Sunday, August 11, 2013

Mid-Summer Birds, Beasts, and Bugs



 Adult and juvenile Barn Swallows sunning themselves on the metal roof of a barn.





One was too lazy to pick up this dragon fly near the barn.



July is a real challenge for birding. The birds are quiet, usually staying well hidden in the foliage, feeding their young or fattening themselves up before fall migration.

Some observations are serendipitous such as a flock of Cedar Waxwings  performing aerial acrobatics over the West River in pursuit of insects, fluttering, zigzagging, turning and twisting and intermittently perching on to a tree to rest. The biting deer flies, usually helicoptering around one's head this time of year looking for a suitable landing spot,  are mercifully absent because of the heavy rains we've had.

The one species I would encounter almost without fail when walking past a moist  thicket are the Common Yellowthroats. They are very territorial and just passing by will trigger their Tchak, tchak alarm calls. With a little bit of pishing they'll usually pop right out.




When not distracted they are busy feeding their offspring




House Wrens are almost done feeding their young in their nest. They are almost ready to fledge.



And a couple of days later:  



Late afternoon I saw a brown shape foraging in the grass ahead. Only on coming closer did I realize it was a doe.




Taking a walk with my dog on the gravelly path up the hill brown and gray winged grasshoppers were popping up with every step, whirring through the air and dropping down a few feet further up.



 They are almost invisible unless you look very closely.



In the meadow on top of the hill a flock of 6 to 8 Bobolinks, juveniles and females, no males, were fattening up for the fall migration later this month.



Getting ready for take-off


A solitary male Indigo Bunting on a look-out from the top of a tall pine



Goldfinches showing up to feast on the seeds of the two tall thistles in our yard. 





Several times a day this Downy Woodpecker is taking a drink from my hummingbird feeder.



It's August. The end of summer is in sight. Shorebird migration is already well under way and warblers and nighthawks are soon to follow. 








7 comments:

  1. Lovely collections of birds and photos, Hilke! I have never seen a Downy at my hummingbird feeders. Happy Birding!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I enjoyed the walk and seeing from your side of the world Hilke; beautiful birds. The swallows are very active here on the east coast/Australia too

    ReplyDelete
  3. A nice bunch of color! And thanks for the i.d. help on the yellow throat--I was guessing some kind of warbler--and for the humor on the dragonfly NOT pursued by complacent swallows :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Hilke

    A lovely post you captured photos of some lovely birds.

    Guy

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Hilke,
    I've seen two of those birds two weeks ago in Maine ;-) The goldfinch and the yellowthroat ;-) Beautiful pictures...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Nice variety of photos. Love the swallow shots.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Hilke,
    You offered me a nice selection of birds that I was all able to see in Maine this summer ;-) I would have like to get pictures of all of them but no, I did not but they are on my birdlist ;-)

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.