Carpenter Wildlife

Even though winter does not officially begin until Sunday, December 21st, winter is in full swing here in Minnesota. Having quite a few mild winters consecutively in the late 90's and early 2000's has kind of spoiled us. But it seems as though 2008, like 2007, will be reminiscent of the Minnesota winters that I remember from my childhood. Temps the past couple of days have been below zero with a windchill factor down in the 30+ below zero. On days like these it is hard to spend much time outside taking pics, although if it is sunny I will go out, so the next best thing is to go over pics that I took this summer that I have not yet posted. When I look at these pics I realize how much I miss the color green. During much of the year Minnesota is a very green place but during the winter everything is white and gray. These pictures where all taken back at the beginning of August, 8-1, at the Carpenter Nature Center. The first pic I believe is a powdered dancer damselfly but it is hard to tell for sure since I did not get the tip of the abdomen. The pic above is some type of a clubtail but it is not identifiable from the pic.
Carpenter was one of the few places that I found any black swallowtail in 2008.
Back in 2007 a friend from work, Mary, found all sorts of black swallowtail eggs on her parsley plants. She took in some of the eggs and raised them up until they were butterflies and then released them. This year she did not find any black swallowtail eggs.
Hummers were another thing that I did not see much of in 2008. I only spotted 3 ruby-throated, typically the only type of hummer that we see, through out the summer and this was the only good pic that I got of the three.

First time out with the new camera

On August 12th, while out shooting at Crex Meadows, my Canon 20D flipped out on me. Life with out a camera is not acceptable so I needed to decide what I was going to do. I could shoot with my EOS 3 film cameras. The EOS 3 is a great camera but shooting film is an extra cost for film and development and it takes more work to get it into a web usable form. I could get my 20D repaired but I was not sure how long that would take. I could buy the camera that I really wanted, the EOS 1D Mark III but the $4500 price tag is a bit more then I can justify being just an amateur photographer. My other 2 choices were to purchase a Canon 30D or a XTI. The 30D is the upgrade to my 20D. The cost was around $1000 and it did not have much better features then the 20D. The XTI is the new Canon Rebel digital SLR which runs around $700 and has a 10.1 megapixel sensor, instead of the 8.1 in the 20D and 30D. It also has a sensor cleaning system which is nice. However the XTI does not do spot metering and is not made as ruggedly which is important since I end up in some pretty nasty places on occasion.

The other complication was that the 30D had been on the market for almost 18 months which meant it was almost time for Canon to put out a new model. I decided to take the 20D in and have it repaired and wait to see what Canon would do. I used my wife's XTI to take pictures while I was waiting and while it is a good camera it was not what I was used to. At the end of August Canon announced the release of the new 40D. The 40D is built like the 20D and 30D but it has the 10.1 megapixel sensor of the XTI. It also has the sensor cleaning system of the XTI but it also has spot metering like the 20D and 30D. It has a 9 point auto focus system like the 20D, 30D, and XTI, however all the points are cross type points instead of only the middle point being cross type on the other cameras. This is supposed to give the 40D a 30% faster focus then the other cameras that I was looking at. The 40D also has faster memory and processor which gives it an upgraded 6.5 frames per second shooting speed and will allow you to shoot over 70 large JPEGs before the camera has to stop to write. The processor is also a 14 bit processor instead of a 12 bit processor like the ones in the other cameras which gives a lot more color depth.

I was very excited about the 40D but there was no definite release date. The only info that Canon gave was that the camera would be released in September. So starting September first I started keeping an eye online. By September 4th I started to see these being advertised but mostly on sites of somewhat questionable retailers. If I am going to purchase something online for $1300 I want to do it with someone that I trust. Finally by the 6th B&H photo, where I buy a lot of my equipment, was showing that they had stock. I went to place my order but before I could finish they were already sold out. I was pretty disappointed. I was hoping to get a new camera before I left for the Midwest Birding Symposium on the 13th. I looked around some more but could not find any stock at any retailer that I had worked with before. Then I got lucky and found that ZipZoomFly, the place where I buy my computer parts, had listed that they had stock. I quickly put in my order, and it was a good thing since right after I did they went out of stock, and I received my new camera on Monday the 10th. That afternoon I took it out to Dodge Nature Center for my first test drive. Some of the controls are a bit different then my old 20D so I am still getting used to it but I got some good shots and so far I am pretty happy. Here are some shots of a couple of ruby-throated humming birds that I found at the nature center.

These first 2 shots where shot using the auto focus.

It was a little too dark in the shade for the auto focus to catch this hummer while he was moving between flowers so I switched to manual focus. The picture is not as clear as I would like but it is not bad considering the conditions.

I will post more shots taken on my new camera tomorrow.

Bird Banding at Carpenter Nature Center

With the the holiday weekend coming I worked a couple extra hours on Thursday and came in early on Friday so that I could get an early start on my 3 day weekend. Since I was off early enough I decided to go to the Carpenter Nature Center to watch the bird banding that they do every Friday morning. The last time that I had the chance to be at Carpenter while they where banding I went inside and watched the banding and recording process. This time the weather was so nice that I decided to stay out and walk the trails. While I walked I spotted a few ruby-throated hummers near in the flower garden in the front of the nature center.

