bird thread

[blueraven95]

thought you guys might like these.

On Friday, this huge thing landed right outside my boss's window. (I'm not going to even guess what type of bird it is - it's so far out of the normal bird life around here that I have no idea.) She called me to come with my camera, and I ran outside to get these. Clearly I'm no bird photographer, but this guy was really easy to shoot. He was on a pretty well traveled walkway and he let me get within 4 feet of him (which is good, cause I had a not great camera on hand). After a couple of minutes looking at me, he flew off to a nearby tree, where he must have gotten too close to a chickadee nest, because mom and dad chickadee started dive bombing him (her?) which he completely ignored. (I'm sorry those shots didn't come out.)









You can't tell from these, but he'd just caught some lunch - it looked like a squirrel, but I (thankfully!) couldn't tell.

Anyway those are my bird pictures for today. Show me yours!

on edit: Birds are hard!!!

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. Great Egret

so-so picture, but that is what the bird is called

[Eurobabe]

2. Bitter bittern

LOL, you know the rest...

[regnaD kciN]

26. ...clinging to a dock

:evilgrin:

[Eurobabe]

3. Could that be a juvenile red-tailed hawk? PAGING MAESTRO!!

[Maestro]

5. That is a red tailed hawk, but not a juvenile.

You can tell it is an adult by the tail which has developed its nice deep rufous color. How handsome it is! :hi:

[blueraven95]

8. after the photos have now gone around campus

I've found out that he actually lives here - people see him all the time. It makes sense, because there is plenty of food for him, rabbits, squirrels, etc., but it is a strange sight in the middle of the city!

[Maestro]

11. Some hawks and falcons are very adaptable. There is a famous

red tailed hawk that lives in and around Central Park in NYC and Peregrine Falcons are known to take up residence in skyscrapers. Well for that matter, so are red tailed hawks. Red Tailed Hawks are the most numerous hawk species in the USA.

[Eurobabe]

16. Wow!! Not a bad guess

I guess I was confused by it's feathers. But I saw the red tail, and I said self, that IS a red-tailed hawk.

Damn, I am getting pretty good at this Maestro! In the meantime, my giant whitebacked woodpeckers keep tantilizing me, but I never manage to get a photo of them. :banghead: I have however, discovered some new birding areas to the south in the nature preserve. I was out riding my bike this weekend, through the woods, now all I need is a rack for my bike to haul the camera gear! :hi:

[Maestro]

22. I was chasing around a pileated woodpecker

recently down near Houston. I do not get to see them where I live. I never could get pics though. I did get some golden fronted woodpeckers though that I think turned out nicely.

[mth44sc]

4. bird is the word

Brown Thrasher



Mocking bird



and one too many buzzards on a branch (bottom right)

[Maestro]

6. Nice!

Especially the thrasher!

[blueraven95]

14. true story!

I was walking through my neighborhood last week, and I walked past a house that has two golden retrievers, who normally come up an greet me. That day, however, I heard whining, like one of the dogs was in trouble. I think I spent 5 minutes trying to figure out where the dog was before I realized it was the mockingbird. :rofl:

[Maestro]

7. Very good images of a red tailed hawk.

And yes, bird photography is very, very difficult!

Here's one of mine from a recent trip down to south Texas. It is a buff bellied hummingbird that took me quite by surprise. It was under a large canopy of leaves with little ambient light so I had to use a flash.

[Eurobabe]

17. gorgeous!

You are the Maestro! ;)

[blueraven95]

9. everyone's pictures are so great!

I'm so impressed. I very rarely try and get bird shots - I think they know I have cats and generally stay away. I think I might start trying to get more.

[Blue_In_AK]

10. Here's one just for you, BlueRaven.

RAVENS! (From that other sunny day we had this summer.)

[blueraven95]

12. I've always thought ravens were very poetic birds

...probably comes from reading Edgar Allen Poe at a very young age.

Yours are lovely!

[Blue_In_AK]

13. I always think of them as "the trickster"

which is their mythological significance among Pacific Northwest Native Americans. Raven representations are all over in Alaska's native art. We actually see many more of them in the winter than in the summer, especially here in town where they love hanging around dumpsters and McDonald's parking lots. :)

[blueraven95]

15. I like their "trickster" persona

I think it makes them more interesting.

Charles de Lint has written some books with Raven as a character, and I love them!

It's funny, when I came up with my screen name, at least 10 years ago now, it was because I needed something for an email account - as far as I know, it was totally random. But after the fact, I find that both "blue" and "raven" have a lot of significance in my life.

[Eurobabe]

18. "the other sunny day we had this summer"

that sounds pathetic Blue, how can we help you?? :cry:

Is it usually that cloudy?

[Blue_In_AK]

19. No, it's not usually this cloudy.

We usually have pretty nice weather in May and June, then some rain and clouds in July and August, but nothing like this. This has really been just a pathetic summer, and everybody is bitching about it. It's cruel when you wait so long for winter to be over, and then summer ends up like this, but what are you going to do? I think I mentioned we've only had seven days over 65 all summer -- it's 58 right now, cloudy and chilly-feeling. Our heat actually came on last night.

Maybe winter will be good. I'm hoping. Lots of snow early, and then breakup about March or so. That would be fantastic.

[Eurobabe]

20. Yikes!

:yoiks: :scared:

I don't know if I could survive in AK then.

[babylonsister]

21. Your hawk is gorgeous!

Here's one taken with my average little camera. I found a redheaded woodpecker, I think, who lived in a dead palm tree. I think there was a couple, and babies, as they went foraging a lot, but this is the best I could do.

[Maestro]

23. I love woodpeckers.

They are so photogenic. I'm sure they are some chicks in the nest.

[mth44sc]

24. Ok then

One more

[Maestro]

25. Beautiful red bellied woodpecker.

Here are a few of my red bellied woodpeckers.





I would like to get better ones but they are very difficult to photograph.

[ET Awful]

27. Some reposts from a ferry ride to Martha's Vineyard

And, stupid me, I sold that lens (Sigma 80-400 OS) to help pay for my D300. . . I need to get some longer glass again. Maybe the new Sigma 150-500 OS.

[blueraven95]

28. I love seagulls.

they are really pretty birds with just a hint of malice in their faces.

[Maestro]

29. 1, 3 and the second to last are very nice.

Gulls are fun to photograph!

[jhain]

30. Osprey Babies

[blueraven95]

31. oh, they are adorable

so cute!

[DU GrovelBot]

## PLEASE DONATE TO DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND! ##

==================
GROVELBOT.EXE v4.1
==================



This week is our third quarter 2008 fund drive. Democratic Underground is
a completely independent website. We depend on donations from our members
to cover our costs. Please take a moment to donate! Thank you!

[cwydro]

32. i think that is a hawk of some type.

here is a Keys pic

[cwydro]

33. Pretty bald with her nest