For years here, I have hoped to cross paths with a certain type of bird. It isn’t a resident in this area, however, it has been reported on occasion.
It took a trip back east for me to see the bird for the first time.
The bird above is the American Tree Sparrow.
Misty Dawn’s Camera Critter Meme is a great way see critters the world over. Go to the homepage here to see more. Then join the fun and add your own.
When I was back east, I was looking forward to imaging new critters. I have shown some of them here in the past couple of weeks, so here's another.
I was walking along the road in front of my mother's place when an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail fluttered by and landed near a trashed soda can. It spent a few minutes there, with me waiting for it to move off so I could get a more natural photo.
But before it flew off, never to be seen again, I did manage to get a few shots. This is the best.
Misty Dawn’s Camera Critter Meme is a great way see critters the world over. Go to the homepage here to see more. Then join the fun and add your own.
It has been a cool spring in the Pacific northwest. We have yet to reach 80 degrees this year, and the last time the temperature was that high, was in mid October.
Because of the coolness, the dragonfly population has been slow to make an appearance.
However, Tuesday (June 14), I made my fifth trip to the sewage ponds north of town and found my first-of-the-year dragonflies, along with some damselflies.
The damselflies, were the typical Tule Damselfly found in vast numbers at the ponds last year. The dragonflies were also residents of the sewage ponds. The first I saw were male and female Band-winged Meadowhawk. Unfortunately, I was unable to image them.
Then, while photographing a juvenile Robin, I noticed another dragonfly land nearby. Stepping across the rocks, I was able to get my first dragonfly photo of the year…a male Variegated Meadowhawk.
Misty Dawn’s Camera Critter Meme is a great way see critters the world over. Go to the homepage here to see more. Then join the fun and add your own.
They may be despised by a lot of people, but I have always enjoyed squirrels.
Where I live in Oregon there is no resident squirrel population. Occasionally, one will stop by for one reason or another, but they don’t make a home here.
However, when I was back in Illinois, I came across many squirrels. One Fox Squirrel in particular held my interest.
You think he won’t see me if I stay real still?
Yes…I do believe he sees me.
One more quick peek..oh no…he still sees me!
For the two weeks I was there, the squirrels were a constant visitor to wherever I was staying. My sister would call me when one would arrive and I’d head out with camera in hand.
I did so enjoy photographing my squirrel.
Misty Dawn’s Camera Critter Meme is a great way see critters the world over. Go to the homepage here to see more. Then join the fun and add your own.
One afternoon, while sitting on my mother’s patio, watching the birds feed on the little hillside in front of me, I saw something I had never seen before.
It began with a pair of male and female Brown-headed Cowbirds, who were feeding on the seeds in the area.
Suddenly, another male cowbird swooped in and attacked the first male. I had seen birds fight before and it was generally an attack, retreat and maybe a couple of other attacks. But this one was different. It was like Friday Night Fights right in front of me! These two birds went at it, rolling in the dirt and grass of the hillside, not making a sound, but clasped onto each other with the feet, pecking and flapping their wings. It looked the world like a fight to the death.
I watched these two fight, no more than 20 feet away from me. They rolled down the hillside to a short wall along a sidewalk, with both of them falling to the cement walkway below, still fighting and still going at each other after the fall.
At this point the pair were less than 10 feet from me.
They continued to fight and roll across the sidewalk away from me until they finally split up and went their separate ways.
In all, the pair fought for a good five minutes or six minutes. I was blown away by what was happening. It was absolutely amazing.
Misty Dawn’s Camera Critter Meme is a great way see critters the world over. Go to the homepage here to see more. Then join the fun and add your own.
Having seen a lot of rockchucks around here, I figured someday I’d see a cousin of our local marmot, the woodchuck. Also known as a groundhog, or Marmota monax, I was surprised when, while sitting in my mother’s living room in Braidwood, Illinois, a large, gray, lumbering critter came waddling out of a wooded area and started munching on some weeds.
I asked, “Is that a woodchuck?” After a quick look, mom said, “It’s the local groundhog. He comes out now and then to eat.”
So I picked up my camera and snapped off a few shots. I guess my movement scared him, as he quickly darted back into cover and disappeared.
Misty Dawn’s Camera Critter Meme is a great way see critters the world over. Go to the homepage here to see more. Then join the fun and add your own.
I had to return to Illinois a couple of weeks ago for personal reasons. While there I hoped to be able to shoot all sorts of new critters.
One of those critters, though not new, was a Cardinal. I found several willing subjects and one bird in particular stood out.
Cardinals don’t exist in my area of the country, so it is always a treat to photograph them.
But one Cardinal sure took the cake. Named “Grandpa” by the people who see him daily, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
Grandpa was a very skittish bird. Any time I tried to get an image of him that was not through the patio glass door, he flew away. Although a bit soft, this was one of the better images of him I captured.
Someone mentioned that this bird was probably in the molt. However, birds generally molt after the breeding season, then again before it. This fellow includes a mal-formed bill, along with the bald spots. Which leads me to believe he has some sort of disease.
If the person who was responsible for making the Cardinal the Illinois state bird had seen this instead of the top bird, I doubt it would have been selected.
Misty Dawn’s Camera Critter Meme is a great way see critters the world over. Go to the homepage here to see more. Then join the fun and add your own.
