New York City Hawkwatcher and Photographer Francois Portmann Hits Audubon Magazine and He's a Smash! Plus Sandhill Crane Antics

Photograph by Francois Portmann  http://fotoportmann.com/birds/

For those of you who have neglected going over to the Link Referral column on the right, and clicking on Francois Portmann's Photographs, you  have been missing some absolutely spectacular work.

And now Francois  has the feature photo spread in  the March-April issue of Audubon Magazine and he is brilliant.

Photograph by Francois Portmann  http://fotoportmann.com/birds/

See what I mean?  

 Exactly!  

And it isn't just his proficiency with a camera, which of course he has, it is catching the bird moment as well as, in this spread's case the juxtaposition of  Breezy Point, the urban environment across the way, and birds from the Arctic.   It's art in a major way.

 So go ahead.  Check it out.  We'll wait.

Click on Francois's link first--  http://fotoportmann.com/birds/,  and then click on the link to Audubon Magazine where you'll get a sort of multi-media version of his photographs in the spread when you click on Gallery.

If for some reason that doesn't work for you, here is the link for the magazine and the article by Scott Wiedenthal.  Once you get there scroll down the article a couple paragraphs and click on "Gallery, more images of snowy owls..."
http://www.audubonmagazine.org/articles/birds/so-many-snowies-study-scientists-are-discovering-how-little-we-know-about-bird 

Honest, we really will wait for you to get back.  It's worth it.  Trust me.

Remember Emily and Alfred, the Sandhill Cranes featured on yesterday's blog?  

(I know, I know, they weren't Emily and Alfred yesterday, but suddenly today I know their names.... my whimsy must have clicked in.  What can I tell you?) 

Well if you look particularly at Alfred, the crane in the rear, also look at his rear.   Instead of being completely gray back there as all the field guides tell you he should be, he has rusty brown feathers on his back and also the lower part of his neck.  This is quite common.

Hmmm.  Why might that be?

Wait.

Next check out Emily's beak.  After you left her yesterday, she leaned down and foraged around just into the water in the mud.  See the glob of mud sticking to the tip of her beak?

The mud will be relevant in a minute.

The reason that many Sandhills have this rusty brown tinge on some of their feathers is because their feathers  have actual rust on them.

How did they get rust on themselves?  You might well ask as they aren't prone to snuggling with old rust bucket cars in scrap yards.

Well, in any number of places in which Sandhill Cranes spend their time, the soil has iron oxide in it.  Therefore they forage around, get some mud stuck on their beaks like Emily and then preen...Ta Da!  Rust colored feathers.

And their feathers will remain that color until they molt out and new ones come in.  Who knew?

And speaking of odd tidbits about Sandhill Cranes, the next one is in relation to Canada Geese.

You'll remember how Emily turned around and appeared to be yelling at the Goose who was so close to her?

There are Canada Geese who are imprinted on Sandhill Cranes because they were raised by Sandhill Cranes and therefore want Sandhill Cranes for mates.  (Not the case here as eventually that goose went off with another goose.  More likely the geese were having some kind of territorial issue.)

At any rate, how do geese end up imprinting on Cranes in the first place?

Well you might ask.  

For whatever obscure reason, every now and again a goose will lay an egg in a Crane nest.  This would happen after the Crane nest had been built but was unattended as no crane eggs had yet been laid.  

The Cranes are off doing Crane business,  a goose passes by the empty nest and lays an egg in it.  The Cranes come back, and don't seem to be bothered by this as they brood the goose egg along with their own after they lay them and also parent the gosling.

Precocial young like goslings, imprint on their parents directly after hatching, and if the "parent" happens to be a Sandhill Crane, they grow up learning to dance and attempting to seduce Sandhill Crane colts into being their mates, as well as migrating with flocks of Sandhills.

Fascinating isn't it? 

Now go watch some birds, you just never know what you might see.

Donegal Browne

 

Pale Male and Zena, Osprey Cam Action, Doorstep Dove is FOUND, and Canada Goose Alert!

