DAILY PICS VOL. 29

Tough work climbing this trunk!

Oooops!

Now what..

Across to a thin little stick on an Elderberry!

LOL, Resin you can have as many Starlings back as you want.

Why is it again that we don't ship bunches of them back?

Very nice pics wallaby! They really have some long beaks; don't they?

Aahh, but I have sun on my back here...

They have crooked beaks too pelle!

As it was getting dark, one was settling on the tall fence near the back of the house. I think it was the other one as I couldn't see so much white and black wing feathers.

Very nice pic!

It moved along to a post top, where it is now, behind a rhododendron.

Against the sky pelle, it worked well!

Mum was nearby across the road later in the day, I hope they keep safe until they can fly properly.

Resin, where I lived as child in midwest farming country, Starlings were considered vermin. Rats, mice, (English) House Sparrows, and Starlings all tried to over run everything, they ate the grain, and spread disease with their droppings. Farm children were given BB guns or pellet guns and encouraged to destroy as many as possible. Starlings have spread this far north in the last few years. There is now a resident flock of 50 -100 in the city. Last week there was a posting on the Alaska bird net, jokingly, suggesting we form a group to eradicate the Starlings in the city of Anchorage. I just can't quite understand why any one would want Starlings. But, you have to remember, as a child, I was rewarded for destroying them.

Gary

P.S. I couldn't get the [quote] to work today.

Jimbo and Resin, I just noticed the additional comments on the warbler. The photo was taken on 10/13/07 in Maryland. Here is another photo of it.

This is at 100% .... if it helps.

Hi Gary,

When I first started birding, there were a quarter million Starlings roosting here in the winter - now, you've probably got more in Anchorage.

Did you remember to put the / in the close quote: [/quote]? That's the commonest reason for it to not work.

Hi Linth,

Thanks! I still reckon Palm Warbler, one of the yellow eastern subspecies hypochrysea. They lose most of their flank streaking in the winter (tho' I can see a bit in the first pic), so that doesn't count against it. Nashville has no flank streaking at all, and I'd think would be well clear of MD by mid October

Resin

Gary put a capital 'Q' in the first one, that won't work.

More Pheasant flying shots anyone?

It was getting dark when I scared that one up, it works against the sky but the camera won't shoot against the ground when very dull.

This one was from a good distance.

Same Pheasant

I concede, based on the time and place the picture was taken.

Okay, let's try a few more. The following photos were taken taken at the same location as the above warbler, but on 9-30-07. This is a 100 yard stretch of back road that has provided me with some extraordinary photo opportunities.

Is this a White-eyed Vireo ?

Next Photo .... ?????

Last photo of this series ..... ?????

The second one is a first winter male Common Yellowthroat, I believe. I guess the black tip on its tail is a shadow.

I think the first one (White-eyed Vireo?) is a female first winter Chestnut-sided Warbler

This message was edited Nov 6, 2007 9:54 PM

The last one may be Orange-crowned Warbler, not too sure.

I think the first one is a young of the year Chestnut-sided Warbler. The last one I believe is a young of the year Pine warbler and I'm still working on the second one.
Jimbo

The second photo of the series, the "wet" one, has me stumped. There is a tint of orange on the crown, possibly a young male Nashville.
Jimbo

I'm still going through images for filing and editing. Taken last June, here's the little Screech Owl that sits outside the barn nearly every night, watching for mice.

Also last June, a male Brewers with lunch for the young. I gotta wonder how he caught the second dragonfly w/o losing the first one?

Nice pics tiger!
Maybe the Brewers had the first d.fly stashed nearby as he caught the second one?

Having fun watching a pair of nuthatches today. Grab a seed, take it to the tree… repeat.

They are fun to watch!

Yup, not getting much work done today as these birdies are outside my home office window. I just had a brown creeper a few moments ago. Too quick for me to get a pix though.

I wonder if those little Junco know how excited we all get when they show up??? :)

The nuthatches are the first in the morning to show up at the nut and suet feeders at my house. They are fun to watch. :)

Junco's are cute, but I don't like the cold weather they bring with them, unless there's enough snow to call off work! ;)

Warbler #1 - ditto to Claypa, first winter female Chestnut-sided Warbler (and what a stunner!)
Warbler #2 - again ditto to Claypa, first winter male Common Yellowthroat
Warbler #3 - I reckon another Palm Warbler

Resin

Thanks Resin, Claypa and Jimbo for your assist. I've got a long way to go with the identification process. I marvel at some of the local birders that daily catalogue their bird ID's. Some will say "heard only". Others say "a flyover". In my case, if I don't photograph it, I didn't see it. And, there is always a lot of controversy with unphotographed sightings especially for the record books.

This little flycatcher is such a challenge. They move so darned fast, almost never sit still, and when they do it's either in the shadows or behind leaves or branches.

Today I did manage to catch it in the open, and got several shots, but in most of them it moved it's head as I was shooting. Lil' bugger.

This sweetie paid me a visit later.