Daily Pictures Volume 224

This Least Bittern posed nice for the camera.

This Common Moorhen was scolding her baby for not keeping up with the family.

Great pics duc! I love all the Swallows!

Very nice Frank! Love the Bittern and the M. baby is adorable!

The baby said,"I try to keep up but I wanted my pixture took."

WOOHO! Thank you Resin.

Black Vultures can always be found on their roost.

Thank you pelle. There are plenty of babies at this time of year.

I was able to get to an isolated area today that is not always accessible.

You never know what your gonna see on the daily :) Nice photo's all! Meth has Nat.Geo called yet? Great detail!
f_chisolm i like the Bittern and Morehen shots, the baby MH looking at his mom actually looks like he's getting an earful lol. Meth lol i was wondering if someone was going to catch the Barn Swallow before i got to the bottom of this thread, props. Its been humid here, so to many blurred photo's last couple of day's. I did get a downy today, they let me get a lil closer everyday.

Two Common Mergansers taking a break.

I spotted this male Calif. Quail leading his family into the garden.

I was able to get one usable pic of two of his chicks rushing to catch up with him.

Papa Tree Swallow with a meal for the kids.

Bringing it home.

This female Bullok's Oriole filled up on sugar water

then she got a mouthfull of peach preserves and flew off with it.

I've been bummed by the lack of the seasonal songbirds, both at home and down at Herbert's Pond. Warblers and Orioles are seldom seen this year, while last year there were large numbers.

Did find this guy at the pond yesterday though. Great Blue Heron.

Sorry adel. Didn't know you were posting until after I sent.

Great shots guys! Love all of them.

ducbucin..............this pic shows the relation of the jelly dish to the hummer feeder.........I've been thinking. Maybe you should copy one of the pics showing my Oriole eating the preserves and post it by your jelly dish so your birds will get the idea.:)

No problem tiger.

adel, I can't get the orioles to feed here. I did see the FOY on an orange I'd put out the day before..............then the oranges dried up! Even the grosbeaks wouldn't eat oranges this year. I've tried jelly and oriole feeders in years past, but no takers. ;(

Here's another shot of the Great Blue Heron. I never noticed before the stripe down the front of the neck. Is it always there? Or is it part of the breeding plumage?

I was looking for cardinals today and noticed some are losing feathers on their heads. I assume this is mites or lice or something like that. Anyone else notice this happening?

Here is one with just a small problem. Seems to start around the eyes and ears.

Here is one where it has spread a bit more.

And look at this poor fellow. Wonder how much more of his body it will spread to.

And lest you think all our cardinals look like that, here is one with all his feathers, and he is one of the reddest I have seen.

And here is a female. Yes, they do like meal worms when they can get them.

Hi Dave, Feather Mites. It is sad looking.

Nice shots, everyone.

It's been duck weather here .... but few ducks. Even my internet was out all day, yesterday.

It's been sooo slow .......

Can anyone tell me how the 'Turtle Dove' got its name ?

Note: I had a lot of spare time to fool around !!!!

Happy birding this weekend ...................

tigerlily, I love the GBH.

Dave, those poor birds do look to be in an awful way. It certainly seem more than a moult.

Linth, that's hilarious!

It was a wild day in the south west of the state today. I went down the ocean twice. This morning it was all I could do to remain upright. Things had settled a little this afternoon. I got this shot of an Australasian Gannet, which I've seen previously; this was the first time I've managed to get a photo of one. The lighthouse at Rottnest Island is in the distance.

LOL Linth!

Nice one Margaret!

Thanks, Pelle.

The high winds had blown tons of seeds from the Norfolk Island pines onto roadways. On my way back from the beach, these Little Corellas, Long-billed Corellas and Pink and Grey Galahs were all over the road enjoying a feed, nonchalantly ignoring the cars that wanted to drive through. Drivers slowed to a crawl and just as the vehicle was almost on top of them, they casually moved just out of the way.

Every driver that was eventually able to navigate this little flock of horrors had a smile on his or her face.

When not hanging upside down from trees or having fun in other ways, they spend a lot of their time digging in the dirt. There were many far dirtier than this one.

Wow, Margaret, first I thought the birds resemble children at play. But they're more like oldmen that are young-at-heart at play. They're adorable birds. ^_^

Resin, thanks for the correction on my Barn Swallows-I knew I should have checked my book first!
Margaret, wonderful pictures.
Linth, excellent capture!! Love it!
Dave, more great photos. I don't know about the bugs, but I do hope the feathers will grow back.
Adel, thanks for the picture and the idea! I'm not sure my birds would sit still long enough to look at your photo. Great pictures!

We were out on the lake yesterday and checked on the tall trees for heron nests. This Great Blue Heron looked cute with the spikes on his head. Wish he hadn't been so far away, I'd have liked a better picture.

We found at least 7 nests in this tree, but again, it was too far away for me.

Another Great Blue Heron.