Daily Pics Vol. 252

Time for another new thread...here is a link to the previous one http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1048688/ ...thanks to everyone who contributed.
I may not always comment but I sure enjoy seeing everyones pics of the birds they are seeing.

After almost 2 weeks without sun we finally had a beautiful sunny day yesterday. I decided to just enjoy sitting in the backyard and photograph the birds that landing in the walnut and dead tree.

I have been trying to get shots of the Northern Flicker and finally had this one land in the dead tree.

Here is one for Marna...an Eastern Meadowlark. I think it is a juvenile but I'm not positive. They love to land in the dead tree and I love hearing them sing!

The Blue Jays prefer to land in the walnut tree and empty the yard at the same time!

A male Cardinal who landed as far from me as possible!

Our first Dark-eyed Junco showed up yesterday...I guess autumn really has arrived.

Last one for now...this White-crowned Sparrow landed right in front of me on a limb I had attached to the feeder pole!!

Great start Rose. I thought your pix at the end of the last thread were good but you obviously saved some even better ones to start this one . The flicker is gorgeous and the Jay too.
Here is one from this morning. Another sure sign of autum.

I saw our first junco today too.

This message was edited Oct 21, 2009 11:09 AM

Wow, gorgeous all. Love that cheeky White-crowned sparrow, and Dave, love the capture with the bluejay and berries!

I don't know which pic I like best. They are all awesome. Looks like the Cardinal had a stiff wind at his back. Love the Sparrow. Love them all. Only uploading one pic now...I want to go back out to work in the yard a while and plant some more seeds. Here is a juvenile male Indigo Bunting.

Gardenpom, that baby bunting is the cutest little bird!! How lucky you are to see these beauties. Love your Red-bellied and the other birds too!! Great job!
Burn, your Jay, Red-winged and geese are wonderful!!
Burd, hope those Juncos stay around for you. I'm still waiting for their arrival. They stay here through the winter and love the chopped nuts and the seed feeder. Great pictures
Margaret, maybe the Buntings will just make a stop over here for some pictures, then head your way!LOL

Rose, I love the Red-winged photos and all the birds on the new thread! Looks like you have the yellow-shafted Northern Flickers. That Cardinal is beautiful-another one that should come out west!

Dave, that's a beautiful Jay!
GP, you're killing us with those gorgeous Buntings!!

More of my Brewers Blackbirds

Some of my American Goldfinches stopped by just to rest.

Another one

One of my Scrub Jays.

A female California Quail.

And the last, a White-crowned Sparrow.

Outstanding shots everyone!

Rose, I love the White-crowned Sparrow! Thanks for starting the new thread!!

I went on a guided walk late yesterday at Stone Harbor point and saw an absolutely beautiful male Surf Scoter bobbing along not far from shore and got great looks at him through the scopes so that was a new one.I love their red feet. We also saw some Red Knots flying around along with American Oystercatchers and Brandt that were on the mud flats at low tide. On the way back to the car I saw my first White-throated Sparrow!
It was sad to see all the beach erosion that had taken place along with all the debris (mainly wood) that had washed up. We saw a large Catamaran (sp?) that must have gotten loose and was laying upside down on one of the meadows near the bridge.

I'll be going to Nummy Island by myself tonight and I'll try and get some pictures.

Keep the great photos coming!!!

Marna, those are not berries in the jay's mouth, they are acorns. I guess they don't show up very well so I will try a crop. He had at least two and I wonder if he had three in there.

This time of year we try to clean up our many flower beds and I get to make several trips to the landfill.
Along the road to the landfill there is a beaver pond with dead trees standing in the water. Some have had their tops broken off by the wind. I have seen many different birds perched along there so whenever I go that way I always take a camera. The one I happened to grab today had a 400mm lens and a 2X extender. (Yes, the 1D Mark III will autofocus with a 2X attached).

As I scanned the tree line I spotted this guy. There wasn't much traffic so I pulled over and fired away. I was at least 200 feet from him. I got almost 200 shots at 800mm (nothing like what Linth gets, but in extenuation consider the sun was harsh, I was shooting at 800mm and didn't have a tripod, and I was excited. After all, this is only a mile from my house!). Finally I switched to 400mm and got abot 100 more, including about 20 as he flew away. I haven't gone through them all yet but here is one of the first shots.

And here he is as he leaves.

Nice ones Dave!

Yesterday I got a treat. This little Brown Creeper was quite tolerent of my presence as I followed it from to to tree and around them, trying to get good lighting. This shows the white breast and curved beak, and otherphotos show the forked tail, like that of a woodpecker.

Very nice tiger!

This one shows the tail.

Sorry Dave! None of the eagle photos were up when I started. Great sighting! I know how excited I get when I see them.

Great start Rose...remember when you first put out the blue water bowl and got the blue birds to come?? I remember how excited you were...and now you have them all the time!

Fantastic Brown Creeper tiger!!

and Dave ...fabulous shots!

Duc...there is that precious liilt quail that I love!

Let's see what I got here....nothing amazing for sure. :)

Pretty Cardinal....

I can't get a good pic, but I have this group of 3 Blue Jays that come. They and the crows come for breakfast around 8am and then off and on over the course of the day. I look forward to watching them while I eat my breakfast!

This was taken around 11am....

This message was edited Oct 21, 2009 2:25 PM

One up in the tree with its seed.

I was sitting out by my feeders, with my "new" Canon 40D when I saw this Downy WP on the limb above a suet feeder. I took several shots and the 40D is terrific. I was looking for a DSLR camera and after seeing Dave's snaps with his 40D, I know it was the one for me.

For this shot, I was using the Canon 28-135 IS USM lens that came with the camera, but just today I received the Canon 70-300 IS USM lens I won on ebay and am looking forward to using it.

Hack

oh Dave, acorns! That's even more impressive. I guess I thought they were blueberries!

Congrats Pelle! sounds like you're having a grand time.

Dave, your bird has more than one acorn in that mouth!! Most of the acorns around here and too large for our Jays to do that. Glad someone asked about it, I meant to. Great shots of the Bald Eagle.

Pelle, hope we get to see pictures soon. All those sightings sound like such a treat. Sorry about the shorelines though.

Tiger, your creeper is a cute one.

Nanny, love your Cardinal and Jays.

Hack, cute wp and congratulations on the new lens. I sure love mine and hardly ever put the shorter one on.

Great shots everyone !!!

Rose, nice start to the new thread. I'm just glad to see some blue sky for a change.

Dave, glad to see that you have a Bald Eagle in your neighborhood. That's a good shot at 800mm, especially handheld. If I don't set up my tripod, I carry a pillow that I can lay across the top of the car. It works o.k. for some shots. You also did well with the one in flight. That type of shot is the one that gives me the most problem. Keeping the focus on the eagle rather than the background can be challenging. I don't have the same problem with the sky as a background.

pelle, glad to hear that you are having a good time. Hope you got some photos. If the weather permits, I hopefully will get out somewhere this weekend.

Love the acorn thieves, and brewers blackbird are a favorite.
Great shots of the brown creeper and cardinal and robert jr.

This guy is a talker, don't know why but at times, all by himself,
will chatter and call and carry on. You know people like that,
just having a conversation with their-self.

Really enjoy the Flicker pictures.

Dove silhouetted against darkening skies.

Jay at the bird bath.

Grackle on patio roof.

And one in for a drink.

White-winged Dove.

White Ibis.

Male Red-Bellied Woodpecker.

Last pic....I'm guessing Palm Warbler on this one. The various Warblers are so confusing to me.