Field Notes Update

Fledged Red-winged Blackbird /  by Todd Henson

Drawn by the sound of my camera's shutter, the Red-winged Blackbird fledgling looks my way.

In this post we take a look at a fledged Red-winged Blackbird sitting on a perch in the wetlands waiting for a parent to return to feed it. The fledgling appears to be maturing nicely, but is still young enough to rely on its parents.

The fledged Red-winged Blackbird looks up, likely watching some other bird fly overhead.

The coloration of its feathers are those of both adolescent and female Red-winged Blackbirds, namely a pattern of light and dark brown. You can see the ends of many feathers stick out, they’re not yet smooth. You can also tell from its face that it is a fledgling. The feathers on the face have not yet fully grown in.

The young Red-winged Blackbird closes its eyes and takes a short nap.

This particular fledgling didn’t move around much while I observed it. In fact, at one point it closed its eyes and appeared to nap. And it remained completely quiet, as well, though I suspect it would have begun making quite a noise if it saw a parent approaching.

Parting image of the young fledged Red-winged Blackbird.

Keep your eyes open when you’re out in the field. There’s plenty to see if you stay observant.

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Young Hooded Mergansers Out With Mother /  by Todd Henson

Family of Hooded Merganser ducks taking a break on a downed tree.

A short while back I posted a series of photographs of a family of Hooded Merganser ducklings emerging from their nest box for the first time. A number of years ago I was fortunate to photograph another Hooded Merganser family in the same location. These photos show how the young ducklings quickly grow into adolescents that very much resemble their adult parents.

"Mom, watch that tail!," says a young Hooded Merganser as its mother swishes her tail dry.

Mother Hooded Merganser looking one way...

... and then looking the other way.

The mergansers had grown accustomed to seeing people on the boardwalks that stretch through the wetlands. They swam to a downed tree not very far from the boardwalk and took a short nap. I was lucky to be there at that time. I took my camera off the tripod and sat down on the boardwalk to photograph the birds as close to their eye level as I could. To help steady the long lens I brought my knees up and rested the lens between my knees. I’m sure it looked awkward, but it helped steady the lens better than I could have otherwise.

A young Hooded Merganser resting on a downed tree.

The Hooded Merganser mother looks my way one more time before closing her eyes and napping with her young family.

I sat and watched them through their entire nap, slowing down my photographing when they had all closed their eyes. I didn’t want the shutter to bother them too much, though it likely wouldn’t have. I ended up spending a little over half an hour with this wonderful family of Hooded Mergansers, and was fortunate to be the only person there for the majority of the time. I treasure these sorts of moments, and I’m thankful that photography lets me capture them and share them with you. I hope you get at least some small amount of enjoyment viewing this beautiful family.

Rest time over, the family of Hooded Mergansers rise. Notice how sleek the mother's head can sometimes look. 

Family of Hooded Mergansers swimming away after their short rest.

Lunch time! A young Hooded Merganser has caught a tasty morsel.

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Katydid Cleaning Itself /  by Todd Henson

First of a sequence of a katydid cleaning itself.

Second of a sequence of a katydid cleaning itself.

Animals aren’t the only creatures to exhibit interesting behaviors. Insects do, as well. These images are of a katydid cleaning itself much as a cat, dog, or bird would. This process lasted several minutes as the katydid cleaned much of what it could reach, which was mostly its ovipositor.

Third of a sequence of a katydid cleaning itself.

Fourth of a sequence of a katydid cleaning itself.

The ovipositor is the large curved organ at the tail end of the insect used to lay eggs. Different katydid species have differently shaped ovipositors to help them lay eggs in their locations of choice, whether that be on grass stems, under a layer of dirt, in the stems of dead or living plants, etc.

The fibers stuck to the back of this katydid are from the cattails it had been moving through. I found many other katydid in this area, some in the fluffy portions of the cattails. It appeared they may have been eating these parts of the plant.

Fifth of a sequence of a katydid cleaning itself.

Sixth of a sequence of a katydid cleaning itself.

Another characteristic I found interesting in these photos are the katydid’s antennae. Notice how much they move around from image to image, sometimes facing forward, other times straight up, sometimes down.

Seventh of a sequence of a katydid cleaning itself.

Eighth of a sequence of a katydid cleaning itself.

Next time you’re out hiking keep your eyes open for katydid or other interesting insects that are so easy to overlook, but so fascinating when you take the time to investigate.

Please leave a comment below if you can identify this specific species of katydid. I believe it may be a Dusky-faced Meadow Katydid, but I find many of them very difficult to identify.

And if you’re curious what katydid look like in action, I found the following video on YouTube showing a katydid laying eggs.

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