Landfill Bird Blog

This Week's Miscreants

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Ankeny) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 02:28:00 +0000

There has been a lot of activity at the landfill since my last post. The migrants are coming back full force. Over the last week I've seen: both species of kinglets, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-throated Warbler, Eastern Kingbird, Lincoln's Sparrow, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and more.

Field Sparrow

Barn Swallow

Lincoln's Sparrow

Blue-winged Teal

This is an immature Red-headed Woodpecker. You can tell he's am immature because of the brownish wash on the head, adult's entire heads are bright red. I see this guy in the same spot every day, pecking around on the same couple trees. He won't ever let me approach close enough to get the photographs I want. I might have to set up a stake out sometime soon and catch him unawares.

Vesper Sparrow

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Ankeny) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 01:26:00 +0000

Blue-winged Teal

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Ankeny) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 01:22:00 +0000

After shooting some pyros at a pair of Mallards a flock of Blue-winged Teal came out of the cattails and landed at the other end of the pond. I walked their way with pyros (and camera) in hand but they flushed before I got to them. They flew north and I was able to take a couple pics in the amazing light before they were gone. Check out those amazing blue and green speculums!

Sparrow in the Wind

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Ankeny) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 02:01:00 +0000

A group of immature White-crowned Sparrows have been hanging around the same tree, frantically picking at bits of food and I suppose seeds on the side of the road. They are interesting to watch because the are constantly bickering and fighting back and forth trying to establish who is in charge and at the top of the pecking order. The wind was strong Saturday when I took these pictures, making them at bit comical with their ruffled feathers.

Meadowlark and Friends

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Ankeny) — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 01:19:00 +0000

Even Eastern Meadowlarks sometimes just need a good stretch.

3/18/11: Red-wings and Sparrows

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Ankeny) — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 12:46:00 +0000

I took some more video of the landfill this week. I was trying to get some footage of an Eastern Meadowlark but he was not cooperating. So instead I went back to the Red-winged Blackbirds which always enjoy putting on a show. Also in the video is a Song Sparrow and a juvenile White-crowned Sparrow. And in the background in the last clip you can hear the Southern Leopard Frogs calling.

In other news: a group of Rusty Blackbirds were seen on Wednesday, the first butterflies of the season were seen Thursday, and I saw my first Tree Swallow last night. All in all a good week. I hope to get some more video of the migrants when they start coming through so stay tuned.

Early March at the Fill

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Ankeny) — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 03:35:00 +0000

Here is a video of the landfill today around five o'clock. It gets pretty quiet and serene when all the trucks are gone and the dust settles. Sorry for all the wind in the background but it's a landfill, it stays windy. Mostly just Red-winged Blackbirds and Song Sparrows now. I'm still waiting to see the first swallow of the year.

Sandhill Cranes

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Ankeny) — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 02:19:00 +0000

Over the past several days the Sandhill Cranes have been steadily flying over in flocks from 4 to 70. These birds flew over low and I was able to get some pictures.

Northern Mockingbird

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Ankeny) — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 01:55:00 +0000

Recent Birds

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Ankeny) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 23:56:00 +0000

Man it has been a long time since I updated the blog. It has been bitter cold and dreary outside for months and I think that killed my enthusiasm for just about everything. The past few days have been a welcome relief. Highs in the 60's and 70's, clear skies, a nice breeze, what more could you ask for. I know spring is knocking at the door because the Red-winged Blackbirds are starting to show up and I've been hearing Cricket Frogs calling the past two days. I plan on uploading a video of those guys at the peak of their calling, it is sooooo loud.

So here are a few shots I've taken the past few days:

American Kestrel

American Robin

Red-winged Blackbird

Bald Eagle

de Paul School Day Two

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Ankeny) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 03:34:00 +0000

It's time for round two with the bright students from the de Paul School. They have more questions and hopefully I have some answers.

Q: How many kinds of ducks have you seen at the landfill?

A: I have seen six kinds of ducks at the landfill. Mallards and Wood Ducks are the most common, and I see several Blue-winged Teal during migration. Lately there haven't been any ducks at the landfill because it is so cold. All the ponds are frozen so the ducks must be paddling around somewhere else.

Q: Do you have a pet bird?

A: No, but I'm trying to convince my wife to let me have a parrot.

Q: Of the birds that you have seen at the landfill, which has the strongest talons?

Q: What is the biggest bird you have seen at the landfill?

