Red-tailed Hawk - Fox River Valley - M. C. Kinney Photography - Downtown Appleton

This Red-tailed Hawk was again hanging out on the Fox River in the early morning sunshine last week. He's the first hawk I've seen that could quite frankly care less about my presence. So much so that I again walked under him, talked to him, and shared some time watching two immature eagles across the river soaring in unison.

He did occasionally  look down at me as I moved about, but for the most part he was not very interested in me or anything else around him.

As I started to leave, he did however act like he was hiding. Or at least, that's what this picture looks like.

Heckrodt Nature Reserve - Finches - Chickadee - Nuthatch - Woodpecker - Appleton Photographers - MC Kinney Photography

So many wonderful songbirds out at Heckrodt Nature Reserve last Thursday. This adult female Downy Woodpecker

and then a Red-bellied Woodpecker that flew so fast he flitted by, around a tree and off into the woods that I couldn't even get the camera pointed at him much less an image taken!
There were two American Goldfinches hanging out in nearby trees that never went to the feeders.

There were many Black-capped Chickadees coming and going.

This one doesn't even look like he flew in, but rather hopped onto the feeder!
There were about five or six Purple Finches both male and female, all very rotund!

And this beautiful adult female White-Breasted Nuthatch. I can always tell when it's a bit colder because the feeders are a lot busier!

Red-Tailed Hawk - Appleton Photographers - Bird Photography - M.C. Kinney Photography

Yesterday was a cold, windy day with a beautiful blue sky. I headed out to Freedom to look for some Snowy Owls but not a sighting to be had. On my way to the studio, I swung over to 1000 Islands Environmental Center, but other than one lone Common Goldeneye playing in the river and an Eagle way off in the distance, nothing. So off to work I went. But as I crossed the College Avenue bridge I thought I'd take a swing down along the river and found this rather large hawk.

I thought is was a Coopers Hawk or a Sharp-shinned but on closer review and some help from the facebook group Wisconsin Birding I'm pretty sure it's a Red-Tailed Hawk. This big guy stayed on this limb for over an hour (I left while it was still sitting there) although it did preen itself, fan out one of it's wings to it's full length, and turn around on the limb after I was there about a half an hour. Several people walked under it and at least 8 cars went under it. It just wasn't ready to fly away!

I did get this very interested look when I turned off my vehicle though.

And this look when I was walking back to my car! A lot of personality with this one. And unlike so many other hawks, it had no problem hanging around long enough for me to take some images!

Great Blue Heron - Bird Photography - M. C. Kinney Photography - Appleton Photographers

Yesterday the weather was pretty dreary, cloudy, rainy early in the morning, and damp. When I finally made it out to look for some birds, I only found one Snowy Owl deep into a field in Freedom (too far away to get anything but a speck on the images taken) so instead I thought I'd share something from the summer; when the weather was warmer and the sky was blue!

This Blue Heron was going deep for his breakfast in early August of 2014. The sunny sky and colorful reflections off the water really add to the beauty of that day.

Later it had caught a small minnow sized meal that seemed to be in shock that he'd been caught.

 And on the lookout for some more! Enjoy these summer images!

Snowy Owl - Freedom, WI - M. C. Kinney Photography - Appleton Photographer

A beautiful blue sky, albeit a bit chilly this morning, meant a drive out to Freedom to look for the Snowy Owls that have been wintering there. I hadn't been out there in about 3 weeks and hoped they were still nearby. I found this one right away on an electrical pole.

I've seen this one before but it looked a little larger than it did a month ago. Probably eating well given the lack of snow we've had in this area, making it easier to spot voles and mice in the farm fields. After about 35 minutes, it decided to take off and fly to a different location.

It obviously wasn't very interested in my presence as it didn't even look at me as it flew away.

Cardinal - Nuthatch - House Finch - Heckrodt Nature Center - M.C. Kinney Photography - Appleton Photographers

This morning it was a little cloudy out so I headed over to Menasha to the Heckrodt Nature Center to photograph some of the songbirds and hopefully some of the Cardinals that have been wintering there since a blue sky isn't really necessary for birds in trees images. When I first arrived there wasn't a bird in sight and I was a bit concerned that something was amiss. But after a few minutes, several squirrels approached the feeders and soon after that I heard several birds off in the distance. Soon enough a male Cardinal and several Junco's, Common Nuthatches, and House Finches flew into the surrounding trees and eventually flitted back and forth between the feeders and the trees.

The Cardinal only stayed for about ten minutes, mostly hanging out in the tree before finally sitting on the feeder and quickly eating about a dozen seeds next to a male House Finch (that looked like he was keeping a close eye on the Cardinal) and a Junco.

The Junco's and the Common Nuthatches however stayed longer but hidden mostly on the back side of the feeders. I did capture this pudgy little Nuthatch though...so proud to show off the peanut he had.

It's almost bigger than his mouth!

American Coot - Puerto Rico - Bird Photography - M.C. Kinney Photography - Appleton, WI

On a recent trip to Puerto Rico I was able to photograph many different birds and reptiles but the big surprise was finding a family of American Coots (Fulica americana) with one chick near the shore of a pond. I thought the baby was just the cutest little thing with its bright orange and red plumage. Based on it still having its plumage ornaments I estimate the chick to be less than a week old.

The nest was set among a large clump of weeds and actually very well hidden. Unfortunately the pond they inhabited was being shared with at least 10 large iguanas along with this one, about 20 inches long sitting on a rock overlooking the pond.

Returning several days later I observed one of the iguanas sitting on the nest, with none of the family in site. Hopefully they abandoned the site before the reptile took over the nest, but I guess I'll never know!

Snowy Owls - Wisconsin Birds - M. C. Kinney Photography - Appleton, WI

This beautiful Snowy Owl is one of the three owls that can be seen in the Freedom, Wisconsin area. This particular one I've seen the least, but it put on a show for me, flying down to pursue something it saw under the ice. What a beauty!

Sadly it was denied a meal while I was watching, even though it did try to 'attack' the ice a couple of times. Whatever was under there was just not attainable that day! Lucky mouse!