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Do you have a favorite bird or animal that you are smitten with?
Showing posts with label pied-billed grebe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pied-billed grebe. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Pied-billed Grebe
This is one of my favorite ducks. I can't point to exactly why since his feathering and colors certainly can't compete with the flashy wood ducks or the metallic sheen of the mallards. Maybe it's his big, dark eyes outlined in white and the black stripe around the bill. Whatever it is, every time I see a Pied-billed Grebe, I start smiling and become giddy. I spotted this one in March with my birding class.
Do you have a favorite bird or animal that you are smitten with?
Do you have a favorite bird or animal that you are smitten with?
Friday, March 28, 2014
Lake Martin Hodge Podge
Miscellaneous images around Lake Martin, LA. on 3/22/2014.
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| Early morning view |
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| Pied-billed grebe |
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| Pileated woodpecker. No amount of coaxing would get her to come out of the nest. |
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| Snowy egret in breeding mode |
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| Snowy egret |
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| Roseate spoonbill |
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| Black-bellied whistling duck I thought of TexWisGirl while shooting these. My hat's off to her photography on these guys. They were lined up so wonderfully on three different branches of one particular tree; I'm certain Tex would have gotten the perfect composition from it. |
Monday, March 3, 2014
Birding Adventures
Birding all weekend was a ton of fun! On Saturday we saw 28 different species at Bluebonnet Swamp and Sunday about the same at Greenwood Park. Both days I came home and took a nap. Early mornings are brutal; I dislike them to my core.
Our instructor uses a trick of playing a screech owl sound on her smart phone, putting the phone down on a low limb or on the forest edge, and then standing back to see who emerges. By playing the screech owl sound, for instance, it puts all the birds on high alert. There is definitely a lot of movement using raptor sounds. She encourages us to do this sparingly so as not to stress or agitate the birds too much. I saw my first hermit thrush using this method, and got photos of the eastern towhee and ruby-crowned kinglet with this same trick. I will be trying this occasionally on my own if I'm not seeing birds. There are apps with sound only, or spring for a full-fledged bird app like iBird, which is what I have.
I did not take my camera Saturday because 1) I go to Bluebonnet Swamp all the time; and 2) I wanted to learn and not be distracted with photography. Here is some of what I saw on Sunday.
Another trick is to learn the call or song of each bird. Oftentimes our instructor heard the birds first, then knew they were nearby so she could look for them.
I hope this helps some beginning birders out there. I can't wait for our field trip next weekend.
Our instructor uses a trick of playing a screech owl sound on her smart phone, putting the phone down on a low limb or on the forest edge, and then standing back to see who emerges. By playing the screech owl sound, for instance, it puts all the birds on high alert. There is definitely a lot of movement using raptor sounds. She encourages us to do this sparingly so as not to stress or agitate the birds too much. I saw my first hermit thrush using this method, and got photos of the eastern towhee and ruby-crowned kinglet with this same trick. I will be trying this occasionally on my own if I'm not seeing birds. There are apps with sound only, or spring for a full-fledged bird app like iBird, which is what I have.
I did not take my camera Saturday because 1) I go to Bluebonnet Swamp all the time; and 2) I wanted to learn and not be distracted with photography. Here is some of what I saw on Sunday.
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| Pied-billed grebe |
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| Ruby-crowned kinglet |
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| Eastern towhee. Not the best image, but at least I have proof that I've seen him. |
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| Japanese magnolia |
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| Field of wildflowers |
I hope this helps some beginning birders out there. I can't wait for our field trip next weekend.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Ridgefield
The second day in Oregon my daughter planned an early morning bird watching tour in Ridgefield, WA. The group ended up with too many people and was going too slow for our liking, so we bailed and decided to explore on our own. Not long after sneaking off like thieves in the night, we stumbled onto a couple of photographers with gargantuan lenses pointed toward a tree. To our sheer and utter amazement it was a pair of great-horned owls; a momma and her baby. Unfortunately, it was a bit cloudy so my pics didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. We were so glad we ditched the group because we circled the park twice and never saw the owls again. If we hadn't gone when we did we never would have had the opportunity to observe these beautiful birds.
All in all we saw 28 different bird species! How I wish I could have photographed them all and done them justice. Just gives me incentive to return again soon. So while these are not my best shots, many of these are lifers, and for that, I am beyond delighted.
All in all we saw 28 different bird species! How I wish I could have photographed them all and done them justice. Just gives me incentive to return again soon. So while these are not my best shots, many of these are lifers, and for that, I am beyond delighted.
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| Marshy area of Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge |
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| Marsh wren with a grub worm |
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| Pair of great egrets |
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| Great-horned owl and owlet |
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| Tree swallow |
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| Pied-billed grebe |
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| Cinnamon teal, female and male |
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| Possibly a savannah sparrow |
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| American goldfinch I thought about cropping this down, but I liked the way he was leaning horizontally |
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| Savannah sparrow |
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| Song sparrow |
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| Cedar waxwing |
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| Black-headed grosbeak |
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