historic 1999 agreement, South Africa and Botswana joined forces to create the world’s first trans-frontier nature reserve, the Kalagadi Transfrontier Park. It covers an amazing 38,000 km², an enormous conservation area across which the wildlife flows without any hindrance.

The Park is famous for its magnificent black-maned male lions, as well as an abundance of raptor species, but the beautiful desert landscape and unique atmosphere is probably what draws most return visitors there (myself included).

In December 2023, I had the privilege of spending almost 2 weeks in the park, and these are just some of the many photographs taken there (apologies, mostly birds, again..).

Three-banded Plover (Charadrius tricollaris)  These can often be seen using the typical plover run-stop-search method of foraging at any suitable body of water. The area had unusually good summer rains last year, and these pretty little birds were often seen:

Violet-eared Waxbill (Ureaginthus granatinus).  An almost impossibly brightly coloured little bird, they are actually quite common in the Kgalagadi, but the vibrant colours never ceases to amaze me whenever I come across one of them:

Sociable Weaver (Philetairus socius).  One of the most iconic sights of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is the massive communal nests of the Sociable Weaver. Colonies of up to 500 birds build these nests in trees, telephone poles and sometimes rock faces. The nests are built entirely out of grass, and each pair builds its own nest chamber:

Northern Black Korhaan (Afrotis afraoides). Their raucous kraak-kraak-kraak call is often heard long before they are seen! Spends most of the day on the ground, searching for food which is mostly insects and occasionally small reptiles:

Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus).  The world’s fastest land animal and Africa’s most endangered big cat. This female was presumably calling for the young, although I unfortunately never got to see them:

Urikaruus Wilderness Camp.  There are 3 main “Restcamps” inside the Park, plus a number of so-called Wilderness Camps. There are normally well off the beaten track, and mostly only reachable by 4×4 vehicle. There are no facilities whatsoever at these camps, so you have to be completely self-sufficient during the time spent there:

Male Lion (Panthera leo).  I spent a couple of nights at the abovementioned Urikaruus Wilderness Camp, and on the second morning was awakened at around 04:30 by a male lion roaring right under the room where I was sleeping (next to my car, in the picture below). This was at the same time exciting and terrifying, but one of the memories that will stay with me for life.

After a while he started moving away, and I was able to get a photograph of this magnificent animal:

Lioness:

Cubs.  On another occasion I spotted a single female lion lying in the shade of the tree a small distance from the road. After a couple of minutes she started calling, and these two cubs appeared from a nearby bush to join her. I can only assume that she had hidden them there, and after determining that the area was safe called them out into the open.

Readers’ wildlife photos

April 26, 2024 • 8:15 am

Please send them in if you got them: we need wildlife photos, as the tank is dropping faster than I’d like.

Today we have photos of a part in southern Africa from reader William Terre Blanche; this is the first of two installments.  His notes are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

Here are some photos from a visit last year to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park  (Kgalagadi means “place of great thirst” in the San Language).

This vast wilderness reserve used to comprise two separate game parks, the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park (South Africa) and the Gemsbok National Park (Botswana) separated by an unfenced border. However, in a historic 1999 agreement, South Africa and Botswana joined forces to create the world’s first trans-frontier nature reserve, the Kalagadi Transfrontier Park. It covers an amazing 38,000 km², an enormous conservation area across which the wildlife flows without any hindrance.

The Park is famous for its magnificent black-maned male lions, as well as an abundance of raptor species, but the beautiful desert landscape and unique atmosphere is probably what draws most return visitors there (myself included).

In December 2023, I had the privilege of spending almost 2 weeks in the park, and these are just some of the many photographs taken there (apologies, mostly birds, again..).

Road inside the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.  There are only a very limited number of roads accessible to tourists inside the park, and while most of them can be done in a normal car a 4×4 vehicle is advisable:

Pygmy Falcon (Polihierax semitorquatus).  The smallest diurnal raptor in South Africa (only 20cm), these delightful little birds are fairly common throughout the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, often perched conspicuously on a tree or bush:

Swallow-tailed Bee-eater (Merops hirundineus).  Unlike most of the other bee-eaters in South Africa, it prefers a semi-arid habitat, usually on Kalahari Sands. As the name suggests, they prey on venomous as well as non-venomous bees and wasps, as well as other insects:

Kori Bustard (Ardeotis kori).  At up to 12.5kg (27 pounds), the Kori Bustard is one of the world’s heaviest flying birds. However it spends most of its time walking across open habitat in search of a wide range of prey, including insects, lizards, chameleons, snakes, scorpions and lizards:

