Field Notes Update

The Building of a Doomed Nest /  by Todd Henson

An osprey returns to find the previous years nesting site destroyed by strong storms.

It’s early March as I write this, and having been out hiking and driving near the bay this weekend I’m realizing it’s almost time for the osprey to return and begin nesting. Each year they arrive in Northern Virginia in early spring to freshen up existing nests or build new ones. They stay through the summer raising the next generation, before once again heading south to warmer waters.

Branch in talons, the osprey surveys the surrounding area.

Returning osprey most often reuse the same nest from the previous season. It saves them a lot of work. They just need to repair any damage that’s occurred since they left, adding a new layer of nesting material. But sometimes they return to find their nest gone. This weeks post looks at such a situation.

Wings extended, the osprey flies back to its nest site with a new branch.

This pair of osprey had, many years back, found a perfect nest location, the top of a duck hunters blind sitting in the waters of the bay just offshore of a wildlife refuge. Year after year they returned and reused this location. In some years there might be a horrendous storm that blew the nest apart, but most years the osprey were successful in raising their young.

The osprey lifts off after dropping another branch on the doomed nest.

This particular year, though, they returned to find not only the nest, but the entire hunters blind destroyed. Strong storms had collapsed the structure, leaving just a small pile of boards sticking out of the water. But being very persistent and tenacious, the osprey attempted to rebuild the nest upon their return that spring.

This photo shows how close civilization is, with large expensive homes along the distant shoreline, as the osprey flies in with another branch.

These photos show one of the osprey pair attempting to build the nest before its mate returned to the area. Unfortunately, the entire process was doomed to failure. There just wasn’t enough of the structure left to provide a suitable base for the nest. And the collapsed blind was too close to the water. We can get some strong storm surges in this area that would easily engulf the new nest.

Wings extended, the osprey lands atop the collapsed duck blind with a branch.

I don’t know where this specific pair of osprey ended up nesting after this failed attempt, so I also don’t know if they were successful that year. But given nature’s strong push to survive and reproduce I’m hopeful they made a successful go of it. The surrounding area is always home to many nests of these miraculous birds, and I hope it stays that way. I return each year to observe the osprey, and look forward to doing the same this year.

In this photo we see the osprey flying in with another branch, with the houses on the distant shore and a couple people fishing from a boat in the waters of the bay.

Looking back, though, I do miss that location. It was very close to the path along the shore, so us photographers and nature enthusiasts had great opportunities to observe nesting osprey behavior up close. I recall watching young osprey being fed and attempting to fledge from that nest. I’ve not yet found a site as perfect as that one, but I keep looking, and hoping.

Zoomed out a little, we can see how little remains of the duck blind as the osprey attempts to rebuild a nest that will never produce any young.

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Flight of the Northern Pintail /  by Todd Henson

A Northern Pintail duck flying right in front of me. Click the image for a larger view.

It was mid-January in Northern Virginia and the weather was unseasonably warm. We walked along the boardwalk of the wetlands park watching several species of ducks swimming at a distance, along with the typical groups of Canada Geese. One species of duck that caught my eye, as it often does, was the Northern Pintail, named because of that distinctive tail, as seen in some of the included photos.

Northern Pintails are a beautiful duck. The males have a brown head with a white neck that makes them easy to identify. They have a light reddish-brown chest and light brownish-grey back. As with many duck species they have gorgeous colorful bars on their wings, most easily seen when they take flight. Photographing ducks in flight is something I always hope for, though it can be quite a challenge.

On this particular day I hadn’t gone out with the intention of photographing birds in flight. If I had, my gear of choice would likely have been my 200-400mm lens, perhaps with a 1.4x teleconverter to bring me in a little closer. But for this trip I wanted something a little lighter and less bulky, something I could hand hold with ease. And because my 70-200mm is currently on the fritz I borrowed my brother’s 70-300mm lens.

A male Northern Pintail swimming in the wetlands.

Instead of seeking out birds in flight I was looking for more static subjects. Because of this I’d turned off the continuous high speed shutter mode to keep from creating lots of images of the same thing. A continuous shutter is great for capturing action, but a waste of frames for still subjects. And then I saw the Northern Pintail swimming alone not that far from the boardwalk.

I should have switched back on continuous high shutter mode when I began photographing the pintail, but I don’t always think of these things fast enough. After all, the duck was peacefully swimming in the water, not moving all that fast. And though I still had the camera set to continuous low, continuous high would have better prepared me for what came next.

The Northern Pintail took flight.

Seemingly out of the blue the duck sprang from the water and took flight. I wasn’t prepared for this so I didn’t capture any images as it first left the water. But I was fortunate to get it in focus for a couple shots as it flew low over the water, droplets still falling from its wings. I didn’t expect much. The lens I was using isn’t the fastest lens. But it’s also a lens I don’t have much experience with, so I may have underestimated it.

Profile shot of the Northern Pintail in flight.

