DAILY BIRD PICS VOL. 441

Welcome back Hack, neat little Mallard ducklings. Fauther glad you can join us on the birdwatching forum, welcome. It's nice to see the Chachalaca family. Very unusual one to see on here.
Duc very lovely photos, wow, you get a lot of Orioles, I`m glad if I can see one stopping by in Spring. Such a pretty bird. And that little hummer up this thread enjoying a rain shower, is so sweet.
I find the rock Pigeon have such diverse difference in them,, Nanny I love taking pictures of them because of that.
Mrs-Ed, I`m glad you`ve posted the Red-eyed Vireo. It looked a lot like one, I got here on June 15. It made me go back to check it again, and sure enough it was one. It a lifer for me.
I like your little hummer Teddy.

It`s Purple finch galore here now. Next is a family of Canada Geese, a Goldfinch, Male Purple finch, and last the Red-eyed Vireo.

Fauther, thanks, sorry I missed your question before I made the last post. That feeder is holding shelled peanuts. The WPs, Chickadees really enjoy it.

A Black-bellied Whistling Duck keeps its distance from me at Town Lake at Firemans Park in McAllen. Water is a magnet for birds, A Clay-colored Thrush, also known as a Clay-colored Robin (National bird of Costa Rica) and its mate have made this area their permanent home. A Yellow-fronted Woodpecker investigates an antler shed put to good use in our back yard.

10 miles north of Mexico is pretty far from Austin, Fauther - well, not for Texas, but it is for this Georgia boy. Man, that Y-f Woodpecker is a beautty. How long are you able to leave the orange halves on the antler? Do ants ever give you trouble?

nanny, I love the Pileated Woodpecker - I wish I can see one in person. What feed do you have in the feeder to the left of the Pileated Woodpecker pic?

Hack

This message was edited Jun 26, 2012 10:35 PM

Today, I enjoyed watching a mama House Sparrow feed some of her babes - the first pic is of one of the feedings.

I also have a bunch of juvy Cardinals. The 2nd pic is one on the ground below a feeder. It is eating the spillage and blends in pretty well. Looks like it may be a male.

Hack

This message was edited Jun 26, 2012 11:22 PM

Nice pics Fauther, burn, nanny and Hack!

Hack, I have grey striped sunflower seeds and some safflower seed in the feeder. That is the feeder Granny Grunt made for me. I just got it last week so the birds are still getting used to it. I have not seen any birds use it but they must be because the seed is disappearing! lol

Wow, nanny, Granny did a good job making that feeder! I haven't used safflower seed in a while. Right now its only Black Oll Sunflower and regular 'ole wild bird seed for me. I keep meaning to buy some shelled peanuts, but keep forgetting.

I'm thinking about some fruit, but don't want to fight ants. I wonder how the folks who use fruit get away with it?

Hack

Hackster, an orange half will last all day, and if I'm lucky it won't be over-run by ants. If the ants start to be a problem, I just start with a fresh orange half at another feeder. The birds don't seem to mind the ants as much as I do.
Duc, that little hummer shot is a doozie.'
Thanks everyone, for the nice comments!

Nice photos everyone. With all the heat, bird activity and MY activity have slowed to a crawl.

I have recently photographed a few Scarlet Tanagers, one of my favorite birds. In doing so, I learned something new. I took several photos of one Scarlet Tanager and they were orange looking. So, I thought it was the camera settings, sun, etc. I then started some research on how to turn Orange into Red, in Photoshop. I never did accomplish that, but ...... I came across the fact that there apparently is an Orange variant of the Scarlet Tanager. I learned something new.

I had a pre-order, since 2/8/12, for a new camera, a Nikon D800e. Then, I switched the order to the D800. And then, after waiting for 5 months, I finally cancelled my order. The wait was one thing but there seemed to be a number of "bugs" with this release. So, on one hand, I'm glad I didn't get an earlier release. I plan to still get one as soon as I feel comfortable that the problems have been resolved. The demand for this DSLR has been unprecedented. At 36 megapixels, I'm not sure my computer will be able to handle the files efficiently. I expected to be blown away by the image quality of this camera but from what I've seen I haven't been overwhelmed. But, I've got to try it for myself. My current camera is nearing 100,000 actuations, anyway

Keep COOL !!!!!!

