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Spring is surely in the air as this “masked bandit” Common Yellowthroat belts out his familiar wichity-wichity-wichity-wich song as he stakes out his territory in a beautiful field of yellow flowers.
This photo of an adult male Purple Martin shows him flying back to the nest with a prize dragonfly to feed his chicks. Purple Martins are our country’s largest swallow, and are aerial masters of flight as they swiftly glide over water to catch a variety of insects in mid-air.
This adult Great Egret spreads its wings and effortlessly glides in for a soft landing to hunt and stalk for food. As this photo shows, it was early morning and the low sun angle lights up the underside feathers of this Great Egret flying.
The Snowy Egret can be very entertaining as it fishes for food. This photo shows a Snowy Egret appearing to dance and run on the water in hot pursuit of a fish, after flying and dragging its yellow feet through the water trying to herd fish towards shallower water.
This photo of an adult Black-crowned Night Heron in breeding plumage shows it flying into the shore for a landing, showing off the beautiful layering of its feathering. This photo was chosen as the cover for the October 1999 issue of Birding magazine.
This adult Great Blue Heron photo shows off the details of its magnificent wing feathering – primaries, secondaries & upper wing coverts all perfectly located and overlapped. Its 6-foot wingspan makes the Great Blue Heron a beautiful sight to watch flying with its slow wingbeats.
Herons are very patient hunters, and this photo shows an adult Black-crowned Night Heron slowly stalking a fish after waiting patiently by the water’s edge. At the last moment, its long neck will be thrust forward and its bill will grab a small fish and swallow it head-first.
What a fascinating and graceful bird to watch, as this photo shows an adult Black Skimmer flying with its knife-edged lower mandible submerged in the water. When this Black Skimmer feels something in the water when it’s skimming, it will snap its head down and hopefully clamp onto a fish.
The Black Skimmer is the only bird that has its lower mandible longer than the upper, as can be seen in this photo. This adult Black Skimmer is flying to bring its prize back to the nest to feed its chicks – the chicks will then swallow the whole fish head-first.
The Roseate Spoonbill is such a beautifully colored bird found mostly in Florida and the coasts of Texas. They feed by swinging their big long spatulate bill back and forth in shallow waters. In flight their intense colors are much more obvious with their wings spread.
This adult Roseate Spoonbill is vigorously bathing, perhaps to impress a nearby mate with his impressive colors. The flying water drops make it a very colorful, action-oriented photo.
The long legs of the Black-necked Stilt show off in this flying photo as they trail behind. This photo also shows the iridescent green that can be seen on the wings of the Black-necked Stilt when the light strikes the top side at the right angle.
This flying American White Pelican is a massive bird with a 9-foot wingspan. The American White Pelican will typically group-feed in a semi-circle and herd the fish towards shallow water, where they then all dip their large throat pouches into the water to scoop up the fish.
This adult Brown Pelican is all concentration as it plunges head-first to catch fish in its bill. The Brown Pelican has successfully made its way off of our national endangered list. This diving picture was chosen to be on the cover of the April 1995 issue of Wildbird magazine.
The haunting call of this adult Common Loon in breeding plumage can be heard for miles in the northern lakes where it breeds. The Common Loon is an expert diver and swims powerfully underwater where it catches its prey.
This male Red-winged Blackbird glides over the cattails to a new perch to sing his familiar konk-la-reee song as he flares his beautiful red shoulder patches and declares his territory.
This sleek and graceful Forster’s Tern in breeding plumage is flying back to its nest to feed its chicks, having plunged 20 feet headfirst into the water to catch this fish. Earlier during courtship rituals, the male offers a fish like the one in this photo to his mate before mating takes place.
Russ’ celebrated collection of photographs have been cherished by bird enthusiasts, naturalists, conservationists, educators and photo specialists all over the world.
For decades, Russ’s images have have been licensed, framed and printed and displayed in high profile places for many to enjoy.
If you would like to see more images of a particular subject, please contact Russ HERE..
Also, if you would like to own a digital, high resolution copy for your web site, textbook, or to be printed and framed, send a message to Russ HERE. Be sure to include the photo ID you’ll find int his watermarked gallery.