Birders' Nest

[owlice]

But you see, I didn't know they were grebes. At that distance I just couldn't tell what they were (there were mallards and coots all over the place, and all I knew was that they were not like them), and the whole thing was an amazing fluke. I just gasped when the images came up on my computer.

I gasped when I saw them, too! Such wonderful captures!!

[*Getting this all posted felt almost like a life's work - posting it in pieces, constantly getting the FORBIDDEN notice, and deleting stuff until it became permitted. There was no pattern that I could discern!]

How aggravatingly annoying!

[owlice]

I needs must run to the punctuation store for more exclamation points; I'm running low on them.

[owlice]

...with the bird actually seeming to be shy.

You understand the bird very well; it was indeed shy. We knew a nest had to be nearby; during a previous visit to the patio, the grad student and I observed the catbird calling incessantly. Someone else had brought her dog and had taken a seat in that corner of the library patio. The bird was clearly upset by this, and fell silent only after those visitors left.

[Elgarian Redux]

I needs must run to the punctuation store for more exclamation points; I'm running low on them.

Well this is more than my job's worth, but ... look, I have this box under the counter:

! ! ! ! ? ? ? ? . . . ! ! ! ? ? ? ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ? ? ? ? ? ? ;;;;;;; ,,,,,, ::::::

Take as many as you can use, but don't tell anyone where you got 'em, OK?

[Elgarian Redux]

The Winner and Still Champion: Elgarian Redux!!!! Congrats!!!!

I am proud to accept this Championship medal, and would like to thank, from the bottom of my binoculars, my family - who, when I was but a lad, did so much to help me become World Expert in counting birds and rocks.

Also: "5 million rocks and 2 birds" hahahaha!!! Oh, that's great!!

Can we now have a photo with 5 million birds and two rocks, please?

[owlice]

Well this is more than my job's worth, but ... look, I have this box under the counter:

! ! ! ! ? ? ? ? . . . ! ! ! ? ? ? ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ? ? ? ? ? ? ;;;;;;; ,,,,,, ::::::

Take as many as you can use, but don't tell anyone where you got 'em, OK?

Thank you, sir!! I can exclaim once more!!

I am proud to accept this Championship medal, and would like to thank, from the bottom of my binoculars, my family - who, when I was but a lad, did so much to help me become World Expert in counting birds and rocks.

Can we now have a photo with 5 million birds and two rocks, please?

The previous jigsaw puzzle contender photos won't do? I'm sure there are a couple of rocks in at least one of those shots!


When I left to drive the 17 minutes to yesterday's birding walk, the sky was a flat grey-brown with the perfect deep orange circle of the sun hanging well above the horizon in the eastern sky; the sun had been up for over an hour. The sky had no depth; it appeared as if two-dimensional. Near birds seem almost pasted on the smoky sky.

Bald Eagle


Eventually, the brown mostly faded, leaving behind the flat grey.

Great Blue Heron


Not the best lighting for photography, but the birds didn't seem to mind and carried on with their usual birdy tasks, including landing in foliage on which my camera likes to focus, because why should it focus on the bird when the foliage is right there?!

Savannah Sparrow

[Elgarian Redux]

You understand the bird very well; it was indeed shy. We knew a nest had to be nearby; during a previous visit to the patio, the grad student and I observed the catbird calling incessantly. Someone else had brought her dog and had taken a seat in that corner of the library patio. The bird was clearly upset by this, and fell silent only after those visitors left.

This morning I had an encounter with a bird who definitely wasn't shy. Mrs Pheasant arrived in the garden, knowing perfectly well that she was looking sleek and desirable, and apparently up for a photo op. My camera was on a table, 3 yards away. It took me five seconds, no more, to grab the camera and hoick it out of its case. Search, point, finger poised... and there she was, just in the process of leaving the garden through the pheasant-sized hole in the hedge. As she left, I swear she looked over her shoulder and winked. 'You had your chance, Mister.'

[owlice]

What captivating photos those are! How piercing the eyes of both the Catbird and chipmunk are, like black onyx, the blackness seems almost bottomless! It seems particularly intense in the Catbird, it's quite hypnotic!

