Daily bird pics #444

Hack, don't worry about the coneflowers. The Goldfinches will be fine. You've got yourself to worry about.

You're so right about the "Whatever doesn't kill you..." comment.

My Dad, who lived past 90, had something he liked to say when things were tough ~ "When you've got problems...that's how you know you're not dead."

Thanks, smart man, your dad, nuts.

Hack

We certainly benefit from learning from our elders. Hack you serve as a wonderful example for us all. Bernadette, lovely Purple Finch! I don't get to see those very often here. Duc I love your photos as aways. Nan, please send me some Goldfinches. I've not seen a-one since spring! I've got several dried out Sunflower seedhead awaiting for some action. Margaret, I like your Noisy miner, and the S.C. Cockatoo.

Oh Hack, I failed to have answer your 2 questions earlier. 1. The bird is a Green Heron in which I don't often see compare to the common Great Blue Herons around here. Another is the White Crowned night herons which I occasionally see them in early morning or after sunset. 2. I use the common store bought suet, nuts and seeds "high energy" suets. Nothing special.

Above are photos of the lovely Swan revisiting our lake this morning.

You're Welcome, Hack! Yeah, I think he was smart. Funny, though, how our parents seem much smarter to us when we become adults than when we were kids...^_^

Kim, beautiful Swan and beautiful lake! How lucky you are!

Thanks Lily

yep, nuts, the older we get, the smarter our parents become.

Hack

This message was edited Aug 30, 2012 4:47 PM

Hey duc, that juvy mocker in flight is a real beaut. Great capture.

burn, I've only ever seen female Purple finches, sure do like your male.

Man, Lily, a swan. Cool. You getting some rain? I get the same kind of "nothing special" suet - stopped buying the "fancy" kind long ago..

Hack

I buy whatever suet is on sale for the best price...but not those "flavored" varieties like "orange" as I've heard they usually aren't very popular with the birds. Other than that, it really doesn't matter to the birds since what they like is suet and for the most part, they couldn't care less if it has other stuff in it.

I believe the fancy ones were designed more for the people that buy the suet than the birds. The manufacturers probably sell more that way...just my opinion. When the sale prices are the same, I'll sometimes also buy some of the "Peanut" or "Woodpecker" varieties for the nuts, but I still don't think it matters at all to the birds or that they eat them any faster.

I have a few shots to share from the local lake a few days ago. We've had the 4th driest winter on record and the water level in the lake reflects that. First off, a Willie Wagtail, then a Pink-eared Duck showing the pink "ear". Changing of the guard at a Eurasian Coot's nest, a female Australian Wood Duck and a Black Swan being chased by another Black Swan (latter not in the picture).

Black-winged Stilts having fun in the distance, a Blue-billed Duck and two Pacific Black ducklings.

Pink-eared Ducks, a pair of Mountain Shelducks (the female has a white eye-ring), the male Shelduck and a Mountain Shelduckling.

I was browsing trough some Hungarian articles and found this picture of some storks. The nest finnaly fell down from the weight of it, it was 40 years in the making. 3 chicks died but one survived. This was taken in Kalocsa, Hungary. I have seen the storks in person, on top of the power lines, the people love they storks and build them a nasting platform. The city is close to the Danube river, so the birds have plenty to eat. I remember the storks on top of chimnies, when I was a child, we loved to listen to them and waited to see the babies. The fourty year old nest is on the right. Etelka

Whoa! I need to return and enjoy each and everyone pic. kiseta and Margaret haved shared. I'm so far behind. Oh, the swan came by and spent some time with us at the pier yesterday evening. It was some wonderful moment we shared.

Margaret, those are beautiful photos! You see so many varieties in your area. It's a joy to see which new ones you'll post each time. My favorites out of this group are the ones of the Pink-eared Ducks and both of the Duckling pics The Pink-eared have such unusual markings and the ducklings are, of course, adorable!

Kiseta, that's so fascinating about the Storks, though very sad about the baby chicks. Thanks for sharing the info and pics!

Kim, how lucky you are to have visits from the Swan!

Here are a few I've taken in the last several days.

1) and 2)
These are terrible pics, but they're some of the first I've been able to get of Hummers at my Lobelia Cardinalis.

3) One of our ever-present Black-capped Chickadees

4) A Mourning Dove surrounded by some early-falling Cottonwood leaves

5) Goldfinch females enjoying Coneflower and Black-eyed Susan seeds (you can see how some of them are already starting to get their Winter drab feathers).

Ooooops! They didn't load. Here they are.

Beautiful hummingbirds hovering in midair for nectar, n.a.n. Love all your photos as well. Never have I seen a Stork in person. Hopefully somedays I will. Oh yes, and all those birds that Margaret has shared. Hopefully one of these days I will be blessed to see them in person.

Here goes, these are rare occasions that I get to see the beautiful Swan. First time the bird came to visit us was back on March 25th this spring. Last week I saw it around our lake. Yesterday, It came by our pier and spent some time with us. The Swan behaves as if it has been around people on a regular basic. It wasn't shy at all.

