Affection

Affection, originally uploaded by Hannibals Animals.

Here's a sneek peek into a fox family photo session over the weekend.

Foxes!

There isn't much better than finding Fox Kits for me. I can watch the playful little foxes for hours, or until mama decides they need to go back into the den, which was the case on this occasion. I can't take credit for finding this den, although it is quite urban. It is right in the heart of a rundown town, but the exact place will remain a secret. Thank you secret-holder, if you are reading...

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A nasty candy wrapper was the victim here. This guy pounced on it and killed it instantly!






Mom squints in the morning sun.







A kit tries to steal it's siblings prize.







The sibling runs off with his meal. An unidentified bird.







Play time!







Smell my breath. Does it smell like bird?








Space Invader!







Too cute!

Warblers!

Well, I am only showing 4 warblers here, but...3 of the 4 are lifers! I haven't included the common types like butterbutts, palms and yellows, but it has been pretty dry around here until this weekend when certain trees were very active.



Canada Warbler - Lifer



Blackburnian Warbler - Lifer



Magnolia Warbler - not a lifer but a beauty for sure!




Mourning Warbler - Lifer

Dickcissel

In addition to the Bobolinks, the Dickcissels have made their way back! In flight Dickcissels make a low, "electric", buzzing fpppt. From an open perch in a field, this bird's song is a sharp dick dick followed by a buzzed cissel, also transcribed as skee-dlees chis chis chis or dick dick ciss ciss ciss

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For Rick at Whitetail Woods

So I took a photo of a Cardinal the other day, something I just don't do often enough. The common birds get passed over, as the more uncommon birds are more my style. Anyway, Rick, as always, left a comment on one of my posts, and requested a Cardinal, as it is his favorite bird. Well, I happened by a Cardinal on one of my adventures, thought of Rick, took his photo and moved on. When I processed the image, it just was not one of those super sharp images I like to post, so I set it aside. Well I took a look at it today, thought I would add a filter to it, liked my choice, and so here it is. Thanks Rick, for the inspiration! Check out his blog here



original






altered

click to enlarge

Bluebird Couple

Eastern Bluebirds. Who can resist? I sat for 2 hours, waiting for them to visit their nesting box. The wait paid off with the male bringing a worm.




Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
Canon 7D, Canon EF 300 f/2.8L IS USM

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Bobolink

A lifer for me, I watched these guys for about 3 hours yesterday. They remind me of Dennis Rodman because of this markings. They also remind me of meadowlarks, because of the way they fly/flutter. The tail feathers remind me of flickers because of the scalloped ends. And of course, it reminds me of R2D2 because of his song. What a weird bird, but I love him!

A distinctive bird of open grasslands, the Bobolink is the only American bird that is black underneath and white on the back. This coloring makes the male stand out while he is performing his displays. After breeding he changes into a drab, camouflaged plumage to spend the rest of the year.-Cornell Labs

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Summer Tanager

Here's a pretty great find for my area: Summer Tanager. He didn't stay but a few days, but I luckily got word of his arrival from a friend and found him pretty tolerant of the photographer. I've only seen this species in full breeding colors and only in Costa Rica, so this find was pretty special. I find him alot more flashy in his molt!

Indigo Bunting

What more can I say than this bird is gorgeous!

Red-tailed Hawk Chicks

These 2 were very active, moving around the nest, when I first got there. They settled down pretty quickly, as I sat and waited for mom to show up. She approached about 20 minutes later, landed much higher on the tower, and must have told them to hide. She flew off, they tucked in, and I never saw them again before I left. Interestingly, I didn't hear any vocalizations between them. Fascinating!

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Common Yellowthroat

Finding this Yellowthroat in the trees and not calling from atop a common prairie perch was a great surprise! It is probably a top 5 favorite of mine, as I love masked birds!

Fight Club

It all began as I drove along and spotted a pheasant. I stopped, noticed 2 of them and started shooting. They did some ritual greeting, throwing their fully fanned tails in the air, bowed their heads to each other like some Asian respect greeting, flew into the air, chestbumped, rumbled a bit, and started all over. It was awesome to see!

The only negative, was that the birds were between me and the sun, so alot of the frames are quite harsh. Another problem was I was quite close and the 300mm missed the jumps into the air, cutting off a few heads and feathers. But who complains that they are too close? And another note, luck was on my side for sure, as even seeing this pulled alot luck out of my luck bank, but getting pretty clean shots in the tall grasses was quite tricky and lucky!

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This one is out of sequence but I liked it the best...

It all started here:



The bow...











Then it started up again...




Then they flew away...