The Northern Shoveler, I put one photo of this bird on a few weeks ago and I got to see them again last week at a small swampy kind of lake where they love to hang out. Now it says the males have an iridescent green color on their necks this time of year. But this one here looked purple to blueish color in the sun.
Either way it is very colorful this time of year.
One of these photos below is a digital painting and the other is a regular photo. It is really hard to tell the difference unless you zoom in, but the one on the left is digital oil painting. Gives it softer lines, I like using that feature on certain photos when I can.
The Desert Cardinal, Dapper in looks and cheerful in song, the Pyrrhuloxia is a tough-as-nails songbird of baking hot deserts in the American Southwest and northern Mexico.
I finally got a photo of this Desert Cardinal, it was a hard one to find, but it stopped by the bird feeders here at this park. Its beak is thick like a parrots.
They’re closely related to Northern Cardinals, but they are a crisp gray and red, with a longer, elegant crest and a stubby, parrotlike yellow bill. During breeding season Pyrrhuloxias are fiercely and vocally territorial, but in the winter they forget their disputes and join together in large foraging flocks.
The Vermillion Flycatcher, I had heard about this bird when we were in Louisiana. A fellow birder told me about this brilliant red bird, but he said we were to early to see it. When I got back to the RV, I had to look it up and thought how colorful this little bird is.
Well, when we got to southern Texas to Big Bend National park, to my surprise, they were all over the place. Anywhere there was water you could see one of these beautiful birds perched on the small branches over water. They swoop down and catch a bug and go back to their branch.
Purple and Blue, the light makes all the difference. I have photographed this White winged dove a few times now and this is the first time I noticed the purple color of the feathers around its neck. I made it down to the bird blind just as the sun was coming up.
Amazing what we can see if we sit still long enough to really see things. Having the patience to wait until the Light shows up makes all the difference.
Birds Used the Most as State Birds The Cardinal is #1 as the bird used the most for state birds. It is the state bird for 7 states.
In second place is the Meadowlark; which is used by 6 states as the state birds. But I do not have a photo of this one yet. I am looking for it as we travel west.
And #3 on the list is the Mockingbird; which I just found the other day and was able to get a photo. This bird is used by 5 states.
Royal Tern Is Holding its Ground, Mr. Pelican is coming in with the intention of taking the pole the Royal Tern is on. But Tern is not budging and appears to be yelling at the big boy coming in for a landing to get his own pole. But, , ,
Mr. Pelican takes what ever pole he wants, as you can tell in the photo the lighter colored pole is where the Tern was standing and now the Pelican has it. He did take the pole and Tern had to move up to the next one. there is a stern look from the Tern towards the Pelican.
Then they both relax and quit staring at each other and just enjoy the sunshine together.
We have moved on from Alabama, but I still have some photos from that area that I will be sharing. We are headed west and here are a couple of photo of what will be coming up after I get done posting Alabama photos.
We came across a huge flock of Ibis birds. This is a new one to my list. I am now up to 110 birds photographed.
This duck is a Northern Shoveler, he was pretty far away so I did not get a clean photo of it. But very colorful.
Thank you again for all of you who view my photos and leave comments. I really appreciate it. If I don’t reply in the next 2 weeks, please accept my apologies. There are obviously area’s in the states with no internet here, even in the twentieth century.
For the Love of Birding, one never knows exactly what one will see when out enjoying nature. When it comes to birding, the range of different compositions is unlimited.
Like this egret who is holding its own on a windy day, as the wind keeps ruffling its feathers. Looks like it has black stockings and yellow boots.
Pelicans in a row, but what I like most is the bokeh lights in the background. Bokeh is one of the most popular subjects in photography. The reason why it is so popular, is because Bokeh makes photographs visually appealing, forcing us to focus our attention on a particular area of the image. The word comes from Japanese language, which literally translates as “blur”.
On a humid day here in this photo, natural fog is surrounding this Cormorant bird giving it a natural vignette look to the photo.
I just love the brown pelicans, the photos always speak for themselves with these birds.
Portrait of the Reddish Egret, such a beautiful bird I think. When I photograph birds I take a lot of photos at one time when I can. I put my camera on burst and hold the shutter button when the bird looks like it is in the right light and position. On average 1 or 2 photos out of 20 will be sharp, but the photos that excite me the most is when I come across one like below that looks like it is posing for the camera.
This is what I find most enjoyable about wildlife photography.
When I find just the right photo I will often turn it into a digital oil painting as well. My artistic side 🙂
Off the Grid for a Month, Hello all, todays post is an update on where we are at the moment. We are traveling west and will be camping in an area with very limited or no internet until mid March.
We will be camping at places that are like boon docking they call it. No water hookups or electricity at the camp sites. We will be breaking out the solar panels for sure. I scheduled post until mid March and hope you enjoy my photos. They are the last of my photos from the gulf coast.
I will interact with comments if internet allows and I just want to say thank you for all your compliments and comments that you write to me on this blog. I really appreciate it.
Todays photos are a little bit of what will be coming up after we get back on the grid.
My Day Begins at Sunrise for me, actually before sunrise. I am always up before the sunrises in anticipation for what is coming as the sun begins to warm the earth.