Iota, I give you the perfect void of a Rattling Cisticola's open beak:

When I saw this photo, I thought something had gone wrong, but that black circle of seeming nothingness, which looks so odd, so unnatural, is real.

No light can escape; these birds have miniature black holes within them.

[owlice]

This morning I had an encounter with a bird who definitely wasn't shy. Mrs Pheasant arrived in the garden, knowing perfectly well that she was looking sleek and desirable, and apparently up for a photo op. My camera was on a table, 3 yards away. It took me five seconds, no more, to grab the camera and hoick it out of its case. Search, point, finger poised... and there she was, just in the process of leaving the garden through the pheasant-sized hole in the hedge. As she left, I swear she looked over her shoulder and winked. 'You had your chance, Mister.'

Ah, she was shy after all!

You keep your camera in a case?!? 

I mostly jest. My camera often rests in a camera bag; the camera bag is usually unzipped, however, unless it is being moved such as to the car or back into the house. Birds are fast; we've gotta be faster!

[Elgarian Redux]

Ah, she was shy after all!

Not a bit! Provocative, I call it!!

You keep your camera in a case?!? 

I mostly jest. My camera often rests in a camera bag; the camera bag is usually unzipped, however, unless it is being moved such as to the car or back into the house. Birds are fast; we've gotta be faster!

Well yes, but you're a Pro. I'm just an amateur, sporadic birder. Besides, the camera is so small that if I didn't put it in its case, I'd lose it.

[Elgarian Redux]

Iota, I give you the perfect void of a Rattling Cisticola's open beak:

When I saw this photo, I thought something had gone wrong, but that black circle of seeming nothingness, which looks so odd, so unnatural, is real.

No light can escape; these birds have miniature black holes within them.

Extraordinary! The depth of blackness! I suppose if you get close, you start to experience weird time-dilation effects?

[Elgarian Redux]

When I left to drive the 17 minutes to yesterday's birding walk, the sky was a flat grey-brown with the perfect deep orange circle of the sun hanging well above the horizon in the eastern sky; the sun had been up for over an hour. The sky had no depth; it appeared as if two-dimensional. Near birds seem almost pasted on the smoky sky.

Bald Eagle


Eventually, the brown mostly faded, leaving behind the flat grey.

Strange, almost unearthly atmosphere. None too healthy for the eagles, I guess?

Not the best lighting for photography, but the birds didn't seem to mind and carried on with their usual birdy tasks, including landing in foliage on which my camera likes to focus, because why should it focus on the bird when the foliage is right there?!

My camera is over-fond of foliage too.

Savannah Sparrow

Glorious. How do you get those superbly rich colours? Is it because the sun is nearly always shining, or is it, again, 'The Camera'?

[Iota]

The previous jigsaw puzzle contender photos won't do?

Haha, that's exactly what I thought when I read Elgarian's comment! I loved those photos! They seem so long ago now!

When I left to drive the 17 minutes to yesterday's birding walk, the sky was a flat grey-brown with the perfect deep orange circle of the sun hanging well above the horizon in the eastern sky; the sun had been up for over an hour. The sky had no depth; it appeared as if two-dimensional. Near birds seem almost pasted on the smoky sky.

Bald Eagle


Eventually, the brown mostly faded, leaving behind the flat grey.

Great Blue Heron


Not the best lighting for photography, but the birds didn't seem to mind and carried on with their usual birdy tasks, including landing in foliage on which my camera likes to focus, because why should it focus on the bird when the foliage is right there?!

Savannah Sparrow

Those are sensational shots yet again, @owlice! The Heron looking to me particularly like it's just flown in from Jurassic Park, and the Savannah Sparrow just a masterful and bewitching ensemble of textures and colours! Bravo!

[Elgarian Redux]

The previous jigsaw puzzle contender photos won't do? I'm sure there are a couple of rocks in at least one of those shots!

Well I can see that to the casual rock & bird observer, it might seem so. But while I can identify twigs, water, areas of sandy silty stuff, and even bits of birds that look like rocks, I cannot identify a single definite rock in those pictures. But y'know, this is like the old problem of trying to prove there isn't a spider in the room: although a single spider sighting would prove the opposite, total arachnid absence is very difficult to be conclusive about.

