Daily Pics - 4

You are certainly welcome! I also saw the Indigo Bunting again a couple of times today, but each time I was outside, he stayed hidden in the shrubbery. Here is a pic from yesterday.

Black-billed Magpie showing off the iridescent wings and tail.

Great pictures everyone.

WOW! Beautiful photos folks! I've never seen a Black-billed Magpie. What a beautiful bird. He looks like he's dressed up for church or a party or something. :-)

Thanks so much for sharing your photos folks. I'm learning more about birds every day. Please keep the photos coming. They are fascinating!

Janet

female blackbird

gold crowned sparrow

junco

another junco

So many birds I have never seen....that gold-crowned sparrow has the perfect name. It would be a real treat to see a Magpie!

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/45/166138423_1e6a4e5eb6.jpg

Here is a picture of a painted bunting they visited several months ago.

Tigerlily, a great series of closeup pictures. You were able to capture the patterns of black feathers. Often black colored subjects just look like silhouettes. I have been practicing on Ravens.

This Raven is giving his matting call, perched on the street light, in front of my house.

Gras: Thanks for showing us the Magpie. I remember seeing one - don't remember which - in Calif. many years ago. I remember thinking that the patterns and coloring were so sharp that they almost didn't look like real birds. That and they were very noisy fellows.

Lily: Your picture really shows the "gold crown" on the sparrow. And I do love Juncos!

Good pics everyone.
:)

Deb

Great photo of a raven, Grasmussen! My favorite bird besides the Mockingbird... :) Thanks for sharing .

Melanie

I want to say that I am in awe of everyones pictures. I love looking at all the pictures and thank you for your time, patience, equipment and love for birding that you are sharing.
I was out walking yesterday and took the camera. As I came back to the house I noticed the black capped chick a dees were landing on the same branch before getting food. I walked over and stood thinking I could maybe take a picture of an easy bird. Well, they flitted about so fast that it was impossible, but this guy stopped for a few seconds to let me take his picture. I thought I would share.
Here is my little chick a dee dee dee.

Cparts: Always feels like a victory to get a shot of those little guys, doesn't it? They are SO fast, and they don't sit still!
I must have deleted about 200 blurry pictures I've taken of Car. Chicadees in my yard. :)

But I keep trying....
Thanks for posting him.
Deb

That makes me feel better. They are a fast bird, but so friendly. I was only a couple feet away. They don't care.

Great shot of the chickadee!! They are indeed fast little buggers. I got one yesterday, too, but it doesn't show as much of the bird as your photo does. I recently put a couple feeders outside the window of the guest room (which is where my computer is) so I feel like I should be able to come up with some good ones, but so far, nothing great. Also, the feeders are not easy for me to reach - I have to use a ladder! So I need to rig up some sort of pulley system.

The problem is that the auto-focus always locks onto the most distant item in the field of view, so it focussed on the branches in the background. If the camera has a macro setting, it might be worth trying that (if you have time to set it before the bird flies!!)

Yes, I've had to delete loads of blurred pics, too ;-)

Resin

Has anyone used bluebird pellets? I went to Wild Bird Store on Monday. I have a pair that stays all winter. Just hoping to see if anyone has used it and the response they received. I have put out the meal worms but I cannot stand them so I was hoping they might like these pellets.
While I was there I just had to buy a new paddle woodpecker feeder, plus a big bag of thistle seed. I love that store!
If I had and extra $40 I would have gotten the bluebird box with the hidden plexi glass side.
Teresa

It's very, very dangerous for me to visit the Wild Bird stores! I take my mom to one where they know her. My excuse is so my mom can get some attention. Yeah, right - I end up spending money and, of course, my mom doesn't!!

The sky was very overcast when I took the picture and also was holding the camera, as well as auto focus. I will try again when there is some sun and a tripod I think will help. I now know that the birds may give me some co-operation and that will give me incentive. No sun today, ice storm is predicted, got thunder and 3" of snow so far, I guess the ice is due for the frosting. Oh, goodie.

