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You are here: Home / Photo Blogging / On The Road / Albatrossity / On The Road – Albatrossity – Winter in Flyover Country 2

On The Road – Albatrossity – Winter in Flyover Country 2

by WaterGirl|  January 25, 20215:00 am| 26 Comments

This post is in: Albatrossity, On The Road, Photo Blogging

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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.

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Albatrossity

More winter birds from Flyover Country

On The Road - Albatrossity - Winter in Flyover Country 2 9
Manhattan KSJanuary 8, 2021

Many opportunities for seeing winter birds in Flyover Country or elsewhere are available if you have a bird feeder, and even more are available if you have water for them to drink or bathe in. Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) have been scarce so far here this winter (an untimely freeze last spring hit the cedar fruits just as they were starting to develop). But a small flock paid a visit one afternoon, and I got a photo through the kitchen window.

On The Road - Albatrossity - Winter in Flyover Country 2 7
Quivira NWRJanuary 4, 2021

Wildlife refuges like Quivira NWR in central KS may not be as birdy in the winter as they are in the spring and fall, but they are also not as busy. So you can take your time and wait for the birds to adjust to your presence without another vehicle coming up behind you. I watched and waited while this young Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) was fishing successfully, and this was one of his prizes.

On The Road - Albatrossity - Winter in Flyover Country 2 8
Quivira NWRJanuary 4, 2021

In warmer years there are still going to be some ducks at our refuges here in Kansas, and this is one of those years. Northern Pintails (Anas acuta) are fast and elegant fliers, so I felt lucky to get a shot of them in flight.

On The Road - Albatrossity - Winter in Flyover Country 2 6
Quivira NWRJanuary 4, 2021

Quivira is also a great place to photograph raptors, like this female Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius). Late afternoon light makes her predatory plunge even more dramatic!

On The Road - Albatrossity - Winter in Flyover Country 2 5
Quivira NWRJanuary 4, 2021

But the real highlights of the season at Quivira are the Short-eared Owls (Asio flammeus). About an hour before sunset they emerge from their roosting spots on the ground and get down to the business of finding the next meal. This one came rocketing toward me, making their characteristic barking call, while there was still plenty of light.

On The Road - Albatrossity - Winter in Flyover Country 2 3
Quivira NWRJanuary 4, 2021

Later in the evening I caught another Short-eared Owl in mid-bark.

On The Road - Albatrossity - Winter in Flyover Country 2 4
Near Manhattan KSJanuary 3, 2021

The next three birds are all Harlan’s Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis harlani), representing all three color morphs. Lots of people don’t know that there is a light-morph Harlan’s Hawk, and they are not common here. But the cold dark tones, fat wavy bands in the wings, as well as the mottling in the wing feathers, is a pretty good clue that this is not your typical Red-tailed Hawk.

On The Road - Albatrossity - Winter in Flyover Country 2 2
Near Manhattan KSJanuary 6, 2021

Intermediate-morph Harlan’s Hawks, with their checkerboard undersides, seem to be more abundant than usual here this year.

On The Road - Albatrossity - Winter in Flyover Country 2 1
Near Manhattan KSJanuary 8, 2021

The Black Warrior, a dark-morph Harlan’s Hawk.

On The Road - Albatrossity - Winter in Flyover Country 2
Near Manhattan KSJanuary 8, 2021

Finally, a northern Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis abieticola) and hoarfrost.

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Reader Interactions

26Comments

  1. 1.

    swiftfox

    January 25, 2021 at 5:23 am

    The NWR’s in Kansas always struck me as being so rural that they would not get crowds. The refuges I know best (Blackwater, Bombay Hook) are always birded heavily.

  2. 2.

    MagdaInBlack

    January 25, 2021 at 6:12 am

    Oh the cedar waxwings ! ❤️❤️

  3. 3.

    Laura Too

    January 25, 2021 at 6:45 am

    Fantastic! The way you capture the movement is breathtaking. Thank you for starting my week out so beautifully.

