Category: Birds

Red Tail No Where

Wow, been awhile since I’ve made a post.  Sorry about that!  I’ve been a little busy as of late with some work deliverables and with an upcoming Half Marathon looming a lot of my time is spent pounding the road.  Ummm maybe I should correct that, the road has been pounding me as of late.  If you recall, I had a sore foot leading up to the Peoria Heights Half (link here).  That eventually cleared itself up (after the race) but again on another training run last week I messed up some bones on the top of my foot – can’t win!  Trying to run through it and made it past 9 miles tonight, so at worst case pretty sure I can tough it out if it doesn’t clear up by the next race – eventually all the other body parts start hurting worse and you forget about those injuries you had going into the race.  In celebration of getting through tonight’s run, figured I’d treat myself to a bird post – not just any bird post though, a NEW CHECK on the list bird post.

Anybody recognize this Raptor?  If you are like me when I was taking the shots you are probably saying .. Red-Tailed Hawk.  That would be an excellent guess since that is the most abundant Hawk in the area.  You can’t go 3 miles on our local highways without seeing one of those hanging out on a roadside tree or fencepost scanning the fields for some juicy mice.  In the last three years, the Red-Tailed Hawk population has stayed just slightly behind the exploding Turkey Vulture population.  However, if you recall, I have already checked that bird off my list on a previous post (link here).  About midway through taking these shots it started occurring to me that this particular Hawk was not really displaying the most apparent feature of the initial guess… that would be the RED TAIL part.  Now this shoot just got a whole lot more interesting.

Hit the jump to find out what this bird is!

Continue reading Red Tail No Where

Duck Duck Goose

My nervous tick is indicating it is about time to put out another bird post!  Unfortunately, the one I have teed up for today is one I’ve kind of been dreading.  Not that it a terrifying bird or anything (in fact it is quite visually appealing), but rather the offshoots of the Goose are difficult to ID with any certainty.  Once there’s crossbreeding with the Canada Goose and domestic geese you never know what you are going to get – from there, the mutations just get beyond levels of truly classifying.  This is possibly the case here, but based on some serious research, there might be a check here after all.

For reference, focus on the LARGER birds in the images – there was a smattering of Mallards hanging around that looked quite content in the midst of the larger flock.  These shots were actually taken by the side of the road on our way back from Wildcat Den State Park near Muscatine, Iowa.  Linda had always been wanting to take me there so took her up on it one weekend we were free (geesh, probably a year or two ago).  If you have never been there it is similar to Starved Rock in the features, but actually better – for one thing they have way less graffiti all over the place which always make me sick every time I journey up to Starved Rock.  That is one of the few uses of drones or cameras that I condone if that will curtail that crap.  So, on our way back, I noticed a nice collection of Geese and Ducks hanging out enjoying the nice weather.

Hit the jump to read a lot more about these birds and a few others I shot at the same time

Continue reading Duck Duck Goose

In the Muck and on the Porch

Running low on time tonight but thought I’d throw a post out there while watching the Cardinals battle it out with the Reds.  Worried it was going to be a short night, but the Cards covered the 4-0 lead they handed the Reds at the start of the game.. now just down one!!  Since birds tend to take an extra amount of time due to all the associated research figured it would be prudent to just go with your regular standard green …

Bullfrog.  Now when you see me taking pictures of bullfrogs you can quickly come to the conclusion there was nothing else even remotely interesting to photograph in the area.  First I look for birds, then larger animals followed by dragonflies and then.. well those muck loving amphibians.. oops, forgot spiders and slugs – definitely spiders then slugs THEN those mucky amphibians.   Not so much that I don’t like these particular creatures, but where they tend to hang out is usually loaded with those blood sucking mosquitoes.  I do HATE mosquitoes and with two hands on a camera I cannot properly defend myself from their onslaught.  UPDATE – Cards now up by 2!.  Pretty sure the above frog was taken at the Jubilee College State Park pond.  All in all pretty pleased on how that particular shot came out – the frog was pretty clean in contrast to the muck it was lounging in and those eyes came out nice and sharp…. the following shot took a darker feel.

Probably could have lightened it up a little bit more but was going for the more “lurker” approach.  The darker coloring gave the impression it was more concealed in the surroundings just waiting for the next victim to wade by.  This shot was actually taken up by Kewanee IL. in a park just north of the city.  We were taking pictures of a Great Blue Heron and two Swans most of the time we were there.  At one point looked down and saw those two eyes break through the water so took a few minutes to get it in the tin.  Some interesting tidbits about Kewanee for those that are not aware of it (as in live North of I-80 and East of I-39 and don’t believe there is anything worth visiting outside of Chicago).  Kewanee is considered the Hog Capital of the World due to being the top hog producing county in 1949. The name itself is the Ho-Chunk (note, a Native American tribe, not a group of fat prostitutes) word for Prairie Chicken.  It is also the home of Mary… everyone knows Mary so no need to go into detail there.

