Keep on buildin' . . .

Nest building continues every day. The size of the nest has grown quite a bit with sticks and live evergreen branches. You can see the size change in the following 2 photos:

This shot was taken on March 21, 2007:


This shot was taken on April 2, 2007:


The hawks are active every day working on there nest and mating. I missed the mating shots but I did get to witness it a couple times which was quite cool. Here's another shot I got today that I really liked:

Rain . . .

The weather over the last few days has been pretty dismal and I haven't gotten out, so I thought I'd post another photo that I took at Springbrook. Maybe we'll get a bit of break in the weather this weekend and I can get out for a bit.

Cardinal (male):

Fox Sparrow

Well Monday was 80 degrees or so and I had to get out! Carlos Avery still has its gates closed so I walked the south section right near the entrance to the Wildlife Science Center. The first 20 minutes I didn't see anything but after that things got a lot more interesting. I saw a number of birds: Trumpeter Swans, Hooded Mergansers, Fox Sparrows, Tree Sparrows, Eastern Bluebirds, and others I'm sure I'm forgetting. Here's a few pictures from the day.

Fox Sparrow:


Sandhill Cranes:


I should probably know this one, but I'll be honest any help here would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks to all that replied.
ID = Song Sparrow:

Red Shoulder Hawk Habitat

I have received a number of phone calls and emails about the RSH's in my yard and it has been great to talk with so many people from the MOU. One question I was asked was about the type of woods that these hawks are in. So I thought I would post a few shots of my yard and the woods that surround it. The woods consist mainly of mature oak and maple trees. There is a bit of marshland in area, but it typically does not contain much standing water, although enough to produce a good amount of mosquito's.

The woods (in the fog):


Here is a wide angle shot of the nest and tree. You can see the nest about a 1/4 way down the crook of tree in the center of the shot. The nest is quite a bit bigger now since they continue to work on it every day. To give a bit of perspective, I estimate the nest is around 50' up from the ground.

Springbrook Nature Center

I went to SNC yesterday with my wife and had a really nice day. There was a fair amount of activity in terms of birds with weather being as nice as it was. We really had a nice walk and it's a birding spot that I'm sure I'll go back to again. Carlos Avery still has the gates shut so this was a nice alternative for me. Here is a shot of a female Cardinal that I took. It's probably the nicest shot of a female that I've taken.

Cardinal (female):

Hawks in the Fog

Well, today's fog made photos difficult, but I guess it worked out in the end. Not much to report on their activity today. They continue to build the nest up each day. One thing of note for today though was that I was able to watch as one of the hawks worked to break a branch off a tree for the nest. The hawk stood on the branch, flapped it's wings and applied pressure down with one leg, and up with the other. Each time the bird flapped it's wings I would hear and see the branch break a little more. After a few tries the branch would snap and the bird would fly back to the nest with it. Here is a photo of that happening (a video of this would have been great, but I don't have a video camera).

Breaking a branch:


A shot through the fog:

The Building Continues

Each morning, the hawks continue to work on building their nest. The nest size has grown, both out and up. I've seen them carry in some pretty large sticks to work with, many times dropping them to the ground just as they come in to land. So they just turn around and fly out to get more. Perseverance is definitely something we can learn from these birds.
Red Shouldered Hawk Factoid:
"The Red-shouldered Hawk is divided into five subspecies. The four eastern forms contact each other, but the West Coast form is separated from the eastern forms by 1600 km (1000 mi). The northern form is the largest. The form in very southern Florida is the palest, having a gray head and very faint barring on the chest."

Today's shot of the bird on the nest. I tried more shots of them in flight, but it's overcast today so those shots turned out a bit blurry.

The Nest has been selected . . .

So it appears that the Hawks have selected their nest. We've been watching them bringing in nesting material to build with. Again they continue to call back and forth. Today though, the female (again I presume this) is sitting on the nest waiting for the male to drop off branches. Once he drops them off, he leaves and she continues to form the sides and bottom of the nest. She'll fly off periodically, but generally stays near the nest and waits. Here are today's shots.

Here they are, one on the nest and the other taking off to find more branches:


Here's the male flying off to find more branches:

Oh Yeah, they're back!

So today, the hawks continue to call back and forth so much I wonder if they are going to lose their voices. The female (at least I presume the female) has been carrying nesting material to at least 2 different locations this morning. It doesn't appear as though a final nesting location has been determined yet. She just keeps flying back and forth with branches and leaves to a couple different locations. I know which one I would pick, the one closest to my driveway so that I can continue to shoot more pictures with a relatively unobstructed view. However, I don't think my opinion carries much weight in her decision. Here she is again, perched near possible nest site #1.

The Red Shoulders are Back!

Well, the Red Shouldered hawks that we had nest in our yard last year a back again. The have been flying around and calling to each other almost non-stop for about 5 days now. The first time we saw them, it was a single bird sitting on a nest, or so I thought. Now, a few days later, the hawk was sitting on a different nest, or at least that's what it appears like. I guess she's trying out a few different homes to see which is the most comfortable. :) As far as I can tell there are at least 4 relatively new nests in our yard from past years. Here's a shot a just took a few minutes ago, and a shot from last year. I'm sure more will follow as the days go on.

