All types of Birds
The Saffron Finch – probably the prettiest yellow with a touch of orange over the eye. What a bird this one is.
The saffron finch (Sicalis flaveola) is a tanager from South America that is common in open and semi-open areas in lowlands outside the Amazon Basin.
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Pied Imperial Pigeon
The pied imperial pigeon (Ducula bicolor) is a relatively large, pied species of pigeon. It is found in forest, woodland, mangrove, plantations and scrub in Southeast Asia, ranging from Myanmar and Thailand, throughout Indonesia and east to the Philippines
Pied Imperial Pigeon
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Nicobar Pigeon – the most brilliant colors I think I have ever seen on a bird.
One of the most beautiful breeds of Columbidae, the Nicobar pigeon is the only remaining living member of the genus Caleonas.
This might not mean anything to a casual bird lover, but it means that the Nicobar pigeon is believed to be the closest living relative of the dodo, the extinct bird that has come to be a symbol of extinct animals all over the world.
The Nicobar pigeon, as the name suggests, originated in the Islands of Nicobar.
These islands are a union territory of India along with the Andaman Islands (home of the rare Andaman wood pigeon) and lie in the eastern Indian Ocean.
The Nicobar pigeon is known not only in Nicobar but also Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands
Nicobar Pigeon
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
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Guira Cuckoo Birds – South America Birds
Guira Cuckoos are omnivores and groups will forage together for insects, frogs, eggs, large arthropods such as spiders, crabs, etc., and small mammals such as mice, as well as the nestlings of small birds. Their beak is thick and has a downward curve, which is designed for eating meat. They belong to the same family as the Roadrunner.
They are very noisy birds and make a wide variety of noises, including yodels, guttural calls, gargled trills, and whistles. And, like other cuckoos, they give off a very strong odor.
Guira Cuckoo Birds
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Unique Cool Birds – My first bird I am going to show you is from Australia, it is called a Masked Lapwing.
The Masked Lapwing gets its name from the bright yellow wattles (the fleshy bit of skin that roosters and turkeys also have) on its face and the ‘lapping’ sound its slow wing beats make.
The Masked Lapwing, also known as a plover, has an eerie call most often heard at night – ‘kekekekekekekek’.
I picked this bird first because I follow a blogger named, aussiebirder
Blogging site link here; Aussiebirder
I love reading is blogs. He is a birder with his wife and he shows the most colorful birds I have ever seen. We have a lot here in the states. But, I think they might have quite a few more over there. Check out his site to see his photos, creative writings and videos of birds from Australia.
These birds coming up next week are from the Mississippi Aquarium, they have an Aviary there, which means all the birds can fly around and swim in the pond, and forage in the grasses. They are not free of course, but they are well fed and taken care of so that they stay healthy and live long lives.
Birds in the wild have more risk of fatality these days with being hit by cars, windmills and bad weather. Migration routes are in danger because of all the light noise at night. The majority of birds fly at night when they migrate and all the lights on the earth make it harder for them to get where they are going.
Last year I noticed a huge decrease in song birds in the area where I live. Which is one of the farthest regions for a lot of birds to migrate. I hope this summer more song birds will come back to my area.
Have a great weekend. 🙂
Unique Cool Birds
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
New Colorful Birds coming next week. Have a great weekend.
New Colorful Birds
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Springtime With Birds – springtime means mating season and fighting for territory. It may look like they are just doing a dance according to these photos.
But, they are scraping and chasing each other trying to keep their spot on the river.
Spring has sprung in some areas, have a wonderful day.
Springtime With Birds
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Snow White Feathers – These birds are not hard to find with their snow white feathers, especially in a grassy marsh. I am sharing some of my favorite Egret photos this week.
Snow White Feathers
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The Egret – Snowy white feathers that can be seen all over the country. Well, except up in the north country. I have never seen one up in Michigan. Such beautiful birds.
The Egret
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
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Little Blue Heron – A new bird for the year. Someone had told me they saw this blue heron and today I went for a walk, and their it was high up in the tree. I wasn’t sure what it was until I got home and looked at the photos.
