Category: wildlife

If You Build it, They Will Come: Osprey

I believe in order to control where osprey build nests in different spots in New York they are building platforms on top of telephone / power poles etc, to attract their nest building to that location. I usually see these as active osprey nests once they are built.

If You Build it, They Will Come: Osprey. – It even has a pole to perch on.

This osprey nest had two osprey on it when I first saw it , but one flew away to an area with possibly a creek or river nearby. I assume this is an adult. I do not think I saw any young. I am guessing they fledged already.

It was a nice find. My GPS actually led me the wrong way to get to the nearby location I was stopping at. I’m actually glad it did. It had me backtrack and go a different way when I continued ahead after it readjusted. A mistake by the GPS worked out to be a good thing. Take advantage of these moments. Have a great week!

Barred Owl Basking in a Sliver of Light

I do not know how people get owls in great light. I never see barred owls especially, out in the open. They are usually hiding in a bush, within the dark part of the woods, or within branches.

Barred Owl Basking in a Sliver of Light – One eye open
Barred Owl Basking in a Sliver of Light – Eyes closed

Luckily I found this barred owl basking in a sliver of light. These are not recent shots. Enjoy your week!

Mystery Bird

All you bird experts out there, I need your help. Can you identify this bird? I assume it is a duck, but I ran this through Merlin North American and Europe and nothing seemed to be an absolute match. I am far from an expert.

Mystery Bird

It appears to have red eyes and an orange beak. The colour on top of its head is a darker brown. I do not know if this is a juvenile or an adult. I saw this in one of the parks in London. That of course does not mean necessarily that it is native to Europe. What are your thoughts? Can anyone identify this mystery bird? Or could this even be a hybrid cross between two birds?

Chiloe Wigeon

I was lucky to see a lot of birds I have not seen before in England. The royal Parks and other parks in London were great places to view some of these birds. The chiloe wigeon was one of them.

Chiloe Wigeon

Appearance

With Chiloe Wigeons both male and female look similar, but the male may be brighter. It has rusty coloured sides. They have white cheeks and a white forehead. They also have a metallic green head. Chiloe wigeons are small ducks.

Diet

The diet of a chiloe wigeon includes water plants, crustaceans, and tadpoles.

Location

The chiloe wigeon is often found in wetlands, marshes, lakes, and along rivers. The chiloe wigeon gets along with other waterfowl, but more often seen near or on the shore shore, grazing in grassy areas. This bird is mainly found in the southern part of South America, but it is also seen in parts of Europe including England.

Don’t discount parks in cities, you may find a lot of wildlife you are not expecting.

Coyote

You could not miss this coyote. It walked across a busy road. It looked like it was following after something, but I never saw what that was. No, this is not in England. I took this tonight on my way home.

Coyote- Nice enough to pose for a couple of shots

It is not the best image. It was at night after a rain storm in low light. I had my camera in its bag in the back seat. I had to pull off and take it out. I saw the coyote go into a business parking lot, so this is where it is in this image. Note to self: I need to have my camera in the front seat readily available.

The coyote looks very scruffy. Could this be the result of a disease? May it be the battle scars of fights with other animals? It did not look to weary of people. It actually left a popular rail trail and was in a business parking lot. It stood there letting me take a couple of pictures. Sometimes I wonder what tales an animal could tell. If I had known it was going to do that I would have set my camera to a 1/800 of a second instead of 1/2000. What do you think it’s story would be?

Gray Heron

I was fortunate enough to see some gray herons at different Royal Parks in London. It turns out these places are great places to bird watch.

Gray herons are similar in appearance to great blue herons, but are smaller in size. All About Birds has the length of the gray heron being between 35.4-38.6 inches, while the great blue heron is between 38.2-53.9 inches in length.

Gray Heron – Adult

The above pictures appears to be an adult. It has the pronounced black stipe on its head and the beak is lighter. During peak breeding season its beak can be orange.

Gray Heron – Juvenile?

I am guessing this image may be a juvenile gray heron. It does not have the pronounced black and white colours on its head and its beak is darker.

I highly recommend visiting the Royal Parks in London. It is a great way to get in some steps in while being nature in the heart of London.

“In every walk in nature, one receives far more than he seeks.”

John Muir

Bufflehead

Some birds that are native to North America, I have not seen in North America. One such bird is the Bufflehead. I saw this bird for the first time in London, England.

Bufflehead – female

There are sightings in England and Europe for these on All About Birds. I was kind of thrown off in identifying this diving duck. I am far from an expert and the colouring listed online for a bufflehead female appears to be brown, but in these images the duck appears to be black. I will have to look through my pictures more, but I do not think I captured a male. This female was on a pond on a cloudy day. The pond was mostly well shaded by trees hanging over it creating an even darker situation.

Bufflehead – female

In multiple images not taken in consecutive order it appeared maybe a hook was in its beak. I could be wrong, but to be on the safe side I contacted the entity responsible for the pond and they were going to check it out.

Again, I would like to emphasis that sometimes what many think is not the best lighting can still create nice lighting for your images. Don’t discount the cloudy days.

Northern Shoveler ?

I just came back from a little less than 2 weeks in England. I took lots of photos. It was my first visit since before Covid. I took it slow so I did not travel far and wide daily. I believe this bird is a northern shoveler. If I am wrong, let me know.

Northern Shoveler

I saw this bird close to the Thames River in London. I saw a lot of water birds in London through visits to the Royal Parks etc. This bird was in a pond near the Thames River on a cloudy day, and it was a forested area around the pond, so it was dark. This photo has been lightened.

The northern shoveler is a dabbling duck. Dabbling ducks feed on aquatic plants and small invertebrates on or near the surface or the water.

Happy Friday tomorrow!

Barred Owl in a Bush

If a barred acts like it is sleeping, sometimes the birds leave it alone. Sometimes if I stand there and watch it for a while they leave it alone.

Barred Owl in a Bush

I guess the birds figure the owl will not try to hunt them while I am there. I have yet to see an owl catch a bird. I usually see them get chipmunks etc. Either the owl is either catching a very short nap or is pretending to sleep. I don’t know if you would call this a cat nap. Would you?

Surprise! A Great Horned Juvenile

I have heard crows complaining on hikes. Sometimes it is good to check it out as it might be a bird of prey that are fussing about. Surprise! A great horned juvenile was there.

Surprise! A Great Horned Juvenile

I knew it was a great horned, but a friend messaged me it was a juvenile after I took a picture with my phone of the back of my camera. It is still fuzzy on the head and the ears are not quite like an adult’s ears yet.

Surprise! A Great Horned Juvenile – mobbed by crows

It was unexpected for a few reasons, but I was happy to spot it. It was dark in this part of the woods and it was before sunset, so I could not increase the shutter speed, hence the crows are blurred a bit. This is the first time I have seen a juvenile great horned owl after it fledged. Expect the unexpected.