Two weeks ago I headed out for a Sunday afternoon visit to
Grass Lake. The plan was to enjoy some close opportunities with the Osprey
pair there and see if the Sandhill Cranes were still nesting in the same
spot after hearing some crazy photographer hip-waded directly to the
nest!
But when I arrived, the Osprey nest was a big
pile of scattered branches and corn stalks on the road. Apparently a
couple nights before, a big storm had blown it right off the supporting
hydro wire wood braces. I felt sorry for the bird pair, but they were
"silly" not to have used a sturdy nesting box which had been put there
this winter for them. Realizing of course that they don't "think" like
we do, you do wonder what made them think the much more precarious
location they used was better.
But, in the same
location, I noticed a "little brown jobby" (an affectionate term for the
many sparrows and other small birds that look alike from a distance)
that appeared somewhat different. It was not shy and allowed me to get
quite close, and even continued with its interesting song. I almost
dismissed it as the very common Song Sparrow, but soon I noticed a
yellow flash above the eyes. It was a Savannah Sparrow and a life bird
(#124). It's a grassland sparrow and shares the habitat in that area
with the Bobolinks, Eastern Meadowlarks, and other grassland sparrows
that I have yet to see there.
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| Savannah Sparrow |
In
the same area, Horned Larks were traveling back and forth between a
farmer's field and the protection of the grasses of the antenna field. A
stop on the road seemed part of their little routine too. Not sure why
as I can't imagine there was anything like salt from the winter to
entice them. There forays into the grasses would often start a squabble
with a larger Bobolink that would attempt to guard its territory.
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| Horned Larks |
I'm pretty sure this next picture is a
juvenile Horned Lark. I know Robin fledglings are out already, but I
wasn't expecting to see young from other birds yet. I guess at first I
as just hoping it was another rare bird to get excited about, but I
think my assumption on the juvenile Horned Lark is right. I'll be glad
to be proven wrong.
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| juvenile Horned Lark |
This Bobolink kept coming back to one of two small saplings to sing away its claim to a certain area of the thick wild grasses.
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| male Bobolink |
|
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| male Bobolink near nest? |
This
male seems to have a beak deformation of some sort. Or, it lacks some
personal hygiene. I did a bit of research, but it seems that
naturalists are completely sure what causes different beak
abnormalities, aside from assumptions that there may be nutrition
issues, or simply an abnormality from birth. The defect seems to affect
birds of all strips... here's a
link to a collection of many different birds with the sad fate. For many, it will mean a short and/or difficult life.
I
headed out to Grass Lake for the reminder of my visit time, to see if
anyone could give me an update on the Cranes and their nesting/eggs
status. Just as I arrived a few of the Cranes flew in along the north
side of the lake. No one really knew the status of the nest or if any
eggs were being tended. The last nest site I had seen was well hidden
in last year's cat tails, so I'm not sure anyone will know if they are
still using this location until, hopefully, some young colts are walking
around.
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| Sandhill Crane landing |
Another man with a few other photographers
were working to call out some Virgina Rail they had heard. I'm not
adverse to using bird calls if it's done respectfully (of the birds and
other birders/photographers) but, I'm afraid this guy was beyond
anything I've seen before. He had it on repeat and would simply flick
on his little speaker and let it play for minutes on end at full blast.
We were at the top of the road embankment, and he along with some other
photographers seemed of the opinion the birds would walk up the steep
hill to them for a posed picture.... maybe I'm too unfamiliar with this
bird, but I don't think so!
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| Virginia Rail hiding |
I decided to head down the embankment,
partially to avoid the audio
assault, but to see if some good old looking and quiet "hunting" would
pay off. It did!! They are extremely hard to find and see, but I
finally spotted one. Now photographing them is completely another
story!! You can forget auto focus - trying to shoot into the thick
grasses they like to hide in and expecting . So the shots I got were
hard fought, and topped of by the fact that they were of life bird #125!
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| Virginia Rail |
Till next time... Keep enjoying His handiwork!
