killdeer » Jarred Sutton Photography

Day 2 with a killdeer.

Photography, Staten Island NY 2 Responses »

Jun 212009

With the first day spent at the salt marsh in adverse weather I came back more prepared and with comfort! The day would prove to be a long one. Six hours in total watching and waiting; which can be its own entertainment as well. I was even greeted by two deer (sorry no photo of that, camera was pre-occupied.) The nest has been around for approximately 2-3 weeks according to a local beach walker. Leaning toward the third week. Meaning they could hatch any day now and today was that day.

The killdeer began to hatch one after the other. She had laid three eggs which tends to be more rare then the more common four (how they hold a huge portion of the future inside them like that is beyond me with the size of the eggs in relation to her body.) Later that day while I changed a card (own nothing bigger then 8gb cards) I saw a hatchling tucked away. After quickly retreating I observed a head pop-up. Probably the first one I saw. When finally dry and with enough strength to greet the world a second soon followed. The third egg remained unhatched for the remainder of the stay. No worries however.The next day I returned to make sure all three eggs & eggshells were missing. Although stray cats can and could be the culprit I learned something new behaviorally from watching the killdeer.

Killdeer (and possibly other shore birds) will carry the egg shells away from the nest in order to protect it. After seeing the action occur more then once I was able to confirm it for myself. Later talking to Dina she told me one of the reasons this is done is to reduce the likeliness of visibility to aerial predators. The outside of the shell is spotted and beige similar to the sand with dark spots; while the inside is a pearly white and can shimmer being wet from the embryo.

Watching as the 2 of 3 were born, knowing my cards were getting full and the light was going from good to bad I left them to finish getting the offspring ready for their journey. Killdeer chicks will be ready to feed almost immediately and just need their parents to protect and guide them.

Taking some of their first peeks into the world.

Finally mustering up the courage to share their face with the world.

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Two side notes here. Some cool news tips:

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Sharing a personal moment with a killdeer.

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Jun 182009

Over the weekend I finally had my camera back in my hands and was ready to put it back to work. I wasn’t sure quite what to photograph yet, but I was determined. I decided to scout a location with my friend just in case spring wasn’t truly over. Low and behold we came right upon a killdeer nest. Almost quite literally! Thankfully not though. The nest was awfully close to the trail head and it worried us that it was too close for comfort.

Killdeer are a shorebird that feeds along the shore edge in search of any tasty insect or even a crustacean or berry it can find. The killdeer breeds from Alaska to South America. They summer north to British Columbia, Utah, the Ohio Valley and Massachusetts. Their winter range can be found in Central America and they also maintain a year round range throughout the US in particularly coastal regions.

As soon as I saw the nest I was very excited. I’ve never photographed a killdeer nest before. Reading a little about popular locations for killdeer nests you often find how much they actually come in contact with humans. For example you can find them often in places such as lawns, golf courses, driveways, parking lots, and gravel-covered roofs, as well as pastures, fields, sandbars and mudflats. They don’t build any sort of complex nest with rocks, twigs, saliva, lawn clippings, shrubbery, shells, etc. They use a simple depression in the ground selected very carefully to avoid high tide. Hiding their nest amongst the dead reeds, algae, trash and other deceased sea life. Their choice of location is absolutely fundamental and crucial to the survival of the nest. You would think to yourself; how is some shallow depression in the sand amongst seashells and humans’ crap going to protect their future offspring? I can tell you it sure as heck does. So well in fact you could be standing right next to it!

Can you find him? and this isn’t shot with as wide an angle that our eyes would be looking.

When I returned the next day with my tripod, D300 w/ Sigma 150mm f/2.8 macro, and wireless remote it took me over 30min to find the nest! Throughout the day even using surrounding natural markers to remember the nest location was difficult. It really is impressive witnessing natures camouflage in action.

Once I located the nest I slowy and carefully approached the nest. Set up my gear as quickly as possible and went at least 30-40ft away. Using my binoculars and my wireless remote I was able to get my photographs without disturbing their nesting behavior. This type of photography is a huge game of patience. Be prepared to sit for hours on end. In case of killdeer they swap places for incubation periods. So the other mate is normally around to keep an eye out and lure predators away. A signal you may be close (know your settings going into the scenario so you can be in and out of their quick.)

