Sandhill Crane Week 7

Sandhill Crane Into the seventh week in the life of the juvenile, the female adult relaxes after being up for several hours already in the day.

Sandhill Crane The juvenile, just up from another nap, adopts an unusual sitting posture while preening.

Sandhill Crane Meanwhile, the larger adult, the male, scans about as the usual pedestrians stroll by, some with enemy dogs.

Sandhill Crane While preening, the juvenile frequently stretches its now impressive wings.

Sandhill Crane Much of the preening concentrates on all parts of the wings.

Sandhill Crane Though not for long, the adult male takes a very short nap, looking even larger when sprawled on the ground.

Sandhill Crane A full stretch of the juvenile wing shows off the flight feathers filling in impressively.

Sandhill Crane This was a complicated stretch that started with a bend of the wings above the head and back and then a forward lean.

Sandhill Crane A bit of an itch on the face. One of the toenails is white, compared to the black of the others.

Sandhill Crane The female adult can do preening while standing on one leg.

Sandhill Crane The juvenile can't yet, but it is very flexible as it twists neck and head around to rub the tops of its wings.

Sandhill Crane Another wing stretch starting with the overhead bending contortions.

Sandhill Crane And a straight-out flare, head to the ground. These wings will be in full use in no time now.

Sandhill Crane When a parent does a similar stretch, the juvenile looks at the wing right in front of it and does a quick peck or two.

Sandhill Crane The female adult didn't care. Here she has just fed the juvenile a worm with a bit of left-over grass in her bill.

Sandhill Crane With both bent over and scanning the ground for food, their relative sizes are becoming closer and closer.

Sandhill Crane Hunt and probe. The bill of the juvenile is about two-thirds as large as an adult's now, and a potent tool.

Sandhill Crane Some kind of grub, a very desirable food.

Sandhill Crane Everyone in action. Together, but not for long.

Sandhill Crane Silently, without warning, the male adult ran and took flight. Rather than a few flaps, it headed straight out over the pond.

Sandhill Crane A few hundred yards out, over Tiedeman's Pond, it turned and came back overhead, over the rooftops, towards Stricker's Pond.

Sandhill Crane Looking surprised, both the juvenile and female adult stared for a long time in the direction the male vanished. With the juvenile in the lead, both walked between the house and up to the street in that direction. The juvenile started a low, alarmed keening call, sounding very disturbed.

Sandhill Crane After five or ten minutes, the male flew back overhead. Here the female, neck ruffled, saw him coasting in for a landing.

Sandhill Crane And so did the still keening juvenile.

Sandhill Crane Together they hurried back down the hill and between the houses to find the long-absent, restless male. Someone has to learn how to fly very soon.

© Michael Bailey All Rights Reserved; Not for reproduction.
No photograph from this blog may be reproduced or used
in any form or by any means whatsover.

Nest Thief

American Goldfinch The thief.

Cedar Waxwing The original nest builder with a piece on the way. The female does most, if not all, of the work.

American Goldfinch and Cedar Waxwing American Goldfinch on lower left pulling pieces out of the nest as the Cedar Waxwing, upper right, builds.

American Goldfinch and Cedar Waxwing One of many visits the American Goldfinch makes as it steals from the bottom of the nest and flies off to make its own.

Cedar Waxwing On the alert about the activity, yet doing nothing about it yet.

Cedar Waxwing Standing by, not taking part either way it would seem.

Whitetail Deer Owen Park in Madison has a resident population, mostly bold and also active in the daytime.

Whitetail Deer This female appears to have a full udder, so must be nursing a fawn nearby.

Indigo Bunting One of the brilliant inhabitants of Owen Park singing from a vantage point overlooking the prairie.

Indigo Bunting Time for a bit of preening.

Cooper's Hawk Perched on a rotting log, sort of hunting, this juvenile begins to get irritated at insects beneath.

Cooper's Hawk Trying to figure out just what's going on, it flew up and back, searching underfoot.

Cooper's Hawk Serious talons, one sunlit.

Cooper's Hawk Farther away an adult perched as another flew in from the prairie with a small rabbit.

Common Yellowthroat A female keeping an eye on intruders.

Common Yellowthroat She complained a great deal as she moved through the brush and plants.

Common Yellowthroat A brief look down and then off farther away, maybe trying to draw attention away from a nest.

Swallowtail Butterfly A few intermittently drifted here and there as they fed on the nectar of flowers.

House Wren Everywhere and sure to let you know they are present.

House Wren Two at once, probably siblings from a nest in the past few weeks.

Gray Catbird Another abundant resident with an amazing variety of songs and calls, though mostly meows late in the summer.

Eastern Phoebe Early in the season they can be heard continuously calling at dawn, but fall mostly silent as the summer wears on.

Lily A domestic escapee at the edge of the trail at Ho-Nee-Um in the University of Wisconsin Arboretum, Madison.

© Michael Bailey All Rights Reserved; Not for reproduction.
No photograph from this blog may be reproduced or used
in any form or by any means whatsover.

Cooper's Hawk

Cooper's Hawk One of two juveniles continually calling for food from their parents nearby.

Cooper's Hawk A bird overhead caught this juvenile's attention. However, not the two large rabbits ambling about on the trail below.

Cooper's Hawk The other juvenile landed in the tangled branches of a tree and looked at home worrying through them.

Cooper's Hawk It even found a tunnel to fly through.

House Wren Trying to decide whether or not to complain about an intruder.

Swallowtail Butterfly Brilliant scales in the sunlight as it fed on the flowers.

Swallowtail Butterfly Probing into the center of the flower.

Swallowtail Butterfly A delicate balance as it worked from flower to flower with short flutters.

Eastern Kingbird In the open at Governor Nelson State Park and on the lookout for all intruders into its space.

Northern Cardinal Crest straight up in excitement, a female with her bill stained from eating berries.

Common Yellowthroat A male on the way to a nest with freshly caught food for its young.

Sedge Wren Usually well-hidden, this Sedge Wren popped up and down a few times while chatting away.

Sedge Wren A quick look before disappearing again.

Crane Crossing An enjoyable not-so-standard sign with art work.

Sandhill Crane No need to worry about flyovers.

Red-winged Blackbird A fledgling squawking for food from a male parent, but the parent looks like it is done feeding. Get over it.

Double-crested Commorant Passing through and working with the sun at Stricker's Pond on an early morning.

Double-crested Commorant The two companions, both immature birds.

Green Heron A short wooden bridge makes for a good fishing spot.

Green Heron Look up at the sound of a bird flying over and talking. Danger or not?

© Michael Bailey All Rights Reserved; Not for reproduction.
No photograph from this blog may be reproduced or used
in any form or by any means whatsover.