SCARLET Tanager, INDIGO Bunting, RED-shouldered Hawk, YELLOW-bellied Sapsucker, Eastern BLUEbird, RUBY-throated Hummingbird, RED-eyed Vireo, American GOLDfinch, and even a BLACK Bear. All photos in this post are from our Etna, NH yard from June 9 to July 4 except the Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers at a nest hole in White River Junction.
Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers
Ted Levin told me about a pair of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers feeding their young at a nest hole on Hurricane Hill in White River Junction, VT. I posted a few photos from my first visit on my last blog. I repeat one here showing the red-throated male waiting for the female to exit the nest hole in the aspen.
In the morning the tree was dark, but the contrast was low. In the afternoon it was brighter, but the contrast tended to be extreme. After my first morning visit I went back the next afternoon and oriented myself to the side rather than straight on to the hole. My goal was to get flight photos as the parents visited the nest with food and left with wood chips and fecal sacs.
Female arrives and a male leaves.
And they do it again.
A male flew to a nearby tree and screwed his head around to grab something.
Two more photos of a male departing with more wood chips. Perhaps as the chicks grew they needed to make the cavity bigger.
In this photo what looks like a feather in his mouth is actually just the leading edge of his left wing.
Male on another tree. He stayed there a while preening.
Male leaving, perhaps with a fecal sac.
The male ducks out of the way to avoid getting hit as the female leaves the nest.
Female sapsucker arrives with a beak full of food.
Three days later I was back for the third time, this a short late afternoon visit. Here are three photos from that trip to VT. It appears the female is carrying a spider in the first photo.
When I returned on June 22 for my the fourth visit, the sapsuckers were no longer entering the cavity. The chicks must have been too big. This male seems to have a spider on it head.
I was able to get the sapsuckers flying away after feeding the chicks. In the first photo below you might be able to see a chick peeking out of the nest.
My last visit on June 27 was a short one. I wish the sapsucker family the best. Perhaps the nest will be reused next year.
Colorful Species in Our Etna Yard
We had many colorful visitors to our Etna yard these past weeks. Our yard consists of wildflowers — lupines, milkweed, ferns, and others — and is surrounded by woods. To the east are mostly young trees that have grown since the ice storm of 1998. In the other directions the trees are older. We have some annuals in pots on our deck.
SCARLET Tanager
Jann and I returned from a June 9th morning walk to hear a robin, that sounded like he had a sore throat, singing. But it turned out to not be a robin but a first ever for our yard Scarlet Tanager in the trees near our house. I took some photos including the one at the start of this post and these.
Four days later I spotted it again.
INDIGO Bunting
When the Scarlet Tanager visited for the second time, he brought along a friend — a vibrant Indigo Bunting, the first we have seen in our yard in years.
Such a beautiful bird.
RED-shouldered Hawk
A Red-shouldered Hawk landed in a snag we left after the ice storm, sat, and preened for over 20 minutes.
After a while I was thinking it might never leave.
But finally it turned to face me and shortly after that flew. Most of the time birds fly the wrong way, but this one seemed to want to show off for my camera. Actually, I think it just took off into the wind as hawks normally do.
Eastern BLUEbird
Another bird that rarely visits our yard, Eastern Bluebirds might appear more often if we put out food during the spring and summer. But there are bears around, although I have not seen one in years until this July. This bluebird caught an insect.
I captured one launching.
RUBY-throated Hummingbird
I spent considerable time photographing hummingbirds this season. It seems rare to see a male, but one came around fairly often, normally early in the morning.
It looked good with our weigela.
The female did too.
But the female really loved to visit our red salvia,
When i was young I thought hummingbirds never perched. But they do.
RED-eyed Vireo
Its eyes are the most colorful thing about a Red-eyed Vireo. This is a bird we hear in our yard much more than we see.
American GOLDfinch
Just when I was running out of colorful birds, a pair of American Goldfinch paid a short visit to our gerbera daisy.
BLACK Bear
While I was photographing hummingbirds, a black bear lumbered through our yard at 7:39 a.m. Fortunately I had just the right lens on my camera.
Then amazingly at 4:49 p.m. it was back. It had most likely made a complete circuit of our house.
If you missed any recent blog posts you can find them HERE.