I watch the horizon, as if I am watching a movie in slow motion. The gorgeous colors of light dancing across the heavens. When you actually stop to see it, I mean really see it. You see its worth, its purpose and its power as the Light of the World.
State Birds, I mentioned a few days ago that we are doing some traveling this winter, trying to avoid winter. But it caught up to us, some snow and lots of ice that many people are experiencing here in the states.
But, during this ice storm as we are hunkered down in our RV, I had a wonderful surprise this morning as I open the shade on my window and saw these beautiful cardinals sitting in a tree. I have not seen a cardinal in months and let me tell you, they are wearing their brightest feathers this month.
Below I picked a couple of my favorite cardinal photos from last summer. I also decided to try and take a picture of every state bird as we travel. Some I have already taken in other areas, but I will list them as we go.
The Cardinal is a state bird to; Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Illinois, Virginia and West Virginia.
Looking Down at Us – Tranquility does exist. Off the beaten path, taking the road less traveled and returning to creation. That is us down there on the left side of the photo. Husband takes care of the photos from above as I photograph from below.
A way to show any one that happens to see these photos that the beauty of creation still exist.
I am the One who gave you hands to use your talents to create life around you.
Stretching Feels So Good even for birds. I took this series of photos as I was watching these Brown Pelicans perched on post in the water. This one started to do a stretch and ended up looking like he was going to dive right into the water. But it was just a stretch.
No Luck for That Osprey, he did not get his fish, he came up out of the water empty handed. I did not get a shot because my camera was buffering. But next thing I saw was another osprey coming from my right side and it did have a fish in its talons.
Now this might be a sad photo for the fish. But it is nature doing what it is designed to do. Fish is the main diet to the Osprey and its talons are created exactly for what it needs to do to survive.
Included below is a video of a variety of birds I have photographed here on the Gulf Coast, including the Rare Reddish Egret and my camera settings that I use to go with some of the photos.
As the bird reaches for a fish, its outer front toe swivels to the rear, giving it two grasping talons front and back. Its long, slender, arched wings help the Osprey get clear of the water too, as it takes flight with the fish’s head facing the front—the most aerodynamically efficient position.
Sharp Hooked Claws A bird’s talons are the sharp, hooked claws at the end of the toes. Birds have one talon on every toe, and they may differ in overall shape, curvature, and thickness depending on how the bird will use its talons and how worn individual talons may be.
I was walking along a pier and this beautiful Osprey was perched on a pole. It wasn’t to spooked as I got closer and closer so I was able to get a wonderful photo of this beautiful bird.
On tomorrow’s post I will show you this bird going into a head dive to catch a fish. It actually went full body into the water. I thought they just swooped down like an Eagle to get their fish.
Birds Can Make You Smile, they sure do lighten my day and that is why I love birding. Not only is it a challenge at times but some photos you just can’t help but smile when you see their expressions.
The pelicans of course, if you can catch them while they are doing a stretch, makes it look like they are smiling.
Take this photo of the Reddish Egret, it looks so regal and beautiful the way it holds its head up and the feathers blowing in the wind.
But you take a photo with it looking right at the camera does make one smile. Taking a photo of a bird looking at the camera is usually a no no just like photographing a person looking right at the camera. You always want the person to have a bit of a profile look, as they turn their head slightly and chin up is usually the best way for people and birds.
I don’t know what this bird is below, but looking right at the camera makes it look like it has a lot of feathers on top of the head.
New Bird at the Beach, when we got to the end of the Pelican beach, I first noticed all the orange bills again. I knew I had stumbled across more Royal Terns. I had not seen any of them in days and here at the end of this long walk they are hanging out with gulls and pelicans.
But to my surprise after I got home and looked at the photos on the computer there is a new bird in the group. I did not see them when I was out there with them taking photos. I was quite far away from them, hence the blurry photos. But the birds with the black wings are Skimmers. A very unique looking bird with an orange and black bill.
The strange, uneven bill of the skimmer has a purpose: the bird flies low, with the long lower mandible plowing the water, snapping the bill shut when it contacts a fish. Strictly coastal in most areas of North America, Black Skimmers are often seen resting on sandbars and beaches.
It is hard to tell in my photo the bill so I will add a photo off of the internet so you can see it closer.
Unlike most birds, their eyes have vertical pupils, narrowed to slits to cut the glare of water and white sand. Flocks in flight may turn in unison, with synchronized beats of their long wings. The world’s three species of skimmers are sometimes placed in their own separate family, although they are clearly related to the terns.
Piper Plovers, these are the cutest birds on the shores. They are so tiny but move very fast. There are about three dozen species of plovers, 15 to 30 centimetres (6 to 12 inches) long, with long wings, moderately long legs, short necks, and straight bills that are shorter than their heads.
If you look close you can see this Plover pulling a very small worm type thing out of the sand. You can imagine how small this bird is, there is probably no way we could see this little worm in the sand.
I read that birds tuck one foot up in their feathers to preserve their heat. They lose heat through their feet and on this morning it was pretty cold out. But they still stand in the water.
