Daily Bird Pics (and conversation) #454

And so on to Volume 454; we came from 453 here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1331352/

Here's a pair of Gadwall to set the new thread off

Resin

Hairy Woodpecker on the suet feeder this afternoon.

Recent shots as we're a migration destination here in N. TX for some birds that tend to spend far more time up north although some are year round residents.
Northern Pintail duck
American White Pelican
Northern Shoveler duck
Great Blue Heron
Belted Kingfisher

A few more (just cause when they go on my computer, no one else ever sees them but me)
Ring Billed Gull
Common Tern (although it might be a Forster's Tern)
Pied Bill Grebe (these are about as cute a water bird as you can get)
Mute Swan
Great Egret

Lovely photos.

Great shots, TXSkeeter.

Thank you starting the new thread with such lovely birds, Resin.

Hi everyone, TXSkeeter, love love all your pics. Thanks Resin for a new thread, Margaret, how is the pc problem coming along?

My 'Snow Birds" the American Coots have arrived in big flocks. And the Yellow Bellied Sapsuckers have been collecting Dogwood's berries for the month of November. They seem to travel in pair. I'm just delighted to see those colorful birds in the backyard.

Thanks much Resin. Although I have several bird books, none show the eye patch in that particular configuration.
Hmmm... now I need to go back and change the species name on more than several images of that particular tern.
Steve

winter residents are working on birfeeder & suet cake. Blue jays, tuffeted timice. chickadees, Downy & hairy woodpeckers, mourning doves. Goldfinches are missing at the moment which is just as well since they can empty a feeder in nothing flat. Cardinals not around as well which is strange since they build nests in the conifers next door.

A few more from the files...
Scissor Tailed Flycatcher
Monk Parakeet
Downy Woodpecker
Red Bellied Woodpecker
Yellow Rumped Warbler aka a Butterbutt locally

And these just cause they be cuties...
Wood Duck chick
Wood Duck chick
Muscovy chick

EEEEEK. Baby ducks!!!!!!! my favorite! Nice collection too. love the flycatcher. Would like to see that some day.

Hi everyone. Just an update, the Painted Buntings and Indigo Buntings have arrived. I moved their feeder into my middle "jungle" area, since Bamboo has overtaken their old feeding spot. Kind of overgrown there, so difficult to get photos, but hopefully will get a few. This year I even put a hanging waterer in there for them so they can drink safely. Here are a few older shots.

Love the babies!!!

My first Pileated woodpecker shot.
Some cute Juncos at bath time.
A black throated green warbler from last month. Can't remember if I post this here.

Great shots everyone!

Congrats Mrs Ed on the Pileated. Those Junco are adorable!

Tiny wet birds are always the cutest..
Steve

Momma says I'm the cutest...
No you're not, I AM
NO ME

MOMMA! SHE'S PICKING ON MEEEEEE!

AM NOT...

ARE TOO!

such cuteness!!!

Common Goldeneye leading a flotilla of
Buffleheads
White-breasted Nuthatch on an old Cottonwood
Northern Flicker - it is a woodpecker but is seen more often on the ground
Curved-bill Thrasher (? uncommon but not unheard of here)

Flickers really clean up ants so that is why they are often on the ground.

I am missing our cardinals this fall. they nest 'next door' & yell about their territories all spring & summer + hang around the bird feeder in the winter. I wonder if the older pair died off & youngsters went elsewhere. Perhaps they have a great source of food & will return when that is used up.

From a couple of days ago at Samuel Farm, a well known but very under utilized park owned by the City of Dallas.

1&2: House Finch
3: Black Vulture (a first for me)
4: Dark-eyed Junco
5. American Goldfinch

1. Northern Shovelers in flight
2. Buffleheads in flight
3. Mallard drakes
4. Bufflehead drake
5. Shoveler (3) and Canvasback (2) Ducks

*correction on #5. Should be Shovelers and Gadwalls (not Canvasback).

This message was edited Dec 6, 2013 12:34 PM

It is unusually cold here right now.
Birds in photos are mostly Juncos - the first to venture out into the cold in the mornings.
We have so many color variations here, it gives the illusion of a half dozen different birds. I have one black and white one that looks like it is in a tuxedo - a color variation not in my books. It is hard to photograph as it usually stays in the shadows - I guess it know that a light background isn't safe. I think it is on the far left in the first photo and lower right in the second.

Yes, I have slate-colored in my book and in my yard. But this one really is BLACK not dark gray - so I agree with the ID - but I don't think the illustrations cover the full color range we have here.

pollen: I have three different bird books and will be the first to agree that no matter how old or how new the book, birds of any one species may tend to offer so much variation that it makes it hard to identify some of them at times. I've also had Juncos of late, both in my back yard and also in other locales where I go to photograph birds and while some fit the book descriptions to a tee, others are so light or dark that it makes you wonder if they're the same bird.
Birds that are the size of sparrows give me exceptional issues because many finches and sparrows may have similar markings and one has to get down into the fine detail (color, striping on breast and other body parts, color of crown, and so on before even getting into things like breeding plumage vs non breeding plumage, beak and leg color, etc. And THEN, you get into the interbreeding of similar species which offers even more variations...
All you can do is offer your best guess and then leave it up to more serious birders to make the exact species designation if you're so inclined... sometimes I actually want to know what "that bird" is and other times, I'm just glad I was able to see it and perhaps, even snag a photo.
In the end, just enjoy the birds you've managed to attract and if you can't identify them, you can always revert to naming them bird Bob, bird Mary, bird Bocephus, and so on... ;o)

Yesterday it was 74, today it is 44. Getting a lot of birds at the suet and peanut butter log.

Carolina Wren
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Brown-headed Nuthatch

Glaucous Gull at point-blank range!

Resin

And some Black-headed Gulls, enjoying yesterday's storm

Resin

Last but not least, what the storm brought in, not one but TWO Ivory Gulls!

Last time there were two Ivory Gulls together in Britain was in 1907!

Fairly distant on the beach - couldn't get closer without risking getting washed away ;-)

Resin

Nice shots, beclu.

My God, Resin, that's a wild ocean. Fantastic shots. The Ivory Gulls are beautiful. What do you think their fate will be so far from home?

Thanks all!

Thanks for that information. I hope they head north, pronto.

Glad that you saw them, but tell them to 'shoo'.

At last I have some shots to share. These are from ages ago.

1st Australian White Ibis
Next: Black Swan either chasing or being chased.
3rd Pink and Grey Galahs
4th Rainbow Bee-eaters at their nesting hole. More of them to come.
Last for now, Pacific Heron.

I didn't realize that the black swan had white on the end of the wing feathers.

Yes, but it's barely visible unless they're flying.