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.
On the Road: Week of December 14 (5 am)
Albatrossity – October in the Sandhills #2
way2blue – Peloponnese, Greece
?BillinGlendaleCA – Aerochrome
Captain C – Goes To Japan: Second Tokyo 1
Steve from Mendocino – Reed CollegeWe have a few more days of Parks After Dark.
On the Road: Parks After Dark: Week of December 14 (10 pm)
ljt – More Parks
way2blue – Cairngorms National Parks, Scotland
Yvonne – Denali from Wonder Lake
Origuy – Road Trip 2006 Part One
Paul in St. Augustine – A National Park Here, a National Park There? And now, back to Albatrossity, for his last October post in the Sandhills, at least for awhile.
Albatrossity
Our few days in the Nebraska Sandhills in October were full of scenic vistas and birds. Here are a few more images from our mid-October trip to the Hutton Niobrara Ranch Wildlife Sanctuary in north-central Nebraska.
Waterfowl had mostly cleared out of the area, with just a few ducks remaining, and more to come when colder weather hit the prairie potholes to the north of us. But there were a few stragglers, like this young Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) in a small pond near Newport.
Western Meadowlarks (Sturnella neglecta) were abundant and cooperative in the Sandhills in October. This freshly-molted bird shows off one of the tricks that many birds use so that they can look new and spiffy in the springtime without having to lose feathers by molting in the cold winter period. See those pale fringes on the black feathers that will become a very black throat patch in the spring? They will slowly wear off during the winter, and in March the throat patch will be very dark black and sexy. No need to molt into spring finery and risk freezing to death in the winter!
Many sparrows were moving through the Sandhills during our time there. I was fortunate enough to find a bunch of colorful Fragrant Sumac (Rhus aromatica) bushes to serve as a backdrop for some of them. Here’s a spiffy Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla) in a one of those.
American Tree Sparrows (Spizelloides arborea) are abundant winter residents across much of North America. They nest in northern Canada and Alaska, but make it back to flyover country each winter to cheer us up.
Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia) are year-round residents in this part of Nebraska, as they are across much of North America. In my part of Kansas they are very rare breeding birds and very common winter visitors. Very cheering!
The Hutton Niobrara Ranch Wildlife Sanctuary is barely on the edge of the true Sandhills, so we took one day to head west to see that topography. Again, the Plains Cottonwoods (Populus deltoides) are just about the only tree you see on the prairies, but they were turning color in mid-October.
Cottonwoods are not long-lived trees anywhere, but particularly in this harsh climate, where winter storms and constant wind take a toll on anything that stands up.
Another sunrise on the sanctuary, showing off the spectacular colors of the fall grasses. This particular image is included in my 2021 Landscape Calendar. As I did last year, I generated two calendars; the other one is Birds of Flyover Country.
As we headed back to Kansas, we passed through a part of Nebraska which had gotten a few inches of early snow. Fall-foliage Plains cottonwoods in snow was a new view for me!
JAFD
Great landscapes. Striking birds. You are appreciated.
(Thought of composing a filksong “Your Lens Is On the Sparrows…”, but too early in the morning for anything requiring more brain than making tea.)
sab
I am in awe that you can tell varieties of sparrows apart.
Geminid
Thanks again for your beautiful pictures. I forward them to a a few friends, and your work really brings them joy.
Albatrossity
@sab: Sparrows are easy.
Gulls, however, are hard. I’m pretty sure that field guides and checklists could save a lot of space if we just had one species of gull, worldwide.
namekarB
I’m becoming a huge fan of “On The Road.” I especially enjoy the photos of wildlife.
Laura Too
Such beautiful photography. I can’t express how much I appreciate your detailed descriptions like for the Western Meadowlarks-I learn so much! It is a moment of zen to look at the rolling hills, I feel myself relax. Agree with namekarB about being a huge fan of “On the Road”. I am usually too late to comment but I love finding them all and reading the comments, especially the stories people tell about their history and adventures of the places.
Princess Leia
Thank you again for sharing your wonderful photos and commentary. That meadowlark, in particular, delights me to my toes!!!
mvr
Those landscapes are really nice. I especially like the one near Halsey.
arrieve
A wonderful start to the day as always, Albatrossity! I am in awe of your bird photography but your landscapes are just gorgeous too.
And I agree with you about gulls. I have a friend who can immediately say, “that’s a second year yellow-legged gull” whereas I was inordinately proud of myself for recognizing that field sparrow before reading your description.
J R in WV
A great tour of the Nebraska bird life!!
Thanks for the birdish info, too, as others have said, the extra added education is a special part of your photo sets!
You make me desire an Oly body and Leica lens for Xmas! … but I know there’s WAY more to it than just the big glass…
way2blue
Sparrows! I think some of those little guys are hopping around my yard. Most of the toyon berries are gone…
Origuy
Thanks, Albatrossity. The picture of the sunrise and the one of the meadowlark are my favorites.
It takes time to put together a set of pictures and good descriptions for OTR. I just submitted one for the Parks series, since I saw that there were some openings.
JanieM
If the birds cheer you up, you are definitely passing it along!
I continue to think the birds are all posing for you — which is a tribute to your skills in catching them at it.
The sky/snow/fall color one is extra gorgeous.
StringOnAStick
Lovely, as always! Thanks for the natural history information on my favourite bird, the western meadow lark; I love all the variations in song by different birds. I had no idea about the way the dark throat patch comes in.
WaterGirl
@Origuy: I updated the schedule up top to include you and Paul, who were both kind enough to submit your posts today.
HarryBee
The landscape near Halsey is sublime. I just ordered your landscape calendar and I’m looking forward to tall grasses and big sky to restore some proportion to life. Your photos always make me happy.
Albatrossity
@HarryBee: Thanks! Hopefully 2021 will be better for all of us.