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top 25 items viewed per day
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(260 views)
At the sanctuary, there is a group of palm trees next to the large pond that provides prime nesting spots. It is fenced off to ensure the breeding birds are not disturbed.
In late March, this was one of many night herons nesting amongst the snowy and great egrets. Its usually yellow legs are pink because it's breeding season.
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(259 views)
These large egrets are graceful and breathtaking in flight. I watched this bird flying back and forth several times bringing nesting material back to it's mate.
There was only one pair that I saw amongst dozens of the smaller Snowy Egrets.
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(258 views)
Of course England has it's fair share of "flying rats". For some reason this one in Hyde Park seemed more like an actual bird to me than just
feathered vermin.
I'm sure if I was there long enough they would become just as annoying as pigeons are here at home.
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(258 views)
This snowy owl
at the Dublin Zoo was very quiet but, if it had spoken, it would have had an
unusual voice.
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(257 views)
Here is a photo of a lion
doing what a lion does best.
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(257 views)
I didn't see a pheasant when I looked at this tree, only the Egret. As the boat drew nearer to the tree the pheasant burst out, startling the egret and me. I tried to get a shot of them as they flew past, but I was much too slow. It wasn't until I looked at the photos at home that I had the pleasure to see I had gotten a shot of the pheasant after all.
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(257 views)
To get a shot of a graceful bird flying is always a coup.
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(256 views)
I got this shot just as the egret was landing. Look closely and you can see the feet haven't quite come to rest on the pipe.
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(256 views)
This shows all the markings you would look for in identifying this bird in the breeding season. The lacy plumes on the back and the green/blue "mask" that extends from the base of the bill to the eye are only present during this time.
The Audubon Society came into existence to stop the extermination of great Egrets by plume hunters and has this bird as it's logo.
Great Egrets are found world-wide, even in Australia
.
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(255 views)
Taking photos from a boat was a new experience. I was able to get much closer to this flock of Pelicans before they took flight.
These appear to be Australian Pelicans
because of the pink bills. Or do American White Pelicans have pink bills in the winter? Further research needed.
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(255 views)
I was fascinated to watch this egret hunt
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He moved very patiently and slowly, then his head would dart into the shallow water and he would come up with a little fish. It must take a lot of little fish to fill such a large bird.
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(255 views)
I think I am addicted to taking shots of flying egrets.
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(255 views)
Seeing a bright red eye on a bird, to me, is quite startling. Although the heron
appears to be standing one-legged, the other leg is actually stretched out in front, grasping another branch.
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(254 views)
The Great Egret has just caught a small fish.
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(254 views)
This photo of a Harbor Seal was taken very near the
Lucy Evans Interpretive Center
at the bird sanctuary. I was very surprised to see it but the ranger verified that they have been known to occasionally appear.
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(254 views)
This female Killdeer is standing over eggs in its "nest." Three eggs are actually present but only one is clearly visible. Even the clearly visible one is very well camouflaged.
It is reputed their call sounds like "kill deer" and thus the name. I don't hear it myself but maybe that's just me.
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(254 views)
These two large tortoises ambled about and were not as sluggish as one might expect. I dont know which species of tortoise this is because I forgot to photograph the sign.
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(254 views)
This is a photo of three very well camouflaged eggs in a Killdeer "nest." Because Killdeer often lay their
eggs on gravel,
the parking lot at the sanctuary had become a favorite nesting spot for them. Unfortunately a parking lot is a dangerous place for eggs, which leads to much failure for the Killdeer who lay eggs there.
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(253 views)
The female Killdeer in this picture is adopting a wounded bird pose and making a distress call. She is trying to lure me away from her nest by convincing me she is easy prey. Luckily for her I only wanted her photo.
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(253 views)
Taken late March, this bird is probably a year or two old and has the yellow legs you see on both juveniles and non breeding adults. They get their full adult plumage in the third year.
If you look at this shot and the thumbnail below it, you can see they are roughly the same size and shape. Nice of them to pose for their comparison shots.
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(253 views)
The bird on the left is a young adult who won't achieve the look of the mature bird on its right for another year.
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(253 views)
The profile of a warthog is not handsome. Neither is any other view.
They do have their niche in nature, but they just don't look good filling it.
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(253 views)
When I took this photo I thought it was a common crow. That was in April. I processed this photo recently and discovered it was actually a
jackdaw.
A Jackdaw is a type of crow but has a grey head and pale eyes. Some people associated the Jackdaw with the children's nursery rhyme
"See Saw, Margery Daw".
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(253 views)
Yesterdays picture was taken of a gosling that was only a few days old. Today's photo was taken three weeks later. Now you should definitely be able to see that they are becoming adult geese.
These goslings have lost their cute baby fuzz, but don't yet possess the handsome markings of an adult. But such is the bane of all adolescents.
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(252 views)
I generally prefer to photograph individual birds or pairs. But sometimes the flock can prove just as beautiful.
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