During a visit to the zoo she noticed a sparrow in the tree above:
At four years of age, she loved to find fossils along the shore of our lake in Florida...
...and watched the Bald Eagle nest:
Graci enjoyed nature walks with her little sister and their huge Tibetan Mastiff:
Graciela writes-- Several times I tried to set up a bird walk with my grandparents but the first couple of times it rained. They did take me out to Bliss Woods but the mosquitoes almost ate us alive! Grandma with me on the bridge over Blackberry Creek in Bliss Woods: We heard this House Wren singing very loudly: A phoebe was catching mosquitoes and I saw it carry food to a nest under the picnic shelter. Gramps couldn't find it at first in the dark but it flicked its tail: I could not see the whole nest, behind the post: When it stopped raining we planned to walk at Nelson Lake, particularly to try to see a Bobolink. On the way I asked Grandpa to stop off at a neighborhood park because I had found a nest and did not know what type of bird it belonged to. The nest looked like a Chimney Swift's nest but it was made of mud stuck to one of the metal support posts under the edge of the roof of the pavilion. I did see the bird but did not know what kind it was. It had a blue back, cinnamon color on its throat and a dark line like a collar. Grandpa said it sounded like a Barn Swallow and sure enough it it was. If the video does not launch in the space below, try this link.
While we watched the nest an adult bird flew in and seemed to be feeding one or more tiny babies. We were not able to see them, but after getting a few photos and a video we moved on to Nelson Lake. It was cloudy and pretty cool for July: We began hiking the trail and we saw lots of birds, mostly Red-winged Blackbirds. There was a large picnic shelter and I went under it to see if I could spot any bird nests. I found three nests, one with a robin sitting in it. We saw some precious baby swallows on the roof of the shelter, but inside there were no swallow nests. I saw some places where there may have been swallow nests but they looked like they had been knocked down, hopefully not on purpose.
The tiny swallows looked right into the camera when Grandpa took their picture. They were so adorable! As we walked along the path I mostly heard Red-winged-Blackbirds and Song Sparrows: Then I heard the Common Yellowthroat singing "wichity-wichity-wichity." After Grandpa spotted the yellowthroat and pointed it out to me I said it was very cute with its little black mask. He had to wear a coat but I live in Illinois and am used to the cold weather. There were many milkweed plants with flowers, Black-eyed Susan and sunflowers. We saw some Cedar Waxwings among the Queen Anne's Lace.
The meadowlark was whistling "Spring of the year." At first we could find no Bobolinks until Grandpa saw a female, which flew by really fast. Then I spotted a male down close to the ground. It kept moving but down low where I could not see over the grass. Gramps could not get a picture of it, but a Dickcissel suddenly hopped up on a flower right next to the path. I didn't know how beautiful it was until I saw it on the computer: The good thing was that there were no mosquitoes! Two days later we went over to check the Barn Swallow's nest again. This time we could see FOUR baby birds! Ten days after Graci found the nest, on July 15, 2015, there were FIVE hungry nestlings! (Click here if video fails to load in the space below):
Well, here is Grandfather back again, to add some sky and reflection shots from our Canada Rockies rail trip. This is Lake Louise, Alberta on a very calm morning... ...and this is an oil painting effect on a photo of Bow River just above the falls at Banff, Alberta (click to view full size image in FLICKR):
Linking to SKYWATCH FRIDAY by Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy Linking to WEEKEND REFLECTIONS by James Linking to BirdD'Pot by Anni Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday by Stewart Linking to I Heart Macro by Laura
________________________________________________
Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display _______________________________________________
In late June we returned from our rail trip through the Canadian Rockies to our second home in Illinois. I am still poring over more than 1000 photos I took on that trip, and intend to share them in the next few posts. Occupied with so many family events and then the July 4 weekend activities I almost missed my (self-imposed) deadline of writing something here at least once weekly. Most of the local birds are now busy raising families. Nearly every Common Yelllowthroat I saw at Nelson Lake/Dick Young Marsh Forest Preserve in Batavia was carrying food to nestlings or fledglings:
Young birds in fresh plumage were abundant, including this Eastern Phoebe with buffy wing bars which help distinguish it from an adult...
...and this fledgling Baltimore Oriole high in a treetop which posed an identification challenge until its parent showed up to feed it:
Song Sparrows were even more abundant than the yellowthroats:
At first glance a male Bobolink perched upright in the distance might pass for just another blackbird:
However a minor change in its position reveals its striking plumage pattern. This one posed nicely on Queen Anne's Lace...
...and flew off, revealing its unusually long toes:
Most birds have dark upper parts and are lighter underneath, which is thought to help them blend in with their surroundings, but a Bobolink reverses this tradition:
The female Bobolink wears a more somber coat, looking somewhat like a sparrow:
Fledglings of both sexes resemble females, but have clear breasts and usually exhibit a tell-tale yellow gape:
A male Bobolink feeds its youngster:
Red-winged Blackbirds were abundant. The males were busy announcing their presence:
Female Red-winged Blackbirds are less conspicuous, probably more engaged in the care of their offspring:
This fledgling Brown-headed Cowbird was being cared for by one of the Red-wings. It flew weakly up to the roof of a picnic shelter:
I was surprised to find a sizable flock of Cedar Waxwings out on the prairie. They seemed to be foraging on the fruit of sapling Mulberry trees:
Note the namesake waxy bulges on the tips of its secondary flight feathers:
At nearby Lippold Park, on the east bank of the Fox River, a White-breasted Nuthatch flared its tail feathers just as I pressed the shutter, providing an unusual display:
American Goldfinches have not yet started to breed. They are waiting for the thistles to go to seed:
In another two or three weeks the down and seed of thistles will provide nesting material and a major food source. One of the few of our songbirds that does not feed insects to its nestlings, the goldfinch secretes a protein-rich "milk" from the lining of its crop:
Bright orange Butterfly Weed, in the milkweed family, provides nectar and is a host plant for Monarch Butterflies:
Common Milkweed bloomed profusely. Its seeds and fibers will also prove useful to the goldfinches:
A Great Egret fished in a quiet bend of the river, casting a weak REFLECTION:
A Great Blue Heron lofted into flight:
One of my favorite species is the Scarlet Tanager:
An Eastern Cottontail rabbit munched on the fresh forbs:
A male Eastern Pondhawk was a nice subject for this week's MACRO:
This is a Question Mark, named for the subtle punctuation mark on its under-wings:
For my FENCE shot, I reached into my treasure trove of photos from the Canada rail trip. This is the tram terminal at the top of Sulphur Mountain just outside Banff, Alberta:
The mountaintop provided a great view of the mountains and SKY to the west:
I also rendered this photo in black and white. I cannot decide which one I like best:
Because of a glitch due to a change in FLICKR html code, my photos caused some readers to have difficulty downloading this post, and until the problem is fixed you will be unable to click on the photos to see larger sizes and related images. To access this feature, please visit my FLICKR Photostream at this link, or view it as a slide show in the box at the top of the right sidebar of this post. Sorry for the inconvenience.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Linking to Misty's CAMERA CRITTERS,
Linking to I Heart Macro by Laura ________________________________________________ Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display ________________________________________________