Hit the jump to see one of their relatives.

Continue reading In the Muck and on the Porch

Mackinaw Merganser

I must say, last month was a bit of a strain on my nerves. That many posts without featuring a bird is just about enough to give me a permanent twitch. The month of variety is officially in the books, so we’ll start afresh with a bird post. For those that were liking the variety, don’t fret. There are plenty of topics in the hopper and some of them just might keep you up at night! Truth be told, we have been out birding shoots for the past two weekends so the tins is plum full of new birds to feature. Problem is I’m still behind on last year’s shoots so it might be a bit before I get to these new ones – even with the upped production (not sure anyone noticed but there was like 9 posts last month). Just like in running, you can’t get to the finish line without taking a step and today we are heading back to the same place as the last post – Mackinaw Island (link here).

Well, actually unlike the last post from the mainland, these shots were taken on the island itself. We were busy biking the area and found these Common Mergansers hanging on the backside of the island.  Before I leave that last sentence I need to comment on the aspect of BIKING that island.  It probably should have been apparent, but once you get off the outer ring it is a beast of a ride.  Big kudos to Linda for toughing that out.  We headed up to the fort and to the airfield which took us some mighty steep hills.  If you choose to do this yourself, make sure you bring your own bike or minimally rent the multi-speed mountain bike.  NEVER and I mean NEVER opt for the two seater – I am very aware Linda cannot be trusted on one of those so TWO bikes was the order of the day.

One Merganser in particular caught my eye while on our last mile or so before completing the loop around the outer ring.  Based on lacking the white stripe on the neck and lighter chin the guess at the moment is a Juvi.

The reason this particular bird caught my eye is that it looked like it was in the middle of a morning workout.  Good to see the wildlife putting in the same amount of sweat we were dripping on the island that day – can’t remember the exact temperature but it was HOT.  By the time I made it off the bike and got the camera ready, the bench press and dumbbell routine was over.  Next up was the stretching portion.

This Merganser was ready for whatever the day had to offer!… well, almost there.  Nothing is better than topping off a tough workout with a little Yoga.  Not sure when it comes to Merganser Yoga, but this looks like the  Tree Pose…

… or maybe the duck Warrior Pose.  In either case – damn impressive and perfect fodder for the camera.  Eventually he dove into the cold water to rejuvenate the muscles and meet the day head on.  On retrospect, seems like a lot of work to simply float on the water all day but who am I to judge.  Having written this now I’m feeling like a slacker even though I did get a 12 mile run in yesterday and hiked another 6 miles today.  Maybe I’ll go hit the weights myself – can’t be outdone by a duck now can I?  Certainly not (although doubt that JUVI is running a half marathon next weekend heheheheh!)

Pin The Tail Revisited

Since there was a definite outcry of support for more birds after the last post, I’ve decided to appease the teaming millions and feature a bird for this post.  This particular set of pictures is actually a bit of a surprise.  If you recall, I introduced the Northern Pintail back in June of last year (link here).    In that post I mentioned there was a better set of pictures likely to come from the second day of shooting.

I managed to process this second set of images yet they didn’t find their way onto the blog.  Nothing like spending time on something only to find there were no fruits of the labor.  As you can tell, the missing images were found (while processing the Katydids from the last post).  I do like these shots better – the previous ones were mostly from behind and didn’t give a good view of the overall bird.  The right side view:

the left side view:

and the front!  That pretty much covers all the angles with the tail side covered in the previous post.

Hit the jump to read some more about the Pintails

Continue reading Pin The Tail Revisited

A Cute Mute Pt 2

It is dog show weekend and that can only mean one thing.. that’s right, plenty of time to type out a post which, by the way, completes my monthly quota.  February is always a tough month due to being ripped out of two full days.   But enough whining, I know you want to get onto the post.  Today we bring out the big guns.  The first set of the Mute Swan series (link here) brought you the pictures of Swan cygnets which are umber cute in my book.  Unfortunately, there was room for improvement on the execution of those shots for a number of reasons including distance and light topped off by I just failing to hit my marks.  Figured the cuteness factor would help compensate for the softness and the hard light in the later shots.  Truth is I put those in the first set because I had a much better offering and wanted to build on the excitement.  Going right for the jelly always dampens the experience of that tasty Mel-O-Cream Bismark doughnut.  Yum, but I digress.  Leading with my favorite and soon to be uploaded Gallery shot on the newly redesigned EddieSoft Photography site (link here):