  4. 4.

    JPL

    January 25, 2021 at 6:54 am

    If eyes could talk…..!

  5. 5.

    japa21

    January 25, 2021 at 7:25 am

    I wish I could take pictures half as well as you do. We will get huge museums of waxwings in spring and fall and see a few during the summer. Rare to see them during winter.

  6. 6.

    Tdjr

    January 25, 2021 at 8:01 am

    Wonderful!! Thank you for sharing.

  7. 7.

    patrick II

    January 25, 2021 at 8:20 am

    I saw a huge flock (hundreds) of Tundra Swans finish their trip from the north to Virginia Beach yesterday. They were too far away for a good picture as they flew across the water and into the tall grass on the far side.  I could hear their honking, though, as they greeted each other to their temporary home. A beautiful sight.

  8. 8.

    namekarB

    January 25, 2021 at 8:38 am

     

    I absolutely enjoy birding. Thank you for this post.

    One of the amazing sights in the rice fields of the Central Valley north of Sacramento is all the wintering visitors. Yesterday I was happy to see several thousand Snow Geese (hard to distinguish from Ross Geese) and Tundra Swans as well as a few Trumpeter Swans. It is indescribable when they all take flight. And I would be remiss if I did not mention all the other waterfowl, like Mallards, Pintails, Canvasbacks, Northern Shovelers, Harlequins, Grebes and others I overlooked.

  9. 9.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 25, 2021 at 8:38 am

    Cedar Waxwings…. sigh…

  10. 10.

    Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)

    January 25, 2021 at 8:58 am

    Great! Those Harlan’s are amazing and also Waxwings! I love how you got that little branchlet of cedar foliage in the top left corner of the frame too! Thanks

  11. 11.

    Albatrossity

    January 25, 2021 at 9:04 am

    @swiftfox: Yes, Quivira is never as crowded as Blackwater or Bombay Hook. But on a weekend in the spring, or during shorebird season in the fall, there are enough other birders there that it is difficult to find a quiet spot and let the birds come to you. Birding is an activity that works OK with that level of humanity; bird photography is generally better when you have the place to yourself!

     

    @japa21: Cedar Waxwings can be seen in just about every season here in NE Kansas, but late fall-early winter is generally the time of year when we get big flocks. Bohemian Waxwings, on the other hand, are excruciatingly rare here. I think I’ve see one in the state in the past 40 years or so!

  12. 12.

    Albatrossity

    January 25, 2021 at 9:07 am

    @Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!): Thanks! And thanks for noticing that compositional detail with the inclusion of the cedar foliage in the waxwing photo. They are such gorgeous birds!

  13. 13.

    arrieve

    January 25, 2021 at 9:09 am

    What a wonderful start to the week! They’re all spectacular photos of magnificent birds but I think the Cedar waxwings are my favorite. We do have them in NYC but I rarely see one.

    You’ve put Kansas on the list of places I want to go, when going becomes possible again.

  14. 14.

    Elma

    January 25, 2021 at 9:52 am

    I miss having bird feeders. Last spring I sold my house out in the woods and moved into an apartment in the center of town. There are lots of birds here, but since I am only three blocks from Lake Michigan, they are all gulls. One interesting thing I learned, unlike most birds, gulls don’t shut up at night. They make an unholy racket 24/7.

  15. 15.

    Redshift

    January 25, 2021 at 9:53 am

    The cedar waxwing photo reminds me of the Audubon painting! My parents had a print of it hanging in our house when I was growing up.

  16. 16.

    Mustang Bobby

    January 25, 2021 at 10:19 am

    Oh, those are magnificent photos of magnificent subjects.  I have never seen a Cedar Waxwing in person, but when I was a kid there were models that we could paint and put together, and the Cedar Waxwing was my favorite.

    We have a small gaggle of Egyptian geese (a family with five or so little ones) along the bank of the canal behind my house.  They are very territorial; their honks defending their turf are loud (but not obnoxious like the screeching peafowl), and when the parents march their goslings through my yard in search of lunch, they are beyond adorable.

