Yesterday was a beautiful, sunshiny day...in the 70's...just perfect. I worked from 12 - 5, then we had our grandsons till their bedtime..so there wasn't much time for pictures. But the birds were very cooperative, and let me make the most of the time I had.
There are at least as many goldfinches as we've ever had - maybe more. They are like sunshine all over.
...two male and a female rose breasted grosbeaks...there was a male just outside when we first got up, but he flew out far away when we went to the window, and they didn't come back close enough for good pictures - at least while we were watching.
I'm not a grackel lover - they eat SO MUCH and the little birds are afraid of them, but the colors reflected off this one were beautiful.
Always beautiful - I can see where they have nested, but it's too high for me to see inside.
He tried and tried to figure how to get around the baffle.
Something happened on the back porch yesterday - I found a dead squirrel at just outside the patio - he looked as though he had fallen and broken his neck, so I buried him. Then my grandson noticed what looked like spattered blood on the deck floor and rail. All I can figure is that maybe the red-tailed hawk, or maybe even the cooper's hawk, flew up and caught the squirrel and it somehow got away. The cuts must have been on the side it was lying on - (The red-tailed flew from my porch one night last week - he's might brazen - the little birds don't worry about him at all - I guess he has discovered the squirrels come up for snacks a lot. Nature can be tough.)
This is a favorite -it's a rebloomer, so we enjoy it often.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
10 comments:
Beautiful photos! sorry to hear about the redtail, they are very oportunistic and your yard does look like a very inviting place for nature.. thank so much for sharing~
Wonderful bird photos as usual, you have a very productive yard.
EAch picture perfect...can't choose a favorite. I've never seen a "butter-butt"...but it is cute! Gorgeous iris!
Your backyard is something else... What a stunning variety - such a selection of beautiful birds! Kudos!
Cheers, Klaus
For not having much time you sure got a LOT of beautiful pictures. What is in the new feeder the WP is on? Love your catbird. Your flowers are breathtakingly beautiful!! Great Post!
Lovely stuff BL, my personal favourite is the Catbird - a/ because I love Catbirds and b/ successfully getting shots of birds (or any fauna) amongst freshly emerged or blossoming flora is always the most satisfying of photographic achievements. Beautiful!
Stacy - Thanks - my son, who works with me and is our resident raptor expert, says that was most likely the coopers (the one eating the dove in the earlier post) - that it caught the squirrel, realized it was too big (couldn't fly!), and dropped it. He thinks the red0tailed would have carried it off then or come back for it. I dunno -
John - thanks. We feel very fortunate.
Mary - Thanks for your kind words.
Barb - Thank you! I LOVE the warblers - wish I could have gotten as many shots of BB as you did of your yellow.
Klaus - every time I look or go outside, I am grateful for so much beauty. I am a lucky woman.
Jalynn - Thank you so much. The WP is eating peanuts!
Bluebirder - Thank you! I hope your lens problems are being resolved - although I can't imagine any lovelier photos than on your current post!
Thank you so much IRB - I use an Olympus E3, released late last year. Most of my bird work is done with Zuiko 90-250/f2.8 (which is equivalent to SLR 180-500) and 2x teleconverter. I was using Nikon D200 with Nikkor 400/f2.8, and it was simply too big and heavy for me to get around with. Olympus has always been able to do wonderful things smaller, so I switched last year. (Used the 510 till the E3 was released.) We liked it so much that my husband also switched, and he uses the E3 with Zuiko 300/f2.8 (SLR equivalent 600). This camera is very fast focusing, has very little noise, even at high ISO, delivers beautiful color; and Zuiko glass is as good as anything I've used....better than most. AND, it's a lot smaller and lighter than anything else.
Oh WOW...have I missed some absolutely gorgeous posts!!!! The baby Bluebird and the Catbird photo was great!
Post a Comment