DAILY PICS VOL. 339

I like it when the hummers sit still for a moment. Makes it much, much easier to snap a shot. Most of mine happen in the later afternoon and I don't get to use the blazing fast shutter speeds.

Here's a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird.

Hack

Here's a female, I think. But, then again, it may just be a juvie.

What do you guys think, female adult or juvie?

Hack

We are getting in to prime Goldfinch time here and I love it!

I enjoy watching them feed naturally much more than when they are on the feeders!

This message was edited Aug 9, 2010 7:43 PM

Would have been nice it this Chickadee would have turned around. lol

Hello Folks,

All your pics are wonderful!!!

Alphaba, Thanks for starting the thread and my fav is the Whistling Ducks :)

Duc, Great juvie Osprey and Oriole shots!

Resin, thanks for sharing the Grey Heron!

Hack, Congrats for having RT's and adorable Carolina Chickadee...and I agree with Resin about the molting/adults :)

Lily, Great capture of the RH Woodpecker that early in the morning! :)

Burn, Very nice hawk captures! :)

Nanny, I love to watch the Goldfinches in our garden too...especially when they are nearly upside down on long stalks of Salvias...lol

Well folks, it'a a very sad evening here for DH and I. We've had an old Goldfinch that has been suffering the past 1-2 weeks...slowly declining and it has been painful to watch. He has been with us for 3 years now. Who knows how old he really was. He was easy to distinguish from our other male Goldfinches because of his pale feathers. The past couple of days has been really hard on him with temps in the high 90's and heat indicies between 110-115. "Grampy" would only fly when absolutely necessary. He would spend hours perched on the water cooler and hardly feed at all...mostly at dusk and early in the morning.
Each Spring it was a joy to see his return...so easy to pic out with his light yellow feathers and had become so accustomed to my meanderings in the yard/gardens/etc, he'd be the only one that didn't fly away like the other birds when I would be out there...bless his heart.
Anyway, Grampy just died. I went to clean and add fresh cool water in the birdbaths for the last time today and he was standing on one leg, panting heavy, eyes closed and all puffed up on the ground under the feeders. He allowed me to get very close to him and I gently picked him up. I cupped my hand enough so he wouldn't tumble out and I sat in one of our chairs on the patio. I spent about 10 minutes gently gliding my index finger from his head down to his back to give him comfort. I didn't want him to die alone after all the joy he brought us returning to us the past couple of years. He didn't die alone :)
Sorry folks, I'm all choked up right now...so very sad. I truly loved the little fella...
Grampy...RIP
Here are 2 pics of him...
This 1st one he has a thistle seed shell on it's back...one of the other birds accidently dropped on him (just an FYI to let you know what it was)...







This message was edited Aug 9, 2010 8:02 PM

And here's the other pic of him...sobbing :(

Sorry for the loss of your friend...it seems to be that kind of year here too.

Thanks Nanny :)
This morning I cleaned & filled the birdbaths and feeders and I really do miss my pal. He would usually fly just to the fence or edge of the garden and wait til I finished...Big Sad Sigh.

Hack, that is one good looking cardinal! Cute hummers. Are they playing in your birdbath a lot?

Nanny, beautiful Amer. Goldfinch photos-love their bright and cheerful color.

SusanLouise, I'm so very sorry for the loss of your little friend. It sounds like he had a wonderful home to enjoy his senior years.

Here's one of my Anna's hummers enjoying her daily shower. The sun wasn't up high enough for the solar fountain to spray very strong yet so she just sat on the top and stayed there a good two minutes and enjoyed the water.

One of our many Crows was enjoying the sun.

This Red-tailed Hawk has continued to fly past us every day.

And there's always the arguing among the juvie orioles at the feeder.

This is another very young Oriole. The younger ones sure are obvious-I love their facial expressions.

Love the beautiful gold finch pictures Nanny and SusanLouise. SL sorry to hear of your old guy's passing. You should feel good that he lived a long life and didn't fly into a window or get eaten by a cat.

Hack, love the hummer. Hummingbird season has just started here and I'm starting to see some.

Duc, love those oriole shots and that red-tailed Hawk is AMAZING! -- and ditto on what Nanny said about that Green Heron shot -- just stunning. As for my orioles, I did try putting out a hummer feeder with the flowers off, but so far no takers. I haven't seen the orioles though for the last couple of days.

GP and LilyLove - great woodpecker shots. I thought I had a bunch of red-bellieds fighting each other today. Certainly, some of them were red-bellieds but then I thought I heard a flicker. I wonder if what I saw was a battle between flicker and red-bellieds? Didn't get any pictures!

Went for a fun birding trip on Sunday to Boliver and Anahuac. This is the first time that I've seen a Night Hawk perched. There were a few hollies around at Anahuac but most of the other trees died after Hurricane Ike, so the birds were perched in dead trees. It was like seeing them in winter with no leaves to get in the way.

I saw lots of these and decided that they were all Eastern Kingbirds. Correct me if I'm wrong though.

Here's another one that I believe is also an Eastern Kingbird.

A Brown Pelican

I'll make this my last one. Not the best photo in the world, but the Black-necked Stilts were so cool that I had to share anyway. There is also a White-faced Ibis.

Beautiful pics Hack, duc & Elphaba!

Calif. Quail.........Pop with one of the chicks.

That really is one amazing shot of the Red-tailed Hawk!

Nice shot of the Red tail. Looks like a large adult.

Caught a Blue Jay on the hop.

And with a peanut.

Thanks for posting the Red-tailed Hawk duc. It's very clear and It's going to help me to find the difference, between Red-tailed, and Red-shouldered Hawk.

SusanLouise, so sorry you've lost a long time friend. Glad he brought you much enjoyment, through all the years. That was really touching, that you gave him some loving stroke, in the last minutes of his life.I'm sure that helped.

I have a lot of young Purple finches at my feeders.

I had to delete most of the pictures I took today. Only a few were good. Like this Mallard duck.

Mourning Dove, came in this evening for a bite to eat.

Nice shots everyone!! A few shots from today...the birdbath was busy today..mostly to get a drink.

Mourning Dove

Didn't know that one would be so large.

Juvy's were everywhere. Brown-headed Cowbird

A juvenile female Red-winged Blackbird showed up.

lastly a juvenile Common Grackle...their big enough to jump in and take a bath.

Susan Louise, I'm so sorry about your little friend.

It was a 1,000 ISO day at the nest early this afternoon. I managed a couple of shots of a New Holland Honeyeater.

..

I LOVE the honeyeater Margaret. The expression in the last one is just great.

Duc, orioles haven't come to the hummer feeder, but I had a beautiful male ruby-throated hummer yesterday. Migration has begun!

Nice ones burn. I haven't seen grackles for a while and then a juvi came by yesterday. He was much scrawnier looking than yours and bill seemed longer. He was just long and awkward like a teenage boy.

I'll be glad when I start seeing Hummingbirds again. My Firebushes have recovered from the freezes and are blooming again, just waiting for the Hummers.

A not very attractive male Cardinal.

Great pictures everyone. Sorry about the loss of your little pal Susan Louise. Amazing how they make their way into our hearts.

Margaret, that last shot of the Honeyeater is priceless. While photographing pets, photographers sometimes perform antics to catch the attention of their subjects. Care to let us in on what it is you were doing that resulted in this fantastic shot? LOL

This message was edited Aug 11, 2010 9:16 AM

Two White-winged Doves.