A: I have the same answer for both of these questions. Usually the birds with the strongest talons are the biggest birds. The biggest bird I have seen at the landfill is a Bald Eagle. Most of you are probably familiar with Bald Eagles. They are the national bird and are a symbol of the United States, showing up on money and on the national seal. Bald Eagle populations declined in the 1950's and 1960's because of the use of the pesticide DDT. However, due to the Endangered Species Act, the Bald Eagle is now recovering and is becoming more and more common. They are expanding their range into the places where they historically used to live, so you can count on seeing more and more of these majestic birds in the future.

Q: How many different kinds of birds have you seen migrate through the landfill?

A: There are several types of birds that have migrated through the landfill. The most common types are warblers, sparrows, ducks, and blackbirds. But some of the coolest migrants are birds you may not see too often. My favorite is the Common Nighthawk. They are ground nesting birds that are superbly camouflaged. They are seen most often in the fall flying in loose groups low over the landfill.

Q: Do any birds follow you around for food?

A: Quite the opposite! Most birds fly away when they see me coming. And why follow me around for food when they have an all you can eat buffet of garbage!

de Paul School

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Ankeny) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 02:31:00 +0000

It's that time again! Mr. Kepler's class at the de Paul School will be asking me questions about birds that I will be answering here on the landfill bird blog. Every year this bright bunch of third graders learns about birds and their unique adaptations. So let's get to it!

Q: Have you seen an owl, or any other bird with a broken wing?

A: I haven't seen any owls with broken wings, or any other birds for that matter. There was one time I thought I saw a bird with a broken wing, but it turns out the bird was faking. The Killdeer is a shorebird that performs a broken wing display when it or its eggs are threatened. If the mama bird sees a predator, like a raccoon or a snake, she will lay on the ground and pretend she is hurt to distract the predator from the baby chicks. The predator will focus on the mom thinking she is an easy meal. The mama Killdeer will slowly lead the the predator away from her babies, and just when it appears she is going to get eaten, she suddenly is cured and flies away back to her chicks. The Killdeer put on such a convincing show they even fooled me before!

Here is the mom pretending to be hurt with the broken wing display.

She leads the predator away from her chicks and then makes her getaway.

Below is a Killdeer chick. The mama bird will do anything, even put herself in danger to save these little guys.

Q: What is biggest number of different kinds of birds you have seen in a day?

A: It is tough to say the most number of birds I've seen in one day. I usually don't keep records on all the birds I see, but if I did I bet it would either be in the spring or fall. Most birds live in Kentucky year round, but there are several that are only here for a short time. During the spring, several species of birds migrate to Kentucky from the tropics in South America. Some stay for the whole summer, others are just here for a few weeks as they pass through on their way north to Canada. In the fall all these birds migrate back to South America because they don't want to deal with the hassle of finding food in the snow (or shoveling their driveways! LOL!). So I bet the most birds I've seen in one day was either in spring in May or the fall in October.

Q: Have you seen any birds hatch?

A: No, unfortunately I have not had the opportunity of seeing any birds hatch at the landfill. Bird nests are usually very hard to find and you would have to be there at just the right time to see the eggs hatch. There is a cool website you can go to if you wanted to see birds hatching from their eggs. Check out the Cornell nest cam website to see different birds sitting on their nests and eventually eggs hatching and baby chicks begging for food. Right now the only birds building nests are owls but in the spring several more nest cams go live and you can see Eastern Bluebirds, House Wrens, and even Wood Ducks raising their babies.

Q: Do you like your job at the landfill? Why do you like it?

A: Do I like my job? Of course I like my job! I get to see all sorts of birds that are rarely seen in the area like Tundra Swans, Yellow-crowned Night Herons, and Horned Larks. It also makes me feel good to know I am helping keep people safe in the airplanes that are taking off and landing over the landfill. By scaring away the birds I am making it less likely that they will get sucked into plane engines and cause the plane to crash.

Tundra Swans

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

Horned Lark

Those were some great questions guys and gals. I'm looking forward to the next round of questions from your inquisitive minds!

Hawkapalooza

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Ankeny) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 00:10:00 +0000

Today was a big day for hawks and raptors. At one point I saw several raptors all working the same hillside, including: light-phase Rough-legged Hawk, four Red-tailed Hawks, a couple Harriers, an American Kestrel, and a Red-shouldered Hawk tearing apart prey on top of a gas well head. Earlier in the day I also saw the Rough-legged Hawk eating a mouse on the side of the road. Check it out below.

Today's Birds

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Ankeny) — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 00:10:00 +0000

Today's sunny weather really had the birds out and about. I saw White-crowned, White-throated, Swamp, Song, and American Tree Sparrows; a light phase Rough-legged Hawk has been back since Wednesday; a dark Western Red-tailed Hawk was spotted this afternoon; even the Eastern Meadowlarks were singing their tinkling tune. There were some signs that maybe spring isn't as far off as it seems.

