Wandering Wooded Trails
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I pretty much had the several acres of campground trails running through woods and following along the Big Sioux River to myself every visit during the week, so I can imagine I was a surprise to all the birds and wildlife each time. I know they were all enjoyable surprises to me!
I’ve got lots of bird favorites from those trails, the campground and it’s lake, so here’s an overloaded post. Hopefully, a photo catches your eye as cool, unique, or endearing too.
And included as the first photos, two birds that I had put aside to try to ID and have learned I picked up another two lifers! 💃 😊
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Western Wood-Pewee (Lifer #228)
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Great Pewee (Lifer #229)
(Thank you, HJ (Avian101), for your expertise on ID help!)
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Downy Woodpecker (male)
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Downy Woodpecker (female)
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Red-headed Woodpecker
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Red-headed Woodpecker
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Baltimore Oriole (male)
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Baltimore Oriole
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Eastern Kingbird
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House Wren
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Yellow Warbler (female) collecting nesting material
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Chipping Sparrow (on our grill cover)
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American Redstart (male)
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American Redstart (female)
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American Redstart (male)
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American Redstart (female)
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Killdeer
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Yellow-headed Blackbird
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Spotted Sandpiper surrounded by Least Sandpipers
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A few other things caught my eye as well.
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Shelf Fungi
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Six-spotted Tiger Beetle
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Silver-spotted Skippers
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Cotton-tail Rabbit
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White-tailed Deer (female)
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Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
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Thanks so much for hanging in there through all those!!
I’ll wrap up with a family portrait. 😊
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Canada Geese family portrait
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Our RV wheels have rolled, where are we next and what birds & wildlife have I seen? 😉
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Three Birds – Three Lifers
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My campground selection for our week’s stay in Iowa was spot-on awesome. Not only were the sites spacious and surrounded a pretty lake, there were also wonderful nature trails directly on the campground’s massive property.
And those nature trails were definitely inviting…..
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Campground trail entrance
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To fulfill my excitement to share 😉, this post is of three birds, all new lifers for me, that I captured my first day on these trails, which was the day after photographing my ‘new’ Dickcissel (last post).
I wish my photos were better on the first two, but they’re clear enough to ID these birds, so good enough for my lifer list personal prerequisite. Woot woot!
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Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Lifer #225
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Indigo Bunting, Lifer #226
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The funny thing about the above two birds, I’ve seen both of these several times in past years back home in Maryland at Blackwater NWR; but I was never successful in getting a decent photo. Who knew I needed to go to Iowa to finally score. 😏
There is also a small wetlands area around the lake where I found my next new lifer. And for this bird, I did have to go West to capture; we don’t see it along the East Coast.
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Yellow-headed Blackbird, Lifer #227
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Yellow-headed Blackbird
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Yellow-headed Blackbird
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I sure have enjoyed being on Cloud 9 lately! 😊
More to come from Iowa…..
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Dickcissel Delight
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Another day of travel and we’ve arrived at the northwest corner of Iowa for a week’s stay. The next day, we visited the Broken Kettle Grasslands Preserve, Iowa’s largest remaining prairie and home to over 200 bison.
We had hoped but didn’t sight any bison. Exciting though, I was able to capture a Dickcissel singing beautifully out on the prairie. A new lifer #224 for me! 💃
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Dickcissel (male)
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Dickcissel (male)
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American Robin Fledgling Learning To Fly
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Our first night stopover was in Iowa. We lucked out with an end campsite, so I had a great open view where I got to watch an American Robin fledgling run around and attempt flight practices under Mama’s supervision.
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American Robin fledgling
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American Robin fledgling’s pretty backside
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“Flight Practice”
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The fledgling could gain air but not much altitude before dropping back to the ground.
Mama Robin even gave a lesson by flying down to the fledgling, then flying back up to her tree branch. Here’s the fledgling attempt to meet Mama on the branch she was sitting!
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“Heading up, up, up, here I come, Mama!”
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An awesome effort! Unfortunately, the fledgling only made it to the tree trunk just underneath the branch but still tried to ‘land’.
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“Trying to hang on to the tree truck landing.”
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“Oops, not working!”
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Quickly, the fledgling started to fall from the tree trunk. It saved itself with this next comical shot.
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“Exit, Stage Right!”
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That was enough for the fledgling for a while. Surely it’s now sitting next to Mama on the branch proud of itself!
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“I do not smile for the camera”
😉
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Five On The Wing – #11
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These five birds in flight were also captured along the Great Marsh Trail. The little ones are a challenge!
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Magnolia Warbler
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Yellow Warbler
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American Redstart (male)
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Canada Geese
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Sandhill Crane
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That wraps up the birds I photographed along the Great Marsh Trail at Indiana Dunes NP. What an awesome couple hours, I can only imagine what a day, a week, or more could be like, wow!
We returned to find our motorhome warranty work complete, and have hit the road to continue our adventure out west. Where will I be sharing birds from next? 😉
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A Sandhill Crane and A Pair of Red-winged Blackbirds
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Red-winged Blackbirds are fierce protectors of their territories. They will attack and chase all intruders, no matter their size. Here’s a post I’ve shared back in 2018 of a Red-winged Blackbird chasing an Eagle who perched too close to his area!