The reduced size takes a little away from the eye.  Normally shots from the back do not work that well, but the fact he (also referred to as a Cob) was looking back at me with that smirky don’t even try to sneak up on me look provided a nice composition.  As with all the Mute Swan shots in this series, these were taken at Banner Marsh in Banner IL.  Thanks to our friends over at Wikipedia learned that this pose is known as busking and as suspected in this particular setting a display of threat.  No fear dude, just hanging out here on the banks of the marsh snapping a few shots… now my wife over there .. yeah, the one over there with that long stick trying to smack the Canada Goose she sees.. well she is dangerous – just ask the Geese that crossed her path on the golf course – the horror, the horror (just kidding, Linda was behaving herself .. or was she?)

Hit the jump to read the rest the Mute Swan series post

Continue reading A Cute Mute Pt 2

A Cute Mute Pt 1

I tried really hard, but I just can’t go that long without a bird post.  At least I gave you a little bit of a break, but as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, we are once again featuring a feathered friend  .. wait, let me put a little more emphasis on that .. featuring a NEW bird to the blog.

To be honest, I kind of held back on this one during Project Checkov.  I had plenty of ‘S’s for that particular post, but I did wimp out and use the Mallard for the ‘M’ entry when in fact I had this water bird available.  Wait a minute, I might not have mentioned the whole basis for Project Chekov.  I think I at least hinted that there was a theme in a previous post but maybe didn’t state it for those that didn’t figure it out.  Each entry of that post started with a different letter in alphabetical order.  That element made the effort extremely difficult requiring a number of days to lay out that series with the photographs that were in the backlog.  If you didn’t catch that you may have underestimated just how hard that project was.  Oh and of course the name was a play on the fact I was trying to complete a bunch of CHECK OFFs on my bird list.  There isn’t a real check mark until a picture is taken and it shows up on this blog.  There was one and only one reason I didn’t go with this bird over the Mallard and that is due to the end of this title – there were too many shots I wanted to feature and why this post is really spread out over two parts.  Rather than get ahead of myself, let’s focus on the aspects of this set of Mute Swans!

All of these pictures were taken down at Banner Marsh in Banner Illinois over different visits to the marsh.  Every time we head down there, we are greeted by at least one Mute Swan hanging out among the weeds or enjoying a slow paddle on the water.  I never really thought much of it while taking the shots, but this particular Swan has a pretty narrow distribution in North America predominantly around the Great Lakes region.  They are  primarily a European and Asian Swan but introduced into North America in the late 19th century.  Some consider the Mute Swan an invasive bird due to their disruption to the natural waterfowl population.

Hit the jump to see a few more shots of these rather large birds.

Continue reading A Cute Mute Pt 1

Project Chekov: Zenaida Macroura

With a slight tear in my eye I must declare we’ve made it to the end of Project Chekov.  It’s been an incredible ride but time to make the final post and declare victory.  It isn’t often that I’m able to close out a new resolution so early in the year, but as mentioned at the beginning of this project there was a sense of urgency.  This little project literally allowed me to jump about a year ahead in the posting queue which I would never had been able to do at the standard pace.  Admittedly there were a few jumps even further than that due to some unforeseen circumstances but worth it to keep my commitment to the project (I generally hate failing at something unless I’ve given it all I had).  There will probably be a summary post to put a bow on the project, so for now let’s get to the star of the post.

For those in the States, this should be a pretty common bird – the Zenaida Macroura.  You would think that such a common bird would have a more common name .. well it does.  Their non-scientific name is Mourning Dove and to my utter surprise, they are also called Turtle Doves!  That brings a completely new understanding of the 12 Days of Christmas song… okay, maybe not but now at least know what they are referring to.  By the way, from a composition and execution perspective, the shot above is one of my favorites.  Similar to the one below, but the foreground branch is a little more invasive there.  If you are curious, this one was “rainbathing” – Wikipedia claims they can keep this outstretched wing position for up to twenty minutes.

According to our friends over at Wikipedia, these birds are monogamous and form strong pair bonds.  In alignment with that, these birds are usually seen around the feeder in pairs and are often found sitting in a tree next to what I assume is their mate.  They are prolific breeders having up to 6 broods a year with an average of 2 eggs per brood.

Hit the jump to read more interesting facts and view a few more shots of the Mourning Dove!

