Gray Kingbird

A Very Rare Flycatcher Visits NB

Gray Kingbird

From October 6 to 9, 2018 New Brunswick birders were treated to a very rare visitor, a Gray Kingbird (Tyrannus dominicensis).  This species is so rare here it has never been officially recorded before, although there have been one or two unconfirmed reports in the past.  This bird appeared at a home in Wilmot, northwest of Woodstock.  The day we went to see it, it was actively feeding on insects, mainly wasps, and landing on hydro and telephone wires and trees.  It put on a good showing for the 15 to 20 birders who were respectfully enjoying watching it.  Although it was a fast mover, it did give a few photo opportunities.

Gray Kingbird

This species is so rare here because it is way off its normal range and flight paths.  It normally breeds along the Florida coast in mangroves, open woodland, and forest edges.  It winters in central and southern West Indies, Panama and northern South America.  Occasionally vagrants wander far out of its range, hence the appearance of 'our' bird.  

Gray Kingbird

The Gray Kingbird is larger than our native Eastern Kingbird, 23-24 cm (9.2 in) compared to 20 cm (8.5 in).  At first glance one would think one was looking at our Eastern Kingbird but there are distinctive differences other than size.  The two species are shaped the same and their overall appearance is very similar.  The Gray Kingbird, however, is more gray all over.  It is gray on the head, back, and tail and white underneath.  The gray head  shows a black line through the eye which looks like a mask.  The bill is larger and the tail is notched and does not have a white band at the tip like the Eastern Kingbird.  The white breast is faintly washed with gray and the belly can be washed with  light yellow although that did not show on this bird.  The wings and tail show some brown and the wing feathers are edged with grayish white.  Generally the Eastern Kingbird gives the appearance of black and white compared to the gray and muted white of this species.  

Gray Kingbird

The Gray Kingbird feeds on insects.  It perches on a high exposed site and flies out from there to scoop up insects.  It sometimes hovers in its pursuit like our Eastern Kingbird.  A local name for this species is 'Pitirre' which is a human version of one of the sounds it makes.  In its normal range it is known for aggressively defending its breeding territory.  This has made the species special and it has become a national symbol for Puerto Rico.  It is often used as a metaphor for the Puerto Rico Independence Movement.  A special species has come to visit!

Gray Kingbird

Our visitor is probably an adult.  A juvenile would show a lot more brown on its back and wings.  

 

Mackinac Bridge

The mighty Mackinac Bridge, festively lit and stretching five miles across the Straits of Mackinac, linking Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas. This image was shot last night during an approaching electrical storm, which created some weird lighting in the sky. Taken from the Upper Peninsula, looking south towards Mackinaw City at the opposite end of the bridge.I'm up here scouting for a 2019 photo workshop that Debbie DiCarlo and I are planning. It'd focus on spectacular landscapes and stunning fall color, both of which occur up here in spades. We got scads of cool imagery today, and will amass even more over the next few days. More photos to follow...

Hocking Hills redux

A set of hand-hewn rock steps exits a tunnel in the sandstone cliffs of the Hocking Hills at Old Man's Cave. This area is renowned for its beauty, in Ohio and far beyond.

I'm always in a game of catch-up when it comes to sorting and filing photos. I generally take more images than is easily dealt with in a timely manner. So, over the past few days I finally got around to archiving photographs from a wonderful photographic workshop that Debbie DiCarlo and I led last February. It was the better part of three days, in the Hocking Hills. We visited many of the iconic hotspots, ostensibly to photograph icy and snowy landscapes. Mother Nature had other plans, and the weather was unseasonably warm and rainy.

This unexpected meteorological twist worked to our advantage. The streams and waterfalls were perfectly filled, and the wetness created wonderful saturation of colors. We lucked out in that the rain usually fell at night or at other times when we weren't out in it.

Water gushes through a gap near the upper falls at Old Man's Cave. The old stone bridges in this area fit perfectly with the environment, and if they ever replace them I hope it is with similar structures.

