Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
The Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) is an odd-looking creature, especially when you watch one creeping slowly through the salt marsh or perched high up in a tree. I do not want to add the demonic or monstrous label to them because they are lovable in their own way, but it feels like an appropriately strange species to highlight as we near Halloween. They can be found active throughout the day, but their somewhat secretive crepuscular and nocturnal feeding habits add to that feeling. I took these photos of a bird at a nest site earlier this spring. It was still working on...
Read MoreMockingbird Parent
The Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) seen here was as ferocious as a dinosa — er, bird, can get. Well, maybe not in the literal sense, but did you ever have the feeling that something was out to get you? This bird felt like giving me a tap or two in the head, something Mockingbirds did to me as a child on multiple occasions while on our patio near a nest in a bush. It turns out that the nasty look I was receiving here was for a similar reason as there were fledglings nearby. This Mockingbird refused to fly away as I walked up the roadway within several feet and stared me down...
Read MoreBrown-headed Cowbird Nestling
This spring and summer seem to have been very successful for the Brown-headed Cowbird. I realize that this is largely anecdotal, but I have had and heard a lot of sightings and stories about various species discovered feeding a hatchling or fledgling Cowbird. From the American Redstart to the Chipping Sparrow, the Yellow-throated Vireo or the Yellow Warbler, an Orchard Oriole and a Common Yellowthroat, a Blue-winged Warbler or this nest that I found and photographed a couple of weeks ago, it has been Cowbirds here, there, and everywhere. What’s the common thread? All of these birds and...
Read MoreAngry Groundhog
This is one angry looking Groundhog, Whistlepig, or Woodchuck (Marmota monax)…you can use any name, but this rodent was not happy with me. It was not my fault, I swear! Do you know what the problem is here? I was standing on a porch, and under this porch happens to be a burrow with young groundhogs. Every time I have seen one of them they scurry away as fast as can be in a non-stealthy manner back into the closest entrance to the burrow. However, this parent was not pleased, and no scurrying happened after we startled one another with a stare down commencing. Those two huge incisors...
Read MoreBrown-headed Cowbirds
We seem to be at the peak season of reports of, “Why is this pretty bird feeding this huge baby bird that is twice its size?!” all thanks to the native Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater). Here we have a photo of a male followed by a female. The species is a brood parasite with the female laying eggs in nests of other birds to leave the burden of raising young to these unsuspecting parents by fooling them into thinking it is their own egg. It is also a rather clever way of not putting all of your eggs in one basket. These blackbirds are found in typical types of blackbird...
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