skip to main |
skip to sidebar
This summer, our berry crop has been excellent. Every day, on my photo jaunts into the Superior National Forest, I stop and eat wild raspberries and thimbleberries. I never carry water or snacks with me; mostly because of camera and lenses weighing me down.
One particularly beautiful day, I stopped in a clearing that had a dozen or so wild raspberry plants. I indulged in handfuls of the luscious wild fruit... also popping in my mouth a few tart thimbleberries that mingle among the raspberry plants. Thimbleberries are a unique wild fruit, they remind me of the "Sweet Tarts" I enjoyed as a kid. They are quite large and when you pick the over ripe ones, the juice runs and stains your fingers. The following photo shows the relative size of the thimbleberry in relationship to my model.
As I quietly "browsed" in my patch, I made my way around a large spruce deadfall. I noticed the tops of the hazelnut bushes moving back and forth. Now this was nothing new to me, since the red squirrels and chipmunks were in the height of their nut collection. The movement produced a black furry ear... then a large black, furry face. It seems I was lunching with one of my resident bears that roam our ridge.
The wind was in my favor, which at the moment wasn't much at all. He walked quietly out of the berry patch to my little trail. I thought for sure that he would go the opposite direction, into the wind. Wrong... he turned and walked in my direction about 30 feet from me. I had my 400 lens on my camera, so all that showed up in the view finder was this very large furry face. Plus it was dark for my f/5.6 lens, so I was shooting at 1/60th of a second; which hand held is not conducive to clear photos. (The shot below the title is what I ended up with)
I have my camera set for high speed bursts, so when I was snapping photos it makes a fairly loud, machine gun sound. He stopped and looked at me and couldn't figure out the sound.... he stood there for a few minutes and decided this was not the direction he should be taking. So he turned and disappeared into the forest. Normally, when I see or am around a bear and he sees me or gets my scent, he ends up crashing through the forest like a runaway train. But this bruin seemed to be enjoying the day and his berry lunch and left for reasons unknown.
It was an enjoyable respite for me, good berries, company, but poor conversation.
Some other bear friends of the past.....
"Bears are made of the same dust as we, and breathe the same winds and drink of the same waters. A bear's days are warmed by the same sun, his dwellings are overdomed by the same blue sky, and his life turns and ebbs with heart-pulsings like ours and was poured from the same fountain..." - John Muir
One of my recent posts chronicled the nesting and fledging of the Chestnut-sided Warbler. A few days ago, I took the final shot of a juvenile chestnut in his "full dress", getting ready to depart for his long trip to Central America or northern Colombia. To me it is an amazing story; each spring their long flight ends on our Cedar Ridge. The chestnuts build their nests, lay their eggs, feed their chicks and fledge their young in a matter of two and a half months. Now, they are readying for that long trip back to the tropics.
Yesterday, as I was refilling the hummingbird feeder, I had eight or so "Rubies" watching me from the cedar trees. I stood there watching them buzz each other and jockey for position at the feeder. I know they are fattening up for their long trip south and their migratory story is even more compelling than the Chestnut-sided Warbler. It is hard to fathom that this 3 gram speedster, will fly non stop across 500 miles of the Gulf of Mexico.
I have found nests of the hummingbirds in the forest and they are not only intricate, but fabulously camouflaged. They are usually located 10-20 feet above the ground, on a tree branch. Each nest I have found has a beautifully decorated exterior of lichen that exactly matches the tree limb. It is a work of art.
The female lays two eggs, about the size of a pea or jelly bean and by this time the male has "flown the coop." (Maybe this is why all the females at our feeder, continually chase the lone male out of the area). The incubation phase is usually around 12-16 days. The nesting period is longer than the chestnuts which is 11-15 days, the hummer's don't leave the nest until 15-30 days. Most will "practice" wing stretching and beating their wings rapidly for exercise. They will then make maiden voyages from the nest to trees in the area and back again. The fledglings will stay around the nest for a number of days being fed by the mother.
We have around a dozen Ruby-throated Hummingbirds visiting our feeder. They are extremely territorial, protecting their precious, liquid food source. At the moment we have only one male at the feeder and he is rudely welcomed at all times. This action by the females is quite interesting, because in most cases it is the male that aggressively protects his food source. It is reported that the older males are usually the first to arrive in the spring and first to leave in late summer. So I suspect that my lone male is a younger hummingbird.
One hummingbird stat that I found interesting is that many Ruby-throated Hummingbirds travel more than 2000 miles from Central America to Canada. Since our Cedar Ridge is located around 40 miles from Canada (as the raven flies) it is an impressive accomplishment... twice a year.
In the fall of 2008, our last Ruby-throated Hummingbird departed September 19. I imagine the weather will play an important role in their decision to leave our area. Until then we will be watching their feeder antics and do our best to fuel them for the long, perilous journey.
Hummingbird darts lightly through the world, spreading its message of joy and beauty, and teaching us to appreciate the wonder and magic of everyday existence. Hummingbird brings the gift of joy. Learn to laugh and be happy. ~ unknown
Recently, friends of ours who live on the shore of Lake Superior, called to tell me about a Merlin nest in their backyard. Merlins are raptors in the falcon family about the size of a pigeon. I call them "feathered bullets" because of their amazing speed and maneuverability. I have never had an opportunity to view a Merlin close up, only as they soared over my head on our ridge. The prospect of seeing these birds fledge was positively enchanting to me.
Merlins set up shop in vacant crow and hawk nests, they do not build their own. The nest is located in a huge spruce tree directly behind their house. It is nearly at the top of the tree and contained three noisy chicks, "peeping" constantly for mother to bring them lunch. One of the chicks hopped further out on a branch, possibly to get the first shot at mother Merlin's next food trip.
My friend put a ladder up on the side of his house, so I could get up on the roof for closer shots. I took a number of shots of the chick on the branch and eventually got a shot of all three on the same branch.
I took the first Merlin photo on July 6 and the last one on July 19; it was thirteen days of intriguing raptor observations. I spent hours each day waiting for a flying shot of mother coming in from the hunt. She came in like a lightning bolt and because of the terrain, it was impossible to get a good shot. All I got was a lot of wings flapping in the spruce branches. As the days and hours passed, I ended up with a pretty good photo chronicle of their growth and environment.
I got to observe unending trips of the adult birds bringing in food for the fledglings.
The fledglings made their first flights to surrounding spruce and dead birch trees.
Eventually they found the rocky shores of Lake Superior, bathing and enjoying the water pooled from the surf.
The finally occurred when all three fledglings soared from tree to tree and across a bay of Lake Superior.
Merlins I learned, are a very unique bird... they are deadly hunters of small birds and they are fearless. My friends observed them dive bombing a Great Blue Heron, literally running him out of their territory across a bay of Lake Superior. Each day they roamed farther from their nest tree; I never witnessed them hunting on their own... but I am certain that one sunny spring day, I will see one or more... rocketing above the shores of Lake Superior.
"No bird soars too high, if he soars with his own wings"~ William Blake
Winter Wren 
Whitetail Buck
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
European Starling
Rusty Blackbird
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Pileated Woodpecker
Myrtle Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Myrtle Warbler
Jean & Friends
Hermit Thrush
Hermit Thrush
Fox Sparrow
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue Jay
Blue-headed Vireo
Black-capped Chickadee
American Tree Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Evening Grosbeak
Bald Eagle
Downy Woodpecker
Dark-eyed Junco