Black-chested Snake Eagle (Circaetus pectoralis).  This juvenile bird seemed to be fascinated by my vehicle as I stopped under the tree in which it was perched! Their main prey species are indeed snakes, including cobras up to 1.8m long. Interestingly snakes, which are swallowed whole, enter the stomach directly without initially being stored in the crop:

Gabar Goshawk (Micronisus gabar). One of the most frequently encountered raptors in the Kgalagadi, this juvenile seemed wholly undisturbed by my presence as it went about its business in a small tree right next to the road:

Lanner Falcon (Falco biarmicus).  Fairly common throughout most of South Africa, with both resident and migratory populations. Birds make up more than 80% of its prey, and the arrival of one of these at one of the waterholes in the Kgalagadi usually leads to mass panic amongst the many birds gathered there:

Common Ostrich (Struthio camelus).  The flightless Ostrich is the biggest of all the birds on Earth, both in size and weight (up to 2m & 80kg), with massive eggs having an average weight of 1.4 kg. They spend most of their day walking, in this case a male bird with a number of young:

Southern White-faced Owl ( Ptilopsis granti). This sub-adult bird was hiding in a tree on a scorchingly hot day, near the northernmost point in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park at Unions end. This is the place where 3 countries, South Africa, Namibia and Botswana come together:

Greater Painted-snipe (Rostratula benghalensis).  A rather unusual sighting since snipes are usually associated with wetland areas, but this one seemed quite content going about its business at one of the waterholes. They are polyandrous, which means that one female will mate with a number of males during a single breeding season:

Readers’ wildlife photos

April 25, 2024 • 8:15 am

Today we have some photos by Doug Hayes of Richmond, VA, famous for his “breakfast crew” series of birds.  But today he recounts a birding trip to a local swamp to see egrets. Doug’s captions are indented, and you can enlarge his photos by clicking on them.

A trip to the swamp

My neighbor and I took another trip out to the Chamberlayne Swamp to see the Great Egrets (Ardea alba). The swamp is about 9 miles outside of Richmond, VA. During the daytime the egrets spread out all along the James River and surrounding counties, then gather in the swamp around sundown to roost for the night. It is mating season for the egrets, so many of the birds are displaying their long, delicate breeding plumage, or aigrettes. The birds put on quite a show, swooping into land on delicate branches and gathering in huge numbers. We arrived around 6pm and stayed until just about dark.

When we arrived, there were only two egrets around:

This solitary green heron (Butorides virescens) stayed on this perch for over an hour, drying its feathers and preening after a day’s fishing:

One of the first arrivals, staking out a spot to spend the night:

Getting photobombed by a common grackle (Quiscalus quiscula):

More egrets begin to arrive:

Even the most pecarious perch is no problem for these surprisingly graceful birds:

The early arrival is joined by a friend:

Another tricky landing:

As the sun sets, more and more birds join the flock:

Near dark, the group begins to settle in:

A smooth landing as it gets darker:

Ready for bedtime. Even though it was pretty dark at this time, I was still able to get useable images. Camera technology has really improved since film days when pushing black and white Tri-X to 1600 or 3200 was hit or miss!:

Camera info:  Sony AR7V body, Sony FE 200-600 zoom lens, camera set to Auto ISO with a range of 80 to 5,000 ISO, iFootage Cobra II monopod and Neewer gimbal tripod head. Photos shot above 1,200 ISO processed for noise with Topaz Photo AI.

Readers’ wildlife photos

April 23, 2024 • 8:15 am

If you got ’em, send ’em in, please!

Today we have photos by Dean Graetz of Australia. His captions are indented, and you can enlarge his photos by clicking on them. Aussie backyards have some cool stuff, especially the birds!

A Southern Hemisphere Backyard

Here is a sample of the inhabitants of our backyard in Canberra, Australia.  Mid-March, at latitude 35°S, is a time of rapidly shortening daylength, and of harvesting the fruits of a coolish Summer.  Our non-native garden shrubs (Buddleia davidii, aka ‘Butterfly Bush’) are popular attracting this new and hard to identify, visitor.  We think it is a ‘Brown’, or Heteronympha species:

A large butterfly with a 10 cm wingspan, this female Orchard Swallowtail (Papilio aegeus), is always eye-catching, and always harassed by ever-present Cabbage White butterflies:

The common Meadow Argus (Junonia villida) which, after enjoying a nectar feed, often unhurriedly suns itself on our warm garden pathways, adding colour in two places:

The also common, and charmingly named, an Australian Painted Lady (Vanessa kershawi) choosing feed on a desert wildflower (Xerochrysum sp.) which we also grow as another inducement for butterflies.  All the butterfly photos were shot from a 3-5m distance with zoom lenses:

