Five photos, five species.
My pickin’s for this edition of “Some Recent Birds” were pretty slim due to mostly poor shooting weather for the last few weeks and the problems I had in the recent past with a defective lens that had to be sent to Canon for repair. None of these photos will win any awards but collectively they’re a reasonably accurate representation of the species I’ve had opportunities with, and those I haven’t because they aren’t represented here, over the past couple of weeks.
And some of them might even hold some interest for my blog followers.
An immature Red-tailed Hawk on an ugly perch. What makes this bird notable for me is the band on its right leg. It’s highly unusual for me to see a red-tail that has been banded so I attempted to read the band numbers by zooming in on the right leg in the high-resolution image but I could only be sure of two of the numbers.
I suspect you folks back east see banded red-tails more often than I do but I’ve only rarely seen one in 14 years of photographing raptors so this bird caught my attention.
A Pied-billed Grebe chasing one of ‘his’ so-called buddies during a pretty nasty fight at Farmington Bay. I find photos like this one interesting because of the furious action represented by the flying water and because the behavior is so very difficult to photograph, even poorly like in this shot.
Three of the four vertical water splashes were made by the furiously pumping feet of the pursued grebe that we can’t see because it’s already out of frame to the bottom left – an excellent indicator of how incredibly fast the action was. In situations like this I consider getting a single Pied-billed Grebe in frame and reasonably sharp as a victory.
I mentioned this Song Sparrow in yesterday’s post. I’m grateful to this bird because, due to heat wave distortion, my photos of it were the first reasonably sharp shots I got all morning. If my photos of this sparrow hadn’t been as sharp as they were I probably wouldn’ have…
even aimed my lens at this Northern Harrier I photographed just a few minutes later. This shot was taken in a burst just prior to the photo of the same harrier I posted yesterday.
I was extremely relieved to confirm that my soft shots were due to heat wave distortion rather than another problem with my lens. At least I think it’s confirmed.
A grouping of three tom Wild Turkeys at sunrise showing off their colorful snoods, dewlaps (wattles), and caruncles. The beard of the tom on the right can clearly be seen in profile.
I considered saving this last photo for tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day, but I figured my blog followers would get more than their share of turkeys tomorrow, in either the culinary or the photographic form, or both, so I decided to jump the gun a little and post it today.
Happy almost Thanksgiving.
Ron
You certainly froze the action in that grebe shot!
I often give thanks for your wonderful photos and comments, Ron. Thank you for bringing nature and so much joy and education to so many of us. You’re a true gift.
Nanci
What a nice comment, Nanci. Thank you.
Nice potpourri. It would be interesting why the redtail is banded.
Thanks, April.
These pictures lifted my spirits. Thank you. Happy Day of Gratitude, Overeating, and Napping’
Good to know, Arwen. I’m about to start on #3 of your list a day early…
The image of the Turkeys is terrific – they don’t appear concerned about the activities of tomorrow. The birds in our feral population down here don’t appear worried either, but then, we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving
I’m glad you like the turkey photo, Gary. I think that warm early morning light enhanced the photo.
What, no Latin names?
Just kidding. I’m just being snoody. I blame it on the irritating caruncle on my… well, let’s not go into details.
Seriously, nice variety of bird families.
Lyle, when I post photos of multiple species I usually don’t include scientific names in my tags. Too much work.
Don’t sit on those caruncles and irritate them more!
Five photos. Five species. Five “oohs and ahhs.” 🙂
Especially like that you ended the series with the wild toms. They are such handsome creatures!
Five out of five, I usually don’t score that high. Thanks, Marty.
Well, I do like all these photos but I just love that last one of the three Toms, who look to me like they’re doing some kind of line dance, especially with the one turned the opposite direction and his left leg lifted a bit. Really a delightful shot, with lots of color and all that textured feather stuff going on! (Another reason I’m glad I don’t eat them….)
Happy Thanksgiving to you and to my fellow FP fans! 🦃
Ha, a line dance. I like that, Chris.
Thank you. This follower DID find them interesting. And exotic.
Happy almost Thanksgiving.
PS: For some reason I am totally unable to follow comments today. I am told that the subscription might have expired????, or that I am using the wrong email. Sigh. Is anyone else having problems?
Thanks, EC. It’s a mystery to me why you’re having that problem. You might try subscribing again but I’ve never heard of subscriptions to my blog expiring.
I loved all these photos.
Thank You,
Kaye
Thanks, Kaye.
An interesting potpourri this morning. Very interesting is the banded hawk. In 15 plus years here photographing and seeing hundreds of Red-tailed Hawks I have never seen one banded.
Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow to you and all your followers.
You’re experience with banded red-tails is similar to mine, Everett. To be honest I’m a little surprised I don’t see more of them with bands.
I enjoy seeing “collection” posts. It gives a good representation of what is around in a given area. The Song Sparrow is real nice!
Thank you, Bruce.
Fun! Love the variety of both birds and actions. 🙂 The Grebes and Turkeys are REALLY neat for different reasons….. 😉 Happy “Bird” Day early!
Grey Crowned Rosy Finches are here in mass this morning. They’re are “weather predicters” and started showing up yesterday. Rained/froze/snowed – road are/will be “greasy” this morning….
Thanks, Judy.
My best opportunity with those finches was several years ago at Capitol Reef NP when a huge flock of them was repeatedly landing on and near the road right in front of me. The road had no traffic so I tried very hard to get some decent photos but not a single one of them cooperated so I failed.
Good luck with your greasy roads. The only serious accident I’ve ever been in was on a greasy MT road when I was 17 years old. It wasn’t my fault (the other driver got the ticket) but several people were injured. I’ll never forget it.
Those finches don’t stay in one spot long, spook easily, and, when they fly, the flock is a mish mash of birds going different directions within the flock. Can tell them from other flocks that way……:) CR-V did well with the roads that were a sheet of ice all the way in. WHEW! Not a lot of consolation in an accident no matter whose fault when people are hurt. 🙁
“Those finches don’t stay in one spot long, spook easily, and, when they fly, the flock is a mish mash of birds going different directions within the flock.”
That’s EXACTLY the way these birds were, Judy. An excellent description.
I love splashing shots but that the 3 large splashes were made by the chased out of frame bird and are stll so high and fullsome amazes and delights me.
That’s one of the main things I like about that kind of photo too, Granny Pat. I actually find myself studying those splashes as I try to interpret them. In this case those three splashes are another indication of how incredibly fast the action was.
Snoods, dewlaps, and caruncles, oh my ! Couldn’t resist– that’s such an
ringing lineup of specialized terms ! I especially enjoyed the grouping of
turkeys…..lots of pronounced contrast, patterns and colors . I wish you and all the
Feathered Photography posse a fine holiday tomorrow……..
Thank you, Kris. Specialized terms indeed.
I appreciate this collection of birds. I’m visiting my daughter (who is training horses for dressage in near Palm Beach. Thankful for the beauty, flights, and life your posts bring! à bientôt, Mary
“I appreciate this collection of birds”
Good. Like I said there isn’t a spectacular photo in the bunch but collectively I think they’re more interesting than they may be individually. Thanks, Mary. And have fun with your daughter and her horses.
I understand why the photos aren’t spectacular to you, but for most of us who don’t get to see such beautiful creatures close-up, all your photos are glorious. I am thankful for your photos and prose everyday.
I hope you, all your loved ones, and all your followers have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Thank you on both counts, Mark. My holidays, including Thanksgiving, are always low-key but that’s by design.