Those are some gorgeous Scarlet Tanager photos!

Beautiful shots linth! Love that orange variant.

Thanks, pelle and Lily ..... We babysit our grandsons at my son's house which affords me to photograph a few birds that I don't see at my residence.
He has a nice deck that is positioned perfectly with the sun behind me in the morning hours. I put up two Bluebird houses and for the last few years they have had several broods. Tree Swallows hatched in one of them this year but after they fledged, the Bluebirds took over that house, also. I really don't bother them and have only taken a few photos. Also, this year, there are a lot of Great-crested Flycatchers around his place.

Beautiful!

Not much going on here, My bird bath is getting a lot of activity.

1st Photo, I don't see many doves in the bath, but here's one - I guess the heat got to it..

2nd one, I guess my most often seen bird is the cardinal. Here's an adult male at one of my feeders.

3rd one, while the male was feeding this juvy was waiting its turn. Looks like it is asking me if I can maybe run the male off. The male eventually left and the juvy flew down.

4th, only recently have I spied any hummers. The lighting is not too good on this pic, but I enjoyed watching this male Ruby-throat sipping nectar. Another hummer came by and ran it off. Those rascals are mean to each other.

Happy 4th everyone.

Hack

linth, in your last post, the bird in flight, is that a tree sparrow. I've never seen one, but you sure nailed it. Did you use the old camera to take those pics?

Hack

This message was edited Jul 5, 2012 10:03 AM

Hack, the last three photos are of the 'Great-crested Flycatcher". As to the flight photo, it's a lot easier when you get them right at lift-off and your shutter speed is adequate to stop the action. I used the newer of my "old" cameras, the Nikon D300 w/ 500mm lens. I've been using that combination for a few years. Time to get a new one.

Here are two recent photos of Cedar Waxwings .....

Had this Eastern Towhee juvie in the yard yesterday morning!!

Cute juvy, nanny.

Nice shots, Hack. Good to see you've returned to the fold.

Linth, it's always a treat to see your birds. The Tanager is a stunning bird and the Waxwings are pure class. All the best with whatever camera you decide on.

Love your little Towhee, nanny.

Nice shots, Fauther and Burn.

First off is an Australian White Ibis. It's feathers are just settling down after a vigorous shake. Then Glossy Ibis. I've been trying for ages to locate some of these birds. They are so tiny when compared to the White Ibis or the Straw-necked Ibis and there seems to be a lot of variation in their plumage colours and patterns and facial markings.

A few more.

First, an Australian Reed Warbler, Little Pied Cormorant, Pacific Black Duck, Hoary-headed Grebe and finally, Great-crested Grebe

Great Cormorant with nesting material, Stilts, Australian White Ibis, Mountain Shelducks and male Musk Duck.

A small part of the flock of Glossy Ibis, and the last two are of a Purple Swamphen.

Wow, nice collection Margaret. Love the Glossy Ibis. So cute.

Thanks, Mrs Ed. I was really happy to be able to find some that were cooperative.

Great shots Linth and Margaret.

Love the tree full of Ibis.

Incredible shots Margaret!

Our birding lately consists of trying to keep baby Barn Swallows in the nest and our Robins fed. Both birds are nesting right were we can see them out a window and its hard letting nature take its course. We had a time finding mealworms for the Robins, but they seem to like the nightcrawlers I've been putting out.

Our Barn Swallows hatched 24 June. There are five babies. I only learned today, there were five. I had thought four.
Picture one: Three-day old Barn Swallow
Pic Two: Nine days old
Pic three: Twelve days and out of the nest
Pic 4: Taken today, day 13 and after countless times of putting babies back in the nests, my husband built this. I was getting concerned that the parents would stop coming because of how often I'd have to go out. The parents have taken to it just fine. I am sure one or more are in there already.
Pic 5: The two parents resting in the heat of the day.