Thanks, Kim!
Oh, I just Love your Swan! That is really special that it comes to visit like that. I wonder if people in the area were feeding it when it was young? Or maybe it just knows it can trust you...

Margaret, all your pics are marvelous. And thanks for the additional tips on ID.

kiseta, nice pics. Do you know if they used the old nest on the new platform. Is the new platform close to where the old nest was.

Hey nuts, that's what I envision here - seeing Goldfinches enjoying my Coneflowers, too. BTW, I put the coneflower deadheads I snipped in a suet cage, now, I'm watching - nothing, yet. And I need to go outside and peek in on the sunflowere seeds I started in my mini-greenhouses.

Lily, that swan is striking!

Bye, Hack

PS, tried the camera, but can't yet comfortably spin the dial on the right side to change f-stops / shutter speeds / ISO's and I'd rather not use the green full-auto setting. But it won;t be long.

"Lost in thought" (or maybe it was watching the other hummer about to swoop down!).

Hack by next Summer your Coneflowers and Black-eyed Susans will be blooming-like-crazy! Glad to hear you're starting to make some good progress with your shoulder. You'll be able to use your camera soon enough!


edited to fix my typo!

This message was edited Sep 2, 2012 2:28 PM

Hi Hack, the stork pictures are from two different nest. The one on the top of the chimney is the one fell down because of the weight. In the article it said the next day the pair of strorks already started the new nest somewhere else. The Hungarians keep they old chimneys for the storks that come from Africa every Spring and leave in the late Fall. Usualy they nest on the same nest every year. Also in the cities they install the large round platform over the wires for them so they wont be in dager of the electricity. You can google the City of Kalocsa, Hungary you will see the stork nests. Etelka

Lily, it so nice, that you get to see the swan so close! They are graceful birds.
Such beautiful shore birds , Margaret. I love the pink ear duck and your Mountain Shelducks and young one are lovely too.
Kiseta, that`s one huge nest! It`s great to know, they will go out of their way to help the Stork.
n.a.n. I was thinking of getting some Lobelia for the Hummers, but it seems to like damp area, and I don`t have a place to grow them without having to water it all the time. They seem to enjoy yours well. I agree with the one Lost in thoughts. ;)
Hack it must be frustrating, not to be able to use your arm. Let it heal well.

I saw the young male hummingbird this afternoon. I`m not sure, if the others have left yet. I was a bit to close for this pic, which was taken on the 28 of Aug. A Sharp-shinned Hawk was after my birds yesterday.
Pine Sisken, Hairy Woodpecker, and Downy woodpecker.

Wow, kiseta, that's really interesting about the Storks and how the people look after them. Makes me feel good inside!

Love your pics, burn! Your different trees in all the shots also have beautiful bark on them. What kind of trees are they?

You know, we've been on very stingy water restrictions this year and the Lobelia has done well. All I do is make sure to pour a little water around each one every couple of days. I could be wrong, but It doesn't seem like they have very deep roots. Anyway, that has been sufficient and they've thrived.

I guess they can be a little finicky to get started. The first ones I tried died before even blooming. This is my 2nd try and they didn't bloom until the second year. I've also read it's good to let some of the seeds drop to insure more plants cause they're kind of short-lived.

The hummers have really been enjoying them so I think it's worth trying. You can probably grow them from seed, but in your Zone 4 they probably wouldn't bloom the first year...course mine didn't even though I bought plants.

Thanks n.a.n. for your comment on the pics. The tree with the Hawk in it is a Norway Maple my neighbor has. the the tree in the last three photos is my large birch tree, which is next to my deck.
It's great to know the lobelia is not as fussy as mentioned. I should look into wintersowing some for next year.

Thanks, burn - I thought the one looked like a Birch...maybe even a River Birch? We have two River Birch trees about 7 years old and we just love them. I think Birches of all varieties look beautiful even in Winter with no leaves.

It's funny that you should mention Winter Sowing Lobelia. I just came from a thread where one of the ladies was talking about taking the Lobelia seed out of the pods. She said it was interesting that a plant that grows 5-ft tall would have seeds the size of "dust"...very, very tiny. Just in case your interested I'll go find the link and post it.

Okay, here is that link:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1277844/#new

Nice shots, lily, nuts and Burn. Hope your recovery is on track, Hack.

A few shots from about 3 weeks ago. First cab off the rank is a Brown Honeyeater. Next, a Singing Honeyeater right way up, then upside down. Lastly, a couple of a New Holland Honeyeater for Mrs Ed.

love those stripes! thanks much.

Nice shots, Margaret! I particularly like the upside-down Singing Honeyeater and that New Holland Honeyeater is a real beauty! Thanks for sharing those.

Love all those shots Margaret!

110 posts, anyone want to start volume 445, please?

Resin

Great idea Resin!
Hey everybody, please join us over at the new thread!! (We're anxiously awaiting your arrival ☺)

Here's the link:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1278690/