birding Archives • Page 2 of 2 • Into the Light Adventures

By Sandra J

Pied Imperial Pigeon

By Sandra | April 24, 2024

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

By Sandra J

Nicobar Pigeon

By Sandra | April 23, 2024

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

By Sandra J

One More New Bird

By Sandra | April 8, 2024

One More New Bird – I wasn’t sure what this bird was. A duck or something else. It took awhile to find it in my bird book.

But it is a Clapper Rail, it looks half duck and half something else. Even when I looked up information on this bird, this is what it says.

This bird is a member of the rail family, Rallidae. The taxonomy for this species is confusing and still being determined. It is a large brown rail that is resident in wetlands along the Atlantic coasts of the eastern United States, eastern Mexico and some Caribbean islands.

One More New Bird

Springtime With Birds

By Sandra | April 1, 2024

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

By Sandra J

By Sandra | March 28, 2024

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

By Sandra J

Artistry in Nature

By Sandra | March 14, 2024

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

By Sandra | March 8, 2024

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

Pet Portraits

Interesting Wing Spans

By Sandra | January 29, 2024

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

Pet Portraits

Perfect Bird for January

By Sandra | January 17, 2024

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

Pet Portraits

Gulls in Flight

By Sandra | January 10, 2024

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

The Beach Birds

By Sandra | January 8, 2024

The Beach Birds – Never a dull moment when watching the little pipers and plovers on the beaches.

The Beach Birds

Finally Photographed a Bird

By Sandra | December 6, 2023

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

By Sandra | November 21, 2023

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

Photo Manipulation

By Sandra | November 17, 2023

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