Wednesday, March 29, 2023

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The first Red-tailed Hawk north of the border provided a few photo ops during Sunday’s sunlight.
A break-through photo of a male Painted Bunting in the Tampa area by Jim Konrad shows a little different view of this colorful songbird.
One of many Bald Eagle photos taken during a fast-paced birding stop. More of those images will appear in next week’s Bird Photography feature.
The duo of immature Bald Eagles, the big female fourth-year bird after eating her fill, with the smaller male third-year white-belly eagle finishing the meal in the midst of the snow-covered landscape.

It seemed like the ice window must have cracked just a bit, at least for a few raptors to slip through into the northland – 2 Red-tailed Hawks, a male Northern Harrier, 11 Bald Eagles, 2 Merlins, and a male American Kestrel. Each bird provided a story, but the most interesting were the 2 feeding groups of Bald Eagles, assembled at food sources just 6 miles apart. The first foursome was made up of 2 adults and 2 immatures, but the younger eagles appeared to win out on the competition for food – a big female 4th year immy and a smaller male third-year white-belly Bald Eagle.

The adults vacated the area as the larger female dominated the food, but after apparently becoming satiated, she relinquished it to the pestering male. I spent about 40 minutes watching and taking occasional photographs, hoping to document a bit of a tussle as the young male pressed the big female for a share, but half-spreading its wings a couple times was all the threat the female needed to muster. It appeared these young eagles were traveling together, at least for the day, considering they were perched in the same tree when I checked back a half-hour later.

Farther down the road I saw a young eagle standing in a snow-covered field, and a hundred yards ahead an adult was perched in a tree near the road, but the excitement at this location was seeing an adult feeding on the snow near the perched eagle. Almost as soon as I slipped into position, an apparent sideshow began above the roadkill restaurant as a tandem of adult Bald Eagles flew in low from the south to put on an aerial display that included dives and twists and turns with a few flips in which one inverted eagle reached up at the other with its open talons. It was spectacular to witness, and to photograph a few key moments during the flight.

As the pair circled back they passed directly overhead, which provided some nice images, but they also disturbed the feeding eagle. As if to best the displaying pair as a photo subject, that grand eagle provided a surprise photo flight by circling low before me in ever-closer circles that allowed me to document a whole range of flight positions – hooray! This must be my introduction to the excitement to come as these first migration breakthrough birds WoWed me on a sunny Sunday.

Close to home, I found a Merlin, the second Red-tailed Hawk, and the male American Kestrel, but moments after taking off my boots at home I spied the crowning touch as a Merlin glided to a high cottonwood perch outside my bay windows. I put my snow boots back on, and grabbed my camera, but one more quick look showed the little falcon was gone, but the little thrill it provided remained. I needed a spring breakthrough day like that – Hoooray!

Pre-Sunday

Before all that, Saturday morning I felt a bit desperate for even the slightest sign of spring; it felt very pensive to sit quietly, looking beyond my feeding station surrounded by white drifts to the massive frost-covered branches that framed my 150 yard view including a white sky – white on white on white. The arrival of a Dark-eyed Junco that lightly scrambled up and down the tall drifts in search of seeds I spread for it refocused my thoughts. But wait, there were two! That’s a sign, as was the arrival of the first one last Tuesday. Thursday I found the first state bird of spring, a Western Meadowlark that appeared to the east, then Friday I found a pair of meadowlarks to the north, and a lone meadowlark a couple miles beyond it. First signs of spring here!

Realistically though, the initial spring surge of birds is at best a state away in southeast South Dakota. Huge flocks of geese, especially Snow Geese, along with ducks led by Northern Pintails are assembled in the Yankton area, as well as around Lake Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge. I’ve also been monitoring the build-up of Sandhill Cranes and waterfowl via the live camera on the Platte River in central Nebraska – no snow there (see Audubon's Rowe Sanctuary's Crane Camera | Explore.org). But the landscape here remains frozen white from horizon to horizon, a month later than usual in my book.

A look at the BirdCast migration radar maps is especially insightful during this late spring. It shows the earliest signs of night flights, soon to erupt into a visual view of the avian action we all await – unless you live along the Gulf Coast, or Nebraska-Iowa where there is limited migration activity (see Live bird migration maps - BirdCast). I guess it’s just a late year.

My brother Jim added color to an afternoon when he sent me an impressive photo of a male Painted Bunting he took in the Tampa, Florida area. He’s been alert for the species since he and Rose began their move to Tampa 18 months ago; so I’m sure he was excited to finally get a bunting breakthrough, camera in hand. The image is different in that photographers usually share images that show the yellow and green hues on the back of a male, so I really appreciate the different view of this male showing a red bird with a blue head. Jim lamented that he only managed one photo, but that’s often the way it goes when photographing songbirds, but he definitely managed to make the most of his singular opportunity. He’ll get more ops soon I’m sure as the first migrating songbirds cross the Gulf from Caribbean Islands or the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico.

Speaking of Florida, I saw that the first report of a Ruby-throated Hummingbird in Tallahassee was March 9, about the time a Louisiana Waterthrush was sighted in Gulf Breeze. Texas reports don’t indicate songbird migrants crossing the Rio Grande yet, although I’m sure they will be trickling in any day. What with the lack of migrants showing up at the southern limits to the United States, I guess I might be ahead of the curve so far as expecting spring birds in my northern location – but I have been surrounded by 5 species of geese, a dozen species of ducks, and other exciting early migrants in past years by the end of February, much less by the end of March. Oh well, you can’t hurry love, and you can’t hurry spring!

In the meantime, I really feel like I should be in position to photograph Swallow-tailed Kites as they arrive in the Everglades, or documenting the early assemblies of wading birds at the nesting rookery at High Island, Texas. Or planning for an intercept of throngs of migrating songbirds at High Island or Magee Marsh, Ohio, timed for 30 days from now – the first of May. I guess I am giving thought to such excitement a month away; it’s just a matter of which way I point my car, or my van, and take off into the wind.

Present-day Realities

Aside from thinking out loud here, the birds I see week after week have been pretty static, aside from the recent sightings of a sprinkling of Western Meadowlarks and like numbers of American Crows. But my regular sightings of Bald Eagles, Ring-necked Pheasants, and Horned Larks have been spiced up a bit by occasional Sharp-tailed Grouse, loners lately; Gray Partridges in flocks of 4 to 8, and once in a while a few Snow Buntings mixed in among the growing number of Horned Lark flocks.

But you never know what might appear next. My friend Herbie called me to let me know he had 2 Snowy Owls sightings last week near his ranch 11 miles to the south, which again emphasizes that there are some late wintering birds around – spectacular birds – so I continue to have faith one might materialize before me.

Well, Friday is the first day of April, so my lust for signs of spring migration seem ever-more forthcoming as these snow white days pass. I keep telling myself that in a mere 50 days, I’ll be deep into photographing migrating warblers, orioles, vireos, hummingbirds, and flycatchers at Melody’s Grove, just 200 yards away. At home I’ll be tantalizing Baltimore Orioles and Orchard Orioles with grape jelly and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds with nectar as mixed flocks of warblers ply my trees and bushes for newly hatching insects – can’t wait! Enjoy these final days of March and the first days of April with your binoculars and camera within reach; you never know when or where a spring birding moment will materialize.

Article and raptor photos by Paul Konrad

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