Daily Pics Volume 138

Thanks Pelle. The cardinal is so cute. I love the way they always seem to look directly into the camera. I'd love to see Turkey Vultures.

Just couldn't get a decent shot of the Tufted Titmouse; they are so fast!

margaretk, might you send pic of a honey eater. i wish i had a dig. cam., for if i did i'd post turkey buzzard photos as 2 were flying less than 30 mins. ago. in music class when i was a kid, we learned, 'kookaburras(?sp) sits in the old oak tree...' but another aussie reminded me it should be gum tree instead of oak. lee p.s. we also have black vultures

I think your right about the Cardinal Margaret. Although the Turkey Vulture is not a pretty bird by any means I still enjoy watching them glide around. I haven't seen any Black Vultures around.

Here's a Blue Jay with their beautiful feathers.

lee, as requested. This isn't a Singing Honeyeater, but a New Holland Honeyeater. It also warns of birds it perceives to be a threat.

Pelle, that's a lovely picture of the Tufted Titmouse. Just as I was about to press the send button your post came through and I started to read it and then it vanished.

Goodnight all

margaret, thanks for making my day. it's a lovely bird. you're a dear. lee

Nite Margaret. Beautiful shot!

That bird is stunning Margaret!

Mourning Dove

Nice Dove nanny!

Here's a shot of an American Goldfinch.

lee,

Selecting a pair of binoculars can be like picking out wallpaper, i.e. there are so many to choose from. If I were you I would either buy a used pair on eBay .... or go through someone like Amazon.com. For starters, I attached a link to Amazon's Bushnell binoculars. To be honest, I have not bought a pair of binoculars in 40 years+. I have used the same pair of 10x50 Bushnell binoculars since I bought them back in the late 1950's. They still work fine for my needs. You might also try Nikon's line of binoculars. If you have a Bass Pro Shop near you, they have a large selection to choose from. You didn't mention the size of the ones you dropped but I would select either an 8x50, 10x40 or 12x40. Keep in mind that they can get larger in size as the magnification increases. The attached link provides a number of choices within your price range.

http://www.amazon.com/s/qid=1221935172/ref=sr_pg_1?ie=UTF8&rs=&keywords=bushnell%20binoculars&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Abushnell%20binoculars&page=1

Hope this helps somewhat.

That's a pretty American Goldfinch Pelle.

Here's my Lesser Goldfinch

Wonderful shot duc!

Okay ...here's my Gold Finch!!

eww...how about this one...though none of mine compare to the above shots!! lol

Dang this is a warbler not a Gold Finch! Oh well

This message was edited Sep 20, 2008 4:03 PM

I always enjoy everyones pics!!!
The usual suspects today.........
Tufted titmouse

Another

My tame blue jay posing for me

Again

The last. House finch on the birdbath. GM

I want that bird bath GM!!

Cardinal

Gold Finch!!!!!!!!!

This message was edited Sep 20, 2008 6:38 PM

Oh...Gray Catbird for pelle!! :)

nanny, I have two of them... got them at the Family Dollar Store. They are made of resin, (no, not THE Resin ha ha)
light and easy to take care of. How much? Ten dollars each can you believe it? I keep them anchored down with a tent spike. I would be more than happy to mail you a new one next spring, d mail me . They dont have any more spring stock now. :( GM

Ooo, that would be great if you could do that! Of course, I will reimburse including postage. Just LMK if & when!

A little late to the binocular discussion, but here's an interesting article on buying a pair.

http://www.nwf.org/nationalwildlife/article.cfm?articleId=724&issueId=58

That is a good article Mrs. Ed. I bought some for my DH years ago to take to the Colts football games. I had no clue and the ones what I ended up getting were not very good.

I would like to get some decent ones for birding. Then I could see into the woods better. Of course, then I would my camera & the binoculars with me all the time. The neighbors think I am nutty as it is!

Maybe I wouldn't have spent a week trying to ID a bird...LOL

NEW BIRD for me today...Swainson's Thrush

#2

hey congrats! you got an ID!

I want to get a new pair of Binocs too. Consumer reports gives an Olympus pair a best by and they are only $60. That's a lot better than 400 or 1000!

Which ones woman?? I can't afford no $400 for binoculars...another camera yeah!

Yeah on the ID...but Resin and I agree that there are probably the other thrush in the area so I have been comparing pics...I think some of my pics may have been a Hermit Thrush. The color in some seems darker.

mrs_ed and nanny_56. thanks for the article on binoculars. $60 is better than $100. my opthamologist told mt because of my nearsightedness, esp., in my right eye that it would be hard to get the best optical results but any would be better than the 2 pair i niw have. could have identified a hawk trying to catch another mourning dove y'day had i had a decent pair. happy watching, lee

Well consumer reports lists this pair as a best buy. (from 12/06)

Best value for most people:
Olympus 8x21 RC I $60 CR Best Buy

Then they say this one:

For greater power and versatility at a moderate price:
Pentax DCF HR II 10x42 $300

Since when is $300 a MODERATE price! I guess when you are looking at this next one, it makes sense!

If price is no object:
Swarovski 10x42 WB $1,350

They also recommend this one:

For high performance and compactness at a relatively low price:
Nikon Premiere HGL10x25 DCF $430

So you see, I'll take the 60$ pair (actually less than that now at amazon.com)

mrs_ed, i'd just about eat rat poison before i'd pay $1,350! lol i'm just looking for a practical pair. i think i'll check out a sporting store. they should have some in the pauper range. lol $300 isn't moderate to me. just as soon as i recover from surg. on the 23rd., i'll check on them.
thanks, lee hello nanny_56

burn,

We were very excited that we had some male and female Rose Breasted Grosbeaks 'here and there' several days during the Summer! ( which is very unusual for us during Summer ). We only get to see them during the Spring and Fall migrations and I've been really looking forward to seeing them come! I've been trying to keep the black oil sunflower seed feeders stocked as my 'welcome mat' for them! They're very beautiful and sweet birds! DH and I wished they were here all Spring and Summer every year! I'm always speechless when I see them! :-)

Thanks for the kind words!

Marilyn

marilynbeth, if you are seeing them now then it might not be too long before they arrive here. yra, aren't they gorgeous. i, too, keep black oils for them. usually, the stay around about a month here on their way south. as with the hummers, i eagerly await their arrival and feel sad when they leave. do they or do they not migrate to south america? lee

Up close and personal with a Steller's Jay.

Gary thats a wonderful shot!

The pair of binoculars I love the best are the lightest pair. We won them through a contest at Animal Planet. There great little binoc's by Baush&Lomb (sp?).

I'll look for reviews in bino's later and pop it in the Sticky.

Here's a video of a rare albino blackbird at BBC/UK.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7385714.stm

How about if we take this Binocular talk to a seperate thread.

Please follow me to see some reviews

Here's the new thread.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/905278/

This message was edited Sep 21, 2008 6:04 AM

Okay Gary, you MUST enter that in the photo contest. WOW.

Yay Binocular thread.

Mrs_Ed, thank you. What photo contest are you referring to?