A lovely ride in the short afternoon and we were surprised by all the wonderful birds we found.
First - some downtown birds. A man was walking along that pipe railing and putting pieces of food on it, about every foot or so and the crows would watch him. Then he blew a crow whistle and they swooped down to get the food. There were dozens of them but most of the photos came out too blurry.
I'm not sure why he was doing this - or how he trained the crows to wait for the signal - by the time I took pictures and got out of the car, he was gone.
Then in a pond near our house we found a great mixture of ducks - Green Wing Teal
Ringneck Ducks (far top right and left) and Teals
And Common Mergansers - a new one for me.
Mallard, Bufflehead (behind female Mallard) and Ringneck Duck
And a Double Crested Cormorant (according to what research I could find)
Look - a Hawk - up the the top of those thin trees
My camera is magic - love the zoom (x250) and the clarity
In an unplowed field, a Great Blue Heron
As we drove down the country road we could hear them before we could see them.
Several thousand Snow Geese (this is about one fourth of the flock)
The darker ones could be juveniles or a Blue Goose - a different variation of Snow Goose
The flock of thousands takes off all at once - rising up in the sky. Their voices calling out as they rise - it was a magical Solstice moment.
And they are gone!
Did you get to spend some time with nature today?
All photos are taken with my Nikon CoolPix P600
No editing was done except a little cropping - photos are straight out of the camera
That's a lot of birds there!
ReplyDeleteWhat a variety of birds you got there!Have a Blessed Christmas!
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Shantana
In reading your book, JoAnn, I now see where you got your knowledge and great interest in wildlife. The snow geese are amazing. You must have felt like you were in some (to me it would feel like horror!) kind of wind tunnel or something when they all took off. Wonderful photos. I love your camera and the close-up of the hawk..Happy Monday..Judy
ReplyDeleteNot too many birds right now. A heron has been hanging around the cabin, saw a merganser swim by, and eagle soar overhead and of course, the noisy ravens. - Margy
ReplyDeleteWonderful variety of birds from your outing.. I love the Hawk and Snow Geese. Great shots! Have a happy Monday and week ahead!
ReplyDeleteYour camera is magic but I know it is all about the eye for the beautiful and you truly have that. Hug B
ReplyDeleteI have a date set to take the Scouts to check out the winter visitors. We don't get such large numbers here in Tokyo but the mixed flocks often bring an exotic visitor. (Actually the Scouts have to identify 10 animals in the wild and that is the best way to get it done in a short time and practice their observation skills) I have a nikon coolpix p7700 and I'm sure it can do more than I know how to use. The zoom is pretty good considering the size of the camera..
ReplyDeleteWow! You saw lots of neat birds when you got out. The snow geese are amazing....I've never seen anything like it! We went to the beach this weekend so that was fun. I took photos of some dolphins! Have a fun holiday week my friend! Sweet hugs, Diane
ReplyDeleteI saw a bunch of crows at sunrise yesterday on the Solstice.
ReplyDeleteWe're headed out to a walk soon.
ReplyDeleteYou have access to some really wonderful birdlife! I love all of these shots! Amazing variety! My nephew read a great book on crows and shared with us how incredibly intelligent they are. It sounds like they're smarter than some humans I've known!
I loved the crow story! Birds are such intelligent creatures. And your zoom lens - wow! It gives you a chance to be right there among the flocks. That massive snow goose departure is mesmerizing!
ReplyDeleteOh the Snow Geese are so wonderful. Thanks for your photos I get to see them this year. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a joyous New Year. Keep those wonderful photos coming. :-)
ReplyDeleteThe shots of the Snow Geese are amazing!
ReplyDelete