An infrequent opportunity to photograph a Merlin during a migration stop created a personal ‘need’ to hike closer, resulting in too many mosquito bites – a seasonal drawback to hiking in some areas.
Among 5 species of warblers that visited Thursday, a Canada Warbler was the First Fall Yard Bird of this species.
The first opportunity to photograph a woodpecker this summer inspired the topic for this issue’s Bird Photography feature. While the adult Red-headed Woodpecker provided some photo opportunities Sunday afternoon, a fledgling landed on the same weathered post and obligingly provided the chance to take the following 2 photographs.
The latest among the many fledgling birds encountered during the past month, young Red-headed Woodpeckers are always favorites.
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I’ve been waiting for migrating songbirds, and Thursday, there they were: A literal fallout in my sumac grove outside my bay windows. As I stood in the window bay, 2 birds I’ve never seen during fall migration appeared one after the other. First a Canada Warbler, then a Blackburnian Warbler, 2 of the most attractive warblers in America! The Blackburnian was perched on a couple branches within 3 feet at eye level, and represented my First Yard Bird of the species! The Canada Warbler was almost as close, and was only my Second Yard Record, but the First Fall Yard Bird of the species!
Among other birds that landed, I could see a Blackpoll Warbler, Yellow Warber, and Black-and-White Warbler, but others didn’t show themselves on my side of the thick vegetation for an ID. In an adjacent elm tree, a young Rose-breasted Grosbeak foraged for insects, joined by a young Baltimore Oriole – what a thrill to see this exciting collection of migrating songbirds making a stop in my yard!
Friday songbirds included 3 Yellow Warblers and a loose flock of a half-dozen or so American Robins. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were especially active too, but no males have been present. As I returned from a late afternoon birding drive, an interesting observation transpired while I parked in front of my house. Just as I put the car in park, I received a call from my friend Melissa in San Diego, so decided to sit in my car while we visited. In the process I noticed a hummingbird feeding at one of the 3 large petunia planters hanging along the roadway – 1 planter with red-violet flowers, 1 with yellow flowers, and 1 with lilac-colored flowers – but the hummingbird only fed at the yellow flowers. Hummingbirds are known to prefer red flowers, so this was an interesting insight, especially considering some red-violet blooms were within an inch of yellow petunias.
Swainson’s Dominance
It seems Swainson’s Hawks, especially adult pairs with fledglings have been dominating the surrounding landscape! In fact, 2 new fledgling Swainson’s Hawks showed up during a Friday afternoon drive to Charo Marsh; both with rufous-type plumage, very trusting, possibly late fledglings, possibly late to show themselves near a road. During my first encounter with them Friday, 2 adults were present with the fledglings, 1 vocal and perched with the fledglings, 1 detached a quarter-mile away.
Saturday, no adults were present, but the fledgings were active in the same area; and Sunday only the smaller male fledgling was present. The new fledglings don’t fly much, but they are actively hunting, often dropping to the ground near their perches to walk along, perhaps grabbing big insects or chasing garter snakes. I’m still checking on the other 2 families of Swainson’s, and the fledglings and adults are all still present and accounted for. The 3 hilltop fledglings are especially active and very proficient in flight, often vocal too, following the adults’ lead no doubt. The post-fledging period of raptors has long been interesting to me, so these are especially enjoyable opportunities to monitor the progress of the fledglings and the time they remain in the adults’ nesting territory.
Watery Excitement
Last Wednesday, at the now-shallow marsh a dozen miles to the north that was formerly a shorebird stopover site, only a few scattered shorebirds were present in the distance, but there were 7 Great Egrets, and a super-rare pair of Trumpeter Swans. You may remember my friend Wendell alerted me to a pair of Trumpeters the first of June, which was the first sighting of the world’s largest swans in this region, or anywhere nearby until you get near the Minnesota border. This could be the same pair, and hopefully they are scoping things out for the coming nesting season next April.
I checked for swans Thursday and found none; but when I passed by Saturday I had to stop to check out the 200ish Long-billed Dowitchers feeding en mass – obviously recently arrived. There were no swans but there was a hyper-active flock of about 50 American Avocets that were trotting shoulder to shoulder through the shallows, then turning, circling, and hustling in another direction en masse – quite a sight to view through binoculars. There were also a few Great Egrets, 2 Snowy Egrets, and a flock of Giant Canada Geese numbering about 40.
Closer to home there were 38 Long-billed Dowitchers in the shallows of a lake 1½ miles north of home, along with about 30 Stilt Sandpipers, mixed with a scattering of Mallards, Gadwalls, Blue-winged Teal, and Ruddy Ducks, a flock of about 70 Franklin’s Gulls, a Great Egret, and 2 preening White Pelicans. Just a half-mile south of home an American Kestrel caught my eye, an obvious migrant.
