2017: For the Birds and Bird lovers CAUTION LARGE PHOTOS

Should I relax the Image Rules for this Thread

  • Yes, with a warning about large images

    Votes: 5 100.0%
  • Yes, but in the way I will explain in a post

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • No; standard AW image rules are fine

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    5
  • Poll closed .

Tazlima

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Descendants of escapees from a pet store shipment, Quaker parrots (also called monk parakeets) have been thriving in the New Orleans area for years. I see them around town from time to time, but last week they actually visited my house for the first time! They descended on the crepe myrtles to have a snack.

I snapped about 70 pictures and got two worth keeping.

*We have encountered technical difficulties and will have to come back with photos later.*
 
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MaeZe

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No wonder you needed lots of pics, they are so well camouflaged. I didn't see the second bird in that first picture when I first looked at it.

They're beautiful.
 

Roxxsmom

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Descendants of escapees from a pet store shipment, Quaker parrots (also called monk parakeets) have been thriving in the New Orleans area for years. I see them around town from time to time, but last week they actually visited my house for the first time! They descended on the crepe myrtles to have a snack.

I snapped about 70 pictures and got two worth keeping.


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One%20Parrot_zps7zggrnib.jpg
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For some reason, I can't seed the pictures linked in Tazlima's post. Just a little graphic that says "please update your account to allow third-party hosting." I've never had this issue with photobucket links before.

Does it mean my AW account or my photobucket account?
 

Tazlima

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Oh dear... they're showing that way to me, too, now. They seemed fine before. Let me play with the settings.

UPDATE: Never mind. I'd heard about photobucket for years, and only just finally got around to setting up an account. Turns out I was too late to the party. As of June they've stopped letting people embed photos in other websites for free, and I'm certainly not paying $400/year for a couple of bird snapshots.

Any suggestions for alternate, free photo hosting?

Also, going back through the archives, looks like we've lost a good chunk of this thread to the same issue.
 
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Roxxsmom

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While I'm here, I've been messing around with my dad's old camera, trying to get some bird pictures. I'm struggling to figure out how to adjust settings for lighting and so on. The conditions on my front porch are rather shadowed and produce silhouettes.

The hummingbird is a female Anna's, I believe, though it's bill looks longer and more curved than it ought to.

IMG1940edit.jpg
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IMG1943resize.jpg
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Hmm, the image urls from photobucket are linked in my post, but they're not showing up after I hit save. Have to go to an appointment, so no time to mess around with it now.

Edit: I went over and opened an account on cubeupload. Seems pretty easy to use compared to photobucket (when it was free). I turned off my ad blocker for them, and hey, maybe I'll even make a small donation.
 
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Roxxsmom

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Unless you're already paying for the premium version, photobucket wants $400.

Huh? Is this a new thing? They never used to want money for their basic service.

Is there an alternative to photobucket? I wouldn't mind paying a small fee, even, to be free of annoying pop-up ads. But hundreds of dollars for a photo sharing service I can't even run on my usual web browser? No way.
 

AW Admin

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Roxxsmom

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Thanks for the link. I missed this when they announced it, probably because I link images in posts very rarely and have been avoiding photobucket (because the site is always slow and buggy for me anyway). I've been thinking about trying a different service, and this will obviously provide the impetus to do so.

There are so many pictures I've posted there over the years, but at least they've all been for forums where it's not critical if an image displayed in a buried thread is now "broken." I don't rely on it for a professional web site or blog and feel bad for people who have.
 

Tazlima

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Thanks for the link. I missed this when they announced it, probably because I link images in posts very rarely and have been avoiding photobucket (because the site is always slow and buggy for me anyway). I've been thinking about trying a different service, and this will obviously provide the impetus to do so.

There are so many pictures I've posted there over the years, but at least they've all been for forums where it's not critical if an image displayed in a buried thread is now "broken." I don't rely on it for a professional web site or blog and feel bad for people who have.

Lol, no problem. I discovered the issue myself literally moments before I read your post.
 

MaeZe

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Bats! I've been sitting in the backyard writing on the nights it has cooled down enough a little after sunset and there are bats! Sorry, no pics.
 

Roxxsmom

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Bats! I've been sitting in the backyard writing on the nights it has cooled down enough a little after sunset and there are bats! Sorry, no pics.

I've never gotten a shot of a bat. They love to flit around the lights at the agility training facilities I take my dogs to in the evenings. They're really fast and maneuverable--literally turn on their wingtips.
 

