Belted Kingfisher

 The belted kingfisher is a bird that can be found through out North America at different times. During the summer belted kingfishers nest on breading territories in Canada and the northern United States. They nest in burrows which the dig in dirt banks. Most the times these are river or stream banks but areas like roadside ditches and gravel pits have allowed them to expand their breeding range. The burrow is usually 3 to 6 feet long and slopes up to help keep water out. The belted kingfisher spends it winters in the southern coastal areas of the United States, Mexico, and Central America but they are often seen in the central portion of the United States during migration.

Belted Kingfisher

 So what do belted kingfishers have in common with bank swallows and burrowing owls?  The belted kingfisher, like the other two for-mentioned species, nests underground. They dig a burrow in the bank of a river or creek. At first they use their strong beak to chip away at the dirt and mud of the bank. Once they have a burrow started they will flying into it and kick out the loose soil with their feet. The tunnel is usually from 3 to 8 feet long and slopes up so that the burrow is less likely to get flooded. Human activity, such as road construction and gravel pits, has actually helped to increase the amount of available nesting habitat for these birds.

A Return to River Bend

Last year I participated in a number of MOSP (Minnesota Odonata Survey Project) around the state. One was held at the River Bend Nature Center located in Faribault, MN about 25 miles south of the Twin Cities. The nature center had a good variety of habitats so I decided to return there last weekend.

Although I was primarily looking for dragonflies and damselflies, River Bend Nature Center is one of those places where you can see a great variety of nature. This is why I like spending time in nature centers because while looking for dragonflies you might get lucky and find a cooperative belted kingfisher.
The nature center has several wetland areas as well as some hardwood forests and open prairie. Wild flowers are in bloom forming a colorful carpet through out most of the grounds. Many insects, such as this bronze copper, were dining on nectar from the flowers and in turn helping to pollinate them.
The River Bend Nature Center began back in 1970s as the realization of a dream of the Faribault Naturalist Club. In 1975 they convinced the Faribault City Council to purchase 487 acres of land from the state for the purpose of building a, "Nature and Agricultural Interpretive Center." The land was acquired in 1978 and in 1979 it was named the River Bend Nature Center, after the Great Bend in the Straight River which runs through the grounds. More land was acquired over time, the park is currently 743 acres, and 1991 a new interpretive center was opened, replacing the Trail Side Center which had been built back in 1980.

Down by the river there were many dragonflies and damselflies. Most of the damselflies that I saw down by the river where broadwinged damselflies, such as ebony jewelwings or the American rubyspot pictured above.
For dragons I saw quite a few skimmers flying around, including common whitetail, twelve-spotted skimmers, and meadowhawks, but I was hoping to find some clubtails. I was finally rewarded when I found this riverine clubtail. I have only seen this type of clubtail once before, during the Minnesota Dragonfly Gathering of 2010 in Morris, MN. So I was pretty excited to get a chance to get some good pics. I was going to try and net it, I was not sure if one of this species had ever been recorded in the county, unfortunately it took off over the trees before I could switch over to my net.

Wordless Wednesday: Belted Kingfisher Park Point 9-08

Kingfisher, Bufflehead, Egret, Pelicans

After doing some birding at Fort Snelling State Park on April 20th I headed down the Minnesota River a bit to the Minnesota Valley NWR to see what wildlife that I could find.
At the marsh across from Black Dog Lake, which technically is still part of Fort Snelling, I found the female belted kingfisher that I have photographed on a few occasions lately. She was perched on her favorite snag but she did not stay very long this time.
In one of the small ponds near Black Dog I found a pair of bufflehead ducks.
Across the river a the old Cedar Avenue Bridge I found an egret who was pretty intent on its fishing.
There was not a lot to photograph from the boardwalk at Old Cedar Ave. Quite a few ducks and geese around but most were not with in good photographic range. As I was leaving, to head over to Wood Lake Nature Center to check things out there, a kettle of white pelicans flew over, following the river north.

Female Belted Kingfisher

One of the treats from last Sunday were the belted kingfishers. I found what I believe is two different females around Black Dog Lake.

The first one I found was down at the west channel to the river. I believe that this is the same one that John Mikes, over at Weekend Shooter, photographed a few times in that location this winter.
She perched in several different locations around the west channel, often taking off just as I got the lens on her. After following her around the channel a bit I got a couple of shots and then drove back down Black Dog Road towards the east.
When I went around the east side of the lake I spotted another female belted kingfisher in the marshy area that is part of Fort Snelling State park.
This is the same location that I photographed a pair of kingfishers a couple of weeks ago.
It is possible that this could be the same bird that I spotted at the west channel, I did stop for a few minutes on my way down Black Dog Road to check out some other birds. So there was time enough for the bird to fly down to the opposite side of the lake but I believe that it is actually another bird who has a territory in the marsh.

