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.
We are headed to Costa Rica for a 3-day trip later this week! Courtesy of lashonharangue, so it’s sure to be a treat! Fine print: except for the snakes (shudder). May I just add that I hope to never meet a tarantula in real life? ~WG
Albatrossity
In late June we took a small road trip east, to visit some friends who live in Decatur IL. We had not seen them for a while, and it was good to catch up and just be in the presence of friends again. Now, if you have ever been there, you understand that central Illinois is not exactly scenic (unless you like corn and soybean fields stretching to the horizon). You might also know that the state’s nickname, The Prairie State, is more historic than actual; there is very little prairie left in that agricultural landscape these days. But we found some nice places to hike and birdwatch, so I thought I could share a few of those images from another patch of Flyover Country.
The Dickcissel (Spiza americana) is abundant on the prairies and old fields in my home range in Kansas, and was also abundant in the right habitat in central IL. This handsome male (identified by his spiffy black bib and vocal prowess) had a different dialect than the birds in Kansas, but that’s not surprising. Folks who can listen a lot more carefully than me can detect Dickcissel dialects even among the birds in a single county!
Another familiar voice was this Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla). A bird found across the eastern US, its bouncing ball song is unmistakable and quite cheerful.
This is not exactly a bird of the prairies; you might have a House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) in your backyard anywhere in the USA. This one had commandeered one of the nest boxes on the restored prairie, and was advertising its ownership of that fine parcel.
I spent some time with this male Common Yellowthroat (Geolythpis trichas), who was very photogenic. This is another species that is not restricted to grasslands (they like marshes and streamsides a lot), and another whose distribution encompasses the entire US and much of Canada. They are, like most warblers, jumpy and active birds, but occasionally will stop to pose and sing.
Another shot of the Common Yellowthroat. I don’t have many pictures of warblers in flight, so this one made me pretty happy.
It was well into the nesting season in late June, and this Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus) was guarding the nest in the fork of a nearby tree. Contrary to the implication of the common name, Eastern Kingbirds can also be found in much of the western US (up to the Cascade Range in WA, and across much of western Canada. Their counterpart, the Western Kingbird, is pretty much restricted to the west.
Eastern Kingbird on the nest. Like all flycatchers, they build bulky and generally untidy nests!
Finally, I was serendaded for quite a while by this male Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythopthalmus). Generally these birds are skulkers, but a few times he actually almost made it out into the open to tell me to “Drink your teeeeee“.
Dan B
Costa Rica has great scenery, beaches, jungles, etc. Almost all the snakes are shy except the Fer de Lance. The bigger monkeys are hazardous and intimidating in tourist areas. Crocs are huge and abundant in many areas. Dont plan on swimming in the rivers..
Tarantulas can be gorgeous and they’re about as dangerous as wasps. We saw them regularly in Arkansas and it was fascinating watching how they coordinate those eight legs. It easy to see because they’re large.
There are some amazing birds and the hummers are brilliant and varied. Enjoy!
Rob
Have a great time in Costa Rica!
And thanks for these fabulous photos. I love both of the yellowthroat pictures.
Albatrossity
Thanks! I wish I was going to Costa Rica soon, but for now I will just have to get there vicariously here on On The Road this week via the photos from lashonharangue.
Additonally, in keeping with the Artists in our Midst series, if you have time on your calendar this evening for a literary event, you might want to check out Elizabeth and two other great writers at 7 PM CDT.
JanieM
These are wonderful as usual, and I especially enjoyed the links to the songs.
WaterGirl
@Dan B: Sorry! As I re-read my note this morning, I realized it sounded like it was coming from Albatrossity, and not WG previewing the 3 days of Costa Rico coming later this week
What a difference a blockquote box makes!
Elizabird
Oh, I love the way the Common Yellowthroat has a shadow of the one-true-cross on its yellow bosom!
JoyceCB
Wonderful photos as always! The Dickcissel is a bird we’ve driven many kilometers to see. And I must admit that I did not recognize the Common Yellowthroat as shot from below. That was great!
mvr
The flying yellowthroat image is wonderful!
citizen dave
Great as always. Today I learned several new (to me) bird names and birds I don’t see in my Indiana backyard. Including a new adult actor name: Dick Cissel.
stinger
I like corn and soybean fields. And I like these shots — you always manage to show the beautiful details in things that generally look like “brown birds” to my nearsighted eyes.
J R in WV
Always a V professional photo shoot of some great wildlife from Albatrossity. You all know Albatrossity is a bio professor and knows all this stuff cold!
Thanks so much for sharing the knowledge, taking the photos, sharing the photos, making so much beauty!
To me, all the golden birbs are goldfinches, all the little brown birbs are wrens, etc. I know better, I just don’t care that much. Friends and neighbors are also professional biologists, into ornithology and all the local critters.
Last Friday driving into the hollow, a young red fox ran from the creek (where it was no doubt drinking a ton of water) on my left across the road in front of me and into the woods-covered hillside on my right. So even though the neighborhood is far more residential than it was in the late 1970s when we first started buying forested acreage, there’s still a substantial wild-life presence all around us. The fox was way too foxy and quick to be photographed.
And when I emailed neighbor (trained biologist, ornithologist and Health Dept Field Inspector) to tell them I saw a fox on their farm at 4:48 am, they emailed me back at 5:03 am to tell me they had seen it also. I went back to bed, I’m sure they went out to work in their garden.
Thanks again for all the birbs, Albatrossity!!
dkinPa
Coming in late to let you know that I always enjoy your bird photos. Thanks for letting us know what’s happening in the midwest!