 Photo courtesy of http//www.palemale.com/
One of Pale Male and Zena's fledglings, watches for "prey", which includes rocks and twigs at this age, from behind a leaf.  Good thing, she's still getting the real thing from her parents.  Look at that bulging crop! 


Having raptor cam withdrawal in those spare moments in between updates,  now that most Red-tail eyasses have turned into fledglings?

Here is one I just discovered today.  AND as I've never watched Ospreys in the field, the learning curve is fascinating plus I have questions, questions, questions...

http://explore.org/#!/live-cams/player/live-osprey-cam
That's vigilant mom on the left and there are three eyasses napping in the bowl of the nest.

Dad shows up with a still flopping fish.

Mom gets fish and stops the flopping.  Dad keeps an eye peeled.

Mom pulls the fish up onto her handy dandy staging area/orange netting and starts working on the fish.  The eyasses begin to show some signs of life.

 Mom begins to feed and as the eyasses become more active it is apparent that ospreys have asynchronistic hatching.  The is a rather large size variation compared to Red-tails who's young most often hatch in a day of each other.  In this case they come in large, medium, and small.  Interestingly though Large and Medium were first up to be fed, before long Small managed to tumble Large back somehow in a scramble and got an even share.  Spunk counts.  Dad keeps watch.

Then dad is off as feeding continues.  Note Large is to the right of the perpendicular stick.  Medium is center above Small.  And Small, with the lighter feathers and open beak is about to get the next bite.


Here is one of my questions.  See the square item?  Follow  the perpendicular stick from the bottom of the photo up.  That looks like a rock but it appears to be placed on top of other nesting material.  I don't know that Ospreys carry rocks to their nest and in any case it would appear to be too heavy for them even if they did.  Perhaps a remnant of Styrofoam?

Next up Robin of Illinois also had a pair of mallards visit her feeder. Here's a recap--

About 5 years ago I had a mallard pair come to my yard and gardens, two years in a row. They would come in late April and come daily, and then disappear in mid-May. The second year, in early May, we had a tornado 1/4 mile from my house, and I've not seen the pair since. I hope they fled the area in advance of the storm. The second year a juvenile was often seen accompanying them. The first year, another male tried to steal Mrs Mallard away, and the males duked/dueled it out on the wide park-like area behind my house. I watched with bated breath and great fascination. By the way, the home team won.

I wasn't the only one who was fascinated and delighted with them. Neighbors would watch out their windows, slow their cars as they passed my yard if the ducks were in it, and sometimes sneak around in the bushes furtively to watch them as well.

Doorstep Mourning Dove finally appears again!

I admit it. I was worried.  Yes I know it's nesting season and hens have to stick to the nest pretty closely but I hadn't seen Doorstep for weeks and weeks.  Then the other day, after I'd seen a clutch of three newly fledged Mourning Doves being herded into the Big Nest by Friend and then I saw Friend, Doorstep's mate sitting on the bird bath watching the sunset without her--  I really got worried.  Yes she'd likely be laying a new clutch but ordinarily she helps Friend for a day or two with the youngsters before beginning to sit again.

Then I looked out on the feeding floor and saw a petite Mourning Dove with a slight ruffle to her posterior feathers pecking away.  Poor thing she's practically sleeping on her feet.

She heard the camera and looked up completely aware.  I bobbed my head.  She bobbed back...  It IS her!!!!  Alive and well.

 And then she went back to eating with her eyes at half mast.  Raising a threesome can really take it out of a girl. 

ALERT!!
Once again this year Canada Geese will be rounded up in New York City's Parks and killed.  The USDA chooses this time of year because Canadian Geese are at their most vulnerable.  They are in molt, often flightless, and have goslings.    Beyond planned protests, Goose Watch needs you to help document these activities.
http://www.goosewatchnyc.com/

Part 2 The Eagle Nest, B.J. the Attack Goat, Sandhill Crane Pair, Hordes of Canada Geese, and Red-winged Blackbirds,

