DAILY PICS VOL 308

And some Wood duck. They were far away, sorry about the pic.

These are not lifer, American Black ducks.

Very nice shots burn!! I love all those ducks.

Great photo's everyone!! A few more shots from the Marsh...Ive been going for an hour or so everyday before work. Think I,m going to keep visiting Sheldon's Marsh as much as I can...new bird's are showing up every other day, Eastern Phoebe's have now shown up. Bring on the Warbler's!

Been watching the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher the most...today with the sunshine I noticed more singing and warbling from them.

they didn't come as close today...

a lone Canada Goose...

Northern Cardinal

and last is a Red-winged Blackbird.

Very nice shots Burd! love seeing the Gnatcatcher and the Red-winged Blackbird!

Wonderful pics. everyone. I especially favor that gnatcatcher. It's so so cute, almost as cute as my titmous. lol. Love all those different kind of ducks as well.

I had the priviledge of seeing the Cedar Waxwing(s) in such close up (just right out of my window, a few feet away). They stayed with the hostess (me) for a good part of the day, arrived early in the morning, and didn't vacate the backyard dispite the Hawk incidence until the latter part of the day. I was tickled pink.

Great Blue Heron. Cedar Waxwings are here still, they returned and perched on my cherry tree. I was wondering if they enjoy those young Yoshino cherries?. Redheaded Woodpecker returned once again to check out the grains feeder. This time the Redheaded Woodpecker chased the Redbellied away. Caught a Myrtle Warbler from a distance. A beautiful day it's. Later.

Beautiful shots Lily! Darn that Waxwing for turning his head. :-)

Elphaba, just be glad you're fortunate enough to even see those beautiful Indigos. What a great photo!

Adel, wonderful shot of the flicker. Glad your Lincoln Sparrow returned for more photos-great job!

Margaret, I also failed to mention your beautiful photos on that last thread-sorry! I always love seeing your pretty birds.

Burn, that's the cutest finch photo!! Congratulations on the lifers-great pictures. Like the color in the Wood Ducks photo.

Burd, love that little Knatcatcher! That Canada Goose is a beauty.

Lily, sounds like you had a really nice birding day. Cute heron photo and I always love the waxwings.


While checking how a photo came out on the camera screen with my DH, a "splat" hit the screen perfectly from the upper deck!! Naughty bird!! I don't recall laughing so hard in years!!

Here's the photo. First time in a while that I've seen our Brown-headed Cowbirds. Guess they're here to deposit some eggs.

They were a good distance down the hill, but I enjoyed seeing the males show off for the females.

The nasty House Sparrows returned once again. This guy refused to fly off when I opened the door to chase him away.

This White crowned Sparrow looked pretty with the Carolina Jasmine blooms.

Another White crowned Sparrow.

LOL, Pelle. It could be very frustrating when Cedar Waxwings just won't cooperate for a photo-shoot. lol Duc. Wow, some great shots you've gotten there! The black birds especially look adorable with the male showing off for the female. lol.

Once the visitors Waxwings left. Thing returns to its normal. The eastern Phoebe returned to its post.

Duc, Great shots of the male Brown-headed Cowbirds showing off for the females! Wonderful shots of the White-crowned Sparrows; they are such pretty little birds!

Lily, Beautiful shot of the Phoebe!

Really bad shot of Great Blue Heron flying over!

Brown Thrasher in very bad light...LOL

So many people have stuck up bird house around here willy nilly and do not monitor what nest in them. They just want cute little birds. The House Sparrow population is growing leaps and bound here. I feel partly responsible because I feed the birds.

This is a house that has been here for years attached to a utility pole...but a person down the road has added 2 house and both have HOSP nesting in them....

Goodness! I hear you Nan, and Duc about the HOSP. Wish more casual birders are aware of the danger they pose for our songbirds ect.