A big sandstone cliff hems in a stream flowing through a picturesque hemlock gorge. The conditions and locales were perfect for learning about landscape photography.

Cedar Falls, rendered in black and white. One advantage - huge one, photographically - of visiting the Hocking Hills during midweek in winter is that the crowds of people are nearly absent. Thus, we were able to capture scenes of incredibly popular tourist destinations, like this one, with no people cluttering the shot.

Hidden Falls, just below Cedar Falls. This is about as wintry as things looked while our group was there. Not having to deal with freezing temperatures was nice, and the perfect water levels in the streams couldn't be beat. Lots of ice and snow is great too, it just creates a completely different ambience. Chances are, our next workshop here in January (16 thru 18) will feature snow and amazing ice formations.

The colorful stone walls of Rock House, one of the most spectacular sandstone formations in this region, as seen through a VERY long exposure (it's quite dark inside).

We of course tried our hand at sunsets, as we nearly always do when the skies and cloud cover cooperates. This is Lake Logan, just minutes from our hotel base camp.

If you are interested in next year's workshop to Hocking Hills - or any of the others - we'd love to have you. We will only take a maximum of ten people, and several have already signed on, so if you're thinking about it, might be good to pull the trigger fairly soon.

Details about all of our photographic workshops, and they're all going to be good, can be found RIGHT HERE.

Water Music at Sunset

The beautiful lake is always an attraction, but never more so than at sunrise or sunset.

I loved looking at the early sunset through the illuminated flag at the back of the steamboat.

But I do believe that this lilac sky is my favourite on this particular day.

I had read about a new kind of evening cruise which included a classical music concert!

The fact that it featured a well loved piece of music made the idea even more exciting.

There was a live orchestra on board playing

Water Music by Georg Friederich Haendel.

So appropriate!

You can listen to it 

HERE

It was magnificently interpreted and I especially loved the horns and trumpets

So joyful!

Water Music was originally created in 1717

for King George 1st of England

and it was played on the Royal Barge with 50 musicians

as it floated along the River Thames on July 7th, 1717,

The King loved it so much that he asked the musicians to play it over several times!

G.F. Haendel, gifted musician and composer, born in Germany.

he travelled and lived in several European countries

 and he lived in England for many years till the end of his life.

He even taught music to the King's children.

I have heard that another musical cruise may be organized at some time in the future.

I shall definitely want to go again, especially if the music is as beautiful as this concert!

A last colourful look at the sky right after the sun went down.

Golden cinnamon ferns

Lush beds of cinnamon fern, Osmundastrum cinnamomeum, brighten seasonally damp swales in a beautiful prairie savanna complex yesterday. This scene was photographed in The Nature Conservancy's Kitty Todd Preserve. Fall colors - other than these ferns - are just starting, with sassafras, blackgum, maples and a few other tree species beginning to brighten. Within two weeks, the eastern deciduous forest should be a bright tapestry of colors here in the Ohio Country.

Eastern Kingbird

Eastern Kingbird - Another Large Flycatcher

Eastern Kingbird

The Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus) is a common large flycatcher of New Brunswick.  It arrives in early May and uses this as its breeding grounds, leaving in September.  It is widespread throughout North America.  It breeds in all of southern Canada except west of the Rocky Mountains and in all of continental US except the very western states.  The exception is southern  California where it summers along the coast. It winters in South America, mainly in eastern Ecuador and Peru and western Brazil.

The Eastern Kingbird is a large flycatcher (21 cm/8.5 in long).  Mainly black and white, it has a black head and tail, and dark gray back and wings.  The black on the head comes below the eye looking somewhat like a mask.  The breast is white with light gray shading.  The tail has a conspicuous white terminal band.  The white throat is prominent.  The wings show narrow white edgings.  This species is not very vocal but does make rasping sputtering sounds like 'kdit kdit'.

