Category: Birds

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2016-05-08: What I’ve seen this week

I just took a pause in editing the photos for this post for some breakfast, and spotted a pair of deer in the yard.  It’s overcast and they are heading deeper into the bush, so no sense in trying to get a photo to add to the post.

This week, I’ve got some slightly better photos of the red breasted sapsucker that is hanging out at the top of my street, as well as some photos of a yellow bellied sapsucker (at least, to the best of my identification abilities, that is what it is, though they aren’t supposed to be in my area at all.

Here are my choices for the week, I hope you enjoy.

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On my Saturday morning walk, I heard the loveliest singing from the trees, but was really having a hard time seeing the bird to get an ID. Once I loaded the photos onto the computer, I realized it was the yellow rumped warbler.
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A yellow bellied sapsucker?
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I believe this is a yellow bellied sapsucker… but if you have other ideas, please let me know!
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The red breasted sapsucker.
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The red breasted sapsucker loves to hang around the utility poles and make quite the racket.
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I was surprised that this bunny hopped out of the bushes and close to the road when he/she could easily see Spencer and I walking along. I snapped this just before a car came along; luckily it hopped back into the bush and not the other direction.
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2016-05-02: Monochrome Monday

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This African Hoopoe was tucked into such a shady spot of the tree, trying to do anything with the photo in colour just didn’t work. But I really like how this high contrast black and white edit has turned out.
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2016-05-01: What I’ve seen this week

The back yard continues to get busier, as more and more birds are heading into town.  The warm weather has also meant trips to the garden centre to start sprucing up the yard, and getting some colourful flowers to contrast the sea of green.

This weekend has flown by, and there is still much to do, so I will leave it at that and get to the photos.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week!

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Not the sharpest photo, but nice to have evidence of a few rufous hummingbirds getting along, and sharing the feeder.
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A pileated woodpecker seen on a morning walk.
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The purple finches have arrived, and along with the yellow pumped warbler, are filling the yard with lovely songs.
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The yellow pumped warbler – he’s quite a shy one!
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From the trunk up… I have no idea what type of tree this is, but it was one of the things that caught my eye while doing a photo walk downtown early this week with my local photo club.
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Lovely blossoms, but again I ave no idea what variety.
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I saw three deer while out on my bike Sunday afternoon, and then this single one spent a great deal of time in the yard on Monday.
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I snapped a few quick photos of this bird before it flew away; I was unable to tell until I got it on the computer that it is a red breasted sapsucker.
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Another view of the lovely deer that visited on Monday.
20160501_What I've seen this week
Enjoying the backyard salt lick.
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2016-04-24: What I’ve seen this week

After a few fairly quiet weeks at the feeders, the backyard is coming alive again with new visitors.  The warm weather has brought in the rufous hummingbirds, and I’ve also seen a yellow rumped warbler around the yard.  There are at least one pair of pine siskins feedings on sunflower seeds as well.

Out on my walks, I’ve been seeing bunnies every day (including a pair that looked as if they were planning a bunny rendezvous in the near future) but I wasn’t able to capture any decent photos of them this week.

Onto the pictures, have a great week everyone!

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A male rufous hummingbird (with his tongue sticking out just a little bit).
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A yellow rumped warbler (Audubon’s).
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A yellow rumped warbler hanging around the back garden.
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A pair of crows I spotted on an early morning walk.
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A female rufous hummingbird.
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A pair of pine siskins.
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A ruffed grouse I spotted while out walking.

 

 

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2016-04-17: What I’ve seen this week

It’s been a great week for birds around the neighbourhood, especially yesterday, when I managed to capture photos of 5 different species in one morning walk (plus 3 different bunnies).

Wishing everyone a wonderful week 🙂

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I actually saw a pair of flickers yesterday, and while they conveniently perched together in a tree, I didn’t manage to get any shots of the two together worth sharing, as they were so high up, and I didn’t have to big lens. This one was working hard tapping at this dead tree; I heard it long before I saw it.
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A hairy woodpecker pauses from pecking between the tree branches early yesterday morning.
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A sure sign of spring are the robins singing from the treetops every morning. I caught this one searching for worms on the roadside.
20160417_What I've seen this week-2
Earlier this week, I saw frantic activity below a large pine tree; I snapped loads of photos just so I could try to identify the birds. This was the best that I managed, but I include it here as it was a new species for me, a white winged crossbill.
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The juncos are back in town, but generally don’t visit the feeder; they are part of the clean up crew that keeps that area beneath the feeder tidy (thanks guys!).
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The pileated woodpecker was tapping away at the top of this pole, making quite the racket.
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One of the 3 bunnies I saw yesterday; this one was right next to my driveway at the end of our walk. Luckily, Spencer only barks at them about 1 in 10 times that he sees them. Mostly he just patiently waits for me to finish taking a photograph.
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I’ve been hearing the ruffed grouse drumming for some time now, but this was the first time I’ve seen one this year. This beauty hung around under the bird feeder, cleaning up fallen sunflower seeds.
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I was happy I was able to quietly sneak outside and get a few photos (I was hiding behind the garden hose reel so I didn’t disturb the grouse browsing).
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Sunflower seed success.
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2016-04-10: What I’ve seen this week

I went for a quick drive this morning, after hearing about tree swallows and potentially mountain bluebirds nesting in a field fairly close to home.  I was rewarded with seeing both.  I’ve never seen mountain bluebirds before this, and the intensity of the males feathers reminds me of the brightly coloured birds of Southern Africa.

It’s far too nice today though to spend much time indoors, so I’ll get to the photos and wish everyone a wonderful week ahead. 🙂

20160410_What I've seen this week
The first time you ask your partner to do something around the house…

 

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The 87th time you’ve asked your partner to do that very same thing around the house!
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So nice to have the sun shining to show off the beautiful iridescent feathers of the tree swallow.
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A perfect portrait pose.
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My first view of a Mountain Bluebird.
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One couple was hanging out around nest box 20.
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Another preferred nest box 30.  How I wish I could have captured the male and female together.  Perhaps next weekend!
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The shockingly blue male Mountain Bluebird.
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Moments before he took to the skies.
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2016-03-25: Feel Good Friday

After my last trip, I had around 50 bird images in Lightroom labeled “Unknown”.  The majority of these weren’t even good images that I would ever do anything with, but that Unknown labeled irked me.  Any time I would come across one while doing other worked, it made me feel like there was unfinished business I needed to attend to.

So this past week I spent a couple evening going through all of them, with my trusty Roberts app, and doing my best to identify them.  I may not have gotten them all right, but I’ve done my best, and the few photos that seemed worthy of further editing are included below.

It’s nice to start the weekend with some unfinished business cleared up.  That’s my Feel Good Friday moment.

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend 🙂

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Village Indigobird
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White Breasted Cormorant
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Cardinal Woodpecker
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Senegal Lapwings
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Arrow Marked Babbler
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Green Backed Heron
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Common Buzzard
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Chinspot Batis
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Pale Flycatcher
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Green Wood-Hoopoe
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