Crex Meadows Rough-legged Hawk

In the fall there are a large number of Rough-legged Hawks that pass through Crex Meadows.

 

Crex Meadows Sandhill Cranes

There were a large number of Sandhill Cranes at Phantom Lake.

 

Snow Buntings

Snow Buntings are common at Crex Meadows.

Crex Meadows Trumpeter Swans

Crex Meadows has a large flock of resident Trumpeter Swans.

 

Landing Trumpeter Swans

I managed to catch this Trumpeter Swan landing.

 

Crex Meadows Sandhill Cranes

Crex Meadows is one of the great places to watch the Greater Sandhill Crane fall migration.

 

Early Fall Birds at Crex Meadows

 

Sandhill Cranes

Trumpeter Swans

Sparrow

Pied-billed Grebe

Great Egret

Bald Eagle

American Coots

Landing Sandhill Cranes

I was lucy to get a sequence of Sandhill Cranes comming in for a landing on a very windy day.

More Ruby-throated Hummingbirds

A few more photos of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds on my Zinnias.

 

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds

For years I’ve grown Black-eyed Susan’s around my well head. Unfortunately they did not attract many butterflies or hummingbirds. This year I decided to plant Zinnias. It was a struggle at first because they were attacked by large numbers of Japanese Beetles. We ended up having to spray the leaves to kill the beetles all the time hoping we wouldn’t kill anything else. Finally the beetles disappeared. During most of the summer I didn’t notice many butterflies or hummingbirds on the Zinnias. However a couple of weeks before the hummingbird left for the winter they started feeding on the  Zinnias in large numbers. The strange thing was that all of them were females. I’m thinking that the males leave a little earlier than the females. I brought my lawn chair and camera out and spent quite a few hours watching the hummingbirds feed.