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<\/a><\/p>\nTo See More Birds and Wildlife, Try Standing Still Near Where Habitats Intersect<\/h2>\n
While I almost always see or notice something new if I stop anywhere in a natural area, I tend to see more if I choose a spot where a variety of habitats meet. For example, if I wait just under the trees along the edge of a forest where it adjoins a meadow, I find more. Today, I stopped for long intervals at two different locations. The first was near the southern bridge over Sheridan Creek. At this spot the marsh itself is to one side, the creek runs down the middle, a wooded area begins just upstream and downstream on the one side where the Knoll path winds, and a meadow-and-shrub area adjoins on the other side. It\u2019s a smorgasbord for wildlife!<\/p>\n
Birds Flock to Sheridan Creek to Bathe, Feed and Drink<\/h2>\n
While I watched, I saw a Ruby Throated Hummingbird visit the orange blossoms of Spotted Jewelweed. In a tangle of red Dogwood upstream, two warblers with yellow undersides and greenish backs darted after small insects. A couple of Warbling Vireos caught the insects around a dead bush that had fallen across the creek.<\/p>\n
One of a group of seven or more Black Capped Chickadees perched on the railing beside me and offered some rather insolent advice about my photography skills. A Song Sparrow rooted determinedly amongst the grasses on the bank.<\/p>\n
A family of Goldfinches took turns landing on the muddy water\u2019s edge to take delicate sips of water.<\/p>\n
While I was trying to figure out the warblers, a deer came splashing down the creek and stopped to browse on the vines and shrubs along the shore. The birds retreated as it placidly munched.<\/p>\n If I\u2019m correctly interpreting the small dots on this animals head, it\u2019s a young buck not a doe. (Some female white-tailed deer can grow antlers but it\u2019s not common, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation<\/strong><\/a>. ) It snacked for a while and I noticed a large number of mosquitoes were feasting on it. Then it increased the water level in the creek (don\u2019t drink water from the wild unless you would also eat yellow snow!) and nibbled its way back upstream and out of view.<\/p>\n A few minutes later another family walked behind me on the board walk and quite probably thought there was nothing much to see at the Rattray. I didn\u2019t have the heart to tell them what they\u2019d just missed.<\/p>\n I try to follow the above rule when I can. Several times I\u2019ve been pleasantly surprised that a bird was NOT the one I thought it was before I lifted my lens in its direction.<\/p>\n While patiently watching the ebb and flow of wildlife, people, dogs and water at the southern bridge over Sheridan Creek, I spotted two large flycatchers winging in to perch briefly on some distant tree tops. (I think they were dying ash trees but I\u2019m not sure.) Through the lens, I could make out a bit of a crest on the one I could capture so I believed they were some of the resident Great Crested Flycatchers, although I hadn\u2019t heard them calling as they usually do.<\/p>\n When I checked my photo at home, though, I was surprised. The bird did not have a yellow underside like a Great Crested. Nor did it have a white line across the tail like a Kingbird. And it did have what looked like grey streaks down each side. After a bit of sleuthing, I discovered this bird was likely an Olive-Sided Flycatcher. More experienced birders agreed. Every year the flowering seasons can shift slightly and 2015 seems to be one where things are a bit later than some previous years. For example, on August 28, the various goldenrods were just starting to open and the asters weren\u2019t really out yet much.<\/p>\n I did notice some White Turtlehead in both bud and blossom<\/strong><\/a> beside the culvert nearest to the Old Poplar Row entrance.<\/p>\n Along that same spur path, native Hog Peanut had also wound its way up and around other plants to show off pale white, pink and lilac blossoms. When checking the id using my Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers, I read that these plants actually have two types of flowers: the showy ones I had seen, and ones with no petals on the lower parts of the plant. Incentive to look more closely on my next walk!<\/p>\n While stopped, I noticed an unknown Tussock Moth caterpillar busily munching away. And then, another wildflower:<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nDoes anyone look good taking a drink?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nTake a Photo of Every Bird No Matter How Common: In Case It\u2019s Not Common At All<\/h2>\n
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\nI\u2019ve never knowingly seen an Olive-sided Flycatcher before. I\u2019ve now seen one and probably seen two if the bird it was travelling with was another. They are migrating through southern Ontario according to reports on eBird and OntBirds.<\/p>\nWhat Wildflowers Are In Bloom in Late August at the Rattray Marsh?<\/h2>\n
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\nHog Peanut blossoms<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n