Daily Pictures Volume 282

The Mourning Dove also finds it cold.

Ditto to that! lol This one is well on it way also. Grasmussen, thanks for starting the new thread! That's a super shot of the Magpie!
Ive never seen a Raven, nice shot! Can ya go a fast as you want in the tunnel? lol

Duc, great shot of the adult BE! That must be a good look-out spot for them.

Mrs_Ed, that R-t Hawk looks like one bad you know what! (mamma jamma?) lol, Nice shot!

Hack, Nice shots! Really like your variety.

Adel, nice shots of your bird's!

GP, nice shot! You get those nice close shots of your R-b WP's, Elvis has been here since August and Sunday was the closest, he ever came, about 18 feet away.

Burn, nice shots of your Jay and Dove! The weather hasn't been very nice here either, but the Ohio Ground Hog said it would be an early spring so I,m happy for the moment. lol

No photo's today, but did watch for Elvis before I left for work, didn't see him.

Hi Burn, Nice shots of the Blue Jay and Mourning Dove!

Burd, I was sitting about 8 feet from the Woodpecker. They have gotten used to me after all these years and don't seem to mind as long as I don't make any sudden movements.

Oh, I forgot to mention. Yah, that Red-tailed got a bird. I think it was a starling. Flew off with it and the crows still kept chasing it.

Speaking of starlings, here's one that was getting ready to crowd my "good" birds away from the suet cake. Though I hate them and their bullying ways, I must admit their iridescent feathers have some beauty.

Here are a couple of the "good guys", though the downy is a female, I know.

Since you guys are the pros on bird I have a question. I just moved to Tn from NY and I'm seeing a rather shy bird I don't recognize. It's roughly the size and shape as a robin but has a darker head and a white breast. In the tail there are several white feathers too. That spotted Towhee looks something like it but not exactly.

Anyone know what it is? Pretty thing. Sorry my camera dies this winter and I can't get a shot with the disposable I have on hand (no zoom!)

MollyD

More snow here last night so the bluebirds were frantic at breakfast. I tried something different, hoping to get more birds in the shot. These are cat food containers. And I managed to get as many as six together Here is one of the shots when they didn't all have their heads down.

They are so cute! You must get so much enjoyment watching them. Please repost that wonderful shot with the crossed branches from the last thread. That was gorgeous!

GP, great shot of the wp!
Gary, your kitty is absolutely gorgeous! I've never heard of the breed and enjoyed hearing about it.
Burn, I love the jay and dove in the snow. They look so fluffy and pretty.
Mrs. Ed, too bad the hawk got a bird.
Sunfarm, great shots of the starling, wp and titmouse.
Molly, could your bird be a Dark-eyed Junco? They have the dark head, whitish underside and white in their tails. Watch for the pink bill and feet. They'll be brown on their back.
Dave, another fantastic idea and loved the results!

Here's one of my Dark eyed Juncos.

Another Junco.

As requested GP. And thanks for asking.

Dave

Living next to a lake, we see all kinds of strange designs on the water which are probably made by waterfowl. A couple days ago, I was admiring how pretty and calm the lake looked in the small inlet to the side of us, then all of a sudden, a large flock of waterfowl took off in all directions. Here's the results.

Hi MollyD. IT may be an eastern towhee, though they are smaller than robins. Here's a picture, though not of greatest quality. Sorry!
The males have black heads and backs, with orange sides and white breasts. The females (on the left)look similar but have brown instead of black. One of the most puzzling birds for me to identify a few years ago was a juvenile towhee. It was mostly a dull brown. One feature of towhees is their hopping backwards as they scratch on the ground. That's how I identified the juvenile.

It's very similar except that doesn't have the white feathers in the tail. There were 2 or 3 long white feathers in the tail. Same size as a robin though. We've got some other Rufus Sided Towhees here (guess they migrate down) and they're smaller than this bird.

MollyD

Molly, how about a Mockingbird? They're the same size as a robin.

Colors are wrong though unless they come in other colors. The tail and body are very similar to your photo but the breast is solid white. Body is colored like a robin but darker.

MollyD

Wonderful and interesting shot of the waterfowl taking off Duc. Don't think I've ever seen anything quite like that.