Red Shouldered Hawk - Spring 2007:


Red Shouldered Hawk - Spring 2006:


Here is a link to the post I made last year about the hawks in our yard:
Last Years Post

Gettin' ready . . .

Spring is almost here! The snow was melting, the temperature was up, and the sun was shining. I had to get out, so I made a drive through Carlos Avery today, but it didn't yield much in way of birds, not that I expected much at this point. However, in a month or so, there will be plenty to look at when the migration starts getting into full swing. I'm really looking forward to it this year. Anyway, it had been a while since I posted so here is pretty much the only decent shot from today.

Black Capped Chickadee:

Minnesota birds . . . Well sort of . . .

Last week I was able to make a quick run over lunch to the new exhibit at the Como Conservatory, Tropical Encounters. This exhibit includes many tropical birds, some of which I took photos of and have yet to identify. So these birds are in Minnesota, but are obviously not Minnesota birds. Here are a few of the ones that I was able to identify:

Paradise Tanager:

Golden Headed Manakin:

Saffron Finch:

Bay-headed Tanager:

Wildlife Science Center

Hello All,

I had an opportunity to visit the Wildlife Science Center again this weekend and normally I haven't had the opportunity to see any of the raptors up close. However, this time I was able to se the Long-eared owl and I got a few pictures. This is not a bird I have seen in the wild (yet) so I can't count it on my bird lists but it is still a great opportunity to get up close and personal with such a cool bird. I'm also posting a picture of a Northern Cardinal I took in Carlos Avery a few weeks back. I find it funny that in all the time that I've been photographing birds, I have been unable to get good shots of some of the more common birds in my area (like a Cardinal). So here are the photos.

Long-eared Owl:


Northern Cardinal:

Published in Birders World Magazine

So I was told this morning by my father that a photo I had submitted to Birders World magazine was published in their Your View section. I'm excited about this because it marks the 5th photo I have had published in the last year. I have had 4 photos in Naturescape News, and now a 5th in Birders World. As of right now, I still have not seen the magazine, hopefully I'll be getting a copy soon, in fact I may have to run out over lunch and buy a few extra copies. By the way, here is the blog post with the photo that was published. Barred Owl.

UPDATE: I was able to pick up the magazine and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. My father was quite excited to get his magazine in the mail and while paging through find my photo!

A few more shots from last Saturday . . .

So I had quickly gone through my photos with my father on Saturday and pulled out a few that we liked. One of the things that we forgot was that we had seen a Rough-Legged Hawk (Dark Morph). It basically flew righ over our heads while we were watching the owls. So it was a few quick shots of the bird and then back to the owls. I had forgotten about the shot until I was able to sort through the photos today. So here is a shot of the Dark Morph and another shot of an owl, that truly look like it's built for speed!

Rough-Legged Hawk (Dark Morph):


Short-eared bullet:

Camera Equipment

After posting my Owl and Hawk pictures, I had a number of people ask about what kind of equipment I was using. For almost all of the shots posted on the blog (there are a few exceptions) I use a Canon 20D and Sigma 50-500 (commonly referred to as the "Bigma"). I have been pretty successful with this lens, although if I could afford it, I sure would like to get a 500mm lens with Image Stabilization. This would make those hand held shots a lot more likely to succeed. Thanks again to all that visited and asked questions.

Sincerely,
Craig

Short-eared and Rough-Legged

My father and I went to Carlos Avery again tonight to see the Short-eared Owls. We had a great night seeing a Northern Shrike (a new bird for both of us) a number of Rough-Legged Hawks and at least 12 or so Short-eared owls. We both had a great time seeing the birds, walking down the trails, and finally at home looking through the photos I had taken on our visit. I have to say it was a really nice time. I took a lot of pictures tonight so I'm going to post 4 photos instead of my normal 2. I hope that you enjoy . . .

Short-eared Owls:





Rough-Legged Hawk:

Short Earred Owls

Well, there was an impromptu meeting of birders up at Carlos Avery WMA due to the many Short Earred Owls flying over the marshes. It was the first time I had seen one of these owls and we all got quite a show. I would guess there were 8-10 owls flying around just before dusk. I took a lot of photos, but with the low light conditions and moving targets, I wasn't terribly successful at getting a good shot. Either way, it was a very neat experience for me. I'm hoping to get out there again since the birds are supposedly still present. Here's the best shot that I got.

Carlos Avery Again

Well, unfortunately I have not gotten out very much since my trip to the north shore, but I was able to get for a few hours over the weekend. I guess you take what you can get and enjoy it as much as possible. Here are 2 more birds that I can add to my photography life list. I've seen both of these birds before, but I've never gotten a decent shot of them. I hope you enjoy:

Rough-legged Hawk:


Female Pheasant:

The Warbler Migration . . .

Well, the warbler migration is happening and we've had a lot of birds coming through the yard over the last 10 days or so. Unfortunately, the first weekend of birds coming through I didn't have my camera, and that was to bad because we really had some neat birds. Anyway, here are some pictures that I took today:

American Redstart:


Chestnut Sided Warbler:


Tennessee Warbler (and a Chickadee):