While I was watching her an older couple who were new to birding stopped to see what I was looking at and so I pointed her out. We watched as she shifted between a couple of different perches and I talked to them about the different birds that were in the marsh.
I continued to watch and photograph her even after the couple left. Just as I was about to pack up she flew down into the marsh and pulled up a fish.
She moved too quickly for me to get the shot of her diving into the water but i was able to click of a few of her enjoying her prize.
You can see that when she catches the fish it is at a 90 degree angle to her beak. It would be very hard for her to swallow it that way, remember birds do not have teeth so they usually have to swallow there prey.
So she would toss the fish in the air and try and catch it in her beak so that the fish was perpendicular and she would be able to swallow it. Sometimes she would have to through it up more then one because she did not catch it properly the first time.

She caught 3 fish while I watched that afternoon. I ended up spending over an hour there and shooting out most of the rest of my 8gb memory card.
When I left she was still perched in what looked to be her favorite snag. There was no sign of the male that I had seen with her the last time that I photographed them. Since this is one of the better birding sights that is close to my house I will undoubtedly return and helpfully get more great kingfisher pics.

Belted Kingfisher

While I was out birding near Black Dog Lake last week, March 26th to be exact, I spotted a pair of belted kingfishers. I was pretty excited because I have always had a problem photographing kingfishers. They are one of those types of birds that always seems to take off just as soon as I get my camera set up.
This time I got lucky. Even though both birds took off from their perch while I was getting set up the female landed close by and stayed still long enough for me to get some nice pics.
I did not see the male much after it left its initial perch but that was OK with me because the belted kingfisher is one of those rare birds where the female is actually more colorful, and in my opinion better looking, then the male.
This appears to be a nesting pair, which hopefully means that I will have more opportunities to get kingfisher pics. Kingfishers nest by burrow in to a dirt bank near to water. This swampy area, which is near to both the Minnesota river and Black Dog Lake would seem to be a very favorable habitat for these birds.

Migration begins at Crex Meadows

The forecast for Sunday was a good one so I decided I would make a trip back up to Crex Meadows. Since my digital camera was in for repair and I have been shooting with my wife's Canon XTI I decided not to drag her around with me this time. Unfortunately the weather at Crex, which is about 1 hour north of the Twin Cities, was not as nice as it was back home. The skies where mostly cloudy with occasional peaks of sun. Since I was already there I decided to stay for a while and make the best of it. Crex is a great place to bird especially in the spring and fall during migration. It is not quite fall but it appears that the migration is starting back. One of the things that we have not seen much of on our past couple of trips to Crex has been raptors. There was a couple active Osprey nests but the chicks have fledged and the nests are now empty. Other then that there have only been the occasional northern harrier or eagle like the injured one that we rescued 2 weeks earlier. On this trip though there were plenty of raptors. I saw another immature eagle, about 4 different harriers, and quite a few red-tailed hawks.Another sign that the fall migration has begun is the dozen or so pied grebes that I spotted.
Pied grebes usually seem to be one of the first waterfowl to migrate through in the spring and one of the first to return in the fall. Another sign that fall is right around the corner is the number of sandhill cranes on the refuge. There is a sandhill population that is present through the summer but their numbers seem to have been bolstered by an influx of migrating birds. There looked to be over 100 sandhills on the refuge at this point.There were still normal summer residents around, like the trumpeter swans who have raised all of their cygnets.

Eastern kingbirds are still hanging around.So are kingfisher. I was disappointed that I finally got a kingfisher to hold still long enough for me to get a descent shot and then I can't get any light. AARGH.

There have been a lot of reports on the list servers about warblers migrating back through so I will have to check some of the local haunts to see if I can get some pics.

Bass Ponds

I returned to the bass ponds in the Long Meadow Lake Unit of the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. I have made several trips to this location over the past couple weeks in search of a descent picture of a belted kingfisher which I spotted there. This kingfisher is very wary and seems to move every time I am just about set up. This time however he flew to the top of a midsized tree and I was able to get some OK shots.

While I was there I got some shots of a great blue heron in flight,

A common sulfur butterfly,

and a group of turtles catching a tan on a log.