A room with a view

wow! this looks like a good place . . .

. . . no wait . . . what the . . .

. . . five females together?! . . .

. . . I'm outta here . . .

I think these are common goldeneye (females). We scoured our bird books and decided that they fit the description, plus they will nest in trees (please, someone correct me if they are not). The first photo was taken just a week ago but the other four were last year at about this same time. Anyway, what is remarkable is that on that day, five of these birds landed on this tree snag and I was able to photograph them! I was holding my camera by hand, zoomed in at 200mm and through glass (shaky, shaky, shaky)! Just one of those things, there was no time to grab my tripod (I was not prepared), and a blurry photo is better than no photo when it comes to capturing what is going on around you in nature!
(I submitted these to a contest that our county was holding and they featured my photos in their newsletter).

Now I'm linking up to World Bird Wednesday at the Pine River Review

Natty Nuthatch

I'll be honest here - I had set my camera up to see if I could catch a Rosy Breasted Grosbeak (that furtive bird!) when suddenly this natty nuthatch appeared within my focus! and it seemed to freeze when it saw me. I very quickly took as many shots as I could (twenty-five maybe) and was so excited with my capture that I called it a night and went in. I applied a texture by Kim Klassen 'subtly yours' and a hue/saturation adjustment to calm down the background and then erased over the bird. Nuthatches have always reminded me of Grandpa from the 'Munsters' with their sleek peaked forehead and tuxedo-type markings. Apparently there are a lot of pet nicknames for nuthatches, but mine is Grandpa!



Linking up to World Bird Wednesday at 'The Pine River Review'

Resident Bluebirds

Male Bluebird

Female Bluebird

In order to get these photos I set up my tripod on the road and zoomed in on the birdhouse as close as I could. and then I waited. and waited. and waited. When one of the bluebirds landed, I quickly rotated my camera towards it and took a burst of shots. It took me an hour to get the photos I wanted but the time went fast- it was very interesting watching their behaviour. A pair of swallows were trying hard to oust them from their nesting box by swooping in and diving but the bluebirds were determined to not let them have it. If the female bluebird flew off, the male was right there sitting on the box fending off the swallows. My goodness - it's a 'bird-eat-bird' world out there!





Linking up to World Bird Wednesday at 'The Pine River Review'

Oh, what luck!

f5.6, 1/80s, ISO100, focal length 105mm

I was outside in the rain crouched down on the ground, my camera on a tripod at the shortest height, holding an umbrella, and trying to get a shot of water droplets on leaves. I was using my telephoto so I could zoom in and get something akin to a macro. Well, wouldn't you know it - this beautiful American Goldfinch landed on a feeder exactly 1.8 meters from me! I couldn't think about it so I just quickly turned my camera and tried my best! Of course my camera was not wanting to focus - darn! But I moved back a bit, pulled back the lens and just took as many shots as I could. I ended getting these wonderful photos!  I couldn't believe my luck!



Linking up to 'Sweet Shot Tuesday' at Life With My 3 Boybarians
Linking up to 'World Bird Wednesday' at The Pine River Review

Oh, wondrous bird?

"Oh, a wondrous bird is the pelican!
His bill holds more than his belican.
He can take in his beak
Enough food for a week.
But I'm darned if I know how the helican."
Dixon Lanier Merritt
(1879-1972)

I always get a kick out of seeing pelicans on our lake - they look quite comical!

A Tern for the worse?

I took a walk down to the dock and was greeted with a lot of squawking from these two terns. They were obviously pretty upset that I had invaded their privacy. I've learned to respect the warnings from terns since I was 'dive-bombed' last year by a particularly territorial bird. I think they are too cute, though.

OK, what are you doing here?

. . . you should back off . . .

. . . do we have to show you we mean business? . . .

I took a few quick shots and beat a hasty retreat!