Brightdreamer

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Bats... used to have lots of them around here growing up. Now, there's maybe a pair or three, at best.

While watching for meteors, we're sometimes visited by a bat - it'll zip right over our heads, less than a foot away. I trust their sonar enough not to panic. We've considered putting up a bat house to see if it would be used, though I haven't read up on them to know if we have the right kind of place to hang them, or how one maintains them.
 

ElaineA

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We live on a golf course. I used to take my boys out at dusk and lay down on the fairway and watch the bats flit overhead. It was so cool to see their wings spread, looking just like the bat signal. The boys loved it. If I walk the dogs after dark, we can run across them at the pond, too. I admit, I flinch if they get too close. I know they can sense us, but I can't help it. I'm probably more likely to get a bat to the head flinching. They can't anticipate the twitches. :D
 

LadyV

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I captured this gem today while hiking.

DSC00553.jpg


I just happened to be at the right place at the right time, and she felt like posing.
 

Helix

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Bats! I've been sitting in the backyard writing on the nights it has cooled down enough a little after sunset and there are bats! Sorry, no pics.

Bats?! I can do you bats.

I can't remember if I've already posted this one, but here's the small colony of eastern long-eared bats (Nyctophilus bifax) at my place.

This bat pic I definitely haven't posted: A couple of individuals from the same colony behaving like naughty siblings. Note where the right-hand bat has shoved its thumb.

ETA: And the reason I was posting, which I had forgotten in my keenness to share bat pics, was to say how much I loved LadyV's hummingbird photo. Excellent shot.
 
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LadyV

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Thanks everyone! This picture will definitely be one of my most memorable.
 

Roxxsmom

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I captured this gem today while hiking.

That's a wonderful shot. Hard to get those little guys sitting still.

Disclaimer, a friend at work took this one just this week (I'm never fast enough with my own camera), but it's so cool I have to share it (he gave me permission), because it shows a rather interesting behavior. He's seen this young hawk doing the same thing several times and finally captured it with his camera. The bird evidently swoops down when my friend is watering his lawn and stops the rotating sprinkler with one claw, takes a drink, then flies away. It's been a hot, dry summer, but I still think this is a fascinating behavior and an example of how wild animals can learn and problem solve. I'm not sure of the exact species, because it's a juvenile bird, but it may be a Cooper's hawk. That species is fairly common in our area. We also have red tails and sharp shinned hawks, and without a better sense of perspective in the picture, it's hard to know the exact size of the hawk.

IMG9129Hawkresize.jpg
 
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GregFH

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That's a wonderful shot. Hard to get those little guys sitting still.

Disclaimer, a friend at work took this one just this week (I'm never fast enough with my own camera), but it's so cool I have to share it (he gave me permission), because it shows a rather interesting behavior. He's seen this young hawk doing the same thing several times and finally captured it with his camera. The bird evidently swoops down when my friend is watering his lawn and stops the rotating sprinkler with one claw, takes a drink, then flies away. It's been a hot, dry summer, but I still think this is a fascinating behavior and an example of how wild animals can learn and problem solve. I'm not sure of the exact species, because it's a juvenile bird, but it may be a Cooper's hawk. That species is fairly common in our area. We also have red tails and sharp shinned hawks, and without a better sense of perspective in the picture, it's hard to know the exact size of the hawk.

IMG9129Hawkresize.jpg

The largely pale patch in the middle of the breast suggests it's more likely a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk.
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-tailed_Hawk/id
(Use the bar below the Field Marks heading to scroll sideways to a juvenile that shows the breast, then use the bar under Similar Species until you get a juvenile Cooper's Hawk, and you can do a side by side comparison.)
 

LadyV

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Great picture, Roxx! What an interesting behavior. I'd have expecting something that clever from a crow, not a hawk. I also agree with Greg. The balkier build suggests a red-tailed hawk. We have them everywhere here.
 

Layla Nahar

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^though, if they had feet as hand-like as a bird, maybe they would?

I was thrilled this year to get my first hummingbird on my porch. I live smack in the middle of an urban area, with construction all round. Seems like they stop by the Rose of Sharon bushes in the neighborhood around mid-august. It's getting cold now, so I expect that might be the last of them. I'll leave the feeder up for a bit more, a week maybe.

If anybody in the north east (MA coast) has an idea when they come around in the spring I'd be very interested to hear.

Sweet picture of that little bird in the tree Ladyv :)