Clouds of feeding Wilson's phalaropes at Antelope Island State Park in Utah.Anyway, I am still looking back over the year just passed, and remembering some wonderful bird encounters as I ogle these images. I hope you like them too.
Tussling bald eagles over the Platte River in Nebraska in March. Immatures can be SO immature.
Fox sparrow at Indigo Hill in late spring.
Yellow-bellied sapsucker at Indigo Hill in October.
Trio of dickcissels on South Padre Island, Texas in March.
Marbled godwit near Pipestem Creek in North Dakota in June.
Male yellow-rumped warbler on Hog Island in Maine in June.
Molty American robin, Hog Island, Maine, June.
Male Cassin's finch, Snowbird, Utah, June.
Courting western grebes, Bear River NWR, Utah, June.
California gull, Antelope Island State Park, Utah, June.
Male mountain bluebird, Hidden Peak near Snowbird in Utah, June.
Male eastern bluebird, Indigo Hill, Ohio, March.
4 comments:
Wonderful eye candy! I especially loved the eagles and the trio getting ready to sing, but they are all wonderful.
Tasty
Hi - this is a little off topic of this post, but I just found you! I am a new bird watcher, led into this by my cat. She has chronic health issues and it was suggested that I put up some bird feeders for a distraction for her. Little did I know what she would lead me in to! I'm disabled myself, so I have some of the same benefits that my cat has discovered.
Several window-feeders later and even a heated birdbath mounted to a window ledge where neither ledge nor bath were meant to be (and befriending a pack of squirrels and a trio of cottontails as well as several regular birds that are even named because they visit so often).. yeah, I'm hooked.
This has probably been addressed years ago, but I have read the For Dummies book, and because the birds come so close to me (a chickadee even eating from my hand), I get some really incredible observations. I often wondered how their little feet managed to hold on to cold surfaces during our New York winters, and was more reassured by your mentioning that their legs are mostly bone and ropy muscles.
I have noticed this year that my little songbirds have another method - they hop around on one foot and tuck the other up in their tummy fluff, then switch feet when the "outdoor" foot gets cold. I've seen my juncos, titmice, and chickadees do this when they "ground feed". I'm sure someone has already pointed this out, but I sure felt for the li'l guys - especially on a day when it was so cold, I actually saw steam coming from one goldfinch as he fed from my window feeder as he breathed!
Anyway, I just wanted to thank you for helping further my delight in my many critters, from the Titmice Trio, the Chickadee Duet, Big Daddy and Big Momma (hairy woodpeckers), OneFoot (junco), and all the others.
Bill, you're the master. I can't get enough of your eye candy.
Post a Comment