June 2018 – Wildlife In Nature

Dragonflies

Posted on June 25, 2018 by Gary R. Soper

Twelve Spotted Skimmer

June 26, 2018 – Along the uncut rural roadsides and in the meadows where the butterflies go, along the creeks and over the sparkling waters of ponds, the delightful summer air is in motion with dragonflies of many shapes and sizes with a variety of color patterns. Halloween Pennants, Common Whitetails, Eastern Pondhawks, Widow Skimmers and other species like the Twelve Spotted Skimmer which is found throughout the U.S. and southern Canada is shown in the photo perched on a dried weed in Iroquois county. Mostly unnoticed or ignored, dragonflies can only really be appreciated for their unique beauty and color patterns when seen through binoculars or a camera zoom.

Widow Skimmer

Upland Sandpiper

Posted on June 18, 2018 by Gary R. Soper

Adult Upland sandpiper moving through the new soybeans wary of the photographer and vocalizing June 2018

June 18, 2018 – An Upland sandpiper, a bird that spends the winter as far south as Argentina and Uruguay, walks through the new growth of soybeans in a field in Iroquois county recently, the same field where five were spotted the day before. The Upland sandpiper is endangered in Illinois and increasingly rare to even see. An encouraging study that was done in two counties in Central Illinois in 2014 by a team from the University of Illinois has indicated apparent adaptations for a number of grassland species including the Upland sandpiper. The Upland sandpipers are using no-till soybean fields as nesting sites according to wildlife biologist Kelly R. VanBeek who coordinated the 2014 study.

An adult Upland sandpiper lands on a the gravel road while the roadside is being mowed in June 2017

This is the forth year that I have photographed Upland sandpipers that are using an area in Iroquois county for nesting. Last year I observed a chick with an adult and that event was the exciting confirmation that they were indeed nesting there with some success. With the cooperation of the land owners and farmers we have an opportunity to get a better understanding of why it seems to be working for the Upland sandpipers at this location and possibly encourage some management ideas that can help increase their odds for success. Some simple things like a moratorium on roadside mowing, the spraying of dangerous chemicals or even closing nonessential roads during the nesting season could go a long way towards that goal. With common sense actions and a greater understanding we may find that with just some small tweaks in our behavior we could have a huge positive impact on the struggling Upland sandpiper, a species that needs our prompt focus.

Black Terns

Posted on June 12, 2018 by Gary R. Soper

Black Tern

June 10, 2018 – A small number of migrating Black terns have been reported recently at the Black Oak Bayou of the LaSalle Fish & Wildlife Area adjacent to the Kankakee river in Newton County Indiana. The Black terns could be seen flying low over the water as they hunt. With their silver wings spread wide they gracefully swooped from side to side, at times stopping to hover. The small terns would stretch their neck as they would look down towards the water to focus on the movement of a potential prey while their aerodynamic skills kept them suspended in one place. They would take insects off the water or out of the air or from a protruding limb of a submerged snag with remarkable precision.

Black Tern

They would glide with the sun to their back slowly working their way from east to west over the glimmering sparkles of the shallow waters of the bayou. Suddenly with a decision only they understood they would swiftly turn and fly quickly back toward the east and start over with their slow and methodical hunting technique which would repeat many times before they would find a small tree stump barely showing just above the water line to perch and rest a short time before the next hunt. The drainage of wetlands along with dangerous agricultural chemical runoff have had significant negative impacts on the nesting areas of the Black tern. Loss of migratory wetlands from drainage and pollution has added to a steep decline of the North American population of Black tern along with many other species. Overfishing of the Black terns coastal tropical winter range is also believed to have contributed to the somewhat sharp decline of this species.

Black Terns Hunting

The Spiny Softshell Turtle

Posted on June 5, 2018 by Gary R. Soper

Spiny Softshell Turtle

May 29, 2018 – For thousands of years these magnificence creatures have a had a place in the life and lore of the ancients. Their image hammered in stone, shaped ground and smoothed from slate and constructed into large effigy mounds by the great mound builders, the turtle is a powerful spirit animal with significant symbolism. Recently at the edge of the Kankakee river a Spiny Softshell turtle momentarily stood like a statue stretching its’ neck and raising its’ head trying to determine where those clicking sounds were coming from as my cameras shutter fired. Giving a rare close look at those spines, from which the turtle gets its’ name, they are visible on the front top edge of the shell behind the head. The Spiny Softshell turtle is common in our area and is often seen along the river bank, creeks or ponds edge basking on a log with other species of turtles. These long-snouted, surprisingly agile and extremely wary Spiny Softshell turtles can grow up to 17 inches, the female being the larger of the two. They reach sexual maturity between and 8 and 10 and can live over 50 years.