North 40 – Page 4 – CrazyM Bird & Nature Photography

Killdeer & Cedar Waxwing

Started off this afternoon at Reifel. While still fairly quiet there was a Red-necked Phalarope in with the Yellowlegs and Dowitchers today. It just never came close enough for a decent photo. There was also a handful of Least Sandpipers present as well. At the other end of the outer ponds,

… the Killdeer and its juvenile (foreground) were a little closer to the dyke.

The juvenile Killdeer has grown quite a bit since I saw it last. From here I headed off to the North 40 where I had not been in some time. Things were not looking any busier there until something caught my eye amongst the branches of a tree.

It was a juvenile Cedar Waxwing.

And not far off higher up in an adjacent tree was one of the adults. Being the wonderful late afternoon that it was I felt this was worth spending a little time with.

The juvenile Cedar Waxwing was mobile, but not flying yet. I positioned myself far enough away as not to be a concern for the adults, but still close enough for photos. Then it was a matter of keeping still, waiting and hoping to catch some feeding behaviour.

Then one of the adults came in to feed the juvenile.

This time around it was regurgitating whole berries. Unfortunately the juvenile had moved and was not as visible as I would have liked.

Next feeding appeared to be some nice gooey insects.

After which the juvenile did come out a little more into the open,

… and then started to move around again.

Once it had settled in this tree I decided it was time to move on. This was the first time I have managed to capture this behaviour with the Waxwings and enjoyed every minute of it.

Willow Flycatcher

Having a couple of other things on the go I had not planned on heading out today. But when the weather cleared later in the afternoon I could not help myself. Arriving at the North 40 I could hear one of the Lazuli Bunting singing near the entrance again. Unfortunately it is usually roosting in an area that is not easily accessible without flushing the bird. But for anyone wanting to see one, they are still around. One bird that was accessible,

… was this Willow Flycatcher.

It was more than willing to cooperate,

… and strike the odd pose as it moved between the tree and bush tops. There is usually two in this particular area, perhaps a nesting pair.

American Goldfinch

While it has only been a few days, sometimes that is all it takes. On checking the Tree Swallow nests today there was no activity. Hopefully all the young have fledged successfully, but the window of opportunity for photographing food deliveries is gone. Conditions were not ideal this afternoon, but one of the Willow Flycatchers was active and I caught a glimpse of a Grosbeak. The only bird that took time out to pose for me,

… was one of two American Goldfinch that were busy chasing each other around.

That was OK because it has probably been a year since I tried getting any photos of one.