It's easy to use birds and bird feeding to bring science and nature into focus at school as students attending classes ranging from elementary school to college return. Any time is a good time to introduce a lively school project that students of all ages can participate in, but why not kick off the school year with an exciting project right outside the window: Observing and identifying birds that visit a simple feeding station. Adding bird feeding and bird study can become a weekly focus and a daily part of a classroom schedule to bring nature into view.
Experience the Western Field Ornithologists' (WFO) 50th Annual Conference in Ashland, Oregon this September 17 to 20! Celebrate with WFO members during 4 days of exceptional birding, science, and community in the beautiful Rogue Valley and beyond. Each year, the Western Field Ornithologists host a multi-day conference featuring scientific presentations, field trips, workshops, panels, a keynote address, the annual membership meeting, and community events in a spirit of camaraderie.
Timed so you can be ready for hawk and falcon observations during fall migration, you can participate in a live raptor flight ID presentation next Wednesday, September 9th at Noon EDT. Join hawk counter Josh Haas as he shares an overview about how to identify raptors in flight, and especially how Josh's video clips can help you learn to identify raptors in flight. Josh will show clips from his movie Hawks on the Wing to illustrate his innovative way to learn how to identify raptors in flight. The program features side-by-side videos of raptors in flight, which makes mastering the technique faster and easier.
Since 1997, teams of birders from across New York state and beyond have vied for trophies and raised conservation funds at the Montezuma Wetlands Complex, one of New York's most exciting birding destinations. The Annual Montezuma Muckrace is a 24-hour birding competition that raises funds for bird conservation and environmental education programs in this birding hotspot that includes Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. Birding teams can register in 1 of 7 categories and bird together to compete September 11 and 12 from 6pm Friday to 6pm Saturday with the focus of finding and identifying as many bird species as possible.
Along an 8-mile stretch of roadway I counted 16 American Kestrels in groups of 2, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3, 3, and 1 in that order south to north, along with 2 Red-tailed Hawks and a young male Merlin – the best raptor of Saturday evening. There were several other Red-tails and 2 Swainson's Hawks beyond the 8-mile line, along with an adult Cooper's Hawk. I took advantage of a chance to photograph a female kestrel that caught a big bug, but as I photographed the kestrel, a young Red-headed Woodpecker suddenly appeared on the pole adjacent to the kestrel's perch. I switched my focus to the gray-headed woodpecker and figured it was the photo of the weekend.
NL Pure 8x42 Binoculars are the top of the Swarovski line for optical quality, and the combination of 8x magnification with the widest field of view of any 42mm binocular at 477 feet at 1,000 yards allows you to search a wide expanse for birds, then zero in on the birds you find. These Swarovski's are especially impressive due to the 91 percent fluorite-containing glass that produces color-rich, especially bright views while you are birding. The ground-breaking Swarovision field flattener lenses provide edge to edge super-sharp images and Swarovski's famous lens coatings optimize colors and contrast.
The newest National Geographic publication provides a remarkable look at the exciting variety of birds found in 111 distinct bioregions of the world. A book like no other, this impressive large-format Birder's Atlas of the World, describes more than 1,500 of the most sought-after birds and provides 475 color photographs of birds and the landscapes they inhabit. Author Noah Strycker made birding history by traveling to every continent and observing 6,042 species in a single year, and now he provides this impressive overview of the world's birds, biomes, and top birding sites.
Bark Butter attracts more species of birds than any other bird food – 162 different species, so far! It's a great super-food that will attract migrating birds that may not stop by your feeding station for seeds or other bird foods. This unique super-suet mix is only available from Wild Birds Unlimited, and it comes in 3 forms: As small circular pellets called Bark Butter Bits, that can be offered in a platform feeder, tube feeder, or hopper feeder. There are also new No-Melt Bark Butter Bricks that fit into suet cake feeders, and the original product is a spreadable "butter" that can be smeared on tree bark or offered in a Bark Butter Feeder.