Charo Marsh has been kind of stagnant as far as shorebirds go, with between 16 and 36 Long-billed Dowitchers and a few Killdeer, Lesser Yellowlegs, and Greater Yellowlegs. Saturday there was quite a build-up of ducks there though, including many Mallards, Gadwalls, and Green-winged Teal, along with a flock of Giant Canada Geese, and 1 Hooded Merganser. Last year, I witnessed a flock of migrating American Golden Plovers that stopped at Charo on September 2nd, so I’ve been trying to check in there daily – just in case.
Sunday Change-up
With perfect 75 degree, windless weather and a clear sky Sunday, I made a morning and afternoon drive a few miles east of birding hotspots south of my office – into the flat lowland agricultural areas of the Drift Plain. With this change of topography and land use, it’s impressive how the birds on hand change, and while it was obvious there was an influx of Red-tailed Hawks and American Kestrels, there was also a nice male Merlin to check out.
I took a few documentary photographs, but I was just too far away to be satisfied with such a standout bird on hand, so I decided to leave the cover of my mobile blind with the hope of getting closer for some better Merlin portraits. I paid dearly for the effort in the number of mosquito bites I endured, but the mini-falcon permitted me to approach along a line of trees for some nice portraits. As I was photographing I noticed at least 2 Common Nighthawks in what looked like very direct flight south – migrating from the north? It’s been a couple weeks since any local nighthawks have been present.
A pair of adult Red-headed Woodpeckers was present at a woodpecker hotspot where I’ve only seen Northern Flickers this season. One of the birds flew low before me to the edge of a thriving cornfield, where it obviously perched on a fresh corn cob and ate for an extended period. At the end of the feeding period a fledgling flew to the pole where the adult centered, and as a second fledgling approached on the wing, the first met it in flight and the 2 circled then returned to some planted conifers, where the adult joined them. As usual with woodpeckers, I was unable to get a photo in, but that would change later.
During a return to that Red-head hangout during late afternoon, I found an adult that flew from my approach to the next pole along the roadway. I tried to ease into position again with the sun at my back, and this time the adult stayed in position, eventually working its way into position so I could take a few photos of it on the sunlight side of the weathered pole. Suddenly, a fledgling flew in, peaked around the pole, and clawed into position for a couple nice photos – hooray, the first of the season.
While in the Drift Plain, I checked back on the Bald Eagle nest and the surrounding territory, where a fledgling has been present. No eagles were seen during my morning and late afternoon checks, but as I returned to the main road, I spied the silhouette of a big raptor perched at the end of a long line of mature cottonwood trees. I passed by the potential eagle to get on the sunny side of it, and sure enough, it was an adult Bald Eagle, perhaps one associated with the nesting territory a mile away. Initially it had its wings held out to its side, more like a vulture, perhaps soaking in the warmth of the sun.
The male eagle relaxed into a normal perched position, and after taking a closer look through the magnification of my binoculars I decided to continue on my way. As I turned the corner, I saw a roadkill: The raccoon was fresh when I passed by that morning, and as I imagined that might be a point of interest for the eagle, I noticed the carcass had been opened up to feed on. That’s when I noticed a new, second roadkill that really affected me. It was the fledgling Bald Eagle! I was devastated to see this young bird lying in a lifeless clump on the road. I’ve seen lots of losses like this before, but this one really hurt, even though I only had a couple long-distance sightings of this individual.
Very few pairs of Bald Eagles nest in the open plains of North Dakota, so the eagles that have nested and fledged from this nesting territory have been important pioneers, and this is the first loss over the years that I’ve monitored this nesting territory. Maybe it was the way the young eagle died; it should have been easy to miss it with a vehicle. That road has an absolute minimum of traffic; in fact, I never saw a car, truck, or van during either of my Sunday drives there. How can anyone not miss a huge bird in flight, an eagle taking off from the middle of an open remote country road?!
Back home, other evidence of fall migration in my neighborhood included Sunday observations of 12 Cedar Waxwings and 6 American Robins in a berry-producing tree less than 100 yards to the northeast of my yard. As I returned Sunday evening, a male Cooper’s Hawk flew across the road 100 feet from home. Labor Day afternoon another surprising fall migrant appeared outside my bay windows as I worked at my laptop, a welcome Swainson’s Thrush! That was about 2:00pm, and it returned to the same perch at 7:30. Stay alert, new birds are potentially arriving daily now, and September will be a major period of migration for a variety of birds – oh what fun we will have! Enjoy the season!
Article and Photos by Paul Konrad
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