A pair of aged adult Crimson Rosellas (Platycercus elegans) feeding on our neighbour’s tall shrub.  These parrots are everyday sightings in Canberra gardens that are not far from surrounding native woodlands where they breed as hollow nesters:

A juvenile Crimson Rosella in the process of changing its dull green plumage to the bright reds and blues of the sexually mature adult.  The coloured feather contrasting patches are so sharp that these birds enjoy the common name of ‘Patchworks’:

An adult Satin Bowerbird (Ptilonorhyncus violaceus), sex not obvious, having enjoyed a vigorous bath now eyeing the photographer.  At age 7 years, a male bird will change from this khaki plumage to a brilliant blue-black glossy version, build a bower in a grassy woodland, decorate it with blue objects (same colour as its eyes), such as flowers, clothes pegs, bottle tops.  The purpose is to attract, court and mate with numerous females.  Hard to believe?  Go here to watch:

A juvenile Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae) now regularly arrives and sits patiently surveying our back yard for any living food items, such as lizards, mice, or snakes.  These birds readily habituate to hand feeding by the lonely to become a mendicant friend for life:

An adult male Australian King Parrot (Alisterus scapularis) enjoying the last of an unripe pomegranate in a neighbour’s tree.  The dark lower beak is staining.  These are frequent visitors to Canberra at this time of the year.  Being predominantly fruit eaters – their favourite is cherries – has required nearby fruit growers to cover their entire orchards with parrot (and hail) proof tents:

Close by, and part of a family flock, was this juvenile female King-Parrot, elegantly holding an unripe olive with toe and beak.  They skillfully rotate each olive with their blunt tongue to flense off all the edible flesh.  To us, hard green olives are unappealing, but this female ate steadily for about 15 minutes before flying off with a noticeably full crop:

Emperor penguin chicks jump 50 feet into the sea

April 22, 2024 • 12:00 pm

The college protest post has exhausted me for today, not only because reading this stuff is psychologically debilitating, but also because I’m preparing my talks for Amsterdam. Tomorrow I’ll try to resume regular posting, but for now you get a penguin video as lagniappe.

These happen to be Emperor Penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri), which live on sea ice, so I never saw them on my jaunts to Antarctica.  When they’re six to seven months old, after parental feeding has ceased, they trek en masse to the ocean to begin feeding and starting their life as free-living animals.  This National Geographic video shows them making an unusual jump into the sea from fifty-foot ice cliffs.

This reminds me of the mallards at Botany Pond who build their nests two or three stories off the ground. In that case, when the chicks hatch they have to make a perilous leap to the ground below (next to the water), egged on by the quacking mother who has flown to the ground. They are naturally apprehensive, but one chick is brave enough to jump and the others follow. (I’ve never seen a duckling injured in the leap.) These penguins seem to make successful leaps, too, and once one has made it the others follow. They’re like the proverbial lemmings! I hope they don’t land on each other.

The photography is marvelous.

Readers’ wildlife photos

April 22, 2024 • 8:15 am

Reader Mary Rasmussen has some lovely photos of birds found in Chicago backyards, though I haven’t seen many of these.  Mary’s captions and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge her photos by clicking on them.

Chicago Backyard Birds 

These are some common birds in late winter and early spring in my small Chicago backyard. Migrants have been arriving and I’m very happy to see them. The male Red-Winged blackbirds usually arrive in late February. Their call is one of the first harbingers of spring. Soon the Juncos will be departing for their northern nesting grounds. Cowbirds and a variety of sparrows are moving through and soon warblers will follow.

These are all common birds in the Midwest. I’m looking forward to the big northward migration which usually brings a few more unusual birds through my yard.

Male House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus):

Common Redpoll (Acanthis flammea):

Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) warming its foot on a frosty morning:

Male Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater):

Male Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus):

Close-up of a Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata):

Close-up of a female Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis):

Male Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens):

Female American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis):

Male American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis.) This is his spring molt and you can see some of his new bright yellow breeding plumage:

Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula):

Cooper’s hawk (Accipiter cooperii) surveying my yard:

Readers’ wildlife photos

April 20, 2024 • 8:15 am

Today we have some noshing birds by reader Thomas Stringfellow. His captions are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them:

The photos were taken in July 2011 below the dam at Lake Barkley in Kentucky, and feature our old friend the Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax mycticorax) having lunch at the all-you-can-eat buffet. This is a remarkable place for many species of birds, and photographing them is made easier because they are largely habituated to humans.

The order obviously tells a story; I especially like the drink at the end to help wash down the fish.

Camera details: Nikon D3 camera shot in aperture priority mode, Nikkor 400 mm f/2.8 telephoto lens with a Nikon 1.4x teleconverter.