On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
I have loved starting the week with beautiful birds from Albatrossity. This series has been quite a treat, hasn’t it? Such magnificent photos, and charming stories. Albatrossity gets a 2-week hiatus, and then he’ll be back. But we won’t be in Kansas anymore! ~WaterGirl
Albatrossity
Our spring is over here, and full summer has arrived. So birds are nesting, feeding babies, and in some cases even starting on the next round. So I’m wrapping up this series this week, and will be back with something else in a while. Remember to send in your photos if you have not had a chance to show them off here before; I’m excited to see what the First-timers among the jackaltariat can show us here!
This is now the season for finding turtles on the back roads, as they are wandering about looking for a new place to live, a new sweetie, or whatever it is that motivates a turtle these days. This is a male (based on the red eyes) Ornate Box Turtle, the state reptile of Kansas. Dunno how many other states have a state reptile, but we do!
Broad-winged Hawks are very common residents of eastern forests in North America, and should be very familiar to the birders here. But this species has only recently expanded into Kansas. I have seen them regularly around here for the past 4-5 years, but this would have been an exciting hot-line observation in earlier decades. Expansion of treed areas and loss of prairie areas are probably partially responsible for this change in the range map.
Some spring days are drippy and wet, and insectivores like this Purple Martin are grounded and hungry. And grumpy, it appears.
Some of the final migrants through here are the flycatchers. This is a Least Flycatcher, one of the members of the confusing Empidonax genus. Most of these are difficult to ID unless they call, and thankfully this one did exacly that soon after I took its picture. He won’t stay here for the summer, he’s still heading north.
I’ve already included male and female Summer Tanagers in previous posts in this series, but here’s another in a unique and easily identifiable plumage. Male Summer Tanagers take a while to get that allover red look; in their first summer back in the US they will show some interesting mixtures of red and yellow. They sing like an older male, and defend territories just as vigorously, but they sure do look kinda funky.
A bird that is paradoxically common both east and west of here, the Yellow-breasted Chat is a very uncommon bird in the Flint Hills of Kansas. So I was happy to find this one, in the bison area at Konza Prairie, singing and squawking from the top of a shrubby patch.
Some of our local birds nest quite early, so they are feeding fledglings now. Horned Larks build nests in March around here, and their babies are now out and about. This Horned Lark papa had a very hungry and insistent youngster following him around.
The final bird in this batch, and in the series, is for arrieve – a male Scarlet Tanager. These are really uncommon in my part of flyover country; I’ve seen perhaps 4 or 5 in 40 years of birding here, including one that I banded. So I was ecstatic when a birding friend mentioned that she had one coming to her birdbath. When she reported it was coming fairly regularly, I staked it out and got some nice shots, including this one.
Rob
That turtle looks like it wants to hide from 2020. Do I blame it?
Amir Khalid
I guess I’d be grumpy too, if the weather wasn’t letting me go out to grab some food.
OzarkHillbilly
According to Wikipedia, 28 states have a state reptile. Misery’s is the 3 toed box turtle.
We also have a state Amphibian (American Bullfrog), Aquatic animal (paddlefish), Fish (Channel Catfish)(a bit of double dipping there), Dinosaur (Hypsibema missouriensis), Grass (Big bluestem), Invertebrate (Crawfish)(not too picky about species tho) (guess they don’t like looking at crawdad penises, which is the only way to identify some species), Mineral (Galena- otherwise known as Lead), Rock (Mozarkite of course), even our own Tartan (I had no idea) and many more state symbols (27 total).
Betty Cracker
Male Summer Tanager looks almost tie-dyed!
OzarkHillbilly
@Betty Cracker: They are striking, absolutely no mistaking that flash of red and black in the deep woods. Very shy too. I hear them quite frequently around here but seeing them is a rare joy.
Mary G
Purple Martin is not amused. Love him.
Thank you so much for this series.
Nelle
Albatrossity
@Nelle: Yes, this is a lovely place to live, and I feel very fortunate. Other people like me do indeed live here, even though the state has a bad history recently in the political realm. We’re trying to right that as well.
Some folks like me run a local Arts Center here in Manhattan, and they invited me to be their featured artist this week. The first batch of photos went up today (Birds of Tanzania), and another batch (other topics and venues) will go up daily this week. If you want to see some of those pics, of another glorious place, here’s the public link for their FaceBook page.
WaterGirl
@Betty Cracker: I was going to say hand-painted, but same idea!
