DAILY PICS Vol. 293

Elphaba, I'm not sure that is a House Finch. Looks more like a Purple Finch. I need to see a rear view of the head and shoulders and flanks. But coloring on the face and the hue look more like a Purple to me. Maybe some others can comment.

I had either a female or immature male on one of my feeders this a.m. I've had a male a few times, but he doesn't visit on a regular basis.

We had very high winds here & the day after saw 5 robins & other ground feeding birds. Our 'basket' type feeder doesn't produce as much seed spillage as the tube type did. Perhaps why we don't have as many of the ground feeders over the last 2 yrs.

Burn, that's a lot of starlings. The doves look so pretty. You're sure lucky to see both wps.
GP, that collision is a rare sight. Not sure I've ever seen one here. Great job.
Wild Rose, great photos. Loved the flight photos, wonderful! That Martin house is amazing! I guess they never cleaned them out.
Hack, congrats on the lifer. Great photos.
Tiger, fantastic shot of the turkeys. I have yet to see my turkeys display their colors. Sorry about the camera problems, hope someone is able to help you with the 30D.
Red, thanks for the lesson on the age of the turkeys. I know our neighborhood birds are just first year so I probably won't see the fans.
Linth, thanks for the kind words. I'm picking one or two photos for the end of the year contest and keeping that in mind when picking.
Elphaba, great photos. Loved that warbler with the beautiful dark blue sky.
Iris, hope those winds stop soon.

Think this is one of my Lesser Goldfinches.

A Dark eyed Junco.

Two of many Tree Swallows that allow me to walk up close.

I took this one through the window and it's not very clear, but I loved the far one screeching at the other one.

An Oak Titmouse.

Another one.

Fabulous pics. everyone. Duc the deer and the jay is the ultimate enjoyment of nature at peace! I love it. Red, how do I tell the difference b/w the Housefinch versus Purple finch? I thought they were the same.

Just like I can't never tell which one is a H. woopecker, and which is a Downie WP. Except this is a female or Juvie?

Here ya go Lily

House Finch....

Purple Finch....once you have seen one it is very easy to tell them apart!

This message was edited Mar 1, 2010 1:29 PM

Elphaba, Beautiful shots! Especially the Red-winged Blackbird! Congrats on the House Finch.

Duc, Wonderful pics! Of course I'm gaga over the Tree Swallows!

Nice ones Lily! The female Purple Finch also has a white eyebrow which the House Finch does not. The beak shapes are different too.

Thanks for the new thread Nanny...your female Red-bellied is gorgeous! At our house it is the female that does all the running off!! I haven't noticed her being cozy with the male yet but soon I hope.

Some wonderful shots on this thread everyone...way too many to comment on all of them but I sure do appreciate seeing and hearing about your birds. Duc...that shot of the deer and Jay is priceless...I would definitely frame that beauty! Burn...love those Redpolls and Grosbeaks!

Lily..here is a shot that I got right after seeing this thread. We only had a handful of House Finches this year but one showed up this morning and I got this shot The Purple is on the left and the House on the right. In the background on the right side is a female Purple Finch.

If the weather holds the way it's supposed to I'm going down to Cape May Friday and Saturday. There are 2 bird walks scheduled, one at the Migratory Refuge and the next day at the Park.

Oh PLEASE let the weather hold!!! (Fingers crossed,fingers crossed)

Nice pic showing the differences Rose and Nanny!

I'm thinking about going to the middle of the state in a couple weeks, there is a field trip to see the Prairie Chickens. Leave the hotel at 5:30 am though. LOL. I might not have what it takes to be a birder! ;)

Start practicing getting up earlier before the trip so it won't be so hard when the time comes. In my old position I used to have to get up at 2 or 3 am so it seemed like old times when I started getting up early for the walks. :-)

Prairie chickens are up early. I think that we had to get to the blinds by 4:30. This was the U of WI program in the late 1950s. Il probably has a different program as site is different. but WELL WORTH it.

Yea, please be sure top do it Marna (please), :-)

I agree! I want to see the prairie chickens!