Here are five pics of a titmouse, crammed into one frame. Would have been nicer if I had used a tripod,

Your description of the bird as being the size of a robin doesn't fit a junco. Its size sounds like a male rose-breasted grosbeak without the rose color (black on top, white breast and belly), but we don't see them in Kentucky until more into spring. RBGs have quite a bit of variety in size and shape of the red "bib" but I would think you would have seen even a small one. Less likely possibilities are phoebes or kingbirds, though the phoebes are smaller and kingbirds have a distinctive white band at the end of their tails.

burn_2007 - I'm just starting to get the notion that I may have a wider variety of birds than average. Don't know why, except that (1) I have a ton of feeders working with different fillings, or (2) the climate here is not as severe as my friends up north, or (3) being retired, I have a lot more time to set outside with my camera. By the puffed up look of your Mourning Dove, I'd guess it was real cold the day you snapped its pic.

adelbertcat - that Spotted Towhee looks real good. Nice capture.

sunfarm - your capture of the female Downy and the Tufted Titmouse at the feeder is a nice one. Sure looks cold there.

MollyD1953 - I've been following your request for an ID on your mystery bird and everything I've thought of has been guessed. I'm looking forward to maybe seeing a pic of it. I'll be watching for the correct answer to your mystery bird's ID.

2dCousinDave - "More snow here last night so the bluebirds were frantic at breakfast." Must be nice be there for them. 4 out of six, with their heads up, is pretty good, I think. And your 5-in1 image of the Tufted Titmouse is cool. I like making compositions like that, too.

ducbucln - The pic of the waterfowl taking off reminded me of contrails of jets in the blue sky. You were lucky to be in the right place, at the right time, and with a camera, to boot..

Hack

Be interesting to try that montage in reverse, so they're all looking in to the middle

Resin

I didn't think about that, what I envisioned was one Titmouse looking from its right across to its left (or vice versa)

Resin, it appears to me that you are thinking four Titmice looking toward the one in the middle, right?.

Hack

Yep! Sort of like a titmouse conference.


This message was edited Feb 3, 2010 8:48 PM

I love the Titmice all together Dave!! Whichever way they're looking, they're adorable.

They certainly are adorable!

OK, here they are Resin. Sorry to be so slow. I have been out all afternoon.

Well I don't like the way the images overlap so let's crop them a bit tighter. And I raised the one in the middle to give it a more of a round table feel.

sunfarm it's not a RBG cause I'm familiar with those. We get them in NY in the spring and summer months. White tail feathers are not in a band, they are long like the other darker tail feathers.

TheHackster will be a while till I can treat myself to a camera. Just bought this house and money is very tight.

MollyD

Nice round table!

Resin

Love em Dave! That would make a nice print!

This message was edited Feb 3, 2010 7:08 PM

Yikes....I forgot to click watch and I lost ya all again! Great pics here...

Molly will look in my book and see If I get any ideas on what your bird might be.

Not much here....we are expecting snow friday. They say 4-8 inches so thongs may pick up a bit here. I sure hope so!

This Cardinal gave me some nice shots....

He wasn't sure which side was his best side!

or......

and the Mrs. She seemed rather shy.

Molly...How about a Eastern kingbird...even though it shouldn't be there now. Maybe if we knew where/ how you are seeing this bird. Is perched and where? Feeding on the ground?

Nice shots nanny! Love the Kingbird!

I've seen it feeding on the ground though it does perch on lower branches. Twichy sort of bird like it's always very nervous. That photo shows feathers too dark. My bird is like a dark brown (darker than a robins back and head) but not black. The white chest looks good. Can't see the tail clearly though so I can't comment on that part.

MollyD

2nd C Dave, Loved your shot of the bluebirds eating out of cat food cans. sure wish a bluebird would show up here, and would be glad to see a Phoebe. And a Titmouse??? would be exiting. thanks for the show of 5.

donna

Dave, that last one is sure cute too!

Nanny, your young man and lady cardinals are beautiful. That's a pretty Kingbird.

Molly, how about an Eastern Phoebe? The twitching you describes some kind of Phoebe-their tails are always bouncing up and down. I found this photo online-

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_eDsYe_W-c-E/R1RY6RaBGCI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/PmRKCUKINH4/s1600-R/Phoebe-Eastern%2BIMG_0029b.jpg

A cute pose from one of my female Brewers Blackbirds.