2017: For the Birds and Bird lovers CAUTION LARGE PHOTOS

krashnburn · Apr 17, 2017

Love that video!

Love the juncos, too. They've been the most common bird in our backyard, but now that spring is here, the grackles and robin red-breasts are giving them a run for their money.

We also now have mice from all the birdseed--in the garage where we store it too, even though it's in a sealed container. Joy.

Twick · Apr 25, 2017

An hour into the interrogation, and Harry "The Gander" Gosling was beginning to sweat.

Twick · Apr 25, 2017

This robin rocks eyebrows.

ElaineA · Apr 25, 2017

LOL! It sure does!

Great shot of the goose, too. (Even if I have a very uneasy relationship with those birds, I can appreciate a good portrait.

)

mrsmig · Apr 25, 2017

I walked through a good swath of Central Park yesterday. It was overcast and not the best light for taking photos, but I got a few good ones.

A group of Double-Crested Cormorants, hanging out at the edge of the Reservoir:

A Redhead, sitting quietly in the brush alongside of same: **

And my Life List sighting for the day, a Yellow Warbler in the shrubbery near Turtle Pond. Pardon the lack of clarity; I shot from a distance and the light was iffy:

**Now not entirely sure this is a Redhead, as it lacks the bird's black bill tip and golden eye. Could be a Canvasback, or some kind of hybrid. It was sitting near a male Mallard. In either case, when I reported it on eBird it popped up as a rarity for that location at this time of year. Could be a simple case of mis-identification, but I just don't know.

Twick · Apr 25, 2017

That's actually a pretty great picture of a warbler. Warblers are attuned by evolution to know that a Visible Warbler is a Dead Warbler. So they don't like to come out and take pretty pictures, more's the pity.

The cormorant picture is beautiful, and they're probably the bird hardest to make look attractive.

mrsmig · Apr 25, 2017

Twick said:
That's actually a pretty great picture of a warbler. Warblers are attuned by evolution to know that a Visible Warbler is a Dead Warbler. So they don't like to come out and take pretty pictures, more's the pity.

The cormorant picture is beautiful, and they're probably the bird hardest to make look attractive.

The one with its wings spread posed like a champ. And weirdly, the warbler stayed still for about a minute - I, on the other hand, was afraid to get closer for fear I'd scare it off. Another birder had alerted me to its presence, and as she was shooting photos, too, I thought it would be better just to stay where I was.

Twick · Apr 25, 2017

It's odd they're so rare in NY! We're up to the yingyang in yellow warblers up here.

Anyway, this next one isn't a bird, but a good sign of spring.

LadyV · Apr 25, 2017

Great pictures, guys!

We have a decent amount of Yellow Warblers around here. A good place to spot them, and get rather close, is along the river trails in the city. I've seen numerous warblers there. Tons of Gray Catbirds too.

Helix · Apr 25, 2017

Lovely pics, everyone. Keep 'em coming.

I had successful trip to Julatten. Haven't uploaded most of the pics yet, but five lifers! Two of them (little shining-cuckoo and double-eyed fig-parrot) were species that I really should have ticked a long time ago, but I am not a very good bird watcher, so that's the way it goes. All my pics of the fig-parrots are shockingly bad, so here's a link to the Wikipedia entry. Our local subspecies is macleayana.

MaeZe · Apr 26, 2017

The Transformer Owl is hilarious. Someone in the bird cam comments suggested we Google it so I did. It's a two and a half minute video showing the owl changing to scare off foes. It has two versions of scare: big & evil, and skinny & evil. Reminds me of the Mimic Octopus but funny. :roll:

Helix · Apr 26, 2017

I took the new long lens to Hastie's Swamp for a tryout this lunchtime. That's not a good time for Hastie's, because the sun's in the north, so there's a problem with shadows. But I managed to get some photos of plumed whistling-ducks. Here's a small flotilla.

MaeZe · Apr 26, 2017

Helix said:
I took the new long lens to Hastie's Swamp for a tryout this lunchtime. That's not a good time for Hastie's, because the sun's in the north, so there's a problem with shadows. But I managed to get some photos of plumed whistling-ducks. Here's a small flotilla.

That is one gorgeous picture.

Helix · Apr 26, 2017

Thank you.

They are very pretty ducks.

And in between posting that pic and writing this, I had a few visitors to the feeder: adult Australasian king-parrots (female left, male right) and a young one, waiting its turn. Not taken with the fancy lens, as you can tell.

mrsmig · Apr 27, 2017

Love those parrots!

MaeZe · Apr 27, 2017

Helix said:
... Not taken with the fancy lens, as you can tell.

Apparently a fancy lens is not needed to take gorgeous pictures.

Helix · Apr 28, 2017

There were magpie geese on the far side of Hastie's Swamp today. Also plumed whistling-ducks and hardheads (brown duck on left).

I will settle down once I get used to the lens, but am having fun until then.

ElaineA · Apr 28, 2017

OK, wow, these are not my pics, nor my experience, but my husband's college friend and her husband live in Alaska and winter as caretakers at an isolated lodge...somewhere up there. They maintain a blog, not relevant except the latest two posts are incredible, bird-wise!

Post 1 is of rufous hummingbirds (and friend) (I've never seen anything like their pics)

Post 2 is a bald eagle, in the water, tug-of-warring with an otter over a fish!

They also captured this photo of a heron and a bald eagle side by side. I guess this is the upside of living in isolation. Wow!

Helix · Apr 28, 2017

Those pics are fantastic. I got a Google error with the heron + bald eagle. I think you might have linked to your email account!

MaeZe · Apr 28, 2017

Beautiful.

Also, think of staying at that resort for the winter. As long no strange twins turned up or redrum graffiti on the mirrors, what a writer's paradise.

LadyV · Apr 29, 2017

I saw a vireo for the first time yesterday. What cute little birds. They're usually too far up in the trees to get a good look, but I was sitting in my truck, writing up a job sheet when one landed in a birch right in front of me. It was bouncing from branch to branch, eating bugs off the leaves.

Brightdreamer · May 1, 2017

We may have robins nesting in the tree by the kitchen window. I watched two of them gathering moss this morning. One flew up to branches above the gutter (where I couldn't see - but she came back very quickly so she can't have gone far), and the other was poking around in a branch cluster lower down. Will keep an eye out...

We also have wrens poking around. The other morning, while eating breakfast before work, I saw a wren lit golden by the morning sun, singing its rippling wren song in the back yard.

And we're in a lull in hums - still filling a big feeder about once a day, but less than it was for a while. Pretty sure there's a nest on the property, too.

MaeZe · May 4, 2017

So cool, sorry no pics:

I'm in the backyard enjoying the passing thunderstorm when I hear eagles screeching. One lands in the neighbor's tree. Soon two more show up all screeching and I can't tell if it's a fight or parents checking on a fledgling. Those two soar off and after a bit the one in the tree switches to a tree in the back that is just as close. I get my binocs out and see another eagle has joined her/him. After a while one takes off then a bit later the last one flies off and I can hear their screeching in the distance.

Eagles are so big when you see them flying near eye level with you. Gorgeous.

AW Admin · May 4, 2017

Lots of American gold finches here; trying to get a good picture of a female, but so far, no luck. Here's a male:

MaeZe · May 4, 2017

That's gorgeous!

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

Yes, but in the way I will explain in a post

No; standard AW image rules are fine

I've gone to pink!

All about that action, boss.

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.

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Write. Write. Writey Write Write.

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All about that action, boss.

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