Daily Pics #7

A Black-capped Chickadee, licking the peanut butter off its bill.

Tigerlily! The Towhee in the previous thread and that hummer are amazing shots. How DID you get that hummingbird?

I had alot of catching up to do. So many great pictures. The squirrels are lucky they're so darn cute because they sure eat alot of bird seed!

I have nothing new to contribute...sadly. Here's an oldy. After rummaging under the feeders, they found the garage door open.... :)
Deb

He! The 'dee looks very startled. Cute!

The hummer was on the same quince that the towhee was in, and I know that's one of his landing points. I have a chair about 8-10 feet from the bush, and I just sit and wait, knowing he'll show there eventually.

I probably got at least 50-60 shots of him sitting atop that branch. He always sits at the highest point of the shrub or tree he lands on. Now to get a really good shot of him collecting from the blossoms! He torments me by usually feeding from the opposite side. ;-) He's a real tease.

This message was edited Mar 30, 2007 7:29 AM

Nice catch on the Dee Gras!!

Here he is again, all puffed up.

Thanks so much for the kind words folks. You encourage me to keep trying. Any wild animals are difficult to shoot. They seldom consider the lighting, weather conditions etc.

Tigerlily: 'Bout the hummingbird again, your were 8-10' away so..quite a zoom. Tripod?
Looking for all the tips I can get! :)
(I've never gotten a good picture of one except once when I put a camera on a tripod with a timer to shoot every 30 seconds at a branch where one liked to perch before feeding.)
Deb

Wow! These folks are getting great shots.....love the hummer. Lilyfantn, is that Forsynthia blooming in your pic? I always loved that in the spring. Glad all have enjoyed the Swallow-tailed Kite....I watched those two acrobats for a half an hour, hoping for a decent shot, wish it could have been closer. Keep up the great shooting everyone!

For the hummer, zoom was at about 180-200mm. No tripod, but hand held.

I've found I get better images if I have the bird come to me, rather than me trying to chase it down. I watch their habits, and sit where they are likely to spend some time. Some of their favorite places are to high, so the quince is a good place for me to sit now. When the Columbine blooms, I'll hope to get some hummer shots there.

Brilliant shots everyone!

tigerlily, I am SOOooooooo impressed with your hummer pics. I find I can take pics easily hand held on zoom, with practice it becomes second nature. But your zoom is much larger than mine, that surely takes some beating! Such a shame we don't have hummers!

What type of camera do you have? The details on your pics are great!

Grasmussen, your Chickadee gave me a smile, great shot!

Ohhhh, wallaby, I can't imagine not having hummers! I miss them when they leave for winter. My family, only an hour away but at lower elevation, has one variety all year round, and another in spring and summer.

You should see their antics, and their aerobatics as well. They are marvelous! Often they will just sit in the air right in front of my face for several seconds. A couple years ago I had one that would fly between my legs while I was walking. They are particularly bold and full of it just before dusk after the young are flying. They can move very, very fast, and bring on lots of smiles.

Camera is Canon 30D.

Here's a Lesser Goldfinch. They'll be so much more brilliant in a few weeks.

Hummers do look so sweet! I would love to see them, I do enjoy the birds I have around, there has been a Hummingbird hawk moth around for the last 3 years or so, last year I saw it quite a lot. Not a bird, but it hovers!

The antics remind me of the Darters we had last year, I was stood taking pics amongst the dahlias and one stopped and hovered at the BACK of my camera. Another hovered in front of my partners face, I wonder what it is that attracts them, could be a scent.

To go between your legs is a funny thing to do! Playful!

I got a pic of a red-legged Partridge today, they are rarely seen but are bred for purposes I don't want to think about. Pheasants are more often seen. This Partridge was running past my front window, I grabbed the camera and got it out the kitchen window. Although I had the camera on full zoom it had come close and I thought it wouldn't work, but come out OK. It has a wet bottom, probably went to the water drain for a drink and bath.

What a lovely looking bird!

I put a little peanut butter on a branch close to the window and keep the camera on a tripod focused on the branch. Most of the time the dee's are in and out before I can reach the camera. Today this one stayed for several minutes. I got a number of good pictures.

