Sunday, June 12, 2011

House Wren Nesting

I'd given up hope, but there is a house wren that is trying to nest in my nest box. He's missing a tail (any ideas?), but there was a female around earlier in the day, and they've both put sticks in the box. Anyway, he was singing constantly today, and I got some good pictures.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Shaw Nature Reserve

On Monday my dad and I went out to Shaw Nature Reserve, which is run by the Missouri Botanical Garden. We saw a Prothonotory Warbler and A Yellow-Throated Warbler, both of which were life birds for me. We also saw a young male deer, which is interesting because you mostly see females (at least in my experience). Also there were Yellowthroats, Summer Tanagers, and Indigo buntings, so we were only lacking a green bird to finish the rainbow. The only good picture I got was when we walked by a flock of chickadees, one of which was eating a caterpillar.
These next two are from way back in April, at Powder Valley Nature center. The bluebird was very cooperative, and I think the gnatcatchers are nesting in the area where I found them.
A couple weeks ago, I went back out to Powder Valley, but there wasn't much going on, so I tried to find Emmenegger Nature Park. I found it, but I spent 15 minutes trying to locate a bird up in a tree, and then walked into the woods, where I was greeted by mosquitoes. After crossing a bridge, I came around a bend to find this copperhead sunning itself. I left.