Hiking and Photography: My creative Outlets!
Hello Everyone,
It feels like it’s been a long week. I am feeling very tired. I had a wonderful encounter over the weekend with my first spring birds. I truly didn’t think any birds had migrated into the area yet. I didn’t just get to see just one spring bird I got to see two. A Tree Swallow and an Eastern Phoebe. The Eastern Phoebe will most likely be featured in next week’s blog. This week though I am happy to show you all the first photo I captured of a tree swallow. Keep reading to find out some interesting facts about this bird. I wanted to touch on something first that has been on my mind.
If you been reading my blogs you may already know how excited I am for Spring. I never thought I would be excited for a season but I want to meet some more birds. As I was doing research I found out hummingbirds migrate here to Virginia. I been looking to photograph them so my excitement has grown even more. As I have been exploring more and more I have started to noticed how much this birds do to get ready for mating season. As you may know I use eBird.org to stay up to date with reports and to find new hiking spots. It was there that I saw yesterday a sighting of a great horned owl not to far from my house. In the sighting the person stated that they had seen 2 owlets in the nest but the parents were no where near. While this information truly does help I am not to keen in sharing nesting info about birds. Why is that? you may ask, well I am very respectful of this birds habitat. When I am out photographing them I am always respecting there space and making sure I don’t make them feel uncomfortable. I have seen reports of owls abandoning there nesting sites because of human intervention and last thing I would want is them abandoning there young because I wanted to get a good photo. I am very cautious in the way I take photos as well I make sure I raised my camera up slowly and I make sure I don’t stop suddenly because little things like this can spook them. I have missed my opportunity many times to get good photos of certain birds just because they are too far and some because they are very terrified of humans. The Belted Kingfisher for example is a bird I been wanting to photograph but have yet to capture a good photo because of how skittish they are. I try not to push it either I know the time will come when I will be able to get a good photo but for now I am ok with just seeing how hard they work for food and what they have to do to survive is truly fascinating. Witnessing just how aware they are of humans and birds of prey. I sat down one day just watching the birds going about there day and all the sudden I started hearing what sounded like a warning call and they all went to hide. Surely, right after a big hawk flew right by and they stood there very quiet trying to survive and avoid an encounter with the fearless red-tailed hawk. If you are thinking of getting into birding or are just out on a walk always try to be mindful to respect there space. If you see a nest admire them from a safe distance and always make sure to not spook them. Let’s respect nature and help this birds thrive in the wild.
Hiking has been very therapeutic for me as of late. I been really enjoying walking through trails exploring and finding new bird habitats. I have actually been taking more time to just enjoy this animals and photographing less mostly because I want to make sure I am not getting in there way. I seen a lot of them working hard to build there nest and I seen some who’s eggs already hatched working on looking for food to feed there young. It has truly been a beautiful sight to see. I saw a mourning dove by my house the other day in her nest taking care of her eggs. Spring brings a lot of new life to our area from new juvenile birds to blooming trees. There’s truly something for everyone to enjoy outdoors. Not to mention the wonderful weather. The only thing I don’t like about spring is the pollen. I have really bad allergies and being outside causes my eyes to swell up but is definitely worth it when I get to see some beautiful colorful birds.
The Tree Swallow a very vibrant colorful bird. With a very vibrant blue on there backs and a clear white on there belly there is no way you can miss this colorful bird. They are very acrobatic being able to twist and turn mid flight. This gorgeous birds love nesting in tree cavities and nest boxes which has allowed scientist to study their breeding biology in full detail. They are among the best studied bird species. But even with that being said very little is known about there migration patterns. The oldest tree swallow on record was 12 years 1 month old. They typically breed in fields, marshes, shorelines, wooded swamps, and beaver ponds preferring to live near bodies of water that produce multitudes of insects for food. There diet mainly consist of insects like flies, bees, wasp, ants, beetles, mollusk, butterflies, moths, roundworms and even spiders. They eat prey smaller then a grain of sand or up to 2 inches long. There clutch size is usually about 4-7 eggs and can have 1-2 broods. Incubation period is usually 11-20 days and nestling period is about 15-25 days. They are highly social forming migratory and wintering flocks. Pairs usually nest close together specially in places with numerous amount of nest boxes. They bathe by flying low over the water and skimming their bodies against the surface then they rise quickly shaking off any water droplets. While they do pair up and mate some males mate secretly outside the pair. A male sometimes will attend to two mates in separate nest sites. Though individuals may have the same mate for several years it is believed that they are most likely faithful to the site not the mate. If your out on a hike make sure to keep your eye out as this birds can be seen here from Spring to Fall.
I hope you have enjoyed this week’s blog. I hope you can now go out and search for your own encounter with this vibrant colorful bird. Until next week, take care.
