In the spur of the moment last Wednesday morning, I packed my car and took off on a bit of a "hummingbird vacation," pressed onward by my interest in photographing hummingbirds where they were gathering for a migration stopover. I have had it in the back of my mind to visit the Henderson Hummingbird Garden in south-central Minnesota with the potential of photographing Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, and after a 6½ hour drive, I spent 2½ hours in the company of more than 30 hummingbirds in the midst of a beautifully kept garden setting.
The photography was fast-paced and continuous, and I was surprised by just how much I enjoyed the experience, and how much I learned about Ruby-throats that late-afternoon and early evening! And gosh, was it ever Fun! I have been on a lot of raptor trips, warbler trips, crane trips, loon trips, and more; but this was my first hummingbird trip – and must say that it ranks among my favorite birding trips. You might say I still have a hummingbird hangover as I write this and look back on my time spent in the flourishing garden and hummingbird haven late Wednesday and early Thursday. My 2 visits were decidedly different in almost every way, except that I mostly had the beautifully designed hummingbird garden to myself during mid-week – aside from the many hummingbirds that is.
Fueled by my interest in having the chance to take more photographs of hummingbirds, and male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in particular, with so many hummingbirds on hand it was interesting to observe the interactions and territorial behavior of the little dynamos. All while photographing the birds as they were feeding on nectar from select flowers or one of the dozen hummingbird feeders positioned throughout the garden. The Henderson Hummingbird Garden is an oasis positioned in a park on the edge of the historic town of Henderson, in the beautifully wooded Minnesota River Valley – and now the town is home to the new National Ruby-throated Hummingbird Center!
I describe my photo sessions at the hummingbird garden in the Bird Photography feature in this issue and share some of the best photos I have taken of Ruby-throats. There is also more information about the new National Ruby-throated Hummingbird Center in the Backyard Birding article in this issue. Other birds I observed and heard while in the midst of the hummingbird garden were Blue Jays, American Robins, Downy Woodpeckers, a White-breasted Nuthatch, and Gray Catbirds, including a pair that was tending to nestlings in a small tree within the garden. As I reluctantly drove away from the town of Henderson Thursday morning, just past the Ney Nature Center, a Pileated Woodpecker flew above the road, reminding me of how much I would like to photograph this elusive species.
Ninety minutes later, after driving across the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolis from south to north, I spent a couple hours with my niece Katy and 2½ year old nephew Anders, who is a bonafide nature boy and an energizer-level action Jackson. Katy and Jeff have a wonderful old-growth yard that leads to a little neighborhood pond that attracts Wood Ducks and Mallards, but while I was near it attracted Black-capped Chickadees and American Goldfinches. The big attractions for goldfinches in their yard are the super-sized sunflowers that Katy plants in elevated garden boxes, and having produced seeds by now, goldfinches are occasional visitors. Katy, Jeff, and Anders also had recent visits from a flock of Wild Turkeys and a pair of Sandhill Cranes, and a quarter mile to the east a pair of Ospreys nested on an elevated nesting platform. An adult Osprey was present when I arrived, and a recent fledgling was perched on the platform when I left.
Back at the Office Friday, the bird of the day was a young Red-eyed Vireo that worked its way from my little sumac grove to the branches and leaves of the ash tree adjacent to my feeding station, searching for caterpillars and small insects and spiders no doubt. There were also several American Robins making regular visits to my birdbath, seemingly with each bird making just one drink stop, including young robins, and adult males and females. That made me check my chokecherry patch and sure enough, a few robins were active among the ripe berries that make the branches bend heavily.
After returning from the Minnesota hummingbird garden, it seemed clear that the long-time resident male Ruby-throated Hummingbird that was just finishing his summer molt had moved on. As noted at the National Center, the males migrate south first, and it appears this male ended its residency in my yard and the surrounding area after 3 months. Not to leave it vacant though, because at least 2 females were active at my feeder and visiting flowering plants. But wait, that evening after sunset a non-molting male was drinking heavily at the nectar feeder, showing its full gorget and acting differently from the more territorial molting male – Exciting!
Saturday afternoon the highlight at my office was a Black-and-White Warbler, and it spent at least a minute foraging along the bark and branches of the ash tree. The male Ruby-throated Hummingbird was back Saturday morning, as were the 2 females, along with a young American Robin, a young Mourning Dove, and a female Hairy Woodpecker that fed quietly on suet. That afternoon a White-breasted Nuthatch foraged on the ash tree's trunk and checked out the suet feeder but left in a rush without a taste. And to top off the day, as I began my late day birding drive, just 100 yards from the office a molting Cooper's Hawk was drinking water on the side of the road – Woo, that's a species I haven't seen in the neighborhood for a few months and it was a great way to start my birding session!