So now enters the Sandhill Crane that I shared at the end of my last post. It continued to walk around and feed, minding its own business. Too many steps in one direction and suddenly the Sandhill Crane was under attack by a pair of Red-winged Blackbirds.
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Red-winged Blackbird (male) swooping the Sandhill Crane
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Red-winged Blackbird (female) sneaks up from behind for a hit
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Red-winged Blackbird (male) getting ready to dive down again on the Sandhill Crane
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Whoa, double attack!!
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Sandhill Crane trying to keep its eye on the Red-winged Blackbird as he circles back
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“Ouch!”
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Sandhill Crane now aggravated and showing who is the biggest here
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“I want no trouble. And, you know, I am bigger than you…”
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Eye to eye contact between the female Red-winged Blackbird and Sandhill Crane
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Everyone beginning to relax, there’s no reason for all this commotion
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One last menacing stance, doing it’s best Clint Eastwood – “Go ahead, make my day.”
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The commotion ends and all is quiet again
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I heard, turned, and redirected my focus on the Mute Swans to my left when out of the corner of my eye I saw the Sandhill Crane take flight. I guess it was taking the cue to leave. S/he flew right past me.
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Sandhill Crane in flight
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Sandhill Crane in flight
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If you know the Sandhill Crane, you may have noticed this one had heavy rusty coloring. Normally more gray, some with a bit of tan, I looked into what might be up with this one.
And……During breeding season, Sandhill Cranes preen their feathers with iron-rich mud, dyeing them to a rusty coloring. Whether its to add color to their mating displays, or to help them camoflauge better in tall marsh reeds, the dyed feathers eventually molt after breeding season ends and grow back to their grayish color in time for migration.
Looks like this one loved the mud baths!
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The Bigger Birds at Indiana Dunes NP
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My previous two posts shared the smaller birds I recently captured on the Great Marsh Trail at Indiana Dunes NP. Here are the bigger birds from that same walk that are my favorites.
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Red-winged Blackbird (male)
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American Robin
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Northern Cardinal (male)
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Mourning Dove
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Great Egret
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Mute Swans
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Mute Swans (same pair)
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Sandhill Crane
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Feeling already elated with more than I could have imagined and fingers crossed I accomplished some great shots, the Sandhill Crane was an awesome bonus as I was leaving. 😃
I will be sharing another action post with that Sandhill Crane who ventured around a little too close to the nesting area of a pair of Red-winged Blackbirds. And we all know Red-wings are territorial!
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More Little Birds at Indiana Dunes NP
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My goodness, those warblers I shared in my last post were a challenge. They don’t stay still! Here’s sharing more of the little birds I captured at Indiana Dunes NP on the Great Marsh Trail.
I’m starting off with another bird to add to my lifer list! 💃
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Northern Rough-winged Swallow – Lifer #223
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Song Sparrow
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Song Sparrow
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Chipping Sparrow
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House Finch
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American Goldfinch
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Black-capped Chickadee
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Downy Woodpecker
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More of the bigger birds to come from Indiana Dunes NP….
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Warblers – A Fab Four
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We’ve left home for our summer mid-West adventure, with our first stop in Indiana. Leaving our motorhome for its scheduled warranty appointment, we headed north to the Indiana Dunes NP and southeast side of Lake Michigan to explore a few days.
Definitely on my list was to walk the Great Marsh Trail at the Indiana Dunes NP, a trail that I’ve enjoyed very much through featured posts in HeavensSunshine blog. Although we weren’t able to meet (I’m still bummed, Irene!), I felt like I was walking one of her post hikes with her. 🙂
I didn’t have quite two hours on that trail but was very happy with so many bird sightings and good photos. This post starts off with the four warbler species I captured, the first two that are bird lifers for me! Woohoo!! 💃 💃
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Magnolia Warbler, Lifer #221
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Common Yellowthroat, Lifer #222
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American Redstart (male)
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American Redstart (female)
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Yellow Warbler
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There were many Yellow Warblers, so here’s a few more of them in habitat. Such a gorgeous sunshiny yellow!
Yellow Warbler
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Yellow Warblers snacking on the purple berries
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Find the Yellow Warbler 😃
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More to come from Indiana Dunes NP…..
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Glossy Ibis Gallery
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These are the last of my favorites of the Glossy Ibis from this past winter. Such a gorgeous bird when the sunlight catches their feathers iridescent colors.
I have a fondness too of catching their water drips after a head dive for food.
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Glossy Ibis “Water Drips I”
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Glossy Ibis “Water Drips II”
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Glossy Ibis “Water Drips III”
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Glossy Ibis “Silhouette I”
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Glossy Ibis “Silhouette II”
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Glossy Ibis and Blue-winged Teal (male)
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Glossy Ibis “Reflection”
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Glossy Ibis “All Shook Up”
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Glossy Ibis “In The Shade”
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Bay Photos by Donna 