Daily Bird Pics (and Conversation) #452

Black-legged Kittiwake, with chick

Resin

iris ~ So glad your little Sparrow was okay! Every once in a great while we'll have a bird bounce off a window. We've been fortunate that they usually just fly off. Only a couple of times have they hit hard enough to "Ring-their-Bells". Then I've just made sure they were protected until they could fly off.

nanny ~ Love the pics!! The fledglings are so cute! The last of our Orioles left several days ago. I miss them already.

Nice pic, pmut!

Resin ~ OMG, they're sooo adorable!! Beautiful shot!

Nice Resin!!!

Lovely shots, everyone. I have a few to add, at last.

White-cheeked Honeyeater
Red-necked Avocets
Purple Swamphen
White-faced Heron
Black-winged Stilt

Willie Wagtail
Shot of a distant Pacific Heron
Straw-necked Ibis
Australian White Ibis
Red-necked Avocet

Australasian Shoveler
Red-kneed Dotterel
Lastly, two Pink and Grey Galahs chasing a Whistling Kite.

Great shots, Margaret. I especially like the avocet.

Wow...wonderful pics, Margaret!! You always post so many unusual (to me, anyway) birds. What type of plant is the Honeyeater in the first pic on? It's very cool. I also particularly like the 2 Ibis in flight pics (what's the plural of Ibis? Ibises?).

Thanks Iris and nuts. The plant is one of the many local banksia species; this one is Menzies banksia. Fascinating plants. Here are a few links worth having a look at.

http://www.anbg.gov.au/banksia/

http://www.oznativeplants.com/plant/Banksia.html

http://www.bushlandperth.org.au/activities/perths-banksia-woodlands/perths-banksia-woodlands

http://www.google.com.au/search?q=Banksia+species&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=WyfiUbfAIMWklQXawYCoDw&ved=0CDoQsAQ&biw=1279&bih=651

Whoa, I too am fascinated with all the birds Margaret has shared photos with us all. And the plants too, I so wished one of these days I can visit Australia. N.A.N. we must make the trip together, what do you think? lol

I don't have many to share, but I saw these two juvies, I believe to be House Sparrows? They were at a shopping mall. Such cuties!

Margaret, Thanks for those links!! Those are really fascinating plants!

Kim...Hah! Yeah, let's just drop everything and go! Maybe Margaret will give us a tour.
Cute pic! Shopping Mall? You must carry your camera everywhere!

Yooooohoooo!!! Where is everyone? Must be on vacation? Let's hear from y'all. lol

Resin, thank you for the positive I.D. of the lovely baby birds.
1. A juvenile Mallard drake
2. Great Blue Heron and 4 Pekin ducks
3 and 4 repeat of these water fowls.

Just not much going on here! The Orioles have already left...been gone 2 weeks now. I still have catbirds coming for the jelly but even the robins have slowed down. Still have hummers. I see lots of Brown Thrashers and Indigo Buntings when I walk the dog.

I guess that I just don't have the free time I used too also makes a difference! lol

I too have been busy, it's so nice that you get to see Indigo Buntings where you're. Here, I guess I'll have to wait until the Fall to see them migrating through the area. About the Brown Thrashers, now that you've mentioned Nan, I haven't seen them around much. They must have left my place for yours lol.
From early spring 'til couple weeks ago. I've tons of Eastern Towhees, but the past week, I haven't heard their call either. Hmmm.

Got a new lens for my camera. Finally got a few bird pics.
Female Goldfinch
Young Cardinal
Male Goldfinch
Male Rubythroat
Carolina Wren

We have not had any hummingbirds visit. Blooming hosta, red salvia & monarda. there must be enough for them in other places so they stay away.

Kim, your lake looks beautiful! Very nice pics, too!

Pretty shots, beclu727! Guess you're enjoying your new lens.

Things have slowed down here recently as far as birds go. We still have our regular backyard visitors, but they haven't been crowding the feeders quite so much.

The food is lasting longer, though, which is kind of nice, especially now that the Red-winged Blackbirds have mostly moved on. It's also allowed me to back off on the Safflower seed which tends to be costly, but since the Blackbirds avoid it, I keep at least one tray feeder with only Safflower when they're around.

The suet is lasting a long time, now, too. The Blackbirds and Bluejays were devouring it. Most of the Woodpeckers also like Sunflower seed and now that there are lots of insects, they don't eat as much suet.

