DAILY PICS. VOL. 236

Both are very good, Lily. Congratulations!!

I love the white against the green leaves of the gum tree. I like both shots but in the first one you can see its head better, so that's my favorite.

Dave

Beautiful shot Lily!!!

That's a great shot Dave!

Thank you both for your kind words. Dave, the pix of the Osprey is awesome!

Beautiful Egret shots, Lily.

Dave, if anyone's interested???? I'd LOVE to see more of the Osprey shots. That one is fantastic. Look at the tongue.

Thank you, Margaret. Dave

Oh that's such a good one Lily!

Amen to what Pelle said.

Here's another shot, Margaret.

Here is the guy she was yelling at

Here she almost seems to be smiling.

Here she is standing as we were pulling out.

A similar shot. The sun went behind a cloud so she looks darker.

Another tongue shot, cropped so you can see it better.

One more, from the rear, before she stood up.

This message was edited Aug 9, 2009 9:33 PM

Here is a full frame shot to show as much of the nest as I could see. I wish I could have gotten higher.

Another shot of her mate, directly overhead.

Supperb photography!!!

That is a beautiful shot, Lily.

Dave, they are fantastic shots. She is so beautiful. What 400mm lens were you using? I have one the same as Methodical's on order. It's the usual story of "There aren't any in Australia, we'll have to order one in".

Hi Margaret. I don't know what model Al has. I have the 400mm DO version. It is f/4.0 and has IS and is a LOT smaller and lighter than their f/2.8 400mm model, which is almost impossible for anyone to hand hold, even with Image Stabilization. A lot of the purists are critical of the DO version butI like it fine. Very easy for these old arms to hold. I traded a 500mm f/4 IS for it. (Then turned around and bought another 500mm.)

Here's a link to one currently for sale on ebay, just for your information;

http://cgi.ebay.com/Canon-400mm-f4-DO-IS-in-Pristine-condition_W0QQitemZ110422494145QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCamera_Lenses?hash=item19b5b18bc1&_trksid=p4295.c0.m299

Thanks Dave.

I stopped off at the ocean on the way home this afternoon. One of the Ospreys was gliding up and down in the strong wind. It was periodically being dive-bombed by Seagulls.

Another.

This is a rotten shot, but I love the little legs sticking out of the Seagull.

When they aren't chasing other birds and trying to pick fights, they'll pick on each other.

Another windy day in the windy city

Dave and Margaret, wonderful birds, great photography! DH was admiring your pictures as well.

This morning I captured these shot of the Redheaded Woodpecker. I've seen these birds trying in vain to get close to my grains feeder to the back yard. I'll set up a cage feeder with mealworms for them soon enough. They must be rearing their youngs this time of year?

Lily, both of your Egret photos are beautiful. They sure stand out on the green leaves of the trees. Nice job. Also, great shot on the redhead! Glad to see it's still around.
Dave, your Osprey find was very lucky for both you and us. Happy to see you had a good lens. Your photos are stunning.

I was so happy to see this Brewer's Blackbird arrive for a nut. I named him "Stubby" last year when I noticed he was missing a foot and was so worried he wouldn't make it through the cold winter. Of course I'm not positive it's the same bird, but it does make me feel better to see a similar one.

Excellent shots Dave!! I'm so glad this oppurtunity came up for you. Their a gorgeous couple!!

Margaret, Beautiful action shots!

Lily, Love your woodpecker!

Handsome boy duc!!

Duc, at closer examination. The black bird's long toes are missing! One resilent bird! I'm glad, too, that you've found the same bird's return and that it survived the hardship out in nature.

I must set up a webcam for my Redheaded wp it has been as close to the feeder as a few feet away from the window ... here it perched on a tree that's nearby.

Woohoo, as I type the bird is back and is exploring the feeder, now it landed on the feeder but I afraid to go for the camera because I may scare it away.

At last my Redheaded wp perched on the feeder. The Cardinal didn't seem to want to share the feeder but kept at a distance. And then the Redheaded wp's mate also arrived. I'm one lucky individual to have witness these birds as such close range!

You certainly are Lily!

I drove down to Cape May early this morning for the Bird Walk at the Cape May Migratory Bird Refuge. It was extremely hot even at 7-7:30 in the morning but we saw at least 51 different species of birds and I got 18 new birds on my list! There were also loads of different butterflies and many types of dragonfly. It was a good morning. Hope your all doing well.

More new birds? Pelle, please post and share of your new discoveries.

oh Pelle,how great!

Pelle, that's wonderful news. I can't wait to see all your pictures!!

Lily, yes, you are very lucky. Keep watching, but also keep that camera close too!

New bird.....loads of butterflies AND dragonflies...gee must be nice.LOL!

My little ole Cardinal....

or how about a Downy Woodpecker????

If it's the same one who has been drumming on our house, tell it to stay at your house.

As I lookingout the window sunday morning I thought to myself that I have not seen of heard a Northern Flicker for quite awhile now....BAMM!

Northern Flicker!! LOL

LOL...Iris!

Cool nanny!

Thanks guys. I left at 5am and was home by 11:30am. Cape May is about 2 hours drive from here. Normally I would have stayed till 2pm but it was so hot and humid. I have a lot of pics so I'll put most in a separate thread but here is a pic of some Mute Swans (not new for me) but see all the flowers in bloom? They were in bloom all over the place and it was so beautiful. They are a Mallow/ Hibiscus type.

They also have tours of private Hummingbird Gardens (wouldn't that be nice?) and Butterfly Gardens along with many other bird walks in different places within Cape May County and even some in Atlantic County.

Here is their schedule for the month of August.

http://www.birdcapemay.org/calendar.php

That looks beautiful, Pelle. I look forward to seeing your separate thread.

Great shots, everyone.

Dave, I particularly like your Bluebird and Osprey series.

Margaret, nice pics and congratulations on your retirement. Looking forward to your new photos of the Osprey. Ours will be leaving in another month. And, I will be looking forward to a new season with the Bald Eagles.

Pelle, looking forward to hearing more (and seeing more) about your Cape May trip. How were the mosquitoes ?

Lily, send some of your Red-headed Woodpeckers my way .......

I was out at 7:00 a.m. this morning and finished by 9:30 a.m. --- too hot. Nothing unusual out there. Best thing was actually an eight-point buck. I did get a photo of this Hairy Woodpecker which I haven't seen for quite some time.