[Elgarian Redux]

Those are sensational shots yet again, @owlice! The Heron looking to me particularly like it's just flown in from Jurassic Park, and the Savannah Sparrow just a masterful and bewitching ensemble of textures and colours! Bravo!

Quoted for truth, as they say.

(Who does say that, actually? I've seen Karl say it a bit, but has it broader origins?)*

*I just looked it up, and discovered that it's general internet slang (not just an @Karl Henning  -ism), often abbreviated to QFT. Well, I Never Did. [Which may be abbreviated to WIND, if anyone so wishes.]

[owlice]

Well yes, but you're a Pro. I'm just an amateur, sporadic birder. Besides, the camera is so small that if I didn't put it in its case, I'd lose it.

I am also an amateur, sporadic viewer-of-wildlife. In my experience/life, having a case is no guarantee against losing something...

Extraordinary! The depth of blackness! I suppose if you get close, you start to experience weird time-dilation effects?

I have never been close enough to one of these miniature black holes to find out! The depth of blackness amazes me; it just doesn't look real, possible! Other birds also have miniature black holes inside their beaks, but out of the many birds I've seen, the number of species exhibiting this complete void is very small.

How do you get those superbly rich colours? Is it because the sun is nearly always shining, or is it, again, 'The Camera'?

The camera, and the magic of iPhoto's "auto enhance" button. 

Haha, that's exactly what I thought when I read Elgarian's comment! I loved those photos! They seem so long ago now!

Those are sensational shots yet again, @owlice! The Heron looking to me particularly like it's just flown in from Jurassic Park, and the Savannah Sparrow just a masterful and bewitching ensemble of textures and colours! Bravo!

Thank you, @Iota; you're very kind. The Heron had indeed just flown in! From where, other than to the right of where I was, I don't know.

But y'know, this is like the old problem of trying to prove there isn't a spider in the room: although a single spider sighting would prove the opposite, total arachnid absence is very difficult to be conclusive about.

You had to put that thought in my head, did you?! Exactly the sort of thing one should not think of late at night!

[Elgarian Redux]

I am also an amateur, sporadic viewer-of-wildlife.

I need to be more careful with my terminology. What I should have said is You take photos like a Pro (i.e they are outstandingly fine). But truly you're far more committed and skilful than I. I did most of my semi-serious birding during the 1970s. Under the strong influence of a bird-watching poet friend, I got myself to the not-very-advanced point where the watching of birds could become an inherent part of my enjoyment of wherever I might be. Since then I've rested on my laurels: I don't go off hunting rarities, for instance, and I've forgotten how many species were once on my tick list. (I no longer have a tick list. It wasn't impressive, even when I did.) But the pay-off, for the rest of my life, was that recognising and watching birds in landscape became an important part of being there. A 'fellow creatures' sort of feeling.

In my experience/life, having a case is no guarantee against losing something...

How about keeping the camera case in a camera case case, then?  But I suppose on further thought that it would merely be adding to the list of potentially lost things.

You had to put that thought in my head, did you?! Exactly the sort of thing one should not think of late at night!

Well you see (he said, innocently, trying not to laugh), when I wrote that important piece of arachnophilosophy it was daylight.

[Elgarian Redux]

Very high winds and rain here for the last couple of days, so no gentle walks in the hills, and consequently no bird reports to make. Even in the garden the wind has kept most of them away.

[owlice]

A birdie with a yellow rump
Hopped up from the hollow stump
Cocked his coal-black eye and said...



Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird

[Elgarian Redux]

A birdie with a yellow rump
Hopped up from the hollow stump
Cocked his coal-black eye and said...



Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird

"Come now, let us all make merry!
Why not help me eat this berry?
Don't you love my stripey head?"

Flutt'ring wings, they danced and partied
Through the day till, heavy-hearted,
All the birds went home to bed.

In the morning, up jumped Tinker
(Such an enterprising thinker):
"Shall we do it all again?" ...