You can check out the research on that here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Photography who is a big fan of birds
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You can check out the research on that here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A female Ruby-throated Hummingbird fueling up on Salvia nectar. Some of these tiny birds increase their body weight 25-40% so they have the energy for their migration, but not all do. While some individuals plump up for long flights, others make shorter flights and stop along the way.
A Monarch butterfly resting on a cattail reed. Monarch butterflies typically live two to six weeks, with the exception of this current generation called the "super generation," which migrates and lives eight to nine months. Safe travels you beautiful creature
Even the birds are excited about football season starting again, as shown by this American Redstart posing his/her wings in the touchdown signal. 🏈 📷: American Redstart (female/young male) that was drying off and doing a lot of wing flapping.
A Cedar Waxwing on the hunt for flying insects. These birds eat mostly fruit but will add insects to the menu in the warmer months.
I couldn't see how it played out from where I was, but I imagine the young bird decided to pass eating on the spider as the spider was bigger than the bird's head.
A male Indigo Bunting watching what's going on down below. He could be looking at me, but I like to think he's watching one of his young ones behind me. As I was walking along the trail, there was a young Indigo Bunting chirping and perched right next to a web with a large spider in the middle.
A Green Heron looking over at the nearby golf course while flaring his/her head feathers in excitement or surprise. Considering how many golf balls make it out of the course and over to the park's shoreline, the heron is probably shocked at some of the golfers' swings.
A Blue-winged Warbler is a bright pop of sunshine against the blue sky.
An American Goldfinch enjoying Cup Plant seeds.
A young male Wood Duck flying over younger Wood Ducks who are not old enough for their license to fly (but in a week or two they will be flight ready.)
A male Indigo Bunting pauses before a moment before heading off to a tree top to sing.
A Great Egret getting a running start to chase off other Great Egrets that landed in the pond. The pond is pretty small, and this bird decided it was big enough for only one bird.
A Cedar Waxwing taking off to join other Cedar Waxwings, showing the waxy red tips on the wings. The number and size of the tips increases with the bird's age.
A Viceroy butterfly enjoying some Ironweed. Viceroys look similar to Monarchs, but Viceroys are smaller and have a black line on the hindwings.
A Virginia Rail doing some preening in the tall grasses in the marsh. It was a tough to get a clear shot, so I appreciated the rail staying in one spot while I figured out the best angle.
A Spotted Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage. Even though there are no spots to be seen, this bird has a fun feature that helps with identification; they wave their bottoms up and down while walking around.
A male Northern Flicker watching an Eastern Kingbird chase Red-headed Woodpeckers around.
A Belted Kingfisher passing over the pond. I love the white patterns on their wing feathers.
A Green Heron strolling along a log, looking for a good spot to start fishing.
Up periscope 📷: Least (aka "Fun-sized") Bittern
An Osprey helping out with the Carp population. I watched this Osprey dive at the far side of the lake, and noticed he/she was working pretty hard to get out of the lake. It takes a lot to get out of the water and into the air with a fish this big!
In the photo with the adult Green Heron, there are two Cicadas on the far right. The two Cicadas were definitely following the adult Green Heron; when the bird changed direction, the bugs followed. I have no idea why. But if I had to come with a reason, the Cicadas are daring each other to do it.
I have seen birds chase Cicadas, but recently I watched a switcharoo; Cicadas chasing birds. These are two different Green Herons (juvenile flying to the right and an adult flying to the left.) You have to look closely, but in the juvenile photo, there's a Cicadas on the far left.
A young Barn Swallow perched near the boardwalk. Every few minutes the bird would leave, swoop around for a bit, and then return to the same area.
A young Northern Cardinal letting mom know that he is hungry and ready to eat. (I believe it's a young male due to the amount of red on the face, but I could be wrong; the young bird could be a colorful female.)
A female Ruby-throated Hummingbird zipping through the Salvia.
A reed draped over a Great Egret's noggin makes for a bold fashion statement.
Ah yes that's true!
A Great Blue Heron standing on the lake's lily pad roots while enjoying the morning light.
