Great Crested Flycatcher

One of the interesting birds that we see here in the summer is the great-crested flycatcher. Although they are some what common they are not always easy to find. They spend much of their time at the top of the trees hunting for flying insects. Occasionally they will drop down to take insects from the ground but they usually will not stay on the ground for very long. They nest through out much of the eastern United States and parts of south eastern Canada. They nest in tree cavities or nesting boxes and often cushion the nest inside the cavity with a layer of trash or vegetation. I photographed this flycatcher last summer at the Dodge Nature Center.

Birding at Old Cedar Avenue

The next weekend in July found me back down at the Old Cedar Avenue Bridge / Bass Ponds. The birding that day was a bit slow but I still managed to find a couple of birds to photograph.
The bright yellow color of a male goldfinch, in breeding plumage, stood out pretty well against a backdrop of green algae. The American goldfinch is one of the more common birds seen here in late summer. This is probably due to the fact that it is a late nester, nesting in late June or July when most other passerines are already done. Last year I got some great goldfinch shots on the thistle by one of the ponds, but the higher water level this spring prevented the thistle from growing back in that spot. So I have not had the opportunities to photograph goldfinch that I did last year. I also managed to get a pic of a great crested flycatcher. Usually great crested flycatchers are found at the top of the trees so I felt fortunate that this one came down so that I could get a pick. I had spotted them several times around the Bass Ponds so I am guessing that at least one pair nested in the area, wooded swamps would be prime breeding habitat.

Flycatchers and Gnatchers at Old Cedar

The dragonflies at Old Cedar Bridge need to be wary. While they are predators and spend much of their time on the hunt for other insects there are larger predators who would certainly enjoy a nice plump dragonfly for dinner. Near the ground and in the water there frogs, lizards, spiders and fish that the dragons need to worry about, but even more dangerous are the flying predators. These include bigger dragons, warblers, waterfowl and flycatchers among others.
The great crested flycatcher can be found through out most of the eastern half of the US during the summer. They spend a majority of their time in the treetops, rarely coming down to the ground. As their name suggests they spend a good deal of their time hunting flying insects. When the weather turns cold in North America, and there are no more insects to eat, these birds migrate down to Central and South America where they spend the winter.

Another insect eating bird that I have photographed near the Old Cedar Bridge is the blue-gray gnatcatcher. The blue-gray is the northern most occurring member of the gnatcatcher genus. Most other gnatcatchers spend their lives in neotropic regions. The blue-gray spend its summers in the middle portion of the US with southern Minnesota being on the northern edge of its range.
Since the blue-gray is the only gnatcatcher that breeds in a more northern climate it is also the only gnatcatcher that truly migrates. During the winter the birds that come north migrate down to southern California, Florida, Mexico and the Bahamas. Since they are quite a bit smaller then the great crested flycatchers they would tend to eat many of the smaller insects, this can include spiders, lady beetles, mosquitoes, flies, small damselflies among other insects.