Great Horned Owl, Bubo virginianus

Great Horned Owl

I made reference to this owl in my previous post. I had gone out looking for owls (not really Great Horned but as this was the only one I saw, Great Horned is fine!). This bird was at Pleasant Valley Conservation Area in McHenry County. They are however fairly common throughout our area in the right habitat.

Before seeing this bird, I heard it call. Not the usual 'hoot' call but a relatively quiet screech. Despite knowing which tree it was in, it took me a while to finally see it - and that was only because it flew to a nearby tree! Fortunately, it stopped there and allowed me to get a few shots off before moving to another nearby tree (this time not one I could photograph it in).

I really want to get out this winter and find more owls. There is clearly a technique that I haven't mastered yet as I know people who can fairly regularly and reliably find owls. I imagine part of the trick once you've found them is to remember that location and go back looking for them. A good start is to look hard at likely holes in trees. Like all birds, you shouldn't approach too close (especially not these as they sleep when we're awake!).

I have seen Great Horned Owls before - often mobbed by a flock of crows. Great Horned Owls eat a variety of prey including small mammals, small reptiles, nestlings of other birds and amphibians. Like several other birds, the Great Horned Owl does not make its own nest, but takes over the nests of other birds!

Red-breasted Nuthatch, Sitta canadensis

Red-breasted Nuthatch

I went out this morning with the intention of finding some owls. Largely because I've had very little luck finding owls roosting and because I wanted to find some locations where they were likely to be. Ultimately I did find and photograph a Great Horned Owl (I'll post photos later) but interestingly for me, I also found several great locations to see Red-breasted Nuthatches.

For some reason I have not seen many Red-breasted until this month. However, this month, I've seen far more Red-breasted than the more common White-breasted. Of course a big part of the reason is that this is their winter range but they are around for an extended period. In any case, I was very pleased to find them today. I was even more pleased to photograph them!

Red-breasted NuthatchRed-breasted Nuthatches, like several other species, prefer spruce and pine trees to forage in. They are considerably smaller than their white-breasted counterparts, being 20% smaller on average, and weighing about half as much. The red breast is not surprisingly diagnostic, although they are most often seen clinging to trees and vegetation, which hides their breast. Another diagnostic mark is the eye stripe, which is not present in the white-breasted.

White- and Red-breasted Nuthatches seem to often be together with Brown Creepers and sometimes Chickadees. The red-breasted in particular seems to remain quiet while the white-breasted will call from time to time. The red-breasted's call is more insistent than the white-breasted, said to sound like 'ank ank ank'.

Bufflehead, Bucephala albeola

Bufflehead

With the days getting shorter, there is proportionately less time to take pictures at this time of year. And it has seemed recently like the times I have available for photography don't coincide with the times when there's a significant amount of sun! Despite the weather I did get out recently and managed to get close to this Bufflehead at North Point Marina.

I won't hide that I wish this was an adult male bird because they are so much more attractive than this immature bird (which looks very similar to the female but has a less-distinct ear patch). Nevertheless, I was very pleased with the photos I got of this bird.

As I wrote in a previous post, the Bufflehead's name is a contraction of Buffalo Head, which I still think is a little mean. The adult male is a very attractive bird. The Bufflehead nest in holes left by Pileated Woodpeckers and is apparently largely monogamous. They will be with us most of the winter, returning to Alaska and Canada to breed in the spring.

BuffleheadAdult male Bufflehead are one of the most easily identified waterfowl, having a striking white and black head, while the females and immature birds are fairly distinctive but possible to confuse with female and immature Ruddy Duck at a glance. I have already seen hundreds of Bufflehead flying along the Lake Michigan 'coast'. Bufflehead are one of the diving ducks as can be seen in the picture above. They can stay down for a surprising amount of time and cover a surprising distance under water. They will often dive to avoid danger or if they are startled.

Snow Bunting, Plectorphenax nivalis

Snow Bunting

Jeff and I started the day looking for scoters, jaegers, gulls and the recently seen Purple Sandpiper but apart from some nice views of Bonaparte's Gulls, we didn't score on any of the others. We did see a couple of Snow Buntings flying over but it was way to dark for shots at that time (oh, and they would have been a small smudge at best anyway as they weren't exactly close!).

Then we went hunting for Red Crossbills but struck out on those. However, we did see several Red-breasted Nuthatches and a flock of twelve Pine Siskins so I wouldn't call it a bad stop.

We then went back to the lake's edge at North Point Marina looking for more scoters, jaegers, etc. We never did find any of those but I did get a chance to get a little closer to some Snow Buntings! The Snow Buntings have been a bird I've been trying to find for a year or so - last year I always seemed to miss them but as we saw them in a few locations today, I think I'll get a better chance this season.

The Snow Buntings are a winter resident, moving north to breed. We see the non-breeding plumage at this time of year, whereas the breeding plumage is a simple white & black. One day I'll go and see them in their breeding areas...but not this year.

-- Snow Buntings Part 2
I went back to North Point Marina today (Sunday) to try and get better shots of the Snow Buntings. I was under the [mistaken] belief that the weather forecasters knew what they were talking about when they said the clouds would break up. However, despite the lack of sun, I did get some closer shots of the Snow Buntings today. The picture above is one of them.

It was fascinating watching how they feed, what they feed on and their general behavior. After a short while I could see a distinct pattern and used that to my advantage: the birds tended to feed south along the road, so I got a little further south of them and waited for them to come to me! In the end, I got to within about eight feet of the birds, of which there were ten.

Bald Eagle and Red-tailed Hawk

Bald Eagle and Red-tailed HawkAnother day at the IBSP Hawk Watch yielded a total of
233 raptors of ten species including 188 Red-tailed Hawks and 4 Bald Eagles. This shot represents one of those rare times when a Bald Eagle and a Red-tailed Hawk are close enough to get in one shot.

Its not hard to see the significant size difference between them. And yet, at a mile or so distance, its not always quite so easy! We first spotted these birds a LONG way out. In fact, the only bird initially visible was the eagle. Then, as if they just beamed in, three, then five Red-tailed Hawks appeared with the eagle. In reality, they appeared because they were initially so far away and so high that they were invisible, even to high power optics!

There was no animosity between these birds as they approached - still at significant height - and finally went over, literally right above us. Unfortunately that doesn't happen all that often (the directly overhead part) so it was great to see them there. This particular Bald Eagle is an adult, which can be determined because of the white head and tail and otherwise dark brown body and wings.

Other raptors seen today were as follows:
Turkey Vulture - 2
Bald Eagle - 4
Northern Harrier - 11
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 11
Cooper's Hawk - 4
Northern Goshawk - 2
Red-shouldered Hawk - 7
Red-tailed Hawk - 188
Rough-legged Hawk - 2
American Kestrel - 1
Total - 232