It was well below freezing and the peanut butter had a consistency of bubble gum. I like this shot with it rapped around the open bill.

Someone asked at the end of the previous thread what kind of seeds I planted for the birds and butterflies. I cannot for the life of me remember at this moment and don't have the packages available to me. They were seeds sent to me by Critterologist. I will try and remember to post the answer later.

My sister and I traveled to San Antonio to visit our Mom today. We saw so many beautiful flowers along the highway. The bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrushes are in full bloom. We didn't stop to take any photos. We plan on taking a drive outside of the city a bit with Mom and getting some photos then.

I've really enjoyed these new photos. Especially that little red hummer. What a perfect shot! I hope I get to see one of those in "person". Can't say that I ever have before.

Gras, that little chickadee is beautiful! Wouldn't you call that "entrapment" though! HAHAHAHA You rascal you! :-) I don't blame you. Gotta admit that's pretty dern smart of you!

Janet

I call this one "Sharing"

Nice pic of the partridge Wallaby!

Gras love the second Dee shot.

Janet and tiger, very nice pics!

This is the first time I have come across a pelican of this coloring.

Thats a handsome one! Nice pic Marilyn.

I was sitting in the kitchen and there was some movement out in the holly bush. I assumed it was the little wrens that have a nest nearby but when I looked up, I got a surprise! Took this hurriedly througn the window. :) There were about 6 of the little guys, looking for choice berries.
Deb

Then they moved to the nandinas. Farther away, so a little fuzzy.
Deb

Wowie wowie!! Masked bandits lol!!! How wonderful to get such a close encounter with waxwings. I have never seen anything eat my nandinas. I wonder if some varieties are more flavorful than others?

great pics everyone. :-)

Neato. We don't get the waxwings until fall when our berries on the bushes get good to eat. Seems they need a freeze before the birds will eat them. Great shot. What a great bird to see.

Deb, Congrats; nice shots of the CW's!!

Grackle and Starling

BJ

Red Bellied going along the back fence.

Pelle: Love your BJ. I heard one all day today (like a squeaky gate) but he would never settle - so no pics. I really must put out peanuts!
Deb

The Blue Jay looks like he is going to swallow that peanut! I know the Starlings are a nuisance bird, but I do think they are awfully pretty.

All the photos everyone posted are GREAT!!!! Such great photographers we have here!!!

I have a question .... I live in the south (Florida) and had a nice little flock (10-12) of American Goldfinches for the last several months at my feeders. Haven't seen much of them lately. The males were just getting their pretty Spring/Summer yellow/green feathers. Do they migrate north in the spring and summer months? I was getting really attached to them and now only see one or two a day, if I am lucky. :-(

I don't think they remain in our area, Becky. I have only seen them in the winter and spring.

Thanks, gardenpom! Too bad, cause they sure are cuties! And I was enjoying the yellow and green feathers instead of the winter brown/tan/beige colors.

This evening a flock of Mallard Ducks couldn't figure out why there wasn't any open water on Cheater Creek Lagoon at the end of March. The temperature finally when above freezing yesterday. First time since February 3rd. Longest, coldest winter since 1971! Two water mains froze and broke this week flooding two neighborhoods in Anchorage. The water mains are buried a minimum of ten feet deep to stay below the normal frost line.

This evening there was some open water on Ship Creek, in the Rail Road district. There were a lot of ducks in the open water, all Mallard's. These two were obviously a pair.

The female was swimming too fast, and slipped out of the picture.

Tried today to get images of the humers feeding. What a challenge! Techy things just don't work well for me, and I couldn't reset the shutter speed. And those little birds move so darned fast they are hard to keep in vision, let alone in the view finder.

Today the male was harrassing the female, and she would go deep into the quince to find a moments respit, and the male would zip back and forth under the quince with his tail in the air, and appearing to be completely red. What a show! When he would lose sight of her he would go straight up and out of sight, and then zip straight down. A couple times he zipped near my face and then over my head so close I could feel it. Little devil! I believe he enjoys teasing me.

Here he is feeding at the quince.

This message was edited Mar 31, 2007 12:36 AM

Here's the little female.

She's trying to hide under the quince, just a couple inches above the ground.

Is he smiling?