North Carolina birders have been especially active documenting new rare birds, including a Second North American Record Cape Verde Shearwater that was photographed during a pelagic trip offshore from Oregon Inlet, North Carolina; along with a Second State Record Wedge-tailed Shearwater. There was also a North Carolina Second State Record Common Ringed Plover onshore, along with exciting First State Record birds that included a Common Ringed Plover in Wyoming, a Wandering Tattler in Michigan, and a Cassin's Kingbird in Georgia. And there are more really rare birds to report this week.
As I topped the first hill along The Lost Road, I gasped at the sight of a bright white hawk perched on the low side of the next hill. It was a stunning Krider’s Red-tailed Hawk with piercing white eyes and mostly white coloration! This regal hawk showed a completely white underside from the top of its head to the middle of its tail. The plumage on its back and wings was beautifully pattered with white highlights emphasized against a brown base color. Its tail was white on the underside and half-beige on the dorsal side. The lower half of its tail feathers were colored tan, and the long feathers were broken by regularly spaced black horizontal stripes. This impressive hawk’s bright new plumage indicated it was a young bird that just fledged a month or so before, yet it looked as large as any adult.
A most impressive young Krider's Red-tailed Hawk provided an initial portrait photo, but patience and timing would provide a few other photo options (600mm zoom lens, f-8 aperture, 1/2500 shutter speed, 800 ISO).
With white eyes peering in my direction, I gingerly positioned my camera and began photographing it with prairie grasses blowing in the wind behind it. The beautiful hawk was not alarmed and appeared intent on hunting from its perch, providing me with ample opportunity take portrait photographs of it. When it did leave its perch, the white hawk advanced on a smooth, low glide and dropped down into the grass as if in pursuit of prey, rising up again 30 seconds later to ply the sky on the wing.
The dramatic pattern on the dorsal side of the young Krider's Red-tailed Hawk was in complete contrast to the underside of the hawk, which was almost completely white (600mm zoom lens, f-8 aperture, 1/4000 shutter speed, 800 ISO).
The impressive white hawk provided some long-range flight photos as it swept across the clear sky, changing direction and tantalizing me by coming kinda close, but I wished for a closer approach. After the hawk passed behind me, I tried to reposition to get back within the best sunlight range, but it stayed beyond the reach of my zoom lens and flew out of sight. I took a little time to review some of the photos on the mini-screen on the back of my camera, then began a slow drive forward down the very remote road again. I was thrilled with the Krider’s sighting and photo ops, but as often times happens with bird photography, I wished for more.
Showing more of its white underside and upper wing pattern during the second portrait stance, the hawk looked even more regal against the clear sky background (600mm zoom lens, f-8 aperture, 1/4000 shutter speed, 800 ISO).
Watching out across the expansive native prairie landscape that once attracted historic herds of American Bison, as I topped the second hill I was taken aback by the sight of an identical-looking Krider’s Red-tail perched before me! A twin? Or did the young hawk circle ahead of me? This time the hawk was perched on a hilltop post that provided a blue sky background and the hawk was positioned with more of its white plumage showing – providing just a few exceptional photo ops before taking flight again. This time its circling flight provided a few closer flight photos in beautiful late afternoon sunlight, but it didn’t provide a good image of its white underside as it circled and flew.
Throughout the 2 photo sessions I used my standard f-8 aperture that balanced the very fast shutter speed between 1/2500 to 1/4000 of a second, although the fast speed was only needed for the flight photo.
I hoped this impressive raptor would continue to hunt along the Lost Road, so I checked back later that evening, the next day, and other afternoons without seeing the beautiful Krider’s Red-tailed Hawk again. But even seeing it the second time was a special chance, and it apparently resumed its late summer movements, just as so many other Red-tails are on the move toward peak migration time across the region (across the continent). The variety of plumages this species shows provides birders with a reason to check on every large raptor and try to find interesting examples of Red-tails to photograph, including adults and young birds. Enjoy this migration season with such an exciting variety of birds making their way south daily, and good luck with your camera and lens!