Loved y'alls pictures of the house finches and purple finches. Much better comparisons that the pictures in my bird book. I really wanted my finch to be a purple finch b/c I've never seen one before and he did look purply, but I'm pretty sure he was a house finch. The other pics that I got were pretty terrible but showed barring on the chest which would be house and not purple right?

Yes underparts, flanks and breast raspberry red.

Now, I get really confused about the purplesfinches and housefinches. So the female purplefunches has a light eyebrown? And Pelle, their beaks are more stubby looking (not slender and pointed as the housefinches'?). Have I a couple of housefinches here? A male and female?

House Finch has a heavy bill the top bill is curved

Purple Finch has triangular bill

Rose ...that is an excellent shot with the 2 finches together!!


Well I posted some pics on the wrong thread so I will repost them here where I meant to post them . I haven't done that in awhile now...LOL!

ANYWAY...I went down to the road to the lake and found some Redhead Ducks.

and some Canada Geese...

AND ...YUP...the first Grackle of the year showed up today.....*hiss*

Wonderful pics everyone!

Prairie Falcons are regulars here in the spring and summer. This one was perched in a tree in my backyard and judging from the fluffed feathers he didn't like the cold spring weather anymore than we did.

Photo taken 16/04/2009

Neat Prairie Falcon !! We rarely see shots of them on the forum so thanks!

Nice Redheads nanny!

Thanks pelletory, they really are neat birds. Last summer one swooped past my DH and I and tried to grab a chipmunk of the fence, we were happy he missed.

WOW....It can come to my house and have all the chipmunks it wants!

AWWW, I love the Chipmunks! :-)

Caliornia Quail (male)

Thanks, pelletory - I liked the Gull and Coot series, too. I hope your weather holds, our weatherman says we have more rain coming tomorrow, with maybe a few snow flurries - and this is west central Ga. Spring better get a move on.

reddirtretiree - nice snaps of the Rio Grandes. We have another kind here in Ga.

linthicum - thx for the compliment, I have fun photoing birds

Elphaba - I enjoy seeing your pix, too. My male House Finches don't have the uniform (smooth looking) coloring yours seems to have - maybe you do have a Purple Finch. Maybe you can get some more pix. I've seen lots of HoFIn, but never a Purple Finch. A Purple Finch shouldn't look Purply. The Latin species name "purpureus" means "crimson" or other reddish color.

VA_Wild_Rose - Thanks, the Coots are fairly common around here.

ducbucln - Thanks, I hope to get more Lifers as Spring arrives. I like your Tree Sparrows, especially the one screeching at the other. Wonder if they're married :-).

Lily_love - look at the black spotting on the tail feathers of the one you wonder was a female or juvie. That's a Downy WP (I'd guess female), Hairy WPs have solid white tail feathers - no spotting.

nanny_56 - I too enjoyed the comparison of the House and Purple Finches. I also like your Redhead Ducks. Ahh, my Grackles finally made it to your house, I gave them your address :-)

dellrose - that is a great shot of the Purple on the left, the House on the right and the female Purple in the background.

mcash70 - I don't think I've come across any of your pix before - welcome. I liked the look of the Prairie Falcon. And it can have my chipmunks, too.

adelbertcat - nice capture of the male California Quail.

Bye, Bye
Hack

This message was edited Mar 1, 2010 11:12 PM

Hi Hack, I'm a relative newbie and have been busy adding photos to quite a few forums and to the bird, plant and bug files as fast as possible, still have lots to add;-)

I enjoy photography of anything and everything. have been an avid bird,animal, plant and nature lover since I can remember.

Thanks for your comments.

Margaret

Young Cooper's Hawk in my backyard 06/09/2009

Nice pic of the Coopers Margaret!

Oops on the Falcon. Still a nice shot.

This message was edited Mar 2, 2010 6:45 AM

Checked on the wintering Trumpeters yesterday and one of the mature birds was missing. Still 6 mature and 1 imm birds remaining. They have been on this lake since 01 Jan.

I had 2 Red-tailed Hawks over flying over yesterday. The first was too far away....it was really up high!

This message was edited Mar 2, 2010 7:23 PM

The second one surprised me coming in so low ....but I still couldn't get it focused!