Because I wasn’t in continuous high I didn’t capture as many frames as I’d have liked, but I was thankful I still captured some. At one point I realized I’d lost focus, so I worked to track the duck and regain focus, worried I wouldn’t be able to. But the lens quickly locked back on as the duck gained elevation passing right in front of me. This created a nice profile view of the pintail in flight, still throwing off droplets of water. The final image shows the departing pintail and some of those beautiful color bars I’d mentioned on its wings.

The departing Northern Pintail shows its beautiful wings.

In the end I was very impressed with how this lens handled tracking a bird in flight. It did a better job than I’d expected and many of the out of focus frames I captured were more due to my poor technique and being unprepared than they were through any limitation of the lens. At this point I’m considering purchasing one as a reasonably light weight walk around lens. I wouldn’t get it specifically for birds in flight, but at least now I know it’s capable of that. And if I don’t end up purchasing one I likely will ask to borrow it again.

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Winter Heat Wave Heron /  by Todd Henson

A Great Blue Heron with beautiful plumage seen atop a tree felled by a beaver in the woods of a wetlands park.

Most of the Great Blue Herons migrate south for the winter, but some choose to stick around Northern Virginia, a potential risk if it happens to be a bad winter. But so far this has not been a bad winter, in fact we just recently had a heat wave that brought temperatures up around 70 degrees Fahrenheit in mid-January. This must have pleased the herons still in the area.

While hiking my favorite wetlands park during this heat wave we stumbled across one special Great Blue Heron, or at least one I found to be special. First off, we encountered it back in the woods, not out on the open wetlands lake. Granted, the water does sometimes extend into the woods, as it was this day, but most of the herons I’ve seen have been around the open water.

The Great Blue Heron seen through the trees, standing atop a fallen tree.

The heron was perched atop a tree felled by one of the local beavers. It was watching the water below, keeping a keen eye on anything moving below the surface. It was far enough away from the trail not to be disturbed by people passing by, even loud children. At one point we watched as it stretched out its long neck, leaning towards the water, preparing to strike… Only to slowly bring its neck back in and once again stand straight on the tree. Apparently its prey had moved away.

Another element that made this particular Great Blue Heron special to me was its fantastic plumage. Look closely at those beautiful long white feathers displayed on its chest and along its back. I always love the opportunity to watch, study, and photograph birds with such beautiful plumage. It just makes me smile.

In this image we can see the Great Blue Heron straight on, a different view than the typical profile shots.

We slowly moved down the trail as my father would move ahead and point out locations that had interesting views of the heron. I photographed from several of these locations, looking for different backgrounds, trying to find cleaner compositions, something that can be a challenge in a wooded environment. In most locations I kneeled down on the ground, trying to shoot from the herons height, or below it.

At one point the Great Blue began stretching, so I stayed still and took advantage of the motor drive to capture as many images as I could of this behavior. I knew from past experience this often preceded shaking and preening, behaviors I love capturing. In the images you can see examples of the stretching, which was following by shaking, where the heron literally shakes its entire body back and forth, puffing up its feathers, before settling back down. After the stretching, shaking and puffing the heron began preening, where it stretches into all sorts of interesting positions to maintain its feathers, cleaning, straightening, perhaps plucking old damaged ones.

The Great Blue Heron stretches one leg and wing. Look closely at the foot of the leg being stretched.

The Great Blue Heron stretching both wings and puffing its feathers just a bit.

I enjoy watching Great Blue Herons shake back and forth, airing out those feathers.

After shaking the Great Blue Heron begins preening.

The final feature that made this Great Blue Heron special was its feet, or more specifically one of its feet. Look closely at the images and you may see something unique about its left foot. I’ve included some zoomed in details to give you a better view. The heron is missing all its front toes on that one foot. It only has the single back toe. I suppose it’s possible this could be a birth defect, but my guess is it waded too close to one of the many large snapping turtles that inhabit this wetlands. The turtles are very quiet and move very slowly, just as herons do. They wait for something to move within reach, then they stretch out their long neck and grab at the prey, whatever it is, again, just as herons do. It can be a tough world out there, but in this case the heron appears to get along fine without the toes. I do wonder, though, if the missing toes might be why it was deeper in the woods instead of out on open water?

A zoomed in closeup showing the herons feet. The left foot, seen here on the right, is missing all its front toes. You can see the back toe standing out behind.

A zoomed in closeup showing the missing toes on the Great Blue Herons left foot. It only has the single rear toe.

These situations are always difficult for me to walk away from. Sometimes I’ll stay put until the animal moves away, provided I’m not stressing it by being there. If I’m stressing it I move away quickly. In this case the animal wasn’t at all stressed. But herons can stay put for hours at a time. I don’t always want to stay in one spot for that length of time, so eventually we moved on, leaving this special Great Blue Heron standing atop the fallen tree, perhaps continuing to peer below the surface of the water looking for its next meal.

Click on any of the photographs for a larger view.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at a special Great Blue Heron. Have you seen similar deformities or injuries in wildlife you’ve observed?

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