An action photo of an adult American Avocet is a preview to the Bird Photography feature in this issue, entitled “Ready for Action.”
The raptor of the week was a trusting Swainson’s Hawk that showed light-rufous color in its breast plumage with similarly colored markings on its belly feathers. Swainson’s Hawks as a group provided many observations locally, and soon fledglings will fledge to bolster the population.
Red-headed Woodpeckers are such impressive birds, and new fledglings should soon begin to leave area cavity nests excavated by adults.
A surprise encounter with an inquisitive Marsh Wren was memorable, but only provided a couple documentary photos as it quickly zipped through dense cattail vegetation.
Even before their first feathers replace their down, the four-some of Canvasback ducklings shows their large size and long down-sloped bill.
Identified primarily by its long broad bill, an almost fully feathered Northern Shoveler duckling, 1 of a brood of 5, already resembles an adult female.
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As I was finishing last week’s issue, it rained 4 inches in 2 hours, which changed the complexion of the landscape, and flooded out most of the shorebird habitat in the region. An hour later there were White Pelicans searching for fish where days before about 60 Long-billed Dowitchers foraged in the shallows of Bobby’s Bay. Similarly, the next day ducks were already overwhelming a former shorebird pond 3 miles south where only a long-legged American Avocet persisted in the deeper runoff water. The following day, the variety of ducks were joined by 9 White-faced Ibis and about 20 Franklin’s Gulls – quite a change.
The higher water levels also covered favorite loafing islands and sandy peninsulas with water; locations where pelicans, ducks, gulls, and Black Terns formerly gathered. The Coteau region where I live has no streams, creeks, or rivers, so rain and snow runoff is contained in basins formed between the rolling hills, creating a multitude of wetlands ranging from small ephemeral marshes that last a few days or a few weeks, to seasonal and near-permanent marshes, and deep lakes. The very saturated soil was bombarded with another inch of rain Friday morning, and a bit more that night. It’s the greenest August anyone can remember … and the wettest summer it seems.
In between rain showers, the sun broke through Friday noon, and the first avian surprise of the day was a beautiful female Canvasback with her brood of 4 downy young, chunky 10 day old ducklings in a deep lake 4 miles north. It was my first sighting of a Canvasback brood this summer, which brought the total nesting species of ducks in the area to 10. Seven miles to the west I added the 11th duck brood species when I observed a pair of 2 week old Hooded Merganser sans a female, although I did see an adult female at the same location recently. I also checked for the pair of Burrowing Owls, but saw none at the burrow site or in the surrounding area. During my drive, it was interesting to note that to the west there were 3 Swainson’s Hawks, and to the north there were 3 Red-tailed Hawks, including 1 recently fledged Red-tail that provided a couple photo options.
Wednesday afternoon I casually headed for Bismarck with the hope of finding a “rarer” raptor along the way. I drove the Missouri River Route that led me an hour west to the river, then an hour north to the capitol city, thinking it might be my best bet for finding a Golden Eagle, Prairie Falcon, or even a Ferruginous Hawk or Merlin. This promising route turned out to be a dud during the first hour, so much so that I scrapped my plan to keep a raptor count. But after that Red-tails and Swainson’s Hawks became regular sightings, including several pairs perched near one another, and a few recent Red-tail fledglings. Even though I didn’t find any “unusual” birds, a standout was a trusting Swainson’s Hawk that showed distinctive orange-rufous breast plumage with orange-speckled belly plumage, and it provided some nice portrait photos.
Midway up River Road (Highway 1804), I took a favorite turn down a one-lane gravel road that led me to the higher ground of a broad Badlands ridge where American Kestrels have treated me to photo fun during a couple previous visits. Two American Crows were the first birds to catch my attention, followed by a male Orchard Oriole as the songs of Dickcissels filled the fresh air. When I was about to leave a Turkey Vulture caught my eye as it rode the ridge’s updraft – and 5 more vultures followed, providing some interesting views and a couple long-range photos. A few hundred yards after I began driving back toward the highway, a large dark bird was perched on a pole – could it be a Golden Eagle? Nope, a Turkey Vulture, which was a surprise too – rarely do I see one perched in Dakota. I walked closer to the bird to take some portrait photos as it preened with Dickcissels continuing to sing across the wide prairie. That’s when I really appreciated what a beautiful vantage point this was to look across the rugged prairie breaks that lead to the broad river valley – still so green during August!