On a lighter node, I aimed this pic. especially for Pelle, of the hundreds shots that I got of these gorgeous Cedar Waxwings. I wanted so bad to capture their colorful essence all in one pic. You know, the facial structure, the crests, the yellow tail- tip, the red wing's tips ect. Ready? Here goes:

Alright! I give! I will have to post the rest of the hundred shots that I've got. (Just kidding -- don't panic yet). lol

Very nice Lily!!

That is a shame about the House Sparrows nanny. Nice shot of the Thrasher!

Wow....I get a little busy and these threads just fly by!!

So many great pics, everyone.....but that eagle shot is amazing!

My BB pair have 5 eggs as of Wed. and she is hunkered down in the box. She comes to the dish when I put out the meal worms and he is still feeding her. Very sweet. I haven't seen any problem birds around so I am keeping my fingers crossed for them. Like last year, a pair of house finches hangs out with them pretty much all day. Kinda funny!

Duc...sorry to hear that you have a resident HOSP. :(

I don't have many pics but I got the papa cardinal in the bath this morning before I left:

Very pretty pic sacar! Thats a nice bird bath too!

Southern Masked-Weaver (Ploceus velatus) - Hope it is still right.

ploceus: Greek plok(, a web or anything woven (plokos means a braid or wreath).
velatus: Latin, covered or veiled (from velo, to cover or veil).

How interesting is the weaved wreath! Can you see the upside down heart-shape of the nest that's being woven together? Thank you for sharing your bird L.T. from Port Elizabeth.

Red-billed Quelea (Quelea quelea)

Pick I took on the way down to Port Elizabeth.

Wow I love the nest and Weaver! The Red-billed Quelea are sweet too!

Wow, what cool birds you have Little Things! Thanks for sharing.

Tigerlily, forgot to tell you how much I loved that Acorn Woodpecker. Saw one once in CA. My pic wasn't nearly as good as yours and yet it is one of my favorites.

Sac, nice Cardinal shot. They do love a good bath.

Lily, I too am obsessed with the Cedar Waxwings. I don't want them to ever leave!

Duc, I found a Brown-headed cowbird egg in a wren's nest. I didn't have the heart to take it out. Instead, I built boxes just for the wrens with 3/4 openings that wrens are supposed to be able to use but cowbirds can't. The wrens have totally ignored my boxes. I'm quite annoyed with them!

Early last evening while on my computer, I looked out the window and there were 2 Indigo Buntings! In the clearest shots, they have their heads turned away. They are very skilled at avoiding the paparazzi.

Saw a pair of Wood Ducks last weekend. They were a new one for me. Had the same problem that you had Burn. They were just too far away.

These were new for me too. Cliff Swallows nesting under a bridge over the Trinity River.

Killdeer

Interesting S. African birds & beautiful bunting.

Great pic of the Indigo Buntings Elphaba!! Love the Cliff Swallows and Killdeer too. Aren't Wood ducks known for their shyness?

Lily, your little phoebe looks right at home on that branch-cute! LOL, you did get a great one of that waxwing!

Nanny, at least you're getting to see the herons as they fly past. We have one that flies past our house at about the same time every day and I'm never near the camera at the right time. Good one of the thrasher.

Sacarvounis, papa cardinal is a beauty!! Glad you're not having problems with the HOSP.

LittleThings, love that weaved nest. It looks similar to our oriole nests, but much more intricate. What a beautiful mask on the bird. Great photo of the Quelea too-another interesting bird.

Elphaba, I can't believe you went to so much trouble to make the houses and they just ignored them-maybe the birds will appreciate them more next year. Gosh, those Indigos are so beautiful. They're just camera shy like Lily's waxwings. The Wood Ducks do look pretty in your picture. If you want a good challenge, try photographing those swallows as they quickly dip in the water! Congrats on the new birds.

Had to share this cute photo of one of my rain-soaked Orioles. Talk about an unhappy face looking in the window at me. The good thing is we finally have the sun today!