I've enjoyed seeing the photos you've all been posting of spring birds. We don't have the same influx in spring nor do we have the same numbers that migrate in autumn although there are quite a few that do so. I've some photos of one of our commonest resident birds taken this morning.
1. Superb Fairy-wren female
2. Superb Fairy-wren male.
Beautiful pics, longlens! Also nice that these birds are protected in PA.
David your "common" birds are gorgeous! Love your shots, too!
In my personal opinion these Wood Ducks are some of the prettiest birds that hang out in Pennsylvania.
Longlens, #3 looks so sweet. We saw a large group of male Wood ducks in our nearby creek earlier this month. We wondered, why aren't they paired up?
Here are two Orioles discussing the quality of the jelly and a recent life bird, Blackburnian Warbler.
Laughing Kookaburra on the lookout for another large earthworm or tasty morsel, just outside the kitchen window this morning.
Oh, man, David. those two finches are beautiful. Did you shot the Kookaburra through your kitchen window? - Nice
longlens, I agree, those wood ducks to really something.
Chilly, that Blackburnian Warbler is a really pretty bird.
Hack
I bought me a 70-300 Canon L lens and sold my 400 L Prime to help pay for it. Here are some pics with the 70-300.
#1 - Figured I'd try my luck at shooting through the window of my back door. I caught this female Ruby-throated Hummingbird at the feeder.
#2 - I was outside when I spotted this male House Finch - blends in well with my Red-tip bushes.
#3 - My Cardinals don't seem to mind me easing around in my camouflaged golf cart. This male Cardinal is about to fly down to one of my feeders.
Hack
This message was edited May 31, 2014 3:25 PM
Thank you, Hack! He was a delightful one to have around. I think all Warblers have moved on now.
Our young female Tree Swallow is still steadfast at guarding the nesting box, perched at the hole most of the day. The original female seems to still be around too, so there have been some arguments. We saw a pair of Tree Swallows copulating a couple of weeks ago, so I thought things were settled. I guess not. I have to wonder if there will be any eggs this year.
In my ideal little world, I thought the original parents would come back this spring and some, if not all, of the six babies. They would find the different boxes around the yard and pasture and settle in nicely. Well, nature is not working like that. :) The Tree Swallows have only been interested in that first box.
Surprisingly, there were five eggs in the Tree Swallow box during Monday's nest check. The brown one still sits at that hole much of the time.
This is probably one reason why we've never had a thriving Cardinal population. My husband had been parking outside hoping Barn Swallows would nest in there, but nope, they like the house. And after this Cardinal fiasco, the cars are back in the garage.
And lastly, a Great-crested Flycatcher taken by one of the children.
Wow, Chilly I have male and female Cardinals everywhere, all the time - one of my most commonly seen birds. But I have never seen one fight itself in the mirror of my car, which stays outside all the time.
Hack
Hack, she's gone after our office window, too, but not as often. I had heard of some males doing this, but never a female, so this was a surprise to us. Today, she didn't beat herself up, but she was impatient for the male to feed her, so she snagged a seed from his bill. :)
A pair of one of our more spectacular local birds came to the bird table in the front yard this morning; Australian King Parrots with the male on the right and the female on the left.
A couple of shots of nesting Bald Eagle in Central PA.
The cardinals seem to be nesting here. I have hear a lot of this is my territory song.
Not birds in the wild, but went to our library for a talk on owls this morning. She had 2 screech owls (both color phases), a barred, barn, great horned & and Eurasian horned owl with her. There are barred owls in our area, we have heard them at night.
Man, david, those parrots are PRETTY. I wonder if they would do ok if they were caught and raised in captivity as pets?
loglens, those are some nice shots, but the last one made me look the longest - sweet.
iris, I have a good many juvy Cards around here. They drive their parents crazy with their "feed me" wing fluttering.
I was able to snap a few pics myself with my new 70-300 lens.
1- Saw this male Cardinal on the ground, beneath one of my feeders, pecking around.
2- This Robin enjoyed the bath for a good while. I snapped her (I think it is a "her") as she was finishing up.
3- This is the first time I've seen a pair of Towhees feeding. These two were under another of my feeders.
4- After the female left, I got a good profile of the male. Nice looking bird.
Hack
This message was edited Jun 7, 2014 12:12 PM
Fantastic pics, everyone! What an incredible variety of beautiful birds you all have.
I haven't had a lot of luck getting pics of the baby Robins in one of our River Birch trees. Mom & Dad's pics were much easier, but the tree is very lush right now and the nest is wedged into a "V" between two branches.
Anyway, here's what I was able to come up with and since baby birds are adorable I decided to post them.
1) Papa standing near the nest.
2) Mom and 3 Babies - you can kind of see the that the one on the left has it's eyes open
3) Mom...we're HUNGRY!
1) Oops, the middle pic was the wrong one so here's the little guy with his eyes open.