Below the Rough-legged Hawk flies by the Merlin bird radar unit.

Rough-legged Hawk

Usually when it snows there will be around a hundred or so Horned Larks picking for food along the roadsides, oddly enough this week I have only found one.

Horned Lark

Northern Cardinal

The meadowlarks are numerous at the active dumping area. There were probably around two dozen looking for scraps alongside the starlings. This guy below finds an old stale piece of bread too good not to eat.

Eastern Meadowlark

Red-shouldered Hawk Juvenile

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Ankeny) — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 00:49:00 +0000

I'm back! Man it feels like forever since I posted. It's been busy and slow at the same time at the landfill. Busy because of all the starlings and slow because it seems every bird that isn't a starling has gone somewhere else! I have had a hard time coming across many songbirds, really not even seeing Northern Cardinals or Carolina Chickadees out there. I think the summer heat along with the fall drought has really done a number on the food sources the birds eat. Apparently the rodents haven't suffered the same judging on the number of hawks out at the landfill. Found this juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk that has been hanging out in the wetlands for the last few weeks.

These next two pictures show the characteristic crescent on the end of the wing of Red-shouldered Hawk. This can often be used to identified soaring Red-shouldered Hawks as the sun often shines through the feathers and makes the crescent more obvious.

Check out the Pine River Review for more.

Raptors

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Ankeny) — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 03:46:00 +0000

Seems like all I've been taking pictures of lately is raptors, and today is no exception.

Rough-legged Hawk

Red-shouldered Hawk

Northern Harrier

New Year Print Give-a-way!

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Ankeny) — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 19:32:00 +0000

To celebrate the start of a new year, we are having an old fashioned free print give-a-way here at the Landfill Bird Blog. I've listed my top ten favorite pictures taken in 2010, and all you have to do to receive a free print of one of this year's favorites is to leave a comment below! After you leave a comment, be sure to email me your address so I know where to ship your print. Everyone have a happy New Year and be sure to help out on a Christmas Bird Count if you haven't already. Have a happy 2011!

Eastern Box Turtle

American Robin

Red-winged Blackbird

White-tailed Deer

Swamp Sparrow

Black-crowned Night Heron

Barn Swallow

Rough-legged Hawk

American Goldfinch

#10

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

American Kestrel

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Ankeny) — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 17:28:00 +0000

Kestrels are all over the place out at the landfill, but their tendency to fly away when approached is why I haven't had any pictures of them until now. It was so cold this bird wasn't too keen to fly and let me get close to snap this shot.

You Old Coot!

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Ankeny) — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 18:45:00 +0000

Growing up my dad was fond of folksy colloquial expressions. I've heard things declared "As useless as a screen door on a submarine", or one of his favorites, "Six of one, half dozen a dozen of the other". Ask him how' he's been and you'll likely get the reply "Fair to middlin'." I can't even begin to count how many times I was told I was "Skating on thin ice" as a kid. A lot of times these sayings commonly involve animals or birds, such as, "Dead as a Dodo", "Doesn't have the sense God gave geese", or "happy as ducks in Arizona". The title of this post, "You old coot!" is an expression used to describe a cranky, surly, or pesky old person. Coots got implicated in this negative expression because they are just so danged common and numerous. Duck hunters consider them pests and a distraction because of this commonness. The sheer numbers of coots make it difficult locate and shoot more attractive and sought after ducks. After all, no one wants an American Coot mounted above the fireplace and they are less than palatable to the taste buds.

So to call someone an "old coot" is a way to deem them unwanted or unattractive. I for one don't think it's fair for coots to get such a bad rap. While they may not have the razzle dazzle of a Painted Bunting, they make up for it in personality and character. It's fun to watch these birds bebop around the pond and dive for food. One coot that has been around since the summer decided himself fit to stand in as a father figure for a Mallard hen and her brood. He would associate with the Mallards even when there were other coots on the pond. I'm not sure how accepted he was by the Mallards, they didn't seem to pay much attention to the stranger who was always lurking in the background.

These birds may superficially look like ducks, but they actually belong to the family Rallidae, a group of water birds like the Virginia Rail or Purple Gallinule. Their swimming habits may also resemble ducks, but their bills do not. As you can see, their bills are more chicken-like than duck-like. Also, these birds have lobate feet, meaning each digit is surrounded but flat lobes and is not fully webbed like the feet of ducks.

With the below freezing weather we've been having, the ponds have all but froze up. These three coots have been swimming non stop to keep this small patch of pond ice free. The water movement keeps the water from freezing so the birds have to be constantly moving to keep from getting frozen in the ice.

