Pic of the Day

Cassin's Finch (female), Carpodacus cassinii; Near Stevensville, Montana

Pic of the Day

Bringing home the grub!

     During the course of photographing a Gila Woodpecker at the Gilbert Water Ranch in Arizona, I had the opportunity to see the parent birds bringing a varitey of food to their nestling.   The male was the major provider,  bring morsals on an average of four times more often than the female. 

Gila Woodpecker - Melanerpes uropygialis, bringing seeds to nestlings 

     The female typically brought small spiders and what appeared to be seeds.  The male  brought a variety of different foods to the nest on a regular basis.  Like the female, the male brought the seed like food, but the male 
also brought larger spiders and other insects

Gila Woodpecker - Melanerpes uropygialis, bringing a spider to nestlings

     The male also brought large gurbs.  Usually every third or fourth trip included a large grub.  But the diet of the Gila woodpecker is not just seeds and insects.  

Gila Woodpecker - Melanerpes uropygialis, with grub 

     As the fruit of the Saguaro began to ripen the saguaro jelly became a staple as well.  I happen to hit the desert as the fruit was beginning to ripen.  Many birds were feeding on the saguaro fruit, and this Gila was certainly making a mess of it, bringing its beak filled to the brim with the jelly like fruit.

Gila Woodpecker - Melanerpes uropygialis, bringing saguaro fruit  to nestlings.

Note:  Also see post for July 2, 2013

Nikon D800, Nikkor 500mm f4, on tripod

Pic of the Day

close-up showing serrated tooth beak

    Hooded Merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus – Viera Wetlands; Viera, Florida:  While I was photographing the bufflehead pictured in the last post, a small group of hooded mergansers swam into view.  Without hesitation I trained my camera on them and began shooting.  That gorgeous light that illuminated the bufflehead was now striking these beautiful toothed ducks.  Good light, good subject, what more could a bird photographer ask for.

     The hooded merganser is the smallest of the three merganser species in North America, and the only one restricted to the continent.  Mergansers are toothed ducks, having long, slender, hooked, serrated bills that are perfectly adapted for catching fish, a primary food source.  The photo of the female shows the serrated beak quite well.  (For the last photo I have enlarged the head making the serrated beak easier to see.)

     While the male sports a white hood, black back and chestnut sideboards, the female is decked-out with a drab gray-brown head, rusty-brown crest and brown body.  She is perfectly colored not to draw attention to herself.  But, in this case both the drake and hen caught my attention and gave me ample opportunity to take frame filling images before they swam away………and I thought the bufflehead was going to be the best part of the day!

Check out images of a hooded merganser eating an apple snail.
http://bobbyharrison.blogspot.com/search/label/Apple%20Snail