Wednesday, August 21, 2019

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Although it doesn’t look much like a fledgling, the big female Bald Eagle fledgling provided a nice portrait opportunity this week.
A rare opportunity to photograph a combined brood of Redheads with dual hens resulted in this image.
Paul’s latest photo of his favorite Red-headed Woodpecker fledgling – this one showing the coloration of the bird’s back.

The most exciting observation last week was the first Canvasback brood of the season - three ducklings about a week-old with the distinctive hen five miles north of home. This is the first Canvasback brood I’ve seen in the area in some years, and it adds to the list of nesting ducks in the surrounding area this season. The Canvasback brood, a Wood Duck brood, and Ring-necked Duck broods represent three species I did not see during the previous two summers; however, this summer I have not seen broods of two species that I observed last year – American Wigeons and Hooded Mergansers.

Add to those five species the usual Mallard, Northern Pintail, Gadwall, Blue-winged Teal, Green-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Lesser Scaup, Redhead, and Ruddy Duck broods, and that adds up to 14 nesting species in this duck-rich region. New Redhead and Ruddy Duck broods continue to appear on area wetlands, even though it seems that it’s getting pretty late in the nesting season. The highlight among these was a “double brood” that included two hen Redheads with their combined brood of 10 ducklings. I have the impression that this was a short term combo-brood, especially since I observed a single Redhead brood at the same location a couple times later in the week.

Wednesday, I was initially disappointed not to see any Bald Eagles at the nest or the surrounding area, but 100 yards to the south I was surprised to find the big female fledgling Bald Eagle standing in the middle of a large rainwater pond. She appeared to see me at about the same time, and after taking a look downward, she took a low flight another 100 yard south to a large hay bale near the road where I was able to photograph the impressive eagle from a couple vantage points. It eventually flew with strong wingbeats a quarter mile north to perch in a tree near the nest.

Sunday, for the first time in a few weeks, an adult Bald Eagle was perched in the shade adjacent to the nest as one fledgling fed on unknown prey on the nest. It looks like it’s going to be a long post-fledging period for the eagles; the Ferruginous Hawks appear to be pretty well dispersed now; but new Swainson’s Hawk fledglings continue to appear, with two new fledglings active about seven miles north of here, near the farmstead of my friends Ken and Wendell.

Woodpecker Mystery

About 10 days ago, I wrote a couple paragraphs about what was a bit of a mystery at my primary Red-headed Woodpecker nest site:

I’m going to share a potential woodpecker mystery with you, although at this point my initial speculations are based on a few unusual observations over the past couple weeks – I will obviously be interested to see what might transpire in the next couple weeks. At the primary photo nest site, I think one Red-headed Woodpecker may be incubating a second clutch of eggs, while one has been attending, feeding, and ‘teaching’ the lone fledgling from the first nesting attempt. This division of nesting and post-fledging activities by the adult pair is pretty typical of birds that try to double-brood during a single nesting season.

These impressions are based on observing what appeared to be a copulation between the adult pair adjacent to the original nesting cavity soon after the fledgling left the nest. Second, I have very rarely seen two adults in the area at once since the fledgling left the nest. Third, I have seen an adult take food to the nesting cavity more than once, which given the rest of the observations, suggests to me that it was feeding an incubating mate. In the meantime, most of the foraging adult’s attention appears to be centered around the fledgling – feeding it, teaching it by example, protecting it, and interacting with it – including chasing it, perhaps to emphasize how to elude other birds including potential predators.

Having written that 10 days ago, last Monday, for the first time in weeks both adults were actively catching flying insects, and periodically one or both flew to the nesting cavity, apparently to feed new nestlings. During observations throughout the week, I have not seen the fledgling interact with an adult, even though an adult sometimes perched within 150 feet of the fledgling while both were hunting. My impression is that the fledgling is now independent, but it continues to share the adult pairs’ territory while they are raising a second brood.

Other Observations

* Several species are flocking in substantial numbers, including thousands of Tree Swallows, hundreds of Franklin’s Gulls, tens of Clay-colored Sparrows, hundreds of blackbirds (mostly Yellow-headed Blackbirds), a loose flock of 100-plus molting Ruddy Ducks (mostly drakes), and a couple flocks of tens of probably molting White Pelicans.

* Last Monday, after weeks of no hummers, I had a female or immature Ruby-throated Hummingbird visit my feeder, and later a male hummer came to the nectar feeder.

* Thursday morning, a second female Yellow Warbler perched in the lower tree branches adjacent to my feeding station.

* A Merlin flyby sighting Thursday afternoon was what I hope to be the first of many falcon sightings during the post-nesting and fall migration season.

* It’s very rare to have Horned Grebes nest in this region, but Friday I observed a young Horned Grebe hatchling with a molted adult.

* I noticed a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird at my feeder a few times Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. It was not acting territorially; it’s actually pretty timid, especially when other birds are at the feeding station.

* After the orioles and robins vacated last week, I bravely added suet back to my feeding station hoping it would attract more birds, especially woodpeckers and nuthatches along with some avian surprises, while I also hoped starlings, grackles, and House Sparrows would not be attracted (that’s a pretty big hope). So far, not one taker; maybe next week.

* I also added a thistle sock feeder to test the interest of goldfinches, but no new takers at that feeder either. However, the thistle has been favored by several female and fledgling House Finches that still snack at the grape jelly feeder. Sunday a brightly colored male House Finch also stopped at the feeding station, although it did not eat or drink.

* Monday afternoon I was happy to hear the first Blue Jay calling as I walked out my door, the first I’ve heard since late May or early June.

* And sticking with the blue theme for Monday, I observed four Eastern Bluebirds fly in and perch near my woodpecker photo site. They quickly began catching flying insects by hovering just above the grasses with great success. At times there were two and three bluebirds hover-hunting as a group, which was especially interesting to see.

That rounds out another great week of birding in review; this week should be even better! Enjoy the birds around you!

Article and photos by Paul Konrad

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