Bluegrass... I tried the bluebird pellets. I don't know that they ever ate any of them. I finally quit putting them in the bluebird feeder and just put them in a dish on the porch where I knew the squirrels would clean them up.
What can't you stand about the mealworms... just the whole thought of dealing with worms!?! My blues, wrens and titmice go through about 100 mealies a day. At first, I was wrestling with the paper packaging and it was a MESS. Mealworms all over, stuck to the newspaper, stuck to the burlap sack, etc. Then I started buying mealies from somewhere else where they're packed in a container with some sort of bran meal or something. At first I was trying to sift the worms out of the flakes using a tea strainer (I know, I've really lost it) but now I just pour the worms from the container into the bluebird feeder, flakes and all, and it's not long until they're all scrambling around for their turn! In fact, the titmice often cuss at me from the branch above the feeder waiting for me to get out of the way! I've often wondered where those little foul-mouthed buggers think all this food is coming from!
How GREAT is the woodpecker tail prop (paddle) suet cake feeder?

O mercy me. I thought that was sawdust as well. I got one container to feed to my turtles actually. Chased those things around with a straw until i could get them up in the end, and then drop the one worm in the pond. It just didnt work at all.

Awwwww commmmon.... Pick up the stinkin' worm! Remember, it's for the birds! I've seen 'em in sawdust, but recently have been getting them from the "supply" place and they come in whatever oat meal, bran meal... I don't know which... I'm not ever going to get to the point where I RAISE the stupid things, but my birds enjoy them so much, I'll prob. keep buying them!
They do make freeze dried mealworms that just come in a bag so you don't have to sift them out of anything. That might be an option.

Not an exceptional picture, but this Heron was in this swamp for ages - he held so still that for awhile I feared his was dead! I finally saw a tiny movement. This swamp is across the street from the bay and when the weather is dry, it ceases to exist.

And this picture is awful, but I got a huge kick out of the fact that it appeared this Pine Siskin was having quite the stare down with the "Cardinal!"



This message was edited Mar 1, 2007 7:19 PM

Nice pics Murmur; love the second one.

Murmur,
I like to watch the herons. They stay very still for a long time when they hunt for food. Then quickly snap up the frog or crayfish they are close to. They must wait for the food to come near them, instead of sneaking up on it like the egrets. I have seen egrets hunt in packs corralling the fish in one place.
The blue heron eats alot of bullheads out front here. The bullhead (a nasty catfish) has a spike sticking out on each side behind the first fin. We wondered how he could swallow such a fish. We watched one day and he took it by a spike and hit it on a stump breaking off the spike, then he repeated on the other side. Then down the big fish went. You could see the lump in his throat as he swallowed the thing whole.
I think blue herons have the most patience of any of the water birds. They sure like to squack over the best hunting territory too.
I have been trying to get a good picture of one for years.

Great picture you got of the Hermon Murmur, it looks like a baby compaired with the one that visited my Koi pond last Spring! It had at least a four foot wing spand and sounded like a helicopter when it took off! LOL!

How many of your Koi did he get?

He didn't get mine, I can out just as he had landed, but my neighbor wasn't so lucky. He got several small ones from their ponds, and one large one was speared and died. We both put nets on for the rest of the summer. Ugly, but necessary measure that year. We were having a drought situation in the area lakes and creeks had dried up. They were finding food wherever they could. It was just an expensive lunch!!
My DH took this pic over the top of my neighbors house and about 25 foot up in a tree.

Awesome photo!!!!!!!! They really are a majestic bird!

That's really a shame, but to him they were just food to fill his belly.

Gras, Great shot of the Bb Magie!

Tiger your shots are great too! Today was the First day that I did not have any Junco's around but it was much warmer too.

Love to hear the Mockingbirds songs.

Nice pic Marilyn! I love their songs too!

I have a Blue Jay who imitates the Hawks so well, I always go running outside to try and see them.

Just a few mug shots from today. This is probably the hawk imitator...has a big enough mouth.

Pretty Cardinal.

Grackle show-off.