WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2025   |   SUBSCRIBE    ARCHIVES   

BACKYARD BIRDING
Northern finches make up a significant number of species that visit feeders during fall and winter, including Purple Finches, Pine Siskins, Redpolls, Red Crossbills, and other impressive finches along with unrelated Red-breasted Nuthatches, Blue Jays, and Bohemian Waxwings. For many of us, it’s a special thrill if such exciting birds as Evening Grosbeaks or White-winged Crossbills find our feeding station, and many birders will travel to have a chance to see Pine Grosbeaks or Bohemian Waxwings when the opportunity arises. Every year is different, dictated by seed and berry production by trees in the boreal forest.
BIRDING NEWS 1
Birders from around the world collectively participated in this fall’s October Big Day, which was held Saturday October 11th. This year birders joined in this global celebration of birds and birding to report a total of 7,876 different species of birds! While American birders topped the numbers of birders participating, Colombian birders topped the number of species sighted during this single day of birding that was shared by birders in 200 nations! eBird is the global platform where everyone’s contributions were compiled into a number of interesting October Big Day lists.
BIRDING NEWS 2
Climaxing the 2025 Birding Festival season are 7 super birding events that include 2 of the absolute best annual birding celebrations for people of all ages – the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival in south Texas and the Celebration of Cranes at Bosque del Apache Refuge in New Mexico. Cranes are also emphasized during the Great Midwest Crane Festival in Wisconsin and the Celebration of Cranes in Kansas. The Central Valley Birding Symposium takes place in California, as does the California Swan Festival – and there is the popular North Shore Birding Festival in Florida to cap off the year.
BIRDING NEWS 3
Saturday November 1st is the first day to identify and count birds during the 39th season of Project FeederWatch. Many birders have already signed up, but if you haven't registered yet you can join this season’s activities today. You can count from any location you choose, for short periods or as long as you prefer, it’s all up to you, but your participation is always greatly appreciated. This week, Project FeederWatch also announced that the species Trend Graphs and lists of the Top 25 Species reported by state, province, and region have been updated.

EDITOR AFIELD
After a couple windy days, Sunday morning was pretty calm and while my birding drive 15 miles east was mostly uneventful, as I turned back a V-shaped flock was winging across “hawk valley.” A binocular view revealed the flock was made up of about 25 Sandhill Cranes, as were the next 11 flocks that followed in a long line of migrating flocks, all voicing their classic calls. I estimated a total of 170 Sandhills, and 3 miles to the east I intercepted 2 more flocks of cranes that added 90 more to my total (260). After turning south I checked on another flock that turned out to be 35 White-fronted Geese – what great migration sightings!
GEAR
Featuring ED glass and multilayer lens and prism coatings, look for the newest Nikon Monarch M7 8x42 Binoculars to produce outstanding bright views of birds that include true to life colors and excellent resolution. The standard 8x42 model provides the widest view in the Monarch series, an exceptionally wide 435 feet at 1,000 yards, which positions this model among the best wide-angle binoculars. These versatile 8x42 Nikon Binoculars provide a close focus range of 8 feet for highly detailed views of birds in the field and in your yard.
PRODUCTS 1
The International Hummingbird Society’s official 2026 Wall Calendars are on sale now, featuring stunning color photographs of 12 incredible hummingbird species taken by some of today's best hummingbird photographers. Enjoy frame-worthy hummingbird photos every month on your large wall calendar that measures 11½ by 18 inches when you open it. Printed on premium heavyweight paper that adds quality to the colorful photographs, you will enjoy this year’s calendar when you display your calendar on a wall or your desk.
PRODUCTS 2
It’s not too soon to be ready for freezing temperatures with the Scalloped Heated Bird Bath & Pedestal, which is On Sale now with Free Shipping until Halloween at BestNest. Providing winter water is standard for any feeding station because even birds that don’t eat seeds or suet will utilize fresh water and visit time and time again. This classic pedestal bird bath also doubles as a warm-weather water source during spring, summer, and fall. You can attract more birds throughout the year and benefit newly arriving migrants with the Scalloped Heated Bird Bath & Pedestal from BestNest.
RARE BIRDS
It was an active week with a volume of records established including a First State Record Yellow-green Vireo in Washington AND Oregon! A First State Record Violet-green Swallow was also documented by birders in Louisiana, as were a Second State Record Small-billed Elainia in Florida and a Second State Record Roseate Spoonbill in Massachusetts. That’s not to downplay the rare find in the northern-most town of Utqiagvik, Alaska where an astute birder reported the Ninth North American Record Song Thrush – and there’s more.
 

