Monday, January 12, 2009

Mo' Birdies...

Even with less than desirable weather conditions this past weekend, I felt like investing more hours just sitting and waiting for birds to come feed. I sometimes stopped and asked myself why I was going through all this trouble since I was doing it for pleasure (and had plenty of other worthwhile things to do)...and that's just it, it brings me pleasure to 'be' with the winged-ones and to challenge myself technically and aesthetically to try and get decent pictures under trying circumstances (i.e. shooting through glass, light rain at times, fast-moving birds and trying to keep the ISO fast enough to stop motion yet low enough to minimize 'grain' (aka 'noise').

You end up watching behaviors unique to the species...the squabbles between individuals...species mixing side by side...and how they scatter like 'haints' when a hawk is seen close by. And so I present to you new species that I didn't run in a prior photo blog last week (well, for the most part).

I'm starting with a pic of the Hairy Woodpecker female as it happened to come out so sharp, and she posed on the feeder she doesn't feed on (notice how she's using her tail for added balance)...remember you can click on any picture to enlarge it for a better view...

Hairy Woodpecker (female)
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In that same earlier post, I mentioned the almost identical but smaller Downy Woodpeckers didn't come around, but they did this weekend...

Downy Woodpecker (female)
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This angle for the male barely shows his red on the back of his head, but it was the better of my final pics...

Downy Woodpecker (male)
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I compressed the pics from the earlier post and put them side by side for comparison. While there are more subtle differences between the Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers like beak size, you can loosely say the Hairy is a Downy on steroids as they do look similar except for size:



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Purple Finches were showing up more than they have up 'til now...

Purple Finch (male)
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I just love the little up-flipping tail of the Carolina Wren...of course, I didn't choose the pic with the tell-tale tail as I liked this one for something a little different!


Carolina Wren
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It's a bit comical to have all these little birds flit in and out to feed before and then see the feeder totter when the much larger Doves come and snack. We refer to doves often as 'doves of peace', and among other reasons they truly are very, very peaceful birds...


Mourning Dove
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Pine Siskins are abundant through the winter, and their tell-tale sign amongst their tans and browns is the slight yellowish-green splash on their wings...


Pine Siskin

...and the Siskins are known for their love of sunflower seeds...that feeder is presently not in a good photographic position, but this trio was eating some I'd spread out on the railing...


Pine Siskins
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This is another year-round resident, the Dark-eyed Junco, found from the heights of Mount Mitchell to the Carolina Coast....


Dark-eyed Junco
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Though I showed the Tufted Titmouse in the earlier blog, I just had to add this cute one with a mouthful...


Tufted Titmouse


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Happy Monday, all y'all! Get ready for some cold stuff later this week! You can bet these kids will be even more fluffed than usual and eating to beat the band!

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