The Gray Ghost

Over sixty years ago I spent most of a summer on a lake in New York’s Adirondack Mountains. The place we stayed was six miles from the nearest village and accessible only by boat. The boat we usually used was a 25-30 foot long work boat named “The Gray Ghost”. Whenever we went to town to get supplies, including 55-gallon drums of diesel fuel to run the generator that supplied us with electricity, or went somewhere for a day of surveying the surrounding forest it was on the Gray Ghost.

But that’s not the gray ghost that’s the subject of this post. Our topic here is another gray ghost, the male northern harrier. “Gray ghost” is the name commonly used by birders for adult male harriers since the predominant color of their backs and upper wings is a beautiful gray (female and juvenile harriers are predominately tan and brown).

Harriers are uncommon to rare during the breeding season in northcentral Pennsylvania, but are much more common in the winter and during migration. Here are some photos of a gray ghost hunting over a hayfield –

 

Harriers have lost much of their habitat as wetlands have been drained and development has converted grasslands to other uses – manicured lawns, parking lots, factories and big-box stores.

A Few from a Fallen Maple

A red maple tree died and began to decay, after some time the dead tree snapped about 10-12 feet from the ground. The upper portion fell to the ground and lay there for several years before I found it. Fallen trees or logs are great places to install a camera trap and this one has been productive of interesting videos ever since.

You can see some of the earlier videos elsewhere on In Forest and Field. Here we have a selection of the latest videos from the fallen maple –

The camera trap at the fallen maple has been slowly failing, perhaps from issues with the batteries, perhaps from problems with the control panel or the internal wiring – we’ll see.

On the Hunt

Although there may be more snowy days and there’s still a bit of snow on the ground, winter’s over and spring's begun. Skunk cabbage is in bloom, geese call overhead – it certainly is spring.

The air was calm, the sun was bright, there were but a few clouds in the sky and the temperature was just about freezing – what a wonderful day to hunt for the red-headed woodpeckers once again.

A fallen tree provided great place to sit, just about the right height and with a small tree for a backrest. It wasn’t long before one of the red-headed woodpeckers that call this patch of woodland home landed on a nearby limb.

 

Drat, a few small branches kept the camera from focusing on the bird; it focused on the branches instead –

 

From that branch it flew up to the end of a dead limb on a tall tree and proceeded to drum on that resonant limb to claim its territory –

But a few moments later the woodpecker flew down to a small eastern hophornbeam tree and spent several minutes there –

And then off it went to land high on a far distant tree –

It was time to sit and wait for it to return, but something intervened.

That something was a mink approaching on a fallen tree –

This must have been the most fearless mink ever – and most mink are quite bold – because it just kept hunting for a meal as this photographer followed it –

– pushing through clumps of dead grass, and exploring piles of fallen trees –

Until it alerted to prey and with a leap disappeared behind the log and didn’t emerge –

What a great day!!! 

Turkeys in the Snow

In a valley to the south much of the land that had been dairy farms is now devoted to raising cash crops, primarily soybeans and corn. Some portion of those crops end up laying on the ground instead of in grain bins. It’s often called waste grain, but in nature nothing goes to waste.

When the corn in one field was picked, a lot of cobs full of kernels were left on the ground. Since nothing goes to waste, a flock of wild turkeys found the abundance that had been left. The birds had a feast –

This was a mixed flock of hens (females) and jakes (young males with short stubby beards in the middle of their chests) that were feeding on spilled corn.

Most interesting were the birds that were freeing kernels from cobs, they’d grab a kernel or the leaves attached to the cob and shake the cob until kernels broke free –

The turkeys ignored the human with a camera watching them, very different than their usual reaction to people.

Each and Every Day of Winter …

… my camera is used to make photographs of the natural world.

Once again I’ve undertaken to get at least one good photo each and every day. What you’re about to see are images from the days of winter, defined as the three months from December 1 until February 28, the bleak season with the fewest opportunities for interesting photos.

But even so there are good photographs to be had throughout the winter. Here are the best images from my camera during the winter just past –

 

Winter comes to a close and signs of spring are beginning to appear: coltsfoot in bloom, red-winged blackbirds in the marsh, and geese headed north.

If you have a camera (even the one in your cell phone will do) try taking an interesting photo every day. My photos are of various natural subjects; yours could be of street signs, buildings, churches, vehicles, people – anything that interests you – it's a challenge, it's interesting, but most of all it's enjoyable.