Tag: birds
European Starling
House Sparrow: Super-Blurry on a Wire
Perfect example: I posted this super-blurry photo of a bird on a wire across the street, zoomed optically as far as I could and then just cropped. Within 15 minutes, 4 people had identified it as not just a sparrow, but specifically a house sparrow!
Meanwhile the entry for the horseweed from last week still hasn’t had anyone stop in to confirm or correct the ID.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/26366528
I found the original of this while looking for something else and thought it would …
I found the original of this while looking for something else and thought it would look good in black and white.
#photography #BlackAndWhite #Birds
I’m kind of surprised that I didn’t post the original back when I took it. Yeah, it was pre-Instagram and I was barely using Flickr at the time, but I had been posting photos to my blog for a couple of years by then.
:shrug: Well, it’s up now. And who knows: maybe I wouldn’t have thought of adjusting the color if I’d stumbled on it as “Oh yeah, that one…” instead of rediscovering a photo I’d completely forgotten.
Since joining iNaturalist, I’m paying more attention to the birds I see (and, more often, hear)…
Since joining iNaturalist, I’m paying more attention to the #birds I see (and, more often, hear). 3/4 of the time, they fly off before I have a chance to take a picture, but I’ve caught a few.
I learned that most of the #pigeons we see in cities are classified as feral, descended from domesticated pigeons derived in turn from rock pigeons who live on the sides of sea cliffs. Buildings serve as a nice substitute.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/kelsonv
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_pigeon
Apparently this bird is called a dark-eyed junco.
European Starling
@gannet In some ways, maybe. I looked at the Wikipedia articles for both species, and …
@gannet In some ways, maybe. I looked at the Wikipedia articles for both species, and it looks like the Monk parakeets are better suited for urban environments just from the fact that they build nests instead of using holes in trees.
The Monk parakeet article doesn’t mention what they eat, so I’d have to read up more to guess whether they occupy a similar niche in that aspect.
A house finch, perched in a juniper tree. I couldn’t believe it stayed put long …
A house finch, perched in a juniper tree. I couldn’t believe it stayed put long enough for me to go inside, get my camera, come back out, and take seven pictures. Google conveniently linked them together in this animation.
#photography #birds #animation
Western Gull walking in the parking lot
Canada Goose walking through the grass
Western Gull in flight
This one came out much better 😁
Fly away!
Photo taken at: Madrona Marsh Preserve and Nature Center
Fly away! This crane egret was standing on the road around #MadronaMarsh, swaying back and forth and looking upward like it was dancing or something, until it finally decided to fly off.
We’ve had a wet winter, so the seasonal marsh has actually filled up a lot …
We’ve had a wet winter, so the seasonal marsh has actually filled up a lot more than it has for the last few years. In addition to the full ponds (including two on either side of a road that was still muddy) I saw a lot of birds, including a crane that was swaying back and forth until it took flight, lots of ducks and geese.
A few more photos on Flickr if you’re interested
#marsh #nature #birds #photography
Hyperactive Parrots and Stoned Wallabies
Apparently opium affects parrots the way caffeine affects humans, and hyperactive parrots in India are trashing the poppy fields trying to get their fix.
@Satsuma replies:
cant decide if this is more or less funny than the high on opium wallabies making crop circles on Australian poppy farms
Wow!
I think wallabies and crop circles win! 😂
The timing was flocking perfect.
Birds of Madrona Marsh
Birds of Madrona Marsh in Torrance, California.
It’s a seasonal marsh, where the low-lying parts stay wet most of the year, but the rest dries out ever summer and floods during winter rains.
I spotted ducks, doves, geese, these black birds with bright red wings that sound like a smoke detector battery alert, this white bird that looked like it was fishing, plus dragonflies, a huge bee, and I heard (but didn’t see) frogs.
Full album (21 pics) on Flickr
Actually the croaking frogs might have been quacking ducks in the distance, now that I think about it.
I think the white bird might be a snowy egret, and that red-winged black bird turns out to be… a red-winged blackbird. 😄
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowy_egret
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-winged_blackbird
A real bird photobombed the boat ride view of LEGO construction. It held still for a while, and when it finally moved, one of the younger passengers exclaimed, “It’s real!”
Photo taken at: LEGOLAND California
A real bird photobombed the boat ride view of LEGO construction. It held still for a while, and when it finally moved, one of the younger passengers exclaimed, “It’s real!”
Canada geese at the marsh. Remarkably unconcerned with an unpredictable human child 15 feet away…
Photo taken at: Madrona Marsh Preserve and Nature Center
Canada geese at the marsh. Remarkably unconcerned with an unpredictable human child 15 feet away, but then they *are* geese.