To give you an idea of how often they swap places during the 24-26 day incubation period I jotted down the times on this this day of monitoring that they switched places:

I arrive at 6am
6:23am swap
6:30am jumps off nest calling for mate
6:32am returns to nest
7:40am swap
8:16am swap
8:39am swap
9:00am swap
9:44am swap
10:31am swap
11:01am swap

My first day was a tough one. Word of advice; bring anything and everything you need. From a book and notepad to an umbrella and foldable chair. As you can see at dawn the weather was awful. Downpours and wind. no fun at all. We push through it all to get what we need.

Checking on his/her eggs. There were a clutch of three eggs. More commonly you find a clutch (a clutch is a group of eggs) of four.

Stepping up and outward making sure no one will get close to her future generation.

I wanted to leave you with this last one to help spread the word about what we all too often don’t see. Not only does it make our photography difficult, but more importantly it interferes and even leads to the death of many birds and aquatic animals. As you can tell from this picture; what I am talking about is trash. So please when disposing of your items recycle the recyclables and properly put your refuse in the proper receptacle.

To be continued…

Two against the elements.

Photography, Staten Island NY Comments Off

Mar 302009

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Not a glimmer of blue in the sky as the rain continued to fall. A faint glow rising as the day would become anew. All that could be heard was the spatter of water droplets on the pond and slight wind blowing through the bare trees. It is the spring and they were preparing in the proper fashion. With the nest built after several weeks of work they set up hunkering down defending the nest. Now with the nest built the male heavily defends and patrols for intruders; while the female remains in the nest waiting for birth and incubation. This day was a bit tougher then others. Even with the nest enclosed by reeds and slightly elevated above the water. Nature was going to roughen the day just a bit.

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The male mute swan [and the species] are very territorial. They will defend the nest against anything or one that typically will get close. Especially if it feels the female or nest is threatened in anyway. The male was going solo searching the pond for any threats ready to intimidate if necessary.

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She mostly laid low as the rain didn’t let up often. Every so often she would pick her head up and inspect the nest and the surrounding area. Making sure the nest remained in good condition and the immediate area was safe. Typically using muskrat dens for their nests and the placement being well covered in the reeds provided a perfect place to raise her young. In the coming month or so hopefully we will be able to share in the miracle of life.

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After parting ways I headed down to the section of the Gateway National Seashore located in Staten Island. I have grown fond of overcast and rainy days in particular due to the lack of people. When I got there it was vacant. Allowing me to stop on roads if need be or use the parking lot in an unorganized manor. To my surprise there was a small flock of killdeer prodding around the parking lot area. I spent a good forty five minutes photographing them. The electric mode of the Prius helps as well. Using the car as a blind is a huge plus when the opportunity rises. The car allows us to get closer with lenses that all too often might normally not cut it on foot. Chasing killdeer along a shoreline in the open can be a tedious task; so I took this opportunity and ran with it.

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Even with overcast skies you can see their beautiful colors. Too compensate I dialed in shade for white balance (WB). It is something I am debating between using cloudy and shade WB. Early morning overcast shade seems to do it, but as they day progresses even in thick cloud cover shade might just be too warm a WB mode.

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Loving this view. Really shows off some of the major characteristic features of the species. Particularly its two dark unique bands.

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This is an example of using the cloudy white balance. I moved the WB slider in Nikon Capture NX2 just enough for a little more warmth. You can often find killdeer (as well as other birds) constantly preening in wet weather. They use a prening glad located near their rump to keep a slick and protective coat on their feathers to resist the elements. To think this was only part one of the day.

Seeking Treasure

Staten Island NY Comments Off

Jul 122008

Hey Everybody,

For the past 3 days I have been trying to seek out and learn many bird species in the Gateway National Sea Shore. First I went searching with Dina and we discovered many killdeer. We also found two American Oyster Catcher eggs. We missed the birth of one of the eggs by a day or two. I went back today with my friend Seth and found one of the hatched chicks. One is still in his/her egg. Maybe if I get the chance tomorrow I can swing by and see if he/she has emerged. It is amazing to me that -as Seth had brought up- these shore birds come out so well prepared for life in comparison to a house sparrows nest for example. The chick in my photograph is at the most only two days old and it is able to move about and carry out its needs. It was very exciting to see new life emerge within only a short period of time.