Field Notes Update

Three Grebes of Two Species /  by Todd Henson

On a recent morning while hiking a nearby wildlife refuge we spoke with someone who said they’d seen several grebes out in the water, so I kept my eyes open when we made it to the bay trail. Sure enough, we also saw a few grebes swimming around and fishing, sometimes near shore.

Plumage Transition of Horned Grebes

We found two great examples of Horned Grebes. One has almost completely transitioned to its summer, or breeding, plumage with fairly dark body feathers and the distinctive lighter yellow “horns” stretching from its eye to the back of its head.

Mostly summer (breeding) plumage of a Horned Grebe

The other appears to only recently have begun its transition and still retains more of its winter, or non-breeding, plumage, which is less colorful and more grey.

A Horned Grebe transitioning from its winter (non-breeding) to summer (breeding) plumage

I wonder if perhaps one is male and the other female. Some birds have distinctly different plumage for male and female, but with grebes they look alike and instead change plumage with the seasons, so I can’t tell their sex from their plumage.

Pied-billed Grebe

The other grebe we found was a single Pied-billed Grebe, which is smaller than the Horned Grebe. This one appears to have transitioned to its breeding plumage, which includes that distinctive black bar across its bill.

A Pied-billed Grebe in breeding plumage

All of these grebes were very busy feeding, which meant they kept disappearing from view, diving down below the surface for food and resurfacing, often at a distance from where they first dove. They are a very enjoyable bird to watch and photograph, and I’m glad we happen to be in an area they migrate through on their way north to their breeding grounds.

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Some Bald Eagles Like Duck /  by Todd Henson

Most often I see bald eagles in this area eating fish, either that they’ve caught or stolen from another bird. But eagles are opportunistic and will feed on many things besides fish.

The bald eagle ruffled its feathers just after landing on the dead tree.

One morning while hiking a local wildlife refuge we saw an eagle fly from its massive nest and head out over the bay. We thought it was going fishing, but when we kept watching as it got further and further away we saw it begin to dip down towards the water then back up into the air again, and it did this several times. That’s not how they typically fish. But we noticed small dark spots moving around on the water just below the eagle, too small to make out but we assumed some species of duck. It was only when the bald eagle flew back to a tree in the refuge that we noticed it had, indeed, caught a duck as its next meal.

After ruffling its feather the bald eagle stretched out its wings.

The tree was at a bit of a distance so I cropped these images fairly aggressively to give you a better view of the bald eagle and the duck it caught. The first few images show the eagle shortly after it landed on the dead tree, ruffled its feathers, and then began eating.

Now the bald eagle was ready to begin eating the duck it had just caught from the surface of the water.

Eventually, it had eaten enough and would soon take flight. How did I know it was just about to take flight? As gross as this may seem, they often defecate just before lifting off, and sure enough, about 10 seconds after lightening its load it stretched out its wings and took flight. If you want to photograph eagles or other large birds as they take flight then watch for these signs. They won’t always do it, but when they do it’s often followed by flight.

Pre-flight preparation, lightening the load (1 of 3)

Pre-flight preparation, lightening the load (2 of 3)

Pre-flight preparation, lightening the load (3 of 3). Watch out below!

The bald eagle positions itself for taking flight. I love how they look!

The bald eagle opens its wings, ready to take flight.

I love how bald eagles look as they take flight, so very majestic and powerful. Once the eagle has left the tree you can get a better view of the duck, or at least its legs. I don’t know exactly what species it was. Also, click on the last photo to see a bigger view and look closely at the eagle’s eye. I happened to photograph it while it had its nictitating membrane closed over the eye. That’s why it looks cloudy instead of that bold yellow and black you’ll see when the eyelids are fully open.

The bald eagle takes flight, pushing itself off the tree while still clasping the dead duck.

Stretching out its powerful wings the bald eagle flies away from the tree, duck securely clasped in its talons.

Flying away from the tree the bald eagle stretches out its wings and begins to angle itself back towards its nest. Notice both the legs of the duck dangling from its talons and also the cloudy look to its eyes because of the closed nictitating membrane.

In a future post I hope to share some photos of this eagle’s massive nest, so large and deep you can’t always tell when there’s an eagle in the nest.

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Osprey Love Fish /  by Todd Henson

An osprey perches in a tree and eats a fish it recently caught.

One sign of spring in this area is the arrival of osprey from further south. They migrate to this area to build nests and raise their next generation. And raising the next generation requires food, lots of it. And what food do osprey eat? Fish! That’s why they’re also known as fish hawks.

Here an osprey is perches in a tree ripping off flesh from a fish it recently caught.

An example of an osprey closing its nictitating membrane over its eye while eating a fish in a tree. Click here to learn more about nictitating membranes.

I have sometimes been lucky enough to find an osprey atop a tree eating a fish it had just caught in the nearby river or bay. Often they will land to eat part of the fish and then take the rest back to the nest for their mate and/or young.

An osprey takes flight from a tree it had recently perched in. Notice it still has the remains of a fish in one talon.

An osprey lifts off from a tree.

An osprey, which has recently been perched in a tree eating the fish now in its talons, has taken flight, perhaps making its way back to a nest or mate where it will deliver the remains of the fish.

Even more special are the times we get to watch an osprey catch a fish. They are unique among the fish-eating raptors in that they hover above the water, watching the fish below the surface, and will then dive into the water, talons down. If the fish is close enough to the surface they may only submerge their talons and legs to catch the fish. But if the fish is a little deeper they will sometimes almost completely submerge themselves and then struggle to get out of the water and back into the air. I’ve read that osprey feathers are not water-proof, only water-resistant, so they do need to be careful not to remain in the water too long or they’ll drown, something that can happen if they try to catch a fish that’s too heavy for them.

An osprey hovers in the air holding a fish in one talon. Out of view below is the osprey’s mate, sitting in a tree. The osprey in flight was squawking up a storm. It didn’t seem able to figure out what to do until its mate flew away from the tree giving this one a place to land. Then its mate returned to the tree. Interesting behavior.

Here an osprey with a fish in a talon dives down towards a tree where its mate had recently been perched. It landed and then its mate returned to the perch.

Photographing an osprey catching a fish can be hit or miss. You never know exactly where they will fish or when. So it requires some patience. If you’re lucky they’ll go fishing near the shore so you can get some reasonably close views, but quite often they’re out a ways, which doesn’t make for very good photographs. The fishing shots shown here required me to crop in to show you more of the osprey. Some are not good photos but I wanted to show how they can almost disappear under the water and then come up with a fish. Interestingly, they seem to always catch fish such that they fly with the fish’s head facing forward (or at least the tail facing backward if they’ve already eaten the head).

An osprey dives under the water for a fish. You can just see the dark tips of its wings. This is a greatly cropped image and I did lose focus on the bird.

The osprey lifts itself out of the water with a fish hooked in its talons. Sometimes these birds really have to work hard to gain any elevation when they catch a heavy fish. This is a greatly cropped image and I did lose focus on the bird.

I hope you enjoy some of these views of osprey and their fish. If I’m lucky perhaps I’ll have more photos to share with you this season.

This osprey had just caught the fish and is now flying off to eat it or take it back to its nest.

An osprey flying away from me, hanging low over the water after just having caught a fish.

The osprey continues gaining elevation as it flies over the water with a fish.

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