At a crossroads I had to make a decision of whether to go to Long Lake Refuge first, or visit McKenzie Slough first followed by the national wildlife refuge. The calm waters of the expanse of Long Lake provided an exceptional setting of beautiful still blue water, but there were no birds to photograph in this watery scene. A good view of an adult Bald Eagle that flew from a leafy cottonwood tree I passed by was nice, but in hindsight, McKenzie Slough would have been the better first choice.
With sunlight beginning to dim, I enjoyed photographing periodic White-faced Ibis flights at McKenzie. There was no other vehicle on the road that bisects the expansive marsh, so I enjoyed standing in the open road to photograph ibis in groups of 2 to 5, and a Black-crowned Night Heron flew by too with the sound of young Eared Grebes leading the chorus of background marsh sounds. Suddenly I noticed movements among the tall cattails a few feet in front of me – and that’s when a little Marsh Wren presented itself and I had to make a quick adjustment to my zoom lens to try to focus on the active acrobat that worked its way in and out and between the cattail stalks and leaves. Twice I lost sight of the wren, but appreciated when it re-appeared – or was it more than 1 wren? Either way, it was fun to try to isolate the wren in the focus of my lens, then reposition when a pair of ibis passed close in flight, then check back to focus on the wren’s whereabouts.
There were also Western Grebes, an abundance of Eared Grebes feeding vocal hatchlings, many ducks ranging from Northern Shovelers and Mallards to Ruddy Ducks, large groups of Franklin’s Gulls, a few White Pelicans, and a scattering of Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons. There were Giant Canada Geese and American Coots too, along with Ring-billed Gulls, Black Terns, and Common Terns. Periodically during the afternoon’s drive I encountered a few large flocks of Franklin’s Gulls on the wing, numbering more than 100 that were very actively pursuing flying insects 20 to 40 feet above ground.
Closer to home, the biggest surprise Thursday morning was the sighting of a Cooper’s Hawk, and a Red-headed Woodpecker was a gem to photograph near the eastern edge of the Coteau. Other standouts included a recent fledgling Red-tailed Hawk, 3 Orchard Orioles in a group (recent fledglings or females), and a half-grown Ring-necked Pheasant brood of just 2 with the adult female. Sunday provided some nice views of a brood of 5 large Northern Shovelers that were large and fully feathered with the exception of their primary and secondary wing feathers. With adult ducks molting their flight feathers all at once while in eclipse plumage you might think these shovelers were molting adults, but they were oversized ducklings for sure. There were similarly older Blue-winged Teal and Mallard “ducklings,” along with 2 downy broods of Mallards that were less than a week old, and a 10 day old brood of 8 Lesser Scaup ducklings.
Monday was mostly a raptor day, with 3 recent Red-tailed Hawk fledglings to the south, along with an adult Red-tail and a Bald Eagle. The eagle has been in the area on and off during the past month, but this time its behavior surprised me in a big way (I’ll share more about that eagle next week). I also checked back on the Canvasback brood, and I’ve almost given up on the chance of seeing the Burrowing Owls again. Even so, the owls may simply be laying low, literally, in a burrow, so I can’t rule out the chance of seeing young Burrowing Owls emerge from under ground any day now.
Hummingbird Thrills – Thursday marked a bit of a turning point as the 2 hummingbirds from the previous week, a molting male Ruby-throated Hummingbird and a near-molting female, were joined by 2 more hummers; a male in its prime and a young female that was replaced by another young female the following day. It’s amazing to see how relatively easy it is to determine individual characteristics in each bird that identifies them from others – but it requires the use of binoculars. The 8x magnification makes all the difference and it emphasizes the worth of checking all birds that visit feeders with binoculars to see details of plumage, individual feathers, feet, bill, eyes, and other features.
WoW, it’s mid-August already? The weeks really “fly by,” don’t they. I’m hoping more new birds “fly by” and even “stop by” during the coming week, and I’ll share the highlights with you next Wednesday. Good Luck with your binoculars, camera, lens, spotting scope, and any other optics you may be using during birding activities near and far!
Article and Photos by Paul Konrad
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