Adult Little Blue Herons are very dark all over. At close range or in good light, they have a rich purple-maroon head and neck and dark slaty-blue body.
Little Blue Heron
Who Has the Longest Wingspan – well the longest wingspan of all birds goes to the Albatross, a wing span of 12 feet. But they fly over the southern oceans and breed on islands just to the north of the Antarctic Circle. So it is a bird I will probably never see.
So lets look at the birds that I have photographed here in the states. My favorite large bird of all is the White Pelican. It’s wingspan comes in at – drum roll please –
7.5 feet to 11.8 feet
American Eagle 5.5 feet to 8 feet wing span
The Brown Pelican is – 6 to 7 foot span
Great Blue Heron 5.5 to 6.5 feet
Canada Goose 4 to 5 foot span
Wild Turkey has 5 foot span
Great Egret – 4.5 foot wing span
Who Has the Longest Wingspan
Artistry in Nature, The Wing, it never ceases to amaze me, the intricate detail and design of the wing on all of the birds. I count at least 10 different lengths of feathers on this white pelicans wing. But they look so perfectly in line and a master of art itself from our creator.
Each feather with a purpose that only the designer knows exactly why and how it works. If someone asked me to design a wing. I would just make all the feathers the same because I don’t actually know the true purpose of all the different lengths.
But they are beautiful to look at.
Artistry in Nature
Bird Diving Board – the brown pelican is built for diving. From 65 feet in the air, to just diving off of a post.
Amazing birds for sure. Definitely one of my favorites when I am in south to photograph.
Have a great weekend.
Bird Diving Board
Tiny Bird with Big Shrimp, Sand Pipers are just such cute birds. This winter the fishing was not good at all on the beach. We threw this piece of shrimp onto the beach when we were packing up to leave.
This little piper came over to see if it could grab a morsel of this shrimp for his meal. But, in the video below, it will show he had to scramble away as a Oystercatcher bird was coming to investigate what he had found. They are so cute when they run.
Tiny Bird with Big Shrimp
Birds and Bright Colors – When it comes to bird mating and breeding, colors play a significant role in attracting a mate and establishing dominance. During the breeding season, male birds often display bright and bold colors to attract females. The brighter and more vibrant the colors, the more likely they are to catch the attention of a potential mate.
Like this Reddish Egret below. Their bill is quite colorful during the mating season.
Birds and Bright Colors
The Road Runner – What an appropriate name for this bird. I mostly saw it running down the side of a road when we were out west.
I am posting this because someone the other day was asking if I had a photo of a road runner. Which I do, so I thought I would share it here. During the breeding season you will see a bright blue and orange patch behind the eyes.
I photographed this one when we were in Texas.
The Road Runner
Interesting Wing Spans markings on these brown pelicans flying overhead. I noticed the white marks under the wings which looks like their bone structure. It was more prominent in the one pelican.
When you think you have seen it all, something new pops up when watching birds.
Interesting Wing Spans
Bird & Fishing Pole, beach fishing is a popular thing along the ocean waters. I looked at this photo and it looks like this gull is fishing with its own little fishing pole. See the little stick in front of the bird? Looks like his own personal fishing pole just like the people have.
Bird & Fishing Pole
Perfect Bird for January – The Snowy Egret, a beautiful display of flowing snow white feathers on this bird. Being there is a lot of cold and blizzard type weather moving across the states. Even down south here along the coast, the temps are cold and high winds.
Bundle up Buttercup, more cold weather coming.
Perfect Bird for January
Gulls in Flight – Gulls are a very unique bird, some may say they are pest and some may say they are extremely smart.
They are definitely good at finding food or stealing food. But, if you are new at photography and want to learn how to photography birds in flight. Gulls are the perfect subject.
I learned so many better techniques by photographing gulls, because they glide and hover which makes it easier to track them with your camera.
It is fun to get a photo with their maximum wingspan and tail feathers spread out.
Plus they sit still for long periods of time so you can practice your still shots as well.
You may not know this, but they do dive head first into the water to catch a fish now and then.
