Wood Duck

Wood Duck

Wood Duck

One of the most colorful ducks that we see here in Minnesota is the wood duck. Actually it is only the male wood duck that is colorful. As with many other species of ducks the female is much less flamboyant then the male. One of the interesting thing about wood ducks is that they are cavity nesters. While most ducks nest on the ground the wood duck will nest in a tree cavity or nesting box, usually close to the water. This can sometimes be a challenge for the young ducks that leave the nest usually only a day after being born and often have to take a big leap to get down from the nest.

Tamarac, a "Near Pristine" Refuge

In the last weekend in July, I headed northwest up to the Tamarac NWR. Established in 1938 Tamarac sits at the divergence of 3 biomes, coniferous forests, deciduous forest, and prairie grasslands. This provides a great diversity of habitat on the 42,724 acre refuge. These diverse habitats are a home to many different species of bird, mammal, reptile, amphibian and insect.

The refuge was originally set up to protect breeding habitat for migrating waterfowl. In the fall thousands of migrating waterfowl, often including more then 15,000 ring-necked ducks, stop over on the twenty-one lakes that are found on the refuge. Most of the lakes contain abundant food, such as wild rice beds, that the waterfowl take advantage of before they continue the trip south.
Some waterfowl remain on the refuge all summer long. Birds such as red-necked grebes, hooded mergansers, wood ducks and common loons will often nest and raise their young on the protected waters of the refuge.
With twenty-one lakes, three rivers and many other wetlands including marshes, bogs, swamps and ponds their is plenty of habitat for dragonflies. The most common that I spotted on my trip were Canada darner, blue dasher, and Halloween pennant, pictured above. There was also plenty of fields full of wild flowers with butterflies fluttering between the colorful blossoms.

The visitors center is located in the center area of the refuge over looking a beautiful wetlands. Refuge offices are also located in the building. From here they manage various aspects of the refuge including the management of wildlife such as trumpeter swans and bald eagles, water management, prescribed burnings and plantings, monitoring and controlling invasive species, and breeding bird and other surveys. All of this work has payed off to keep Tamarac in a "near pristine" state.

T S Roberts Bird Sanctuary

This weekend I took a trip over to the T S Roberts Bird Sanctuary in south Minneapolis. The sanctuary is part of Lyndale Park and was officially designated as a bird sanctuary in 1936 by Christian Bossen, who was the superintendent of Minneapolis Parks at the time. In 1936 the park was originally called the Lyndale Park Bird Sanctuary but in 1947 the park was renamed after Thomas Sadler Roberts. Roberts was a retired physician who became a professor of Ornithology at the University of Minnesota. In 1932 Roberts published the book, "Birds of Minnesota" which was ground breaking at the time, and is still considered an important book for anyone birding in Minnesota.
The sanctuary was created primarily as habitat for migratory song birds, particularly warblers. There are trails and a boardwalk that run through a variety of different habitats, wetlands, fields, and forest, that can be used as a stop over for warblers as they migrate. Unfortunately the only warblers that I was lucky enough to see on this trip where yellow-rumped warblers and a single ovenbird. I have visited the sanctuary a couple of times in the past. While it once may have been a hot spot for migrating birds the creation of other larger parks nearby, Fort Snelling State Park, Hyland Park, Minnesota Valley NWR, and others may have decreased the number of birds that now use the sanctuary. However it is still great habitat for many of the birds that choose to nest in the area, such as sparrows, robins, and chickadee.
This years abundance of snow and rain has increased the size of the wetlands in the park. Several trails are still flooded over making detours necessary in some cases.
While the excess water may make it a bit more difficult for some visitors other visitors have taken full advantage of the new wetlands areas. Mallards and wood ducks can be found swimming in low land parts of the park that are usually dry.
The reason for my visit to the sanctuary though was the fact that there was a great horned owl pair that still had young that had not fledged. The other couple of nests that I had been watching had already fledged and were now difficult if not impossible to find. This pair of owls appeared to have nested a bit later then normal and so they still had young in the nest.
The nest was located in the back of the park very near to a trail. The location was very good for people who wanted to get a good look at the owls, or perhaps a photo or two, but it was probably not the best location for the owls. Many people know about the nest, particularly because of its location, and stop by to gawk. The owls do not seem to mind this invasion of privacy too much except for perhaps an occasional yawn of boredom for all of the strange humans below.
I don't think that the young ones will be in the nest for much longer though. They are already quite big. The squirrels nest that the parents confiscated, great horned owls do not make their own nests, is pretty small for the two big babies and mom. So soon it will be time for the young ones to leave the nest, and perhaps head off to college, or at least some nice mouse laden field around a college.