Eastern Kingbird

The Eastern Kingbird prefers semi-open areas where it sits on trees and shrubs and dashes out after insects, its favourite food.  It also eats some fruits especially when insects are scarce.  It often can be seen hovering above the ground before it pounces on prey.   It usually builds its nest in the forest or treed areas near open land.  It lays 3 to 5 white eggs marked with lavender, gray or brown in a cup nest made of grass, animal hair, weeds and twigs.  It will also nest in cavities and nest boxes.

Eastern Kingbird

The Eastern Kingbird is an aggressive bird especially toward larger birds or any other species coming near its nest.  This is often seen and makes this a conspicuous species.  An interesting fact about this species is its name.  It is really mis-named.  It is not specifically an eastern species as the name indicates.  It is a summer resident of eastern, central and much of western North America.  It is always a delight to see the return of this species to our yards and open areas when spring comes.

Nature: Humans malign, persecute, crowd out snakes

A juvenile northern copperhead/Jim McCormac

Columbus Dispatch

September 30, 2018

NATURE
Jim McCormac

Venomous snakes strike way over their weight in regard to reputation. They can pack a punch, but the odds of encountering one in Ohio is very low.

Three venomous serpent species occur here. The massasauga rattlesnake and timber rattlesnake are listed as endangered by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The former is an imperiled denizen of wet prairies and has declined tremendously. Timber rattlesnakes are rare inhabitants of remote tracts of southern Ohio forest. They formerly ranged much more widely, including the Lake Erie islands.

People and venomous snakes do not coexist well. If human encroachment into their turf becomes too dense, the snakes always lose. If habitat destruction doesn’t vanquish them, persecution will.

I recently got a lesson in snake/people conflict, and it wasn’t the first time. While returning from a nocturnal forest foray in southern Ohio on Sept. 15, I encountered a northern copperhead, our third venomous snake species.

A copperhead could win a reptilian beauty pageant. The coloration and patterning is exquisite. After shooting imagery of the handsome young snake, I transported it to the safety of a distant woods

The snake was in the vicinity of a lodge where I was staying. A few employees were in the lobby when I entered, and curious as to their reaction, I mentioned the copperhead. Sure enough, one instantly blurted out, “Just killed two of them last week!”

Years ago, I was road-cruising in the same region late on a steamy summer night. Encountering a large copperhead on the road, I stopped for photos and to move it off the pavement. Suddenly a man materialized from the gloom. It turned out I had stopped near his shack, and once he saw the snake, he began an anti-snake rant. As Shakespeare’s Falstaff said, caution is preferable to rash bravery. I said my goodbyes, and that snake probably didn’t fare as well as the protagonist of this column.

Copperheads have the widest distribution of Ohio’s venomous snakes, but the range encompasses only a dozen or so southeastern counties. It once occurred throughout southern and eastern Ohio, but it has been eliminated from most areas. Although the bite would be painful, deaths are nearly unheard of

My sinuous friend was docile, as copperheads usually are, and posed beautifully. It was a juvenile, with a greenish-yellow tail tip. The latter feature is retained for the snake’s first three years or so. Apparently the young snakes use the bright tail tip as a lure. By holding it out, wormlike, they attract insects and then snap them up. Adults are efficient mousers, with rodents a dietary staple.

The possible reasons why people fear snakes are interesting. Some of it is undoubtedly innate. Scores of generations of our ancestors learned the hard way that bites can be dangerous. Caution is now hardwired into our DNA.

Snakes have long been the recipients of bad press — consider the snake as the evil tempter in the Garden of Eden

Unflattering portrayals, along with adults reacting badly to snakes in front of kids, have discolored their reputation.

Snakes have been here far longer than we, and they deserve space and freedom from persecution. The only way to pragmatically conserve them is to protect large swaths of habitat free from excessive human inhabitation.

Naturalist Jim McCormac writes a column for The Dispatch on the first, third and fifth Sundays of the month. He also writes about nature at www.jimmccormac.blogspot.com.