ragdall
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Post by ragdall on Jan 26, 2009 3:13:53 GMT
I like to combine two of my hobbies, birdwatching and photography. I belong to a mailing list of local birders who alert one another to any new birds of interest within 400 km. This past week there have been reports of a Northern Hawk Owl near the airport. The weather had been foggy and grey but Saturday was a crisp cold (-18ºC / 0ºF) sunny day so I packed up my cameras and drove out there. Thankfully, the bird was still in the same area. I was only able to stay outside my car with bare hands for 15 minutes but I was able to get some pictures I'm happy with.   For reference, a Northern Hawk Owl is about 40 cm/ 16 inches long. |
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Post by Pip Freeman on Feb 9, 2009 13:57:56 GMT
A beautiful bird and a great photograph.
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Post by maryinkentucky on Mar 25, 2009 1:06:03 GMT
The bluebirds were checking out the bluebird boxes today, but left when I ran inside to get my camera.  They were so funny to watch. A pair of them sat on the box and tried to intimidate a couple of starlings that were approaching them. The starlings reminded me of my cat Mack, trying to act real nonchalant while they moved in. Last week a couple of geese were on our pond for a few days. I guess they were passing through. |
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ragdall
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Post by ragdall on Mar 25, 2009 7:44:02 GMT
Mary,
What a shame that the bluebirds wouldn't wait for you to photograph them. What kind of bluebirds were they? Did the starlings take over the bluebird nest box, or might the bluebirds come back and move in?
What kind(s) of geese do you get there? It must be wonderful to have your own pond where you can watch them swimming?
I've heard reports that the Canada geese have started to arrive here, as have the American Robins and Red-winged Blackbirds. I was hoping to get out and find some to photograph today but decided to stay home instead because it was windy, snowing and hailing.
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Post by maryinkentucky on Mar 25, 2009 21:49:36 GMT
The Eastern Bluebird animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/enlarge/bluebird_image.html is about the prettiest bird we see around here. Many people build bluebird boxes to encourage them to nest on their property. The boxes are built to very specific measurements that only the bluebirds will use, so the starlings can't use them. But for some reason, every year the bluebirds just come in about this time of year, inspect our houses, then go somewhere else. I've read that they like to build nests near people and activity, so I don't thing I scared them off. The boxes are the right size and height off the ground, but so far we only see them one week out of the year. Thread drift: I have a couple of glass bluebirds to represent the "Bluebird of Happiness" on my kitchen windowsill. The larger one is an old one that my grandmother had. The other one is a more modern one from a mail order catalog that a friend gave me after she saw the first one! The geese are probably Canada geese passing through. They hang out on our pond a week during the spring and a week during the fall. |
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ragdall
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Post by ragdall on Mar 28, 2009 10:53:58 GMT
Mary, That male Eastern Bluebird is gorgeous! I think that I have seen those here many years ago, but the bluebirds I've seen in recent years are the Mountain Bluebird variety.  I wonder if the bluebirds you see have a traditional territory to which they return every year and are "just passing through" when they visit you? Perhaps one year the bluebirds will breed very successfully and when the young birds need to find homes the next spring, they'll occupy one of your nest boxes? |
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ragdall
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Posts: 1,687
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Post by ragdall on Mar 30, 2009 11:55:43 GMT
Today, Joan and I went for a Sunday drive to the nearest town to the West, about 90 km (60 miles) from home, in search of migrating birds. On the way, we stopped to photograph fifteen Trumpeter Swans swimming in open water on a creek beside the highway.  After we reached the next town we located about 150 Trumpeter Swans in a field beside the road.   While we enjoyed the sight and sound of the swans on the ground and others flying in noisily to join them, we saw and heard about fifty Canada Geese flying in formation above them. It was a wonderful experience. |
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Post by sandrainsydney on Mar 30, 2009 23:40:37 GMT
love the pic of the migration walk!
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ragdall
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Post by ragdall on Apr 6, 2009 5:39:49 GMT
Today I saw and heard the first American Robins for the year in my garden. They've arrived in the hundreds and can be heard all over town. A few will nest here but most will continue their migration farther north soon.   Mixed in with them was a Varied Thrush. It's such a beautiful bird. The small twigs on the Mountain Ash (Rowan) tree prevented me from getting a clear view of it. |
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ragdall
Global Moderator
Posts: 1,687
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Post by ragdall on Apr 12, 2009 7:23:35 GMT
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Post by maryinkentucky on Apr 22, 2012 21:48:35 GMT
Hup, two, three, four...OK guys, pick it up. Here comes Mary with her camera, and she thinks this is HER backyard! Attachments:
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Post by sandrainsydney on Apr 23, 2012 3:10:39 GMT
great pic, rags as they all are I'm not a birdwatcher, but sometimes get interesting pics - this is my favourite. I was taking pics of St Johns Cathedral www.flickr.com/photos/87791108@N00/5128378286/ , one of the oldest churches on Australia - the body of the church was rebuilt in the 1850s & the towers were built about 40 years earlier. I was taking pics of the roofline when a crow appeared & I was lucky enough to click when it flew away Attachments:
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Post by sandrainsydney on Apr 23, 2012 3:14:08 GMT
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Post by sandrainsydney on Apr 23, 2012 3:20:01 GMT
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Post by sandrainsydney on Apr 23, 2012 3:22:44 GMT
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