Orioles have been gone for a while. Nanny, ours left even before yours. We saw them less and less, then one day they were gone.

I'm so jealous of the Indigo Buntings you see. We get them every Spring, but they don't usually stay very long. This year we didn't see any. One year we had a male that discovered he loved the Nyjer seed so much he stayed for about a month, but then moved on.

The Goldfinches are using a lot of the nesting fluff I keep in suet cages as they continue nesting through the end of summer. It's hysterical to watch them stuff their beaks until they have long streams of fluff trailing behind them as they fly.

Sorry about your lack of Hummers, iris MA. It hasn't been the greatest year for Hummers in much of the country. Ours were very late and we never got very many.

Not too many pics lately. I hope nobody minds if I post this one.

In Honor of GrannyGrunt


This message was edited Jul 29, 2013 2:43 PM

Funny. the gold finches here doen't wonder, they just eat.

Nice, nuts.

Oh N.A.N. I Love that!

A cricket for the House Wren Babies

Whoa...that's huge!!

good catch, though.

The babies in the house are VERY loud, which I suppose means close to peaking out/fledging. Funny to watch how the bugs go from little to big as time goes on.

I have always loved cardinals especially when they go on my tomato plants and pick the tomato worms off the plants. Today, however, I saw something a male cardinal did that saddened me. He took a praying mantis off of one of my daylilies. I have a lot of praying mantis this year and am very happy about that. I was so horrified when I saw this cardinal grab one and fly up on the roof of my garage with it. I hope all of them don't meet this same fate.
I had no idea at all that they would eat a praying mantis.

Unfortunately, in nature, everybody is a part of the food chain. Sometimes it's very sad (even painful and occasionally traumatic), but it's what keeps it all going.




This message was edited Aug 6, 2013 12:18 PM

Yes, bittersweet about the mantis, but sometimes praying mantis eat HUMMINGBIRDS. So you just have to roll with mother nature.

Someone else told me that too about the hummingbirds. That is hard to believe as fast as they fly. I could understand them getting maybe the juvenile birds who aren't as experienced flyers as the parents. I wonder if it is a particular species of praying mantis. I know some grow larger than others.

Love the parent Wren with the large cricket, Marna. The babies won't go hungry with a meal like that! Have they fledge yet? I've missed the Tree Swallows first flight out of their house. :(
N.A.N. nice of you, to have honored GG.
I've been quite busy this Summer, and have not been on here much.
I have a few to share.
1. Downy Woodpecker
2. American Redstart
3.House Finch (First time for me have them here. I only have one couple, they are busy feeding fledgling now.)
4. Cedar Waxwing
5. Common Merganser baby.

Very nice pictures!!!

Thanks Burn. They all fledged on Saturday while I was out of town.

Love the pics, burn! Congrats on the House Fince pair. Maybe they'll become regulars now. It's a shame you missed the Tree Swallow babies 1st time out.

Marna, sorry you missed out on the baby Wrens. The least they could have done is wait after providing them with such a nice place to live, but you know how kids are.

Seeing the backs of small brown birds all the time. They are after the viburnum berries & fly into the shrub putting themselves really out of view. Heard a flicker, loud but distinctive.

Thanks hemlady, n.a.n.
Sorry you missed the event, Marna.
I would love to have that flicker in my yard, to feast on the ants. IrisMa.

Wish I would have had more time, to take a better picture of this family of ducklings. We had stopped in the road, and a car was coming. Had to do a quick shot. It was a sight to see. They were walking in line, on the side of the road.

Very cute, burn!! I love a parade!

Haven't been able to get many decent pics lately, but I'll post these, anyway.

Female Downy WP / Female Goldfinch / Male Downy WP / Juvie Goldfinch / Black-capped Chickadee

We're getting more and more Goldfinches daily plus new fledglings and the females are still collecting the nesting fluff we keep in suet cages.

We have them year 'round, but some years we have more than others. This year was a slower year until a few weeks ago. Now they're everywhere!

I particularly love hearing them in the morning since we've had cool nights lately and have been sleeping with the windows open!

Haven't had any luck getting pics of babies, though.

Same here with the Goldfinches....seeing lots of them this year! We are getting Baltimore Orioles at the jelly as they migrate south. However the bees are getting really bad, so I may have to shut the jelly bar down.