As far as birds and birding go, I truly live where east meets west – essentially in the center of the continent – and last Thursday the birds emphasized the east-west point. During a dreary, gloomy, overcast, even foggy afternoon, I was thrilled to see a late season Ferruginous Hawk at the eastern edge of the species’ range and the southern edge of my birding drive (17miles south of my office). Then, in the midst of fog rising off Carlson Lake at the northern edge of Thursday’s birding drive (7 miles north of my office), I noticed a waterbird that prompted me to take a magnified look at a Common Loon at the western edge of its species’ range!

Thrilled to find of a pair of Common Loons near home, it was even possible to take this action photo from dry land rather than a boat. The photos were taken during a very foggy period Thursday afternoon, and while cropping this image I realized it was essentially a black-and-white photo, a throwback to another time due to the lack of sunlight (600mm zoom lens, f-7 aperture, 1/640 shutter speed, 1600 ISO).

It didn’t stop there though, because after taking a couple documentary photos of the loon in full winter plumage I looked back over my shoulder to see a second Common Loon – this one a little bigger and only above the surface for a moment before diving underwater. Were there more loons among the scattered American Coots near the east shore of the lake? Continued observations indicated this was a male on the hunt, while the female was resting during the first 12 minutes, but they came together amid low contact calls, and thereafter the female began diving for food too. This was an eventful sighting, because not only is any loon sighting rare in these parts – limited to 1 or no sightings during recent years, but it is the first time I’ve seen a pair of Common Loons in an area lake!

Consider this a documentary photo of the first pair of Common Loons I have seen or know of in the open wetland-prairie-cropland complex where I live in the open plains. That said, it could be argued that the foggy conditions added a moody quality to the image (600mm zoom lens, f-8 aperture, 1/1600 shutter speed, 1600 ISO).

Back to the weather: As noted, it was a cloudy low-light afternoon, but just before I saw the first loon fog was forming on the surface of the lake. With extra-high humidity, it was on the verge of sprinkling when I stopped and a few tiny sprinkles hit my windshield as I continued to take a few photos. The loons were positioned relatively near the east side of the lake, fairly close to the road that follows the contour of the lake there, and after the pair approached one another, the female began swimming ever-closer to my position – my loon luck was kicking in again. Positioned in my mobile blind, newly rescued from an extended stay at the auto repair shop, both loons eventually moved closer, providing better photos in the process.

The foggy conditions were far from adequate for photography beyond documentary images though, and even when I increased my usual ISO setting from 800 to 1600 and reduced my aperture from f-8 to f-6, the photos I was taking had no color at all. They were a medium-gray at best, resembling black-and-white photos that had zero contrast as the water reflected the foggy gray sky, and the winter plumage of the loons showed no black coloration. The only white was on the underside of the loons, from the neck to the belly, and the only time I saw a belly was when the female faced directly toward me as she rose up to produce classic wing flapping motions that gave me a real thrill as I followed the wingbeats in fractions of a second through my camera lens.

To emphasize the importance of photographing in good sunlight conditions with the sun at your back and the bird before you, this loon photo shows the bright colors, contrast, and sharpness that blue-sky sunlight provides. This photograph was taken last year on October 3rd under ideal sunlight conditions in the wooded lakes country of Minnesota (600mm zoom lens, f-11 aperture, 1/1600 shutter speed, 800 ISO).

As you know, I emphasize that I almost never bother to go birding if I don’t have adequate sunlight, but Thursday I felt the need to survey of the birds in the area at the mid-point of October. With overcast sky to begin with, the addition of ever-thicker fog made photo conditions almost impossible, but sometimes we all need a little ‘almost impossible’ in our lives, if only to make us appreciate the photo ops when good sunlight conditions prevail. Overall, the fog also made the photos a less than sharp, but that takes nothing away from the exciting experience of spending time with a pair of loons so close to home. The rarity of this loon sighting, and the chance to photograph them created a magic half-hour in the presence of the pair of Dakota Common Loons.