A female Belted Kingfisher watches over the pond, planning her next dive.
A Green Heron passing by on the way to the lake's lily pads.
I planted some Common Boneset, a native plant of the wetlands, a few years ago in my backyard and since then it has been a huge hit with the pollinators. This male Monarch butterfly was visiting yesterday.
Least (aka "Fun-sized") Sandpipers. These birds are the smallest shorebirds in the world and weigh 1 ounce (the weight of a quarter.)
A Great Egret flying past the rookery treetops.
Busy air space around the Zinnias. 📸🦋: Giant Swallowtails
A female Ruby-throated Hummingbird was sipping nectar when she noticed a small bug approaching on the flower stem. She didn't seem to mind the tiny traveler.
A young Green Heron that hunted down a leaf. He/she dropped the leaf back into the water, and then went after it again. The leaf does kind of look like a fish.
A few photos from the one-day local visit of the American Avocet. They use that fancy beak to scoop up invertebrates while using a side-to-side sweeping motion in the shallow waters.
An Eastern Kingbird waits on the boardwalk for the right moment to go hunting for insects over the pond.
Barn Swallows perched atop the boardwalk railing. These birds are the most widespread swallow species in the world.
Great Blue Heron nestlings in standing in symmetry while keeping a lookout for food delivery.
Female adult Belted Kingfishers have an all-blue band and a rusty belt, while adult males have the same blue band but no rusty coloring. Juvenile Belted Kingfishers, like this one, have a mix of blue and brown in the band close to the neck and both juvenile males and females will have the rusty belt
A Red-bellied Woodpecker working his way up the far side of the tree.
A female Ruby-throated Hummingbird sipping on salvia.
A young Red-tailed Hawk along the nature trail watching the woods.
A Green Heron with the sunlight showcasing the beautiful iridescent green feathers on the wings.
They didn't notice the birds and thought I was just photographing the flowers. I shared a photo from the back of my camera, which was fun and now they know about American Goldfinches.
I had my camera with me, so I was able to get a photo of one of the American Goldfinches that was enjoying the sunflower seeds. I was moving very slowly as to not spook the birds, which is probably why I had someone ask me what I was photographing.
I had dropped off a package at the post office (they know me there as the "bird photographer lady") and there's a nice assortment of flowers near the building, including these sunflowers.
Belted Kingfishers chasing each other around the pond.
No, same usual parks, but one decided to stop by. You are so luck to have them!
One of the birds I have been hoping to see since I learned about it eight years old ago, an American Avocet! When I saw the bird along the shoreline I thought I was seeing things. I love their elegance.
A young male Wood Duck perched on water lily roots.
A male Northern Flicker with a bit of his favorite food – an ant – on his beak from digging along the trail.
A young Green Heron heading on out from the lake's shallow waters.
A Great Egret looking for a good fishing spot on the lake.
A Red-winged Blackbird fledgling informing mom — who just did a food delivery — that more food is needed.
A female Ruby-throated Hummingbird heading to her next flower.
An Indigo Bunting singing his sweet song. He took a short snack break to dive into the bushes to eat some berries, then flew back up to the same perch to continue his melodies.
The Northern Cardinals that I call the Queen and King of the Boardwalk have a fledgling! This is their daughter with an impressive tuft. Her beak has some patches of black. Northern Cardinals hatch with a dark beak that gradually changes to the bright orange-red beak of adults.
A Sandhill Crane working on feather maintenance
A young Green Heron closeup. Young Green Herons have browner plumage than adults. You can see a few brown feathers on the dark cap (adults have a completely dark cap.)
A Great Blue Heron framed by the moon. I noticed the moon was going to line up with the nest so I waited, and while I was waiting the Great Blue Heron sat down in the nest and was hard to see. I thought the opportunity gone but then a Great Egret flew past and that made the Great Blue Heron stand up
Sometimes you have to really stretch yourself to get what you want. 📷 Green Heron (who caught a small fish)
An Osprey heading out to do some fishing. Osprey talons are more rounded than those of other birds of prey, which helps them catch and grip slippery fish.
