It's Delivery!

Continuing with the theme that has developed from recent photos, the dinner menu today moves from prey found in the water (the Great Egret) to dinner on the wing. The Eastern Kingbird is one of the most common kingbird across the United States with a range that extends from the Atlantic Coast to the eastern borders of Oregon and Washington. It usually arrives in Oklahoma during early May and is quite common along fences and open areas. My favorite spots for finding Eastern Kingbirds are along fences by golf courses and in wildflowers along the shore of a lake.

Kingbirds are very skilled flycatchers. In Oklahoma, they have the disadvantage of being overshadowed by our state bird, the spectacular Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. But these striking black and white birds hold their own when it comes to aerial maneuvers that result in a tasty bug dinner. This Eastern Kingbird had dinner delivered -- it is a fledgling whose only effort was sitting on the cable and waiting for its parent to drop off this translucent-winged bug (I am assuming it was a dragonfly but am not certain). It looked like more than the bird could handle but the young one devoured its dinner in about three gulps.

Dinner is served, part 1

Finding birds to photograph can sometimes be a challenge during the summer months. Last year, record high temperatures made it difficult to spend time outdoors in the afternoons; this year it was the record rainfall with flooded roads and lakes that posed the greatest challenge. So I decided to have fun finding different ways to photograph the familiar, easy-to-locate birds rather than focus on the elusive, rare migrants. The result is a collection of photos focus on what birds eat... or how they eat.

At the time I posted the Mississippi Kite with the bird (previous post) I didn't know that being an "uninvited guests" at dinner was going to be my new role for this theme! For the next few weeks, I'll be adding new photos that are all about "what's for dinner." This is also helping me learn more about the birds' habits. It's been very rewarding and entertaining!

This photo is of a Great Egret who certainly landed the big one! I watched this egret as it grabbed this large sand bass at Lake Hefner (Oklahoma City) -- it seemed obvious to me that it was too big for even this experienced fish-catcher to handle! It took a lot of chugging, but the egret ate the whole thing! I don't know the length of the Great Egret's beak and I hope I can figure it out so I can estimate the size of the bass. For now, I'd guess that the fish was about 12" long. It certainly made a lot of fishermen envious to see the egret land this one! (I'll add an update if I get a better measurement.)

Upcoming dinner-time photos will include the Grasshopper Sparrow, Eastern Kingbird and Barn Swallow. What's for dinner?!