WaterGirl
@OzarkHillbilly: I was going to joke about the Big Bluestem lobby, but then I realized there probably really is a Big Bluestem lobby!
Albatrossity
@OzarkHillbilly: Yeah, but Kansas has a state soil (Harney Silt Loam). Missouri needs to up their game and get one of those!
mvr
Nice photos. The Martin is funny but I liked all of them. Now if I could just remember names when I see birds.
WaterGirl
Albatrossity, I know I said it up top, but I have really loved this series!
I have a question… You wrote this:
You said “in their first summer back in the US”… Do you mean their first summer, as in the first year of their life here? Is this an age thing? Or a location thing?
MelissaM
Beautiful! Thanks for these. I also want to visit the flint hills!
Albatrossity
@WaterGirl: Thanks! I enjoyed sharing them with folks here too!
Re your question: That tanager is in its first full summer here after hatching in the middle of last summer and spending the winter in the tropics. There are a couple of different nomenclatures for referring to bird molt and plumage, but all of them suffer from the fact that the molts don’t line up with the change of the calendar year. Technically this is a second-year (SY) bird, but on Dec 31, when it was chilling in Colombia or Venezuela, it was a hatch-year (HY) bird… And it looked the same then most likely!
arrieve
@Albatrossity: Thank you for the tanager! Beautiful birds as always — I especially love that grumpy purple martin.
And the turtle!
WaterGirl
@arrieve: I am nominating that Grumpy Purple Martin to be the “state” bird for Balloon Juice. (on our grumpy days)
LivingInExile
Lovely as always. Thank you.
Exregis
I stopped my car once on a two-lane road to pick up a turtle, cradling it in my arms to bring it to the other side, and the damn thing peed on me. From that point on I picked up turtles by their top shell overhangs. How is a city boy to know?
TaMara (HFG)
@Exregis: When they pee on you, it’s love.
And anyone moving a turtle, if you didn’t already know, move it to the side it was going to, otherwise it will just start back again going where it was going, putting itself in the road again
ETA: says the girl who has been peed on by many a snake I was moving.
TaMara (HFG)
@Albatrossity: Thanks so much for such a beautiful way to start the day. I do miss the variety of colors and songs that can be found elsewhere. Colorado had a dearth of both.
Although we have the most stunning mountain bluebirds if you’re lucky to see them. And hummingbirds flit through just in time for my birthday on their migration.
J R in WV
Late out the gate as usual. Retired old guy sleeps in ’cause the pujppies wake him up in the middle of the night.
But want to say, beautiful stuff. Love the V Grumpy Purple Martin, I too am grumpy looking when I have to be out in the rain…
The Box Turtle is wonderful. We have lots around here, and I rescue them at every opportunity. Our puppies were harrasing one, had cracked his shell a little around the edges, so I took him to our Vet hospital. Fortunately the founding vet, slightly more elderly than I, was there, and was astounded to see I brought in a Turtle, which he took into his care. Told me he had a small herd at his wife’s compose pile, and one more would fit right in.
Turtle’s left rear leg was slightly injured, but Dr B said he would probably be fine. Amazed to learn that red eyes indicated gender… what a factoid!
Thank you, David, for sharing your gifted work with us!!!
StringOnAStick
I saw what I think was an ornate box turtle attempting to cross a road while biking on Sanibel island a few years ago, I almost crashed my rental cruiser looking at his (?) gorgeous shell. I made sure he got across without any negative car/turtle interaction. I was blown away by the incredible shell markings. Thanks for reminding me!
Mohagan
Fabulous pictures as always. Thank you! Especially love the Chat. So bright!
WaterGirl
@J R in WV: If we had avatars, WHICH WILL NEVER HAPPEN, I think half of use would use that wonderful Grumpy Purple Martin.
edit: That would also make an awesome nym.
WaterGirl
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, FIRST TIMERS week starts next week and we are still looking for at least 7 more submissions.
No one here ever procrastinates, so I’m sure that’s not the issue! Your photo submission does not need to be a masterpiece! Remember, the point is to see the world through your eyes. That’s what counts.
Plus, think of this as like early voting. If we get enough submissions, you won’t get any more phone calls! :-)
tokyokie
Oklahoma became the first state to designate an official state reptile when it chose the collared lizard (aka the mountain boomer) back in 1969. But back then, Jim Inhofe was a mere House of Representatives back-bencher.
BigJimSlade
Great bird pics and incredible turtle pic!!!