  17. 17.

    mvr

    January 25, 2021 at 10:27 am

    Those are all amazingly good photos. How long into the Spring do the owls stay at the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge? It is about 5 hours from where I live and might be worth a trip. (Though not in today’s blizzard.  I guess we don’t have the wind for an actual blizzard but they’re predicting 14 inches of snow and everything is closed.)

  18. 18.

    JustRuss

    January 25, 2021 at 10:52 am

    Amazing photos. Thanks for sharing them.

  19. 19.

    Albatrossity

    January 25, 2021 at 10:56 am

    @mvr: According to eBird data, Short-eared Owls will be there through February and at least part of March. There are other places to see them in Kansas, of course, but they seem to be more abundant than usual at Quivira this winter.

  20. 20.

    J R in WV

    January 25, 2021 at 11:04 am

    The Cedar Waxwings are great — here in our SW West Virginia low lands we have a local cluster of cedar trees, and when we still lived down in the hollow in the original farm house, there was a big cedar tree outside the big sliding door on the east wall of the kitchen.

    One morning early I looked out at the tree and thought I was seeing things, as the tree was moving — it was a huge flock of cedar waxwings swarming the tree for berries. Amazing. You couldn’t see any detail on the birds, they were too actively moving from berry to berry.

    The tiny fluorescent red wing tips are a new discovery to me, as is the glowing yellow racing stripe on their tail. Amazing how every time I see birbs in your photos I learn new details about the pictured birbs!! ;~)

    Are the red tips common on most Cedar Waxwings? Or is that a rarer marking on just a few? Or even sex linked only on male or female birds?

    And all those raptors!! Such dramatic birds!

    And speaking of drama — Did I mention I was driving up another nearby narrow hollow a couple of weeks ago, road by the tiny creek as is so typical here, and a Great Blue Heron exploded up out of the creek right beside me? I saw one soaring over the Coal River my last drive to town, not nearly as impressive as having one explode out of the creek 8 feet away! Yeoww!

  21. 21.

    StringOnAStick

    January 25, 2021 at 11:36 am

    Cedar weddings are so beautiful, thank you!

    We saw a Trumpeter swan on the river here in town Saturday; made the Canada geese look tiny.

    For owl lovers, read the book “Westly: the Story of an Owl and his Girl” about a woman who raised a barn owl from hatching, initially for a research project and then as a permanent companion after the project collapsed from lack of funds.  A true and touching story.

  22. 22.

    Kattails

    January 25, 2021 at 12:02 pm

    wonderful pics, great lighting for that late afternoon owl on the post.  Cedar waxwings are so elegant! And your kitchen windows must be a lot cleaner than mine for that shot ;-)

  23. 23.

    J R in WV

    January 25, 2021 at 12:11 pm

    @StringOnAStick:

    That was a remarkable book, indeed. I learned a lot from it.

    Owls are amazing! I talk with them often in the dusk twilight…

  24. 24.

    Albatrossity

    January 25, 2021 at 12:11 pm

    @J R in WV: Re the red tips on the secondaries, it’s complicated. Males will have more of those than females, but younger birds, male or female, won’t have any at all. Here’s a good resource on that.

    And yeah, a Great Blue Heron jumping up a few feet from you would definitely start your heart pumping faster!

  25. 25.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    January 25, 2021 at 3:27 pm

    @Albatrossity: Over several years I have seen Cedar Waxwings in town (Ukiah CA) eating the berries on the Chinese Pistache trees which line one of the main streets. Always a thrill. The high keening sound of their vocalizations originally attracted my attention and now I recognize it.  They are smaller than I had imagined.  I thought they’d be the size of Robins / Scrub-Jays / Mockingbirds for some reason.

    All your pictures are wonderful!

  26. 26.

    mvr

    January 26, 2021 at 1:31 pm

    @Albatrossity: Thank you!

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