2) Some of our Doves have decided they like Nyger seed and will sit for a long time on any of the feeders that have trays. This green flower pot tray was originally used on a green seed feeder. You should see how funny it looks when there's two doves with a third one trying to squeeze in.
Boy, do I feel like a dork! On this new computer, I only see teeny, tiny pics when I try to upload. Lets see if I can post the correct one this time (fingers are crossed).
Boy, do I feel like a dork! On this new computer, I only see teeny, tiny pics when I try to upload. Lets see if I can post the correct one this time (fingers are crossed).
Thanks, Resin!
Actually, they look fine once they're uploaded, but when I try to choose from the tiny "sample" pics on my new computer I really need to look at the numbers or names, rather than the pictures. I'll learn...technology is dragging me kicking and screaming into the 21st century...against my will.
Nice shots everyone. Love looking at others bird pictures.
Here are a couple of our local Fisherman....
I enjoyed the 'fishermen'. I'm sure the fish were not happy.
Ha, nuts, some of your pics are so similar, I can see your problem with small, tiny pics. But still, they are all sweet images.
longlens, those a some sharp pics.
Hack
RE small photos: I think nutsaboutnature means that when choosing a file to upload, you can't tell them apart. I have the same problem on my computer. I review the latest batch of photos full screen, then note the name or number of the ones I want upload here.
Thanks for clarifying, pollengarden.
I didn't have this problem on my old computer because the full size pics have the numbers or names. On Windows 8 they don't, so I'm unloading my memory card onto my old computer to crop or edit and decide which ones to keep, then putting the ones I want to use onto a flash drive and transferring...at least for now.
Hack, the reason they look similar is because I accidently posted the same pic twice :o)
yep, nuts, that would make them look similar. :)
Hack
Today, I sat on my porch and snapped a few pics. We had a drenching rain yesterday and apparently earthworms were on, or very near, the ground's surface.
1. I snapped a pick of this Robin, tossing around a worm. You can see it lying on the ground in front of her. She eventually carried it away.
2- And this Grackle got a worm, too. It was feeding on my feeder (sun flower seeds) and flew straight across the yard and nailed this earthworm.
3- They're back. Haven't seen Goldfinches in a little while. The one on the limb to the left of the feeder would fly down and the other one would run it off. However, it didn't seem to mind sharing the feeder with the female House Finch.
4- I wasn't sure what this little bird was. It was flittering around, deep in the shade, for the longest time. However, it did give me one chance to snap it's picture and I realized it was a Carolina Wren.
5- What an ugly youngun'. I have quit a few jury Cardinals around here - here's one. Maybe a male?
I took a ride out to the lake park here in Columbus and snapped some pics.
1- There were a "ton" of Canada Geese out there.
2- Came across the pair of Geese with their chick.
3- That chick was a cute little fella. The parents were a little apprehensive with me near, but seemed to accept me - at least they didn't attack.
4- These two mallards were just taking it easy.
5- Across the water was this Great Blue Heron. It was just standing around.
Got five more snaps to share.
1- Saw this male Gold Finch up on a branch.
2- This Gold Finch acted like he knew there was water in that big bottle. He never did fly down to the bird bath below.
3- This female House Finch was enjoying a bite.
4- I liked the colors of this Song Sparrow.
5- This female Towhee was feeding on the ground beneath a seed-filled feeder.
Hack
We used to have towhees. Have not seen them here in years. I am so sorry.
iris, I'm seeing either the same Towhees a lot or I have a lot more Towhees than usual. I snapped another pic of a male just today. Will post it later.
Hack
This message was edited Jun 10, 2014 3:55 PM
Orioles like our tulip poplar. There must be a special insect which attracts them.
Got some more pics to share.
1- Resin ID'd this little guy as a Juvy Song Sparrow.
2- This male House Finch flew to a feeder after drinking.
3- Here he is on the feeder.
4- Another Towhee, a male I think.
Hack
I've been lurking for ages as I've had nothing to post, but have been enjoying everyone else's shots. You folks sure had a ghastly winter. We're just starting to enjoy ours after the longest, hottest summer on record.
Good to see you back, Hack.
This is the female osprey Big Hook, after a bath.
Good to see her again.
One effect of habitat loss...
I just deleted a big long rant. Probably best you didn't see that.
Thanks, Margaret.
Hack
Wow, Hack...you've been busy taking lots of great shots! There are so many it's hard to pick a favorite.
Nice to see you again, Margaret! I also disappear on and off, but like you, I'm always lurking.
Chilly, I totally understand how you feel. I think most of us here at DG have very strong feelings about habitat loss. Most of the time I stay silent on the issue, but I always try to do my part to help the critters around me and I know you do to.
Ha, Ha...we have a new weather vane. Thought you guys might enjoy seeing it.
Cool weather vane, nuts.
Hack
Ha, Ha...we have a new weather vane. Thought you guys might enjoy seeing it.