A Tufted Titmouse putting in a request for foodstuffs.
A Double-crested Cormorant with his/her striking aquamarine eyes. Breeding birds have tufts on the sides on their head (this one is in non-breeding plumage.)
A Green Heron having a good scratch.
A young Red-tailed Hawk soaring overhead. Red-tailed Hawks get their namesake red tail feathers in their second year.
A Belted Kingfisher framed by foliage. This Kingfisher was flying past on the other side of the tree; most of my shots had the bird hidden by leaves, but this one captured the bird in an opening.
Blue-gray Gnatcatchers scare up insects by flashing their long tail feathers around. This one is mid-hop while on the hunt for food.
Incoming food delivery for a fledgling Barn Swallow
A Sandhill Crane strolls through the nature center landscaping.
A male Indigo Bunting enjoying some grass seeds.
An Eastern Chipmunk watching the nature trails from a perch. Usually when the chippies do this there is a mink around; I didn't see any, but mink are hard to spot unless they pop out into the open.
I captured these shots of the young bird stretching the wings and switching between long neck mode and short neck mode.
The bird landed and was soon joined by another Green Heron. They went hunting for bugs in my lawn, but mostly caught leaves. Today my wonderful neighbor let me know one of the Green Herons was in my backyard.
Yesterday there was a commotion at my window that had the blinds pulled. When I peaked through the blinds there was a Green Heron flapping against the window (not a window strike - we have screens up and I believe the bird was going after the spiders that like those windows.)
A Great Egret fishing for gold caught some by the tail. Not sure if this is a Goldfish or a Golden Shiner.
A Cedar Waxwing gathers nesting materials. This photo is fairly recent, so this nest could be for a second brood.
An Osprey is followed by a male Red-winged Blackbird who was calling and letting the Osprey know that she was in his territory. The Osprey headed off to another lake to fish.
A young Red-tailed Hawk perched along the nature trail before heading off to hunt.
A male Indigo Bunting snacking on grass seeds.
A Green Heron with a threatening aura
The lighting was tough and the water lilies were thick but I did get one look at a Virginia Rail who gave me a look back. This one was very chatty so while I could often hear the bird, he/she was near impossible to see in the foliage. Such is often the case with marsh birds.
A Mourning Dove gathers nesting material.
Snowberry Clearwings, a hummingbird moth and a bumblebee mimic. These moths are less common than the other hummingbird moth commonly seen, the Hummingbird Clearwing, here in Michigan. There's a third hummingbird moth that I haven't seen yet that lives in Michigan, a Slender Clearwing.
A Marsh Wren pauses for a brief moment at the edge of the marsh before popping back into the cattails.
Female Red-winged Blackbirds do most of the feeding of the young, however males - like this one with a beakful of food - will also assist. Males are most likely to feed the oldest nestlings when there are multiple active nests on his territory.
A collection of hummingbird moths from the last couple of weeks, species Hummingbird Clearwing, a hummingbird mimic. These moths sip nectar and prefer pink and purple flowers like the Wild Bergamot (aka Bee Balm) in these photos.
A young Gray Catbird waits for a parent to bring in some food. Young Catbirds have a paler red patch for their undertail feathers than the adults (the adults have a cheeky chestnut coloring.)
(Important note: the cicada is not alive; half the body is missing but the other half is gripping the feathers. I have no idea how this happened.)
Cicadas only live between two-four weeks after they emerge, so why not go big and live the dream. This cicada went for a ride of a lifetime on the back of the head of a Sandhill Crane.
A young Great Blue Heron exploring the top of the rookery. Most of the herons have fledged but there a few nestlings still around.
Virginia Rail chicks are cute black floofs with big feet. These chicks are about a week old.
Synchronized wing stretching by young Wood Ducks.
A Green Heron fully extends her/his wings while taking a turn over the lake.
A young Great Blue Heron waves a wing at a Great Egret as if to tell the bird to shoo. The Great Egret took the hint and flew off.
A Green Frog just vibing in the shallow waters of a pond.