Gulls in Flight
What’s Up – How you doin?
These two birds were following each other the entire time we were on the beach. One would pick up piece of food or shell and then the other would run right over to check out what he had.
Friendships on the beach
What’s Up
The Beach Birds – Never a dull moment when watching the little pipers and plovers on the beaches.
The Beach Birds
Pet Portraits – Minatare Australian Shepard
I am taking photos of folks dogs here at one of the campgrounds we are staying at and thought I would share some of the different breeds I am making portraits of for the pups owners.
This dog here is an Australian shepard, I had a couple of Australian Shepard’s many years ago. Wonderful dogs. They are known for having at least one blue eye, and this one here has two. Very unique.
This ones name is Lilly.
Pet Portraits
Finally Photographed a Bird – This is the first bird photo I have taken in quite awhile. I have not seen many on our travels this fall.
This is a mockingbird that sat very patiently in this holly tree. I love that shot with the red berries and blue sky with the bird.
Hopefully I will be seeing more birds again soon
Finally Photographed a Bird
Swan Dive – Look at the size of those flippers. I took these photos in Iowa a couple of years ago. I just had to bring them back up being I have been posting about swans.
We were walking along the edge of a small lake surrounded by tall vegetation and we could here this loud noise and the sound of water splashing. We walked over to a clearing and looked across the water and found the source of all this commotion.
Seeing a swan taking a bath is quite something. They have a wing span of 6 to 10 feet long. The longest wingspan recorded is 10 feet 2 inches.
The trumpeter swan is the largest extant species of waterfowl, and both the heaviest and longest native bird of North America. They come in at 15 to 30 lbs.
These swans need at least a 100 meter-long “runway” of open water: running hard across the surface, they almost sound like galloping horses as they generate speed for take off. About as long as a soccer field.
Hopefully I will photograph that one day, landing and taking off.
Swan Dive
The Black Swan – Normally it was only found in Australia, but with the transporting of rare birds, these swans can be found in the states as well.
This swan I photographed at a campground in New Mexico called Rusty’s RV Ranch where Rusty, who is a woman, had quite a few exotic birds that she took care of. Two black swans included with their own pond, which was nice.
Like most swans, this species has a characteristic “S” shaped neck and a large body. Black swans have one of the longest necks of all swan species relative to their size. They are large birds, with a wingspan of 6 feet or more, and a maximum weight of 20 pounds.
The Black Swan
Photo Manipulation also called composites. which means two or more photos put together as one. I occasionally make composites, when my imagination seems to be sparking an idea.
Take for instance these two swans. When I look at a photo, I always crop in 100% to check the quality of the photo and check to see if there are any defects that need attention.
When I crop in on a photo, my mind will wonder off as I picture the subject in a different light
I cropped in even further on this photo so I can actually see how clear the face is and the eyes. I always want to see if the eyes are crisp sharp, in this case they are just to dark, but the feathers around the face look pretty sharp.
Then I crop in one more time and the water in the background makes my imagination start to turn, it looks as though the swan is sticking its head up out of the water as if its body is underwater.
So then I just have to see if I can make it look like it is peaking out of the water at me and because it appears that the swan is looking right at me, the words Navy Seal runs through my mind.
Well, all I could do is add some goggles that I found on the internet, just for a fun photo. Now I know why it takes me forever to edit photos, I can’t help but to try and create what my imagination is throwing at me. Then I just turn the computer off and go outside for awhile, laughing of course. 🙂
Have a great weekend.
Oh, on Monday I will show you the other swan I photographed when we were out west, a swan that is only suppose to be found in Australia.
Photo Manipulation
The Trumpeter Swan – There are 6 swans species and I have photographed two of them. This one here being the trumpeter swan.
I went for years never seeing a swan anywhere, but now do to conservation efforts these swans have been taken off of the endangered species list and are found in many states including Iowa. Where I photographed these here.
I added the snow effect on this bottom photo.
This photo below has a soft white vignette.
This photo below has some sparkling water effects around the swans. I do like this one below.
The Trumpeter Swan
