July 22, 2012 - Several Birds and a Sunset

Baby birds often look different than their parents. But this one looks twice the size of the adult. That’s because the baby is a Brown-headed Cowbird and the adult is a Chipping Sparrow. Historically, Cowbirds followed herds of Bison as they roamed the prairie. They feasted on the insects stirred up as the Bison grazed. This didn’t allow the Cowbirds to stay in one place to raise their young. So, they evolved the habit of laying their eggs in the nests of other birds. Some of these birds didn’t seem to notice that the chick wasn’t theirs and raised it just like one of their own. That’s what is happening here. I took this photo in the yard of my friend Shawn Conrad in LaPrairie, MN (right near Grand Rapids).

CowbirdBrownheadedjuvfedChippingSparrowShawnConrad'sHouseLaPrairie20120622

I photographed this Palm Warbler about a week ago on County Road 72, just south of Warba, MN. Its body feathers looked rather shabby and I thought it might just be wet from contact with the dew-covered grass. Then I looked up Palm Warbler in Birds of North America and found that this is the time of year for a partial feather molt for this species. I’ll bet some of the feathers are already missing and the new ones haven’t fully developed yet. Also, look at the feathers on this bird’s “shoulder.” They cover part of the wing feathers. It looks like two or three of them are in place but several others are still to appear.

WarblerPalmItasca20120713

Sedge Wrens are pretty common in our part of northern Minnesota. This one was found on a county road a few miles south of our home. When they are singing or displaying, most wren species hold their tails in a cocked position like this one is doing. But take a look at the next photo!

WrenSedgeItasca44620120705

This falls into the category of, “I didn’t know they could even DO that!” It looks like this Marsh Wren is using its tail as an umbrella. I stopped at a large cattail marsh along Hwy 2 in Itasca County and found several of these birds singing and defending their territories. They are tiny birds, only 4½ - 5 inches long.

WrenMarshHwyItascaCounty20120705

Here’s a recent sunset photo taken from the shore of our lake.

SunsetDunningLake20120713