Thanks Margaret, my you've been busy. Loved all your pics, but those Purple Swamphens really got my attention.

Hack

Chillybean, I'm glad you were able to help out those babes. Around here, they'd been in trouble - neighborhood cats. I'm always shoeing them away from my feeders. But I think my birds are wise to them, haven't found a pile of feathers in a long time.

Hack

Well, its thundering, lightning and pouring here - but, we sure do need the rain. Lights have flickered a few times, but my computer is on a battery backup so I should have time to shut it down, should power go off.

Anyways, I snapped a few pics and thought I'd share three with you all.

Pic 1 is of a pair of Carolina Chickadees. One is at the feeder and one is on a vine. Eventually, it flew to the feeder and both got along okay.

Pic 2 is a Brown-headed Nuthatch. These are hard to snap because they don't stay at the feeder long at all. But I do have a fair number of them.

Pic 3 is one of my better shots of a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird. I actually captured a bit of the pretty color of the male's throat.

Later,
Hack

I also remembered that on July 5th I snapped a cardinal and was thinking, "Now, that is a red bird".

Lots of great pictures all.
Yesterday we heard a woodpecker drumming in the trees but could not see it. It was a louder drum than usual. Late in the day some bird was working over blueberry bushes & I caught a glimpse of a red head & then saw the sort of checked pattern on the back, red bellied woodpecker, It then few away. We will have to replace our suet cakes for a better view.

Great photos everyone!! I still have one house with baby tree swallows to enjoy, sure will be sad when they fledge.

I've been lurking, but haven't had a chance to comment for a while. I just LOVE all the WONDERFUL pics, everybody!!

Here's a few. Not the greatest, but hopefully still enjoyable.

1) Blue Jay
2) Male Rose-breasted Grosbeak
3) Female Downy Woodpecker
4) 2 Male Baltimore Orioles
5) Mourning Dove

You can kind of see corn and other pieces of "stuff" in the hardware cloth mesh feeders. I fill them with just sunflower seeds, but the Red-bellied Woodpeckers like to stash tidbits that they find in the feeders.





This message was edited Jul 7, 2012 2:30 PM

I enjoyed your photos, nutsaboutnature. I think that is great your Woodpeckers do that. I never heard of such a thing. Because of the grackle invasion, I am thinking of putting up the peanut feeder.

I've never gotten an oriole to go to nectar, they prefer oranges here. They probably will be leaving us soon, but I still heard one singing today.

We have Red-headed woodpeckers nearby, but they've never been to the house.

I want to offer oranges to my birds, But being cheap, I don't want to buy an orange feeder. So, I'm gonna take a coat hanger and cut/shape in such a way so I can stick an orange on it, cut side up.

I also thought about just sticking an orange half in a suet feeder.

Shoot, I may just hammer a big nail into a tree.

Has anyone got any ideas about ways to offer an orange half to the birds.

Hack

Hack, the nail in a tree I think is the best idea. One of the children brought a tree stump to our feeding area and we have a couple nails pounded on that. We originally had the oranges on the platform feeder, but too many birds stressed the Orioles.

The Red-bellied and Downy Woodpeckers seem to like the oranges, too.

We did try setting up the oranges without the nails, but they just rolled off. I wanted to mention this, since you cannot see the nails.

Our Orioles mostly love grape jelly & oranges. I put out an orange half with a little grape jelly on top and as the orange gets eaten I fill the spaces with the jelly, eventually filling the whole empty peel. Then I start the process all over after a couple of days.

I've tried oriole feeders and it's kind of a hit & miss. Most of them ignore it. Sometimes they'll hang on the Hummingbird feeders, though, if the jelly is empty or "occupied" by other Orioles.

Love your Red-headed Woodpecker. They come by in Spring and hang out for a day or two, but usually don't stay. We have Red-bellied, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers year-'round.