Needless to say I was "Happy as a box of birds" to see these coots at the landfill. I think these guys are just "ducky". "A little bird told me" that if you want a "bird's eye view" of some of the best bird blogs, then "flock like birds of a feather together" over to the Pine River Review. Don't be "buzzard bait" and click the link below.

A Few Good Birds

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Ankeny) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 16:53:00 +0000

Here are a few shots I've taken over the past two weeks that haven't made it on here yet.

Red-headed Woodpecker

American Goldfinch

White-crowned Sparrow

Of Larks, Longspurs, and Rough-legs

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Ankeny) — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 23:55:00 +0000

The bashful Lapland Longspur that I failed to photograph yesterday was more than obliging today, and he brought some friends! A total of about six Lapland Longspurs were toiling away looking for bits of food only 10 feet from the truck. I sat and watched and photographed them all day. It's hard NOT to photograph these guys when they make it so easy to do.

This photo shows the long back toenail (hallux) that gives Lapland Longspurs their name.

Lapland Longspur

The usual Horned Larks were around again, there were more today than yesterday.

Horned Lark

The Rough-legged still continues to be seen. Today he was fond of perching on gas well heads and he also had a particular favorite tree in the wetlands.

Rough-legged Hawk

I was wondering where the American Pipits had gotten off to earlier in the day. I found the two from yesterday when I went to the compost area of the landfill and found them picking around a giant pile of discarded spoiled produce from local grocery stores. If you squint you can make him out at the bottom left hand side in the mud.

American Pipit

Snow Birds

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Ankeny) — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 23:33:00 +0000

When there is a lot of snow or ice on the ground, all the birds head up to the tipping floor where the garbage is being dumped. Everything else right now is covered in ice, so their only hope is to pick morsels of trash or stray seeds from the mud. Today I saw Mourning Doves, Eastern Meadowlarks, Horned Larks, two American Pipits and a single Lapland Longspur all at the active dumping area. The Rough-legged Hawk is still around as well. These shots aren't the best because the low light forced me to bump up the ISO and the birds are constantly moving picking food up off the ground so some are a little fuzzy.

Eastern Meadowlark

The most numerous birds were the Horned Larks with around 50 present. Most of the birds looked even paler than this bird below. There was a lot of variation in their color and no two birds looked the same.

Horned Lark

This Mourning Dove found some hay that was laying in the mud. It was frantically picking of all the small seeds from the grass.

Mourning Dove

The most accommodating by far was the American Pipit. The bird ventured close several times, sometimes as close as six feet from the truck. I counted two who were expertly dodging dump trucks while foraging for food.

American Pipit

The only bird I wasn't able to photograph was the Lapland Longspur. I saw it several times but it never came close enough for me to get a photo. Guess I'll have to try again tomorrow. I'm hoping for sunny skies instead of clouds, that way I can drop the ISO and open the aperture and avoid these fuzzy photos.

The Rough-legged Hawk Continues

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Ankeny) — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000

The Rough-legged Hawk is still flying around and was pretty conspicuous. He was fond of the telephone poles today but every time I go too close, he would fly off. The light was pretty poor as you can tell so the pictures aren't as sharp as they could be. I'm going to keep shooting because you never know when a bird is going to leave. He's probably not going anywhere tonight, the forecast is 2 inches of snow and 0.5 inches of ice. He may be stuck to a pole in the morning instead!

Dark Phase Rough-legged Hawk

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Ankeny) — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 00:27:00 +0000

Okay, so after thinking this was a Western Red-tailed Hawk (here is one from earlier this year), someone on Flickr promptly corrected my mistake and informed me that this is a dark phase Rough-legged Hawk! I'm certain there was a Western Red-tail at the landfill today because I saw the red, but it wasn't this guy. There are so many hawks out there it's getting hard to keep track. Anyway, I'm glad my mistake was corrected, looks like I still have some learning to do.

This bird is currently on the ebird home page. They have a ebird rarities flickr pool and the images from that pool show up on the home page. If you haven't tried ebird I would highly recommend it. It is a good way to see trends and keep track of lists, but more importantly, by contributing your sightings, you will be giving ornithologists hard data on bird populations. It is known as "citizen science" and it is a great tool for birders and scientists alike.

Sunset Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Ankeny) — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 15:00:00 +0000

Since I'm usually at the landfill until dark, I get to see some pretty amazing sunsets. I'm going to be starting a new series today called Sunset Sundays, where I will post new pictures of the landfill at twilight each Sunday. Enjoy.

These are the methane flares that burn off the gas generated by the decomposing garbage. It is my understanding that more gas is collected and sent to nearby GE to power their factory, a smart example of how to turn waste into energy that is beginning to catch on here in the U.S.