Continue reading Project Chekov: Zenaida Macroura

Project Chekov: Yellow-Rumped Warbler and Yellow Finch

If you would been around LifeIntrigued headquarters today you would have seen one very panicked owner tearing his hair out.  Things were going so well and we could see the end in sight for Project Chekov.  Just a couple more posts and the featured birds were already worked up in the digital dark room and ready to go.   Just a little bit more work and pop that bottle of Moscato…. and then the wheels fell off.  I went to research some details on the Yellow Finch which was the targeted featured bird of the day.  A few clicks later and a dash for the reference books informed me that there really IS NOT a Yellow Finch.  They are really named American Goldfinches.  Since I’ve been a little kid I’ve always referred to them as Yellow Finches – WTF.  Hell, they certainly are not Golden – they are YELLOW.  Panic, sweating, shaking .. was this all for not!?!

Then it hit me, there may be a way out, but it was going to take some digging to find TWO shots out of the entire collection of Yellowstone National Park shots taken last May.  There was a chance encounter with a bird – a fleeting moment I was able to capture in the tin.  An hour or so later I was staring at this:

Every photographer has a few shots that he or she will look back on with a huge grin on their face.  This is one of those for me.  We were with our friends (Dr. Giselle and David) on a trail coming back from photographing a waterfall.  All of a sudden an intriguing bird flew in our direction and landed on a nearby branch.  Instincts took over, the Beast was pressed into action, settings manipulated in a flash of an eye and the shutter was pressed.  I had time to press the shutter one more time and that bird was gone baby gone.  If you haven’t worked with big glass before you probably do not understand what a miracle it was to get a single crisp shot under those conditions much less two.  Based on the coloring, I was pretty sure what it was at the time but made a mental note to get back and verify it as soon as possible – that mental Post-It-Note must have flown off on the way back to the car because I forgot about it until today.  The yellow word was a double reminder for “Yellowstone” and the “Yellow” bird that we found there.

A little bit of digging in the reference book brought a huge sigh of relief from me – sure enough it was Yellow-Rumped Warbler.  Now that was close – a 5 second encounter on a trail out in the Wilderness had saved nearly a month long project.  For the curious, this appears to be the Audubon variety based on the strong yellow marking on the neck and missing the white eyebrow.  It was located in their Summer/Migration spot so guessing it had just arrived being that it was May when we were there and still pretty cold in the area.  All I can say to that bird is thank you thank you thank you for a brief but project saving encounter.  Oh, and of course another check mark in the birding list (technically there was a poor shot while covering a previous Yellowstone shot but we’ll consider these better shots as the official sighting).

Hit the jump to read about the originally planned featured bird

Continue reading Project Chekov: Yellow-Rumped Warbler and Yellow Finch

Project Chekov: Xanthocephalus

This guy totally lucked out on Project Chekov.  When planning this project I was a little worried about two postings – specifically the 21st and the 24 (which happens to be this one).  There was nothing in the tin for a Sabine’s Gull or a Terek Sandpiper.  By the looks of their regions it doesn’t look like we’ll be getting either of those anytime soon.  But there was one option still left … one long shot that might just save me, but that would require me to go digging through the pictures taken during a side trip out to Yellowstone last May.  Ladies and gentlemen, we have success!

On our way out West, Linda found a birding preserve not too far off the path.  I’ll go into where that was when I finally get around to posting about that trip, but there was a number of memorable finds there that stuck out.  This particular bird was one of those – without further delay, please welcome Xanthocephalus Xanthocephalus to the blog.  One second while I add a new check mark to the birding list….

Cornell’s website states they are Migratory across Illinois, but I have never seen one here (for that matter anywhere until then) so not buying that – for the record, Wikipedia does not indicate it hangs out in Illinois either.  I would not forget a bird sporting this distinct of a color palette.  To save some typing let’s just call it by its non-scientific name, the Yellow-Headed Blackbird (Mr. Obvious bird namer strikes again).  It was pretty easy to tell from the behavior that this was a close relative of the Red-Winged Blackbird based on it’s aggressive behavior and nonstop squawking.  It just replaced the red wing highlights with a bright yellow hood – well, at least the males.  The females and juvis all sport the boring brown.

I went ahead and added this next picture to the set even though it was slightly soft.  It showed the white markings which is generally only visible when it is flying – it was windy that day and was doing its best to stay balanced on the cattail.

Big thanks to Linda for finding that location.  We were the ONLY ones there and had the entire acreage to ourselves – well, ourselves and a ton of birds both on land and water.  I could have spent the entire day there but eventually we had to get back on the road again – that and the mosquito repellant was running low.  Look for more shots to come from that shoot, but for now we’ll call this another successful entry in Project Chekov.