YOU'LL NOTE THAT THIS IS PART II- AND PART I ISN'T ABOVE IT YET. INDEED NO. IT'S TAKEN ME TWO DAYS TO GET PART II DONE SO I FIGURED I SHOULD PUT SOMETHING UP, GOODNESS ME. BUT IF YOU PREFER TO READ PART I FIRST YOU SHOULD WAIT UNTIL IT APPEARS AND THEN READ BOTH IN SEQUENCE. ON THE OTHER HAND, IT MIGHT BE INTERESTING TO READ THEM OUT OF SEQUENCE AND THEN READ THEM IN SEQUENCE...
(I'm trying to integrate about 700 photos from two different cameras and as the time stamp seems to be a bit off on one camera it's more of a time eater than it should be. Sorry.)
Worried that I might be bothering the eagles too much, they don't see people as innocuous parts of the landscape AT ALL. I was backtracking to the first treeline, when I heard squeaking. I looked up and there was eagle heading straight for me. Dad? I've no idea, except by behavior, but I don't really know American Eagle behavior like I do Red-tailed Hawks, but if he were a Red-tail he'd likely be dad so I'm going to call this eagle, Dad.

By the way, he really was squeaking. He was coming after me in an aggressive way but all these guys can do is squeak. Very strange. At any rate, the minute I raised the camera to my eye... Come to think of it, even though I know eagles squeak it was so strange coming out of the huge bird I stopped action a moment thinking about it, and didn't get the straight on shot. Perhaps the squeaking is a little like Skunks that stand on their hind legs. The odd behavior weirds the intruder out?

Note that Dad immediately went into his turn the second I put the camera to my eye. They do not like cameras. The long lens reminds them of guns?

There he goes heading back north towards the second tree line and the nest.


Going...

Into the second nest tree line and I'm sure what exactly happened here. There is a break in time.

And an eagle appears to the east of the nest.

She comes in to perch.

He goes to fold his wings, sees me, and changes his mind.

The huge wings unfold again.

And off he goes.

Out the other side of the trees.

I see more wings to the NE out of the corner of my eye, I look. Oops, they're Canada Geese. Where's the eagle? There he is coming after me again. I lift the camera to my eye.

He pivots and heads the other way.

He follows the high voltage lines back in the direction of the nest.




The next time I see an eagle, is sitting in the dead tree near the nest. This could be Mom. See her in the V of the trunks?

I'm now somewhat hidden in the southern treeline. Not that anyone is really fooled I'm sure.

An eagle comes from somewhere and heads west in the tree line. Each time he starts to perch and bring the camera up, he then takes off again to another spot.




Start to perch. Camera goes to eye.

Eagle takes off again.




Then I somehow loose sight of him.

By the way, once I passed the corn fields, contiguous to the lane, the lane gave way to marsh. I passed a first treeline, went over a tree trunk bridge over the crick, and back to the land of marsh water and tufts. I tried to keep to the tufts. If I didn't stand on any given tuft too long I didn't sink into the cold water. If I did, well...

I could hear the Sandhill Cranes, LOUDLY, for 3 or 4 minutes before I could see them. Then I spied them in the western treeline. I was coming back into the vicinity of their perennial nest site and they weren't happy yet again.

Still trumpeting...


Further north and making their own kind of commotion, a whole new flock of Canada Geese arrives and starts circling and continues honking .

These six geese break off from the larger flock which continued to the larger pond to the east, a little further on. They are honking like crazy too. I always get the feeling that they are "talking" to the geese on the ground. And the geese on the ground are "talking" back to them.


In this case, a pair breaks off from the smaller group and desend to the smaller pond. What was all the honking about? Did they get permission to land? Saying good-bye to the group they traveled with? Say hello to the neighbors from last summer? The other two pair are now heading toward the larger flock and its larger pond.

The Canada Geese on the ground just stand on the ice. Yup just stand on the ice or occasionally someone will hunker down, stick their head under their wing and sleep. Not much gamboling around or eating or anything. It isn't just this group, it's all that I've seen today. I suspect that they have returned to the pond where they have previously nested or to their natal territory and they are saving their spot, perhaps?