Wood Lake Nature Center

Yesterday turned out to be a fabulous day weather wise, so I decided to go out and take some pictures before an afternoon dinner with Michelle's family. Since my time was limited I decided that it was best to stay in the Twin Cities so I went out to check on some of my favorite haunts including Wood Lake Nature Center. The visitors center was closed due to the holiday, but the park was open and occupied with quite a few visitors.
I was encouraged to see quite a few signs of spring. Insects have begun to spring up now that the weather has gotten a bit warmer. There were already plenty of flies and box elder bugs flying around. A few green darner dragonflies had completed their northern migration and were chasing the small flying insects in the fields and mourning cloak butterflies were warming their wings in the sun. Mourning cloaks over winter in their adult butterfly form, that is why they are usually the first butterflies that you can see in the spring. Soon they will mate and then pass from the world making way for their offspring.
The first warblers of the year have also arrived. Yellow-rumped warblers seem to be everywhere. Warblers are typically insect eaters so they do not usually return until after the bugs do. Since yellow-rumps do not typically migrate as far south as most other warblers they are usually the first to arrive in the spring, as well as the last to leave in the fall.
Canada geese have already begun to nest. They usually nest on islands of reeds in the middle of the lake. This gives the nest some protection from predators like fox and coyote. Then they use many of their own down feathers to line the nest, making a soft feathery bed for the eggs.
Much of Wood Lake Nature Center is occupied by Wood Lake and adjacent wetlands. The lake itself is very shallow, only a couple of feet deep in many locations, and has a boardwalk running through the middle of it.There are wood duck houses that have been placed around the lake, as well as in some of the parks other water features, to provide nesting habitat for cavity nesting ducks such as Wood Ducks. Because the correct habitat is carefully maintained it is possible to see wood ducks in the park almost any time that you want to visit.

It is not only wood ducks that take advantage of the wood duck nesting boxes though, hooded mergansers are also cavity nesters and frequently will take over nest boxes in the park. During mating season both male and female can often be seen floating on the lake but later on in the summer the males will move off leaving the female to raise the family.
The turtles were also out enjoying the sun and the warm weather. Turtles are reptiles and as such are cold blooded. So they rely on the sun to warm them up which helps them to move better, digest food and fight diseases. They use logs, rocks, or any other make shift platform to bask in the sun, often piling on top of each other, or staking, in order to get more sun.
With dinner time approaching I decided to make my way back to the parking lot. On my way I noticed this great egret flying across the beautiful blue sky. I think that perhaps he had the same idea and was heading off to his in laws for dinner, but I doubt that it was ham and German potato salad.

Here Comes the Wood Bride,

Probably the most colorful duck in North America is the wood duck. Its scientific name, Aix sponsa, is made up of the Greek word Aix, meaning waterbird, and the Latin word sponsa, which means bride or betrothed. Together it translates roughly as "water bird in wedding dress" which is a reference to its marvelous plumage. The common name "wood duck" refers to its preferred habitat of wooded marsh land.

Wood Duck

Wood ducks, or woodies as I like to call them, are one of the more interesting ducks that we see around here for most of the warmer month. The males are very colorful during breeding season, unfortunately this photo was taken in early fall when the males plumage is much less colorful. Unlike many other ducks the wood duck is a cavity nester, nesting in tree cavities or nesting box. I have always found it an unusual sight to see wood ducks perched on their webbed feet up in a tree.

North Mississippi Regional Park

Each year, as the long, cold, Minnesota winter comes to an end, it becomes difficult to hold back my excitement for the upcoming Spring and Summer. March and April are the tough months because even though the temps are getting warmer and the snow is melting it is still too early for many of the birds to migrate back through the area let alone butterflies and dragonflies. Fortunately during those months I have the North Mississippi Regional Park to help hold me over.

The North Mississippi Regional Park is located on the west bank of the Mississippi River in Northern Minneapolis. It was jointly developed by the Minneapolis park board, Anoka County park board and the Three Rivers Park District. Because of its location north of downtown Minneapolis and its adjacency to the river it is a very popular park for runners, cyclists, and picnickers however I like to visit the park because of the heron rookery that is located on a small island in the river.

Each year, beginning about the middle of March, the great blue herons begin to return to the rookery. The herons that are the first to arrive have to be hardy, because at that point in time a lot of the ice is still covering the river. Those birds are rewarded by getting the first choice of nesting locations.

Since the trees do not usually leaf out until the end of April or the beginning of May it is quite easy to get good shots of the birds in their nest. However the pics that most photographers work for are flight shots of the birds as the travel to the from the nest performing their daily routine.

Even though they are large birds, averaging about three feet tall with a six foot wingspan, they can be very graceful. They are incredibly fun to watch as one minute they land with ballet style grace on a small twig at the top of the trees and the next minute they crash through the branches like a clown, their long legs tangling in the twigs.

Besides the herons there are often other birds on the river to photograph. A couple of years ago I was lucky and I had horned grebes in breeding plumage swimming by me as I photographed the herons. Most of the time though, the birds are a bit more common, such as Canada geese, mallards and wood ducks.

Fortunately there is also a very nice visitors center in the park. Built in 2002 it was named after State Senator Carl Kroenig who was instrumental in obtaining state support and funding for the park back in 1985. The visitors center has classrooms and displays to help educate people about the habitat and wildlife found in the park. It also has restrooms and heat which are very nice when you are photographing outside in Minnesota in the middle of March.

February Wood Ducks

Reflection

One of the coolest thing about photographing water is its reflective property. Take this photo for instance, wood ducks are very photogenic on their own but the reflection in the water adds a lot to the picture. The pose of this duck adds some humor to the pic as it appears to be stretching one foot behind it. When I look at the pic I imagine a ballerina standing in front of a mirror up on her tip toes, her other foot stretched gracefully behind her.