Birds and Nature

These Least Bitterns' plumage melds into the habitat so well, and stay so still until they lunge for their prey, I almost missed this bird.  This species is only about a foot tall. This was again from the South Padre Island Convention Center boardwalk and in same area where Javi Gonzales spotted the Least Bittern that I photographed a few days ago.  SeEtta

While birding on the boardwalk at the Convention Center on South Padre Island last evening I ran into Javi Gonzales. I had asked about nesting birds when he spotted this Least Bittern near by. I was delighted to watch this little bittern less than 20 feet away for more than 10 minutes as it hunted successfully several times. There were a lot of reeds between me and this bird so it did not show any attention to me, but it also made it very difficult to get still pics as the wind was blowing so reeds kept blurring my pics but I did get this one. The nice thing about video is that such things are not as much of a problem so this video of the Least Bittern came out nicely. See the video best in full screen mode by clicking on the little arrows on bottom right of the video frame. SeEtta

This was one of the highlights of my visit as was so neat to see a Least Bittern chick. While I actually have seen one, and even photographed it, once and here in Colorado it was not the best view. It is always challenging to observe and especially photograph these little guys as they are surrounding by reeds. I also got to see one of the parents when it was out likely hunting for food for the chicks (there were 3 reported). SeEtta

This shows the Rufous-necked Wood-Rail found by Matt Daw, a highly skilled young birder, at the Bosque del Apache NWR. It is the first report of this species in the United States and has drawn birders from across the U.S. including Hawaii. In this video it is seen foraging in the open water in plain view by myself and other birders who were on a boardwalk over this wetland. Note video taken at 7:55 pm and the light was fading but I did not want to do any editing to avoid distorting this bird's natural and beautiful coloration. SeEtta

So I don't chase rare birds much anymore and have never chased a rarity more than 150 miles. But when I saw this mega-rarity Rufous-necked Wood-Rail was found at Bosque del Apache NWR south of Albuquerque, which is great birding hotspot I haven't been to in some years, and it was being seen with a Least Bittern and they were out in the open--well, I decided there were too many interesting birds there to not drive down. And it has been worth the almost 500 mile drive. The top two pics show the Rufous-necked Wood-Rail as it foraged out in the open in shallow water. I love those bumble-gum pink legs. Pics #3 shows the Wood-Rail in the top of the pic, a Least Bittern out in the open (wow) in the middle and a Green Heron at the bottom--nice foraging friends. Pic # 4 shows the Wood-Rail with just the Least Bittern. SeEtta

Though I saw the LEAST BITTERN (actually saw 2 together) today I did not get any new photos. I took this yesterday and I believe it shows field marks for a male LEAST BITTERN: the neck and sides are chestnut brown or what Cornell's All About Birds website calls 'warm orange-brown' in my opinion. I don't have a view of the back but the neck and sides are a lot darker than the 'pale yellow buff' (per Sibley's). I did not get a diagnostic view of the 2 LEAST BITTERNS today so I can't say if either looked to be a male or female; but it would seem likely, given that this species has nested here before, that there was a male and female. SeEtta

I photographed this LEAST BITTERN this morning at Holcim Wetlands which is about 25 miles east of where I live in So Central Colorado. I thought I spotted one diving down into the large area of cattails in the center of these wetlands. This morning a Least Bittern was found 3 times as it flew and kind of hopped low in the cattails. These are all the same photo but the the middle one is cropped and the top is very tightly cropped to show the head and neck of this small bittern better. The bottom pic is uncropped--but is the view produced from my Canon dslr 60d camera with a 400 mm lens and a 1.4 extender--with the 1.6 multiplier due to camera not being a full frame this combo provides approx 900 mm view or 18X enlargement. SeEtta Post note: if you can't see the LEAST BITTERN in this bottom photo just click on it to enlarge then follow the arrow (that isn't as obvious as I thought it would be)

As I have had questions about whether the Least Bitterns I saw yesterday were in the middle, top or bottom of the cattails, I am posting this pic that I did not crop so you see what the bird looked like through my long telephoto lens combo (400mm lens + 1.4 extender and with a 1.6 multiplier for not having a full frame camera=equivalent of around 900 mm telephoto or 18 X's normal lens). This also shows the challenge these birds presented for photographing especially since I have to focus manually. Click on pic to enlarge then click on it again to get better view. SeEtta

Shortly after I watched a fledgling (or two) practice clinging to a cattail and looking around (possibly to see what caused all the noise and vibration--a local rock quarry train had pulled up and stopped on tracks about a hundred feet from the birds), I spotted this Least Bittern which I believe due to it's darker plumage is the male. The bottom pic really shows off the coloration from it's crown down to it's flight feathers. These pics really show details if you click on them to enlarge then click again to super enlarge. SeEtta

Due to post surgery restrictions I haven't been able to get out to the Holcim Wetlands where the Least Bittern was found 2 weeks ago. Since then other birders have seen possible male and female birds raising the possibility that there might be breeding occurring. I went out this morning and looked for them from 7 am to 11 am--I could hear Least Bittern soft 'cooing' calls off and on but could not spot any birds. Interestingly, the location the calls were coming from was right where I had photographed the Least Bittern the first time as it hunted. When I left I stopped for some food in nearby Florence and checked my email on my Droid phone--a post this morning while I was at Holcim stating he had seen a male, a female and 2-3 fledglings yesterday between noon and 1pm. So I gobbled down my food and returned to Holcim Wetlands to try again, at this unusual mid-day time frame. Doug had made it sound like a piece of cake but it wasn't so for me. I had even sat on th...

I returned 4 days ago to Holcim Wetlands before 7 am to try to refind the rare Least Bittern and hopefully get some pics in good light. Though I succeeded, the bittern was much more distant than when I photographed it last week in the evening (at least a hundred feet out). However, I was able to get postable pics of it engaged in classic bittern hunting as is shown in the two pics. Note that it is 'perched' by straddling cattail shoots, a feet made possible by their small size, allowing it to strike downward at prey in the water below. Gee-these pics are almost identical though the sun was out in the bottom pic but not in the top pic (the top pic was taken at F10 while the bottom pic at F8 as a result). Actually these show a progression, a very, very slow progression of the hunt--look closely and you will see that the bird's bill in the 2ndh pic is a few inches forward of and below the position in the 1st pic. So what? The 2nd pic was taken 3 minutes after the 1st pic...

The sun was out from behind some clouds providing better lighting for these pics. I really like this top pic as it shows the neck plumage well and I think this is very cool looking. I also like the bottom pic for showing off the interesting wing plumage with the buff colored wing patches surrounded with chestnut and then white feathers. Shortly after I took this pic the bittern retreated back into the thick cattails. SeEtta

In the top pic the Least Bittern is looking directly in my direction and I suspect it has heard the mechanical clicks of my Canon dslr camera (yes, the bells are all turned off but all cameras make some amount of mechanical noise when the shutter is depressed and I have found other birds disturbed by it). I stayed very still and quiet so the bittern did not flush but instead stayed for another couple of minutes. The bottom pic, next in the sequence, shoes it went back to it's hunting position with beak jutted out in front with head and body pretty parallel to the ground. SeEtta

This Least Bittern was found this week by a local birder, Rich, at the Holcim Wetlands east of Florence,CO. This is a rare bird in any part of Colorado and the first seen in this county. I took the top pic as the bird poked it's head out from behind the cattails. In the bottom pic the bird had stepped all the way out and had assumed the hunting position. More pics in next posts. SeEtta