Hawk Site Sightings

As noted above, the loons were the second surprise of the day. The adult male Ferruginous Hawk appeared as far east as I’ve seen a Ferrug in many years, although I have seen this species before in the very spot where the hawk was perched. In fact, I saw a pair of Ferruginous Hawks in this same grove of 10 cottonwood trees back in early spring, 6 months before on the morning of April 8th. Impressively, the female was settled into the historic nest positioned in a central cottonwood as the male perched attentively nearby.

The surprise of finding a male Ferruginous Hawk perched on the edge of a small grove of cottonwood trees near a nest visited by a pair of Ferruginous Hawks 6 months earlier was the initial highlight of the day. The subdued lighting created by overcast conditions underlines the importance of the quality and direction of lighting on any photograph (600mm zoom lens, f-7 aperture, 1/1600 shutter speed, 1600 ISO).

Moments later, the male flew a short distance to land on a low hill to the east as though it was after ground-based prey. That led me to reposition a bit to take full advantage of the morning sunlight. In a couple minutes I was rewarded with an opportunity to photograph the male as it made a dramatic banking flight into the brisk west wind. I needed to quickly step outside my car to take what became my favorite series of flight photos of the year of the regal hawk in flight with a deep blue sky background (see the last photograph illustrating this article).

Now, here was a male Ferruginous Hawk perched in almost the same location as I saw the male 6 months earlier – hmm. After that eventful April morning, I never saw the Ferruginous pair at the nest site again; but now, here was a male. It didn’t appear to be the same male, as this Ferruginous Hawk had tan markings on some breast feathers, while the April Ferrug had solid white breast plumage. Nonetheless, it would seem there was some sort of a Ferruginous Hawk attraction to this little cottonwood grove with the empty nest that was originally used by a pair of nesting Swainson’s Hawks a couple years ago.

More immediately, I had a chance to photograph this western hawk, and although there was a cloud-covered sky, the light level was much better than I experienced at the loon location because the cloud ceiling was higher and there was no water in the area, so no fog. The hawk wasn’t edgy, and I was even able to move my car a few feet to reposition so there was a minimum of branches in the background after taking a couple initial photographs. Nonetheless, I was pretty close to the big hawk and after a couple minutes it took flight into the windless afternoon sky. I had to step out of the car to follow the flight of the Ferrug, and although it flew a quarter-mile north, it turned and made a return flight toward the cottonwood grove.

I quickly focused on the hawk’s flight and took a series of photographs as it approached a tree branch on the far side of the grove, and that’s where I left the adult male. The resulting photographs of the hawk were much sharper than the loon photos, fueled by better lighting conditions, and the cloud cover produced a pretty uniform white background in the hawk images.

Taken 6 months earlier within a few feet of the above photo, this photograph illustrates what a big difference good lighting makes. Showing vivid colors and sharp details, this photograph was taken with morning sunlight illuminating the Ferruginous Hawk perfectly as it banked into a stiff west wind (600mm zoom lens, f-9 aperture, 1/2500 shutter speed, 800 ISO).

As an exemplary point for this article, I decided to provide a photo of a loon in winter plumage that I took last October during excellent sunlight conditions to show how important good lighting is to getting the best photo results. You could argue that the gray-toned loon photos that I took last Thursday show character and mood, but it’s easy to see the difference good lighting makes. Similarly, I include my favorite photograph of the male Ferruginous Hawk from the flight series that I took the morning of April 8th, adjacent to the same nest site to show the color and lighting differences.

These photos should be useful examples of the importance of sunlight in bird photography, but don’t get me wrong, I am thrilled to have observed the exciting east-west representatives and to share the best of the documentary photos of the loons and hawk I was able to take. Of course, I checked back on both the observation sites with the hope of re-finding the pair of Common Loons or the Ferruginous Hawk, but like so many other birds in the area, they are on the move now. The Common Loons and Ferruginous Hawk provided some sightings of local historic significance – the first pair of Common Loons that anyone knows of in the community, and the “coincidental” location of the late season Ferruginous Hawk sighting. Good Luck during your autumn birding activities, especially when you have your camera in hand, or within reach!

Article and Photographs by Paul Konrad

Share your bird photos and birding experiences at editorstbw2@gmail.com

 
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