The hummers where very territorial with a lot of chasing each other over possession of the hummingbird feeder in the middle of the garden.

The new pool and landscaping is already home to a few frogs who were taking advantage of the sunny day.

Out in the fields the sparrows were sharing space with monarchs and dragonflies.

Over by the orchard I found this house finch dining.

While I walked the trails I took the opportunity to scout the banding nets. I found a few birds waiting impatiently to get out of the nets, and usually getting themselves more tangled, so I took their pictures and let the banders know.

They caught an american goldfinch.A nashville warblerAnd a black-capped chickadee.

While I was wondering I inadvertently ended up in a video that Sharon Stiteler, aka birdchick, was shooting. It was kind of funny to get home later that day and see myself on her blog. Here is the post with the video. I am the moron with the big camera.

With summer over I am not sure that I will get another chance to visit Carpenter while they band but I would certainly recommend it to anyone interested in birding. It is fun, interesting and the people at Carpenter are very friendly. For more information about carpenter check out their website http://www.carpenternaturecenter.org/

Birding at Dodge Nature Center

Since this is primarily a birding blog I did take some bird pics on my trip to Dodge Nature Center this past Saturday.

There where quite a few american goldfinch feasting on seeds in the fields right next to the main office.Up by the farm about a dozen field sparrow where hanging around.At the small Crossroads Pond I found a solitary sandpiper.

There where a couple of green heron catching rays out by the Prairie Pond. I also saw mallards, great egret and wood duck on the Prairie Pond.
I saw a single ruby-throated hummer on a small trail by the Sugar House.There were 4 downy woodpeckers hunting bugs on a dying tree near the main office.On the same tree I also photographed this bird. I believe that it is a willow flycatcher but I am still kind of new to birding and I had a hard time identifying this one.Here is another angle of the bird. If anyone thinks that I have identified it wrong please let me know. It is better to find out that you made a mistake and learn from it then it is to remain in ignorance.

Fort Snelling feeders - hummer

Thursday the rain came again so I did not get to do any birding. This weekend things are supposed to change though and it is supposed to be nice and sunny. It is a good thing because I am running out of pictures that I took last Friday at the feeders at the Fort Snelling Visitors Center. Today's feature is the ruby-throated hummingbird.

Birding and politics on a Saturday afternoon.

On July 11th I received an e-mail from the Minnesota Ornithologists Union about an upcoming rally at the Old Cedar Avenue Bridge on July 14th. The purpose of the rally was to show the state politicians, who were visiting the site, that they should help to fund a plan to replace the bridge. The bridge, which stretches across the Minnesota River, was replaced with a new bridge in 1979. It was closed to vehicular traffic in 1993 and to pedestrians and bicycles in 2002. As you can see by the picture below the bridge is in extremely poor shape.

So you may be wondering what an old bridge has to do with birding and the Minnesota Ornithologists Union, well this bridge extends through the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. This bridge was used by many birders to get a great view of the Minnesota river flood plains and mud flats before it became unsafe to use.
Now politicians in the cities of Bloomington, who currently owns the bridge, and Eagan, which is on the opposite side of the river, as well as several state politicians have put forth a plan to tare down the existing bridge and build a boardwalk platform on the existing cement supports. The problem is that the estimated cost is $4.5 million. A large part of that cost is for the removal of the existing bridge which contains lead so that it can not be knocked down conventionally. So far the supporters of the plan have secured $1.3 million in funding but still have a long way to go. That is why 200 or more people of all types (birders, bicyclists, hikers, and families) showed up on the 14th to show our support for this great cause. At the program, which began at noon, they had speakers ranging from local and state politicians, leaders of bicycle groups, neighbors, and leaders from MOU, Minnesota River Valley Audubon, and Minnesota Audubon.

I arrived at the park at 8:30am and spent my time waiting for the speakers program on the trails birding. The Old Cedar Avenue Bridge is a part of the Long Meadow unit of the Minnesota Valley NWR. There are a total of 8 units in MV NWR which follow the Minnesota River and stretch from Bloomington in the north to Jordan in the south. I walked all the trails north of the bridge. As I started from the bridge parking lot I saw an american redstart who had just caught itself some breakfast.

As I continued on I spotted several goldfinch near the bass ponds, which was once used to raise fish for stocking Minnesota lakes. This one was pulling the seeds out of the pods of the wildflowers when a bee ran smack into his head. Boy did he give that bee a dirty look.

Near the same pond I also saw this ruby-throated hummingbird.

I also saw several sparrow, some green heron, and some great blue heron. Then I went to the south of the bridge to check out the small boardwalk which goes out to the lake. There I saw a couple of great egret as well as tree and barn swallows.

I also took a couple of butterfly pics like this one of a common sulfur
and this eastern comma which looks like it had seen better days.
When I was walking back off the boardwalk I was startled by a white tail doe. She just sat and watched me as I walked past about 4 feet away.
This was the only deer that I saw which surprised me because on my trips to Fort Snelling State Park, which borders the park in the north, I have seen plenty of deer. It turned out to be a great morning and afternoon. I got out, did some birding and helped lend my support for a good cause.