This thread is for the birds! (1 Viewer)

[Sam Posten]

Let's see your best bird shots!

Here's one I took last week, we are still working on ID, it doesn't seem to fit with any of the possible candidates (white phase Blue Heron, White Heron, Egrets etc.)

14-Herons-9194 by Kadath, on Flickr

One guy says it's a Little Blue Heron. Huh, never heard of such a thing. Off to google!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

It's tough to tell, Sam, but that looks like a cross between a blue heron and an egret.

Here are a few from Huntington Beach State Park in South Carolina. We usually make a day trip there when we go to our condo in Myrtle Beach. It's a great place for bird photography.

 

[andySu]

A view from side hallway window at the pigeons sat on widow ledge.

Three Pigeons arguing on a branch on the tree outside my window.

I think I used Text mode zoomed in with Continuous picture snapping away, while their wings flapping away on the tree branch. I think maybe two male Pigeons and one female Pigeon, some sexual competition.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

A few more...

Bald eagle, taken in Juneau, Alaska

Immature bald eagle, same location

Gull looking for stray herring while humpbacks bubble feed, also in Juneau

These two were taken a few years ago at Alligator Adventure, which is located across the road from our Myrtle Beach condo.

 

[Sam Posten]

Beauties!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

A "bird's eye view" of an egret from our place in South Carolina last week. He was hanging out by the walkway to the ocean... never saw an egret that close to the walkway before. I thought it was an interesting angle.

 

[Citizen87645]

This great blue heron was hanging out in the Oregon Garden the day after my wife and I got married, which I took as a good omen.

 

[JohnS]

Great pictures everyone!

I have some bird shots from Alcatraz island I should post.

 

[JohnS]

The first two bird pictures are from Alcatraz Island.
(Alcatraz gives you a bird guide before boarding the boat)
Second on is from the San Francisco Zoo.
The next one is from the indoor rain forest at the California Academy of Science in San Francisco.
Last picture is a bird in front of the Bay Bridge next to the Pier 24 photography Gallery.
(The photography gallery is a must see!!)

 

[Scott Merryfield]

This was from today's zoo visit. We usually do not walk through the bird sanctuary, so this was a new sight for us.

 

[Mike Frezon]

You guys do such great work.

I'm just a pretender, but here goes.

A group of seagulls frolicking on the Vermont shore of Lake Champlain:

 

[Citizen87645]

Yaquina Bay on the Oregon Coast.

 

[Mike Frezon]

These images of these unusual specimens were recently taken in the extremely exotic location of my backyard.

Passer domesticus:

Baeolophus bicolor:

Poecile atricapillus:

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

I never have a camera accessible or useable when I get great close bird encounters......

Today was a good example. I was driving down Kuna Butte when a very large Bald Eagle took off from my left and flew at about 10 foot elevation across the road less than 50 feet in front of me. He didn't even flap his wings once airborne since he was on a gentle slope downhill. But I can't drive and shoot at the same time.

 

[Mike Frezon]

But I can't drive and shoot at the same time.

John Wayne could...

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I never have a camera accessible or useable when I get great close bird encounters......

Today was a good example. I was driving down Kuna Butte when a very large Bald Eagle took off from my left and flew at about 10 foot elevation across the road less than 50 feet in front of me. He didn't even flap his wings once airborne since he was on a gentle slope downhill. But I can't drive and shoot at the same time.

A couple of my best bird encounters occurred on the golf course, so I know how you feel. Once I had a hawk with a rodent in its talons swoop right by our golf cart.

John Wayne could...

Well played, sir. :golfclap:

 

[Mike Frezon]

I've been presented with the opportunity to shoot a busy Pileated Woodpecker this past week. He has set up shop on a dead tree in the wooded section behind my back yard.

Usually, pileated woodpeckers excavate their large nests in the cavities of dead trees. Woodpeckers make such large holes in dead trees that the holes can cause a small tree to break in half. The roost of a pileated woodpecker usually has multiple entrance holes. Pileated woodpeckers raise their young every year in a hole in a tree. In April, the hole made by the male attracts a female for mating and raising their young. Once the brood is raised, the pileated woodpeckers abandon the hole and will not use it the next year. When abandoned, these holes—made similarly by all woodpeckers—provide good homes in future years for many forest song birds and a wide variety of other animals.

Here's some video I shot of the bird: You can see him go in the hole to peck and make it bigger. In the 2nd half, you'll see him enter the hole to start clearing out the sawdust and other detritus he has created through his work:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD-lZLmpxX4&feature=youtu.be

It seems to me the moral of this story is that I need a better lens...and probably a better camera...to get better shots of a bird at this range. The first picture in this post is an uncropped image of a fully extended 55-250 lens.

 

[Sam Posten]

Ha ha a ha haaaaaa!

 

[Mike Frezon]

Took me a minute to figure that out, Sam!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

At Sam's suggestion, I am reposting a couple of photos I took last week at Huntington Beach State Park in South Carolina. We were trying to identify the birds. Here are the photos:

Sam suggested either a cardinal or a grosbeak for the 2nd bird.


As a means to help with the identification, here is a checklist published by the park with all the different bird species that can be found there. FYI, this is one of the top places along the East Coast for bird watching.


Based on the list, I think I identified the first bird as a painted bunting. I am still looking for the 2nd bird.