A Lost Road Surprise: Back to Friday evening, I pressed forward on a birding drive to Charo Marsh, which I extended to the Red-headed Woodpecker hotspot via a detour along The Lost Road. The evening was kind of subdued for birding, but by the time I reached Charo it was clear there were more Red-tailed Hawks in the area, mixed with a few resident adult Swainson's Hawks. As I topped the first hill along The Lost Road, I gasped at the sight of a bright white hawk perched on a nearby fencepost.
It was a stunning Krider's Red-tailed Hawk, known for their extensive white coloration, and this hawk had 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-white on the dorsal side. The lower half of its tail feathers were colored tan, broken by regularly spaced black horizontal stripes. Its bright new plumage indicated this was a young bird that just fledged a month or so before.
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 perched, providing me with ample opportunity take portrait photographs of it. When it did take flight it flew low 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. It provided some long-range flight photos, but flew out of sight behind me. I took a little time to review some photos on the mini-screen on the back of my camera, then ambled down the very remote road again, thrilled with the Krider's sighting.
Watching out across the broad native prairie landscape that once attracted historic herds of American Bison, as I topped the second hill down the road – there was an identical-looking Krider's Red-tail before me! A twin, or did the young hawk circle ahead of me? This time the hawk was perched on a post that provided a blue sky background and the hawk was positioned with more of its white plumage showing – providing some exceptional photo ops before it took flight, providing a few more circling flight photos – what an impressive bird!
In fact, I headed back to The Lost Road Saturday late afternoon, and while there were 5 Red-tailed Hawks along the way, none were the Krider's gem. However, the magic of The Lost Road provided another surprising avian sighting – an owl – a Burrowing Owl no less! It was hunting on the ground where Richardson's Ground Squirrels have a small colony where they keep the prairie cut short and provide a number of burrows that are favorites of Burrowing Owls in North Dakota and other areas of the Northern Plains.
The owl was standing at a burrow and ran to what may have been a larger burrow entrance a few feet uphill; there was definitely more excavation material surrounding that burrow. That's when I began taking a few photographs about a half-mile west of the abrupt escarpment that divides the Coteau from the Drift Plain to the east. The ground-based owl was pretty static in its behavior aside from turning it head left, right, up and forward – repeated many times, so I bid it well and left it and the 3 nearby ground squirrels to carry on. What an exciting find only about a dozen miles southeast of home, and what a kool Burrowing Owl.
In retrospect, during the 3 days from Thursday thru Saturday I had some top-notch birding experiences, starting with the hummingbird photo adventure in Henderson, the Krider's Red-tailed Hawk double-encounter Friday, and the eastern-most Burrowing Owl sighting in this century Saturday – all with an extended photo session, which always makes a sighting all the more valuable and rewarding! Oh wait, there was the 30+ hummingbird Wednesday complete with photos too – make that 4 days of exceptional birding!
Sunday–Funday: Both the female and male Hairy Woodpeckers fed on suet twice separately during the afternoon while I was working, and the Burrowing Owl was still on hand along the Lost Road, but it was much more active – pouncing on crickets after a short flight, and during short running chases. It flew about 15 feet high in circular flights 2 different times, returning to the same burrow platform as it preferred Saturday – kool bird when it was active. Also saw a big flock of blackbirds, mostly made up of Common Grackles; and the reason I mention it is that when the grackles took flight, one noticeably had a white tail – a "white-tailed grackle," which is an indicator of partial albino (leucistic) plumage.
While the 2 female and 1 male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds settled in for a few days, it seemed everything changed yesterday (Tuesday) in that the male was not showing up and there were 3 females vying for a place at my nectar feeder, often creating an aerial ballet that included 2 or 3 of the tiny dancers at a time. It's certainly been a hummingbird kind of week, but it was not without a variety of other exciting birds, some of which I have described here and illustrate with a few photographs. What will the next week bring as migration intensifies and new birds arrive just as others leave? Hope your week has been enjoyable, and I hope you search for some memorable birds as we approach the end of the month and the first days of September – Enjoy Birding!
Article and Photos by Paul Konrad
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