Nature Photography

[Coco]

These birdhouses are very original and seem appreciated !

 

Coco

[FossilNerd]

13 hours ago, snolly50 said:

The popular wisdom in this part of the world is; Martins consume tons of mosquitos and are therefore to be lured into taking up residence. Unfortunately, they eat tons of bugs; but few of them are mosquitos.

That way of thinking is the same here and many locals have Martin houses and gourds. Unfortunately, these days, most get taken over by the European Starling.

 

Still, I remember mowing down overgrown fields in my younger years with a tractor and bush hog, and having a flock of Martins follow me. Diving down to gobble up any insect that fled from the tractor. I got used to feeling the wind from their wings on my face as they wizzed by to snatch the bugs out of the air with their amazing acrobatics. 

[minnbuckeye]

I woke up this morning, peered out the window, and saw a doe standing stately in the middle of a large patch of flowering daisies, backlit by the sun barely peeking over the horizon. A photo op moment!!!!! Running to the door, half dressed, camera in hand, I discovered the doe was camera shy and had moved on. But there, in the front lawn, was another critter, only Tidgy and @Tidgy's Dad would find beautiful. A big snapping turtle, wanting to find a place to deposit her eggs. She eventually succeeded in nesting in my pumpkin patch! 

  

 

She presented me with a gorgeous grin when asked to smile for the camera!

  

 

 

 On the way back inside, I snapped a pic of our first rose blooms.

 

 

  

At its base was this cute mushroom. 

 

  

Finally a few "bug" agreed to be photographed this morning. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[snolly50]

The dragonflies are open for business...

 

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

On 6/10/2021 at 2:59 PM, minnbuckeye said:

I woke up this morning, peered out the window, and saw a doe standing stately in the middle of a large patch of flowering daisies, backlit by the sun barely peeking over the horizon. A photo op moment!!!!! Running to the door, half dressed, camera in hand, I discovered the doe was camera shy and had moved on. But there, in the front lawn, was another critter, only Tidgy and @Tidgy's Dad would find beautiful. A big snapping turtle, wanting to find a place to deposit her eggs. She eventually succeeded in nesting in my pumpkin patch! 

  

 

She presented me with a gorgeous grin when asked to smile for the camera!

 

Beautiful. 

Though these pictures scared poor Tidgy Girl half to death. 

Love the roses too, and the antennae on that last bug are stunning. 

[snolly50]

Sunset over the tidal marsh....

 

 

[snolly50]

Red-winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus sings over the tidal marsh....

 

[snolly50]

Female House Finch, Haemorhous mexicanus...

 

[snolly50]

Nest building Night Heron, Nycticorax nyctanassa.....

 

 

[Shellseeker]

1 hour ago, snolly50 said:

Nest building Night Heron, Nycticorax nyctanassa.....

Thanks for sharing . It is a striking bird, and excellent photography.. I wonder if it is the same Night Heron that gobbles up ghost crabs on the beaches of Sanibel. Those will come in the early dawn, find a ghost crab burrow, and wait for breakfast to come and greet the sun...  I guess it works.

 

I have an ulterior motive..  I become curious about a bird that Benjamin Moore has chosen to play a lead role in a commercial about painting a wall blue.  I also wonder if you or others can identify. Worth a try. Jack

[digit]

For bird ID you might try the Merlin smart phone app. Being a self-proclaimed Luddite unwilling to give up my "dumb phone" I have not tried this application but I hear good things about its ability to identify birds from images. There is also iNaturalist (likewise, recommended without personal experience) but which I have personally seen identify any number of bugs, frogs, or other creatures/plants that submit to having their photos taken.

 

https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/

 

https://www.inaturalist.org/

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

 

P.S.: I too love Black-crowned Night Herons. I would see them active at the beach at night (surprise) while I was doing sea turtle hatchling rescue a few years back. I would not surprise me that this would be the species that's gobbling up Ghost Crabs on the beach.

[snolly50]

2 hours ago, Shellseeker said:

identify

I think it may be a female house finch (robust beak and basic coloration are clues to me). However, this is merely a stab and not intended to be authoritative.

[Shellseeker]

1 hour ago, snolly50 said:

I think it may be a female house finch (robust beak and basic coloration are clues to me). However, this is merely a stab and not intended to be authoritative.

You are GOOD !!!! I looked at a bunch of female House Finch photos.  Most are brown and white stripped, but a very few are bluish. You got the beak, the size, the haircut....

 

@digit Thanks Ken,  I will try the apps, but as you can see, in some instances, a TFF expert like Snolly can also be effective. He has knowledge and experience on modern birds also !!!!

[snolly50]

39 minutes ago, Shellseeker said:

Snolly can also be effective. He has knowledge and experience

Why it's true! The snollywife often says snolly is "for the birds." Not sure what that old saying means; but it must be good. Maybe I should look it up to better appreciate her praise.

[snolly50]

Anhinga, Anhinga anhinga in a cedar snag...

 

[digit]

9 hours ago, Shellseeker said:

a TFF expert like Snolly can also be effective. He has knowledge and experience on modern birds also !!!!

And don't forget we have topic experts like @Auspex when it comes to our fine feathered (dinosaurian) friends.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[snolly50]

Here at Palatial snolly Manor, the hummingbirds have really been hitting the sauce....

 

 

 

[digit]

It appears that they've found a gap from below that is offering them easier access to the good stuff.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[snolly50]

7 hours ago, digit said:

It appears that they've found a gap from below that is offering them easier access to the good stuff.

 

Yes, I have observed this behavior over time. The bird so engaged is always a female and (I suspect) a single representative. the critter will circumnavigate the underside of the feeder with its bill's business end firmly at the joint. It performs this action infrequently and it has never been observed more then once in a day. It is inferred that the cagy lady is exploiting a nectar seep; collecting the juice with the tip of her tongue. Once the juice is lapped up, a wait is apparently required before it sufficiently oozes anew. 

[Monica]

Hello, all!

 

The last school quadmester was brutal: all of Ontario was teaching/learning from home, which meant that there was a lot of computer use in my household from April-June.  That definitely put me off of doing anything else on a computer, which is why I disappeared from the forum for a bit.  School's out for the summer now, so I'm back to using the computer for "fun" things like visiting the forum!!!

 

In order to get away from technology during the last few months of school, I went on a hike by myself every Sunday - it was awesome (except for the mosquitoes)!  While on my hikes of the Toronto Bruce Trail Club's side trails I encountered some at-risk bird species - here they are for your viewing enjoyment:

 

Barn Swallow:

 

Bobolink (male):

 

Eastern Meadowlark:

 

Eastern Wood-Pewee:

 

Wood Thrush:

 

[Al Dente]

Here's a female Giant Stag Beetle (Lucanus elaphus) that I found yesterday while walking my dog.

 

 

[digit]

Very cool bug! The males are even more nightmarish. I see online that these beetles are often kept as pets.

 

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/84834-Lucanus-elaphus

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[snolly50]

The Moon's color seen on the US East coast is being impacted by the Western fires...

 

 

 

[snolly50]

I like the light in this dragonfly image...

 

 

[Kane]

Going through the camera rolls. The sulking toad:

 

 

 

A happy squirrel with a peanut. I just love the facial expression: 

 

 

 

Hummingbird deliberating on whether to go for our feeder, and one who has taken the plunge.

 

 

 

Lazy squirrels...