Gary R. Soper Wildlife Photography
Male Ruby-throated hummingbird
– A tiny male Ruby-throated hummingbird seems to hold a classical pose for the camera as it stretches it wings back spreading its’ tail feathers in the low light shadows of the morning sun. The summer visitors to the eastern half of North America for the breeding season will be migrating south in late August and will be gone by late October.
Woodchuck eating acorn from a White oak.
August 7, 2018 – The end of the time of plenty is only a few months away for the Woodchuck, when deep in its’ dark and silent burrow, as those cold winds of the northern latitudes push the chill south, it will curl up in a soft grass lined bed and slip into a winter hibernation. During this time of inactivity the Woodchucks body temperature will drop along with its’ heart rate and breathing. The heart will only beat four times a minute and the Woodchuck will take one breath about every six minutes. The continuous foraging into late summer on insects, grasses, flowers, fruits and acorns will bulk up fat reserves of this stocky rodent for its’ amazing underground sleep in its’ special hibernation burrow. The Woodchucks hibernation burrow is usually constructed in a wooded area away from its’ summer burrow and is designed to get the large mammal safely through those cold and lean months of winter.
Sandhill Cranes
August 20, 2018 – Only a month from now the astronomical event known as the autumnal equinox will signal the official change from those lazy days of summer to the cool nights and colorful days of inspiration, reflection and the fall migration of the Sandhill cranes. There are small numbers of Sandhill cranes in areas of Northern Illinois and Northern Indiana that have been here through the summer and a few pair of the great birds that have successfully nested. Soon though, there will be a big push from points north as much cooler temperatures become apparent in Canada and the Upper Midwest. The spectacular migration will fill the eyes and ears of the fortunate with the amazing sights and sounds of hundreds of southbound Sandhill cranes heading for their staging areas of the Midwest. The cranes will amass in flocks of thousands where they will spend their days feeding, resting and dancing over the next few months. A well known and wonderful place to view the concentrations of Sandhill cranes is a little over fifty miles east of Kankakee at the Jasper-Pulaski Fish & Wildlife Area in Indiana. By late December, as winter tightens its’ grip, most of the Sandhill cranes will have continued south where food can easily be found in the unfrozen fields and marshes of a much more tolerant climate of the southern United States.
White-tailed Bucks
July 30, 2018 – Small herds of White-tailed bucks called bachelor groups are being seen throughout the area most often near a good food source. The photo shows three of the four mature deer that were spotted east of Momence recently, the forth buck had moved farther out in the beans and is out of the frame. These late summer bucks have antlers that are still growing and still covered in velvet. Soon their growing season will end, the velvet that is covering the antlers will dry up and wear away and the antlers will become hardened and fully developed. The bucks will become more aggressive trying to establish dominance, the group will quickly dis-band and the bucks will go their own way as the days grow shorter, temperatures drop and the rut, the mating season, grows near.
Great Egret and the smaller Snowy Egret
August 7, 2018 – Standing just over three feet tall, the Great egret overshadows the smaller Snowy egret that only reaches a height of two feet. At White Oak Slough and the Black Oak Bayou at the LaSalle Fish & Wildlife Area, which is located along the Kankakee river in Newton County Indiana, there have been large numbers of Great egrets over the past few weeks hunting the shallows as well as using the trees to roost. The Snowy egret was an exciting find as the little bird would stay close with a group of Great egrets at the Black Oak Bayou. Snowy egrets have interesting techniques for hunting. I observed the little bird vibrating its’ leg as it moved through the water trying to scare up prey. It also has a behavior called bill-vibrating where it will rapidly open and close its’ submerged bill to confuse and force up frogs, fish, insects or crayfish. They also stomp their feet up and down as they move through the water as another one of their interesting hunting behaviors, to root out prey. Another exciting species of wading bird was noted at the bayou by Jed Hertz when he discovered two juvenile Little Blue Herons with a group of Great egrets on August 6th.
Juvenile Little Blue Herons
White-tailed fawn steps into clearing
August 3, 2018 – A little White-tailed fawn stepped out of the woods into a sunny clearing as it explored its’ new world. I sit still while the fearless little fawn smelled and tasted plants. The mother soon came up the hill and into the clearing, immediately looking in my direction and giving a few warning snorts. The little fawn swiftly ran to the doe and they both vanished over the hill and into the shadows of the forest.
Male and female Wood ducks
August 1, 2018 – Feathers lay scattered and suspended on top of the green floating duckweed and watermeal below a pair of molting Wood ducks perched on a limb just above the water. The male Wood duck in the foreground with his red bill and blood red eyes, that are focused on the intruder, is lacking that stunning alternate plumage of those celebrated nuptial feathers seen during the breeding season. The males drab color is very similar to the female or a young male during this phase of the basic post nesting molt. As we move through the late summer the male that has been in his basic or eclipse plumage for the past few months will show signs of the pre-alernate molt which will eventually give the little duck those glorious and amazing patterns of color that is known as alternate plumage. Courting will not be far behind that dramatic change that is coming for the secretive little Wood ducks and continue into spring. After the paired ducks have completed a successful nesting season nature will once again trigger the next pre-basic molt and the cycle continues.