Field Notes Update

Hooded Merganser Competition for a Nest Box /  by Todd Henson

An early spring female hooded merganser swimming in the wetlands

Perhaps competition is a strong word. Perhaps there were simply two candidates inspecting the property before they decided whether to move in. What am I talking about? During a visit to a wetlands park we happened to see two female hooded mergansers around the same nest box in early spring.

Arriving at the nest box

The female hooded merganser perched on the nest box

Early on one of the mergansers flew up and perched atop the box, perhaps thinking to stake her claim. But then the second merganser flew over and was bold enough to stick her head into the opening to inspect the nesting area before flying off again.

A second female hooded merganser flies up to the nest box while the other is perched on top

The second merganser peeked into the nest box while the other watched from above

Later, the original merganser sat down atop the box and just rested for a while. It seemed she might be staking her claim, but eventually she also flew off.

The original female hooded merganser rests atop the nest box.

Finally the original female hooded merganser left the nest box and flew away.

In the end I’ve no clue which of two, if either, will build a nest inside the box. But it would be nice to return to check on any progress.

In a previous year we happened to be there at the time the hooded merganser chicks fledged from the nest. That was a fun sight.

And on another day I was fortunate to watch the slightly older hooded merganser chicks out with their mother.

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Red-winged Blackbird - Late March, 2024 /  by Todd Henson

Portrait of a male red-winged blackbird in late March of 2024

In late March my father and I returned to a local wetlands park we’d not visited in some time. While there I photographed a nicely posed red-winged blackbird.

This is a good example of how male red-winged blackbirds are able to hide the majority of their red epaulets when they want to, covering them with black feathers. They might display more red when trying to impress a female blackbird, or when they want to show dominance over other nearby males, perhaps as a way of marking their territory and willingness to protect it. 

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Mining Bee in Its Nest /  by Todd Henson

A first view of a mining bee in its nest in the ground

Mining bees are interesting little creatures. I’ve seen them in several locations. If you find them at the right time, in early spring, you may see dozens or hundreds of little holes in the ground, possibly with little mounds of dirt around them, and bees flying just above the holes. Each hole is the nest of a single mining bee. It will collect pollen and nectar and store that in a chamber in the underground nest, and it will lay an egg there. Thankfully, mining bees are not at all aggressive and the most difficult thing about them can be trying not to step on the bees or their nests when they happen to dig in the dirt of the park trail.

A closer shaded view of the mining bee in its nest

These photos show one of a large number of mining bees we found in Seven Bends State Park in Virginia on April 2nd of 2023, right on the trail. The first photo above was created in full sunlight. For the rest I shaded the nest to even out the light and shadows.

The two photos above are normal photos. But the two photos below are focus stacked, which means I took several photos of the same scene with the focus shifted just a little. I then use Adobe Photoshop to stack them together, allowing it to pick the areas most in focus from each photo. The end result, hopefully, is an image with more of the subject or scene in focus. As you can see, though, when the subject moves it can affect the focus stack. Someone with more Photoshop skills might be able to mitigate this problem, though I did find it a fascinating way of seeing the small movements of the bee while watching me from its nest.

A focus stacked view of the mining bee in its nest, attempting to capture more of the bee in focus

A focus stacked closeup of the mining bee in its nest. Notice how the antennae moved resulting in ghosted images of them.

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