Archiving my Twitter, Facebook and other social network activity
I’ve mostly stopped taking pictures of crows to submit here, because they’re so common. But this one was just standing on top of a hedge as I walked quickly along the sidewalk. It didn’t budge. So I stopped, grabbed my phone, and took a bunch of pictures from maybe 6 feet away. I even moved to get a better angle and it didn’t fly off, just kept looking around while staying put.
Uploaded a handful of #bird #photos ranging 2004-2015.
I imagine this #seagull reading the “No fishing” sign and being very disappointed.
An #egret wading in a marsh.
And another egret (I thought it was a crane at the time, but 3 people have IDed it as an egret) that I caught walking by the side of the road.
Funny thing is: I didn’t use the Flickr-to-#iNaturalist importer for these. On Flickr I posted the full, composed shots. For iNat, I wanted to crop them to show the birds more clearly.
Two of these parakeets flew across the grocery store parking lot into a palm tree, squawking as they went. I could only spot one of them once they’d settled, but I managed to get almost a dozen photos of it while it sat there.
Link: Feral Parrots Are Taking Over America!
“These birds, descendants of escaped pets, have managed to create thriving colonies in these cities despite the annual cold weather.”
I spotted some of these feral #parrots in the grocery store parking lot today. Two #parakeets flew across the lot into a palm tree, squawking as they went. I could only spot one of them once they’d settled, but I managed to get almost a dozen photos of it while it sat there.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/26590485
#birds #parakeets #FeralParakeets #FeralParrots
#nature #wildlife #photos
TODO: combine with this post and others
These two sparrows were on the ground as I walked across the driveway, flew up to the sign as I approached, and stayed put just long enough for me to pull out my phone. I swear they took off the moment I clicked the virtual shutter. (Time restricted parking, indeed.)
I’m still amused every time I tag a “feral pigeon” on #iNaturalist
Somewhere between 6-12 of them wandering around the brush and open area at the top of the bluffs near the coast. A lot less nervous than the ones I’ve seen in the city. I was able to get a lot closer.
A #finch that I spotted practically right outside my door a few weeks ago. I posted an animation made from several of these photos a while back. Here are the best of the still shots, cleaned up a bit.
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 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). 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
@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 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
