Blog Archive

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Redbud reflection in a spring creek.

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This pair of Northern Cardinals; (only male pictured), was Feasting on American Elm Buds (seeds). The have only a few days to gorge themselves.

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This is a male; foraging for ants. Got lucky again, he landed within 60-75 feet of me. Click to enlarge. Afternoon of 4/12/10.

From old postcard I bought on eBay.

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Happened upon this pair yesterday; tearing a few logs apart in their quest for ants. They worked about 75-100 feet from me and I got about 425 shots off in about 20 minutes. The male has a red cheek bar; the female does not; she also has a brown patch on her forehead. They are awesome birds, very large, and primitive looking. Taken 4/6 Canon 7D + 400mm lens. There were at least 3 pairs of Pileated Woodpeckers nesting at River of Life Farm in 2009.

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A good invasion !!!! They nest in Canada, winter in South America. They are migrating Woodpeckers. Their diet is tree sap and insects stuck to the sap. They tap or drill a line of holes around preferred trees; they use the holes to feed trough by re-opening and slightly enlarging and deepening the holes. They are in Missouri now, but will be moving on by the end of the month of April to northern Mn and all of Canada to breed. These pictures taken this past weekend when I saw 25-30 different sapsuckers in a few hours.

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A very cold winter (7th coldest on record) is being followed by an extremely warm spring. Trees are popping out much faster than usual; the red bud is magnificent; the dogwood will not be so good due to fast leaf out. The wild plum is also gorgeous this year.

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This bloodroot picture was taken with a telephoto lens from across the road.

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Yesterday I took this sequence of a Red-talied hawk leaving a tree in St. Louis county.

I saw the first snake of 2010 yesterday at Castlewood State Park along the rising Meramec. Haven’t seen one for years. They were extremely common along all the rivers in southern Missouri, when I was young; they are expert at catching minnows. Taken with a Canon 100mm Macro lens.