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.
Albatrossity
Like spring, fall is a great season for bird photography in the middle of the country, with the added bonus that there are lots more young birds who hatched out in the summer and are now heading south for the first time. And fall landscapes can be gorgeous as well. So here are some images (more to come next week) from my time in the world during this pandemic fall season in flyover country.
There is very little public land in Kansas, so I have to travel a bit to find birdy places where I can photograph birds. Fortunately one of those places is Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, which is, in my opinion, one of the best federal refuges in the country for photographers. It is, however, about three hours away from my home, so if I want to be there for the sunrise (and I do), I need to leave the house around 4:30 AM or so. I managed to do that several times this season, and it was well worth it. Many of these images are from those day trips, with a few other more local images mixed in.
American Avocets in their stark black and white winter plumage are great subjects, particularly when they are standing in a very calm pool early in the morning (before the Kansas winds start up).
American Bitterns are common at Quivira, but they can be pretty hard to see, since they pose in the cattails in a vertical position and look very much like just more cattails. This one was out in the open, but struck that same pose anyway!
Many of the mornings when I got to Quivira were foggy, since it had been a cool night and the wind hadn’t blown off the fog at dawn. Foggy sunrises can be a challenge to photograph, but here’s one attempt, with a gigantic gayfeather (Liatris) plant flowering in the foreground.
Lincoln’s Sparrows are one of the abundant fall migrants here, and many will actually stay over the winter these days, thanks to climate change. They have an adorable habit of raising their crown feathers, which gives them a very skeptical look.
Depending on the time of the month, sunrises can coincide with moonsets, and those are also a challenge to photograph well. Here the moon is setting over the salt marsh (yes, this is a salt marsh in the middle of the country).
Warbler migration is mostly east and west of my part of the state, but Nashville Warblers are one of the few abundant migrants here in fall. This one was perched behind the goldenrod, and I had to wait for the breeze to part the stalks and give me a shot at this bird. I got exactly one shot…
Snowy Egrets are abundant at Quivira early in the migration season, and it is not unusual to see hundreds of them in one flock. This pair was feeding and bickering and not paying any attention to me.
White-faced Ibis is another abundant species in early migration at Quivira. In this season they are very similar in appearance to their eastern US counterpart, the Glossy Ibis. But there are ways to tell them apart, and since Glossy Ibis is a rare bird here, I’m pretty sure of the ID on this one.
Spotted Towhees are our winter towhee here; they arrive just as our summer-resident Eastern Towhees are packing their bags and moving to Arkansas or Louisiana for the winter. These winter birds probably come mostly from the Dakotas, and our winters probably seem mild to them. This year seems to be a great year for seeing this species here; I suspect that some birds from the Rockies have been displaced by the fires and moved in here for the season. Other western or montane species (scrub jays, Mountain Bluebirds, Red-breasted Nuthatches, and others) have been showing up in western KS already this season, so they may be fire refugees as well.
More next week.
JPL
Your pictures are spectacular. The picture of the egrets made me laugh, because apparently they are having a bad hair day.
Van Buren
I’d say this is the finest collection of photos you have ever posted. Truly wonderful.
Betty Cracker
Beautiful photos, and you may have helped me solve a mystery. One of my aunts who lives on the Suwannee River described a bird that sounded like a Glossy Ibis to me but she swears it wasn’t, and she says it wasn’t a juvenile White Ibis either. Maybe a vagrant White-Faced Ibis? (Or maybe she’s just wrong.)
I’ve never managed to spot an Avocet though they’re supposedly fairly common around here. Will keep looking!
CCL
Stunning photos. The sunrise-moonfall is especially beautiful.
KSinMA
Beautiful. Thank you!
cope
These are really, really excellent pictures, thank you. Having put in countless hours stalking birds for pictures, I know how difficult it is to pull off such remarkable shots. I’m still at beginner stage and am always inspired by your work.
arrieve
Another set of magnificent pictures. Thank you.
Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)
Great pics! I love the Lincoln’s Sparrow’s alertness. And the Nashville is a wonderful shot too.
stinger
Did not realize that photographers were federal refugees! Makes sense, when you think about it.
I especially love the markings on the Bittern, and the one-shot Nashville Warbler, and the foggy foggy dew.
Haroldo
I thought you did a top-notch job with the foggy sunrise. Thank you.
Mike in Oly
These are just wonderful. What a nice dose of beauty to start the day with!
MelissaM
You have unbelievable pictures. That glossy ibis – the colors are amazing.
The snowy egrets, tho, hit home. Bickering and eating. Me and the hubs. ♥
JanieM
Words fail. Trying to choose favorites fails. But I’ll go with the American Avocent (I do love reflections), and with the moonset over the saltmarsh, which is possibly my favorite photo of all time.
Being a lifelong night person, I rarely see the full/ish moon setting. It would be easier for me to stay up than to get up for opportunities like this.
“The early worm, on the other hand….”
Kattails
Love all the birdies, but being a landscape painter I was so impressed with the foggy morning and moonrise photos. When I try to get these shots to paint later either the sky washes out or the ground gets too dark. Bracketing needed of course but to manage all the subtlety in one shot is just beautiful. Thanks as always.
?BillinGlendaleCA
Great set of photos. Love the first one with the reflection.
TomatoQueen
A bittern, close up, not partially hidden, probably going BOOM! And the avocet, and those egrets. All absolutely lovely.
Steve from Mendocino
The serenity of those landscapes is exactly what I need so desperately after the last four years. Your photography is wonderful.
J R in WV
So lovely. Wonderful~!~
Thanks again, every time!
Albatrossity
Thanks, All. Glad to have brightened up the morning for folks here.
As noted in previous On The Road submissions, I’d be happy to provide, free and no strings attached, any jackal with any of these images if they want to use them for a phone, iPad or desktop screensaver. I’ve got the moonrise over the salt marsh image as my screensaver right now! So click on my nym at the top of this comment and look at the images available, and let me know if you want one, what kind of device it is for (phone, iPad or desktop) and I can do that. Contact information is at the website linked to my nym.
Aleta
Hey David,
Stunning. So I just discovered that last year you put out a calendar of your bird photos,
Iconic Birds 2020. Any chance you are doing another for 2021? Or if not, any chance there’s a way (if enough of us order to make it worthwhile) to order one of even the same photos made up for 2021? Every one of your photos puts me at rest. I love them so much. Thanks for what you show here. The Scotland standing stones too.
Albatrossity
@Aleta: Yeah, I plan to do that, and am in the process of collecting and choosing images. Maybe one of them could be Scotland images!
Thanks
Aleta
@Aleta: Written before I saw your offer of wallpaper above. Probably my impulse request is too much work and comes too late, but if, any year, you repeat the calendar, let us know …. thanks!
Aleta
@Albatrossity: oh cool !!!! (Again I wrote my comment before reading what just appeared above it! )
BigJimSlade
Great set!