by Larry Jordan
on February 2, 2008
Dark-eyed Junco photo by Mark Schmitt
I have hundreds of these little birds in my yard during the winter and I love to watch them jostle for position in my tray feeder and go crazy in my covered bird feeder. The reason I have this bird as my photo for this post is that it is almost time for the Great Backyard Bird Count and I have lots of them to count! I made a short video of Dark-eyed Juncos, Lesser Goldfinches, American Goldfinches, Purple Finches and House Finches out in my yard in the middle of January right after a snow storm here:
{vidavee id=”4852″ w=”320″ }
The Great Backyard Bird Count has several sponsors and they are giving away gifts to participants! This is one event that everyone can enjoy, from kids to grandparents. Not only is it fun and free (and did I mention that they are giving away gifts?) but it takes a minimum of 15 minutes and you can do it wherever you want! Here is the link to find out all about it:
The Great Backyard Bird Count
Mark you calendars for February 15th thru the 18th for the Great Backyard Bird Count and have fun while you are helpng out our feathered friends.
Happy Birding!
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by Larry Jordan
on January 27, 2008
Osprey Portrait all photos by Rick
There is a long recorded history of eagles pirating fish from ospreys. A naturalist from England by the name of Mark Catesby first reported this pirating phenomenon back in 1731. Although there is a question as to how common this practice is, it is an incredible sight to see. Rick, a fellow bird lover from the Bird Forum shot a superb series of photos of just such an event. I hope you like them.
[continue reading…]
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by Larry Jordan
on January 22, 2008
Anna’s Hummingbird (male) photo by Mark Schmitt
This incredible shot of the male Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte annas) was taken by Mark and later enjoyed while listening to a beautiful piece of Baroque music entitled “Spem in Alium” by Tallis. These beautiful combinations of nature and man make the human spirit soar.
These incredible little birds have an amazing way to protect themselves during very cold weather. They lower their internal thermostat at night, becoming hypothermic, by going into a state of torpor. [continue reading…]
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by Larry Jordan
on January 12, 2008
Red-tailed Hawk at lunch in downtown San Francisco
photo series by Glenn Nevill
I discovered this unbelievable story in the Yahoo group of “Raptor Watch” and just had to post it here. This is a photo of a Red-tailed Hawk having its lunch on a downtown sidewalk in San Francisco, California. As you can see from this photo there are several people standing around looking on, not really knowing what to do or what to think about this event.
You can see this entire photo series here: Hawk Lunch
I think this photo series deserves a warning that some of the photos are graphic so, for those of you who may be squeemish about this sort of thing, you have been warned. Just remember, raptors are birds of prey and they are part of the food chain. Most raptors feed on birds, small mammals, reptiles and insects. This is a normal process of nature.
You can also see some super raptor photos at Glenn’s page here:
Raptor Photos
He has some incredible photos of Peregrine Falcons that you have to see to believe! For your convenience, I have listed Glenn’s page in the blogroll also.
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