Ah ha! One of the adult's heads is showing. I don't know if it's mom or dad or whether they've been there the whole time. I hate the fact that I can't tell them apart currently or may never be able to unless they are standing next to each other where the size difference shows.
The male Red-winged Blackbirds are everywhere and they are singing their brains out. Their song is konk la reeeeeee. They look relatively normal on the first note , Konk and ruffle up a bit for the la...

But on the reeeee, which is rather like the buzzing of a very large insect mixed with a trill their feathers plume up and they vibrate all over. The girls must go for it. They're loud.

Speaking of loud, somewhere out there the loudest American bird. A pair sounds like they are coming this way-Sandhill Cranes. I must be somewhere near their chosen nest site. I'm told they pick the same spot every year even though some years the nest gets flooded. You can hear them from two miles away which ordinarily is well before you see them.

There they are! Look at the closest treeline. On the other side of the third tree clump from the left, there is one. Is that the other in the last tree?
Here they come and I appear to be the bone of contention.

Note the bird on the left has his beak open and he's trumpeting at me-garoooo-a-a-a. And he's doing it over and over again. I got three phone calls while I was in the field today and though the phone was in my breast pocket, I never heard it ring at all. It was competing with a lot of birds who either weren't thrilled with my presence or who were seeking mates. It was really LOUD out there.

More garooooo-a-a-as and they start their turn...

...and go in the opposite direction.

Way, way back in the farthest treeline is the eagle nest tree. I reshuffle all my stuff onto different spots of my body so the blood can flow in the places it's been cut off from and walk up the hill towards the house. I see the wife standing in the door and she comes out to talk to me. I tell her what's been going on down at the marsh. We get to my car, I open the side sliding door of the mini-van and I trade my rubber boots, my feet are freezing from sloshing through the icy water, for my shoes. Though I do take off one of my coats and stuff it and my equipment into the car.

I ask about the various buildings and the wife wants to show me something. I hit the button to close the sliding door and head off after her. She shows me their viewing deck for summer and their little viewing trailer with the big picture window they fitted into it complete with coffee maker, TV, and a bona vide record player. It's a very homey rustic set-up. On the walk back she starts telling me about the antics of B.J. the goat. He was supposed to be a pygmy goat, she says, but they lied. Well his legs might be a bit shorter than a regular goat but the res of him looks pretty beefy and full sized to me. Though what do I know from Billy goats. His favorite thing to nosh is cardboard, but he'll also chew electrical cords so they all have to be out of his reach.

We turn the corner of the shed and are walking back to the car, and who should be standing next to it? It's B.J. the goat. The wife says she better walk me to the car as she has the walking stick and B.J. won't do his specialty, run into the person, hook his head round their leg at the knee and press, which clips them off their feet, if he sees the stick.

And B.J. with an absolutely crazed look of ecstasy on his face has some cardboard he is busily chewing.

When he snuffs it he appears reasonably normal but...

chewing it must be transcendent.

You know what? That isn't cardboard that is heavy paper...and it looks familiar. He keeps chewing rapidly while staring at me. I turn around. The side door of the car is open. Somehow either the sliding door of the van didn't slide closed like it was supposed to or... No that isn't possible.

B.J. keeps chewing and I realize he is no longer looking at my face he is now scoping out my knees, AND THEN I RECOGNIZE WHAT HE IS CHEWING and start to laugh. In fact I can't stop laughing. He's chewing the cover of my Road Atlas. Or as they are called in Wisconsin-my Gazetter.

Evidentally people seldom bend over laughing themselves silly in front of B.J. because he stops looking at my knees. Which is a good thing. I'm dying. In order to get my Gazeteer, the remnants of which are in the seat pocket on the back of the drivers seat, B.J. had to put his front legs in the car and strain up to reach it, or I think more likely, he hopped into the back of my van, peeled the back cover all the Gazetteer, heard us coming, hopped back out, and began his maniacal chewing. He really is a very clever goat.
He really isn't sure what to make of this laughing thing. Something to keep in mind to do if YOU ever run into an Attack Goat.

He's still chewing and I'm still laughing.

Then he seems to have had enough of me. I'm being too weird perhaps so he turns-still chewing and trots off. Maybe he'll have an extension cord for dessert.

Donegal Browne