Daily Pictures Volume 282

Yesterday on our morning walk we witnessed a great sight. First there was a Bald Eagle flying past us, being chased by a large Red tailed Hawk screeching at the eagle (we think), but then there was a pair of Crows chasing after the hawk.

I ran home for the camera and was able to get some shots, but not with all the birds all together. They continued to circle over us and the hawk finally gave up and flew off, but the eagle kept trying to land on a tree and the two crows continued to dive at it. It too finally gave up and flew off while our resident crows flew back to below our house.

Here's the Red-tailed Hawk.

The Bald Eagle

The Crows diving at the Bald Eagle

The eagle was trying to settle in the tree

another one

This shows how disturbed the eagle was

Last one before he took off.

Great shots Duc!

It's nice to see the size comparison between the Eagle and the Crows in your 4th shot. The Crows are quite big.

Thanks for posting these!

Gary, nice start to the thread. I like the Black-billed Magpies.

duc, you have been getting some great shots. Nice and clear. I like the ducks taking off from the lake. Perfect timing.
Excellent photos of the Bald Eagles. Great action shots just posted, too.

Nice series of photos, Hack. You're one busy guy !!!

adel, like the Spotted Towhee.

Excellent shot of the Red-belly, GP.

burn, like your Blue Jay tucked way in the snowy tree.

nanny, nice photos. It does seem early for the Eastern Kingbird.

Dave, what can I say but "Wow !!!" Such beautiful shots .......

ducbucln not any Phoebe I've ever seen. Larger than the ones I've seen. Twitching isn't it's tail bobbing. More like his head going back and forth real fast. Haven't seen a lot of this kind of bird here.

This morning across the street I saw a pair that were either Pileated Woodpeckers or ones similar. Couldn't see them clearly (no binocs) but use to have them where I live in NY. Have seen Red Bellied Woodpeckers, tons of Cardinals (all ages, genders and sizes), lots of Blue Jays and Robins, saw a Rufus Sides Towhee, lots of finches . I have oak trees and this seems to be a favorite hangout for them (to my joy!).

MollyD

Hi Molly, Your so lucky to see the Pileated Woodpeckers! I would love to see one.

We have this big storm coming starting on friday night. Last thing I read was we were expected to get 12-20 inches of snow! I hope it doesn't wind up that bad. The birds are just going crazy eating seeds. It makes me wish I had a second Sky Cafe feeder. It holds 6 quarts of seed so it doesn't have to be filled as often. Everyone take care in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast!

http://www.dga-online.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=AR360&Category_Code=BDF&Store_Code=D

Hi Everyone...here I am lurking!! LOL! I am enjoying all of the pics. The lack of sun has kept me out of the picture taking mood but I am still watching the feathered beauties. I think every bird in SW Mo has found the feeders!!

Pelle and everyone in the Mid-Atlantic and Northwest...take care!

I should have clarified that the kingbird is an old photo...just wanted for Molly to see if it might be her mystery bird or how similar it might be.

I heard this call this morning just a couple of times and I SWEAR it was saying either pee wee OR phoebe. Just not sure which..........

Well I dorve down the street to the boat launch before lunch to see if I could find any thing different and golly gee I got out of the car and there was this pretty Northern Mockingbird! So that was a really nice surprise.

I even got another shot of it before it flew into the brush! This new camera focuses entirely different than the Fuji. And this has an Optical Viewfinder and the Fuji has an Electric Viewfinder. Just a little different.

Anyway...the Mockingbird. I just think they are so pretty!

Now the next shot are not so good!! There are of Canada Geese on the frozen lake and like snow I need to prctice shots like this. I did darken it a bit.

Group coming in for a landing.....

Landed!!

I then headed over to the Marina.....the eagles have been spotted again this winter....But no such luck for me. :(

Just a group of ducks waaaaay out there.....to far away for me to know what they are!

Nanny, What was your ISO on?

Oooohhhhh... I forgot to change that.....it was 400.....duh! What would you suggest?

Try 200 first

About 20 of these cedar waxwings showed up this morning and stayed around long enough to get their pictures taken.

Wow Gorgeous Dave!

pelletory I can't swear these were Pileated because I'm not sure those are down here. When I lived in Canandaigua, NY they would fly through our backyard quite often. It may be that what I saw was a different large woodpecker.

nanny_56 I tried googling Tennessee birds and the closest in color was the Dark Eyed Junco but it didn't say what size they were so I didn't know for sure if that's what I saw here.
Any idea how big those are compared to a Robin cause the bird I saw was about the size of a Robin.

MollyD

Molly, I hope someone here will be able to help you identify your bird.
Pelle and everyone be safe during this new snow fall.
Nanny that camera is doing wonderful. Love your mockingbird shots. I feel bad for the geese thinking they were landing in the water not the ice.
Dave, you outdid yourself with that shot of the Cedar Waxwing. Fantastic!! I sure went crazy trying to get a clear photo of this birds' feathering until I was told that it was finer than other birds. I can see it wasn't any problem at all for you.

Wow Dave! That Cedar Waxwing is gorgeous! I was wondering if we had any here. I would love to see them over here! Send them my way next time! :o)

ducbucln the geese aren't fooled. They're use to landing on ice up north.

:-)

MollyD

Lots of nice pics.

nanny, you can also increase your shutter speed if you want to stay at ISO 400. Increasing the shutter speed would also freeze the action of the beating wings better.

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Can you believe it - rain is coming back. I was outside today re-filling the feeders and you can feel the water in the air. The birds were active, and I had a nice variety - but nothing new. I snapped a few shots and here they are:

This redbird was RED.

Hack

Here's a new idea I had. Make a collage. Instead of posting 4 images, put 4 on 1.

For the the non-birders, starting on the left and going clockwise: male House Sparrow, Downy Woodpecker on back of a suet feeder, another male Cardinal and on the bottom is a Goldfinch

Hack

This message was edited Feb 4, 2010 3:52 PM

This collage features males and females - males are the upper images. The birds on the left are a pair of Red-bellied woodpeckers; on the right are a pair of Yellow-rumped Warblers.

Hack

I still have lots of Goldfinches.

Hack

Great job Hack! I really like your collages.

Those are nice Hack!

I wasn't able to get any pics because of a Coopers Hawk that kept barreling through the yard every time the birds would start to come in to the feeders.

Some new birds in the yard this week.

Lincoln's Sparrow. I think. :-)

A Carolina Wren.

And a Bewick's Wren.

Nice ones red!

Congrats on the new birds!

Great action shots, duc.

MollyD, you are just going to have to get another camera to help us help you to identify the mystery bird.
As to the woodpecker, it probably was a pileated you saw. They are reasonably common, though usually shy, in this part of the world. One flew across the road in front of my car one day last week. Wish I had my camera with me. I hear them around our farm quite often. One year they nested within sight of our house in a dead tree on a nearby hill. It was fun to watch the parents tend the nest and the young learn to fly. I really wished I had a telephoto lens on my camera. I can zoom to 14X, but that's it.

I was sick this evening when I came home from work and saw the huge Oak tree in my neighborhood, which had been the home of the Red-Bellied Woodpecker pair, had been cut down. I was wondering if that might cause the pair to move somewhere away from my property....or would they remain close to their food source?

I am still looking through the waxwing pictures I took this morning.

I have been in Baltimore all day, and then we stopped at the supermarket on the way back. Everybody is out, stocking up for the impending storm. Now they say the Baltimore-Washington are could get as much as 24 inches of snow and as much as a half inch of ice. If we get anywhere near that I fear we may lose a lot of our song birds.

You can tell I like a picture if I put my name on it.