Birders' Nest

[Kalevala]

No; it was purchased at a grocery store (M&S) during our Christmas feast shopping spree.

By "feast," I mean an assortment of party-type foods: cheeses, crackers, raw veggies with two kinds of hummus for dip, stuffed grape leaves, berries, and etc. We had no means to heat anything (except water for tea), but it didn't matter: we ate quite well.

When my son was small, I'd sometimes not feel like cooking a "real" dinner, so we would have a feast instead: lots of little party-type things that we usually ate in the living room while playing a game (Scrabble, etc.). He loved this, and so did I.

So, you spent Christmas in the UK?   

By the way (for you and our fellow bird friends), I found these "white doves" at your basic Marshall's crafts store.  Last year, I had purchase two of them (comes in a packet of two) and wasn't quite sure what to do with them.  They're small and clip-ons.  I put them on my tree this year and decided to see whether or not Marshall's had more of them.  They did and were on sale (still are), so bought a few more (now a total of 8 birds).  They were down on their Christmas merchandise, but still had some things.

https://www.michaels.com/search?q=birds%20clip-on

K

[owlice]

So, you spent Christmas in the UK? 

I did indeed. My son couldn't come here for the holiday, so his best friend and I went there instead.

[owlice]

Ran across these while looking for something, so thought I'd pay my thread taxes share; if these are repeats (one might be...?), my apologies. Both from Arizona, both males.


Gila Woodpecker Check out his dinosaur-y feet


House Finch Ouch ouch ouch; I don't know how he doesn't end up poked and bloodied

[Elgarian Redux]

Short on time, but I have just enough to post three striking pheasant pictures. Mr Pheasantosaur jumped up onto the top of the hawthorn hedge one evening and struck several different poses, of which I managed to capture three. He is at once the Prince and the John Travolta of the Pheasant community.

[Elgarian Redux]

Ran across these while looking for something, so thought I'd pay my thread taxes share; if these are repeats (one might be...?), my apologies. Both from Arizona, both males.


Gila Woodpecker Check out his dinosaur-y feet

Definitely a dinopecker.

House Finch Ouch ouch ouch; I don't know how he doesn't end up poked and bloodied

Why would he do this to himself? Why?

[JBS]

The ducks on our street have produced a brood.

[JBS]

A closer shot of the albino (?) duckling

[Elgarian Redux]

By the way (for you and our fellow bird friends), I found these "white doves" at your basic Marshall's crafts store.  Last year, I had purchase two of them (comes in a packet of two) and wasn't quite sure what to do with them.  They're small and clip-ons.  I put them on my tree this year and decided to see whether or not Marshall's had more of them.  They did and were on sale (still are), so bought a few more (now a total of 8 birds).  They were down on their Christmas merchandise, but still had some things.

https://www.michaels.com/search?q=birds%20clip-on

K

When I click the link I get an 'access denied' message, but I think I know the kind of thing you mean, because  we have a 'clip-on' white dove with a long tail perched on our Christmas tree.

[Elgarian Redux]

A closer shot of the albino (?) duckling

What a gorgeous little fella!

[Kalevala]

When I click the link I get an 'access denied' message, but I think I know the kind of thing you mean, because  we have a 'clip-on' white dove with a long tail perched on our Christmas tree.

That's strange!  I just copied and pasted it into a new tab.      I wasn't signed into the site either.

[owlice]

All from Arizona


Great Egret watching a hawk


American Kestrel


Lwarence's Goldfinches


Greater Yellowlegs


Prairie Falcon

[Elgarian Redux]

All from Arizona


Great Egret watching a hawk

Never seen a great egret ...

American Kestrel

Complete with 'go-faster' stripes.

Lawrence's Goldfinches

Aren't they lovely? The colouring of the female is so delicate.

Greater Yellowlegs

I was very taken with the one on the right, echoed by its reflection (see attached edit below).
(I know that images of birds reflected in water might be thought hackneyed, but 'Phoo!' is what I say to that.)

Prairie Falcon

Noble but cuddly.

[Kalevala]

@owlice

Nice photos!

I had a great time visiting a lake on New Year's Day.  Very cold here (about 20 then add on wind chill).  It was sunny though, so I sat watching the surface of it--frozen with a combo of mini-whirl winds of freshly fallen snow traveling across the surface with occasional sheets of the snow blowing across me.  Just as I was leaving, a pair of red-tailed hawks flew across a path and lit on top of some tall pine trees across the lake.

Off to a great start in 2026! 

K

[Iota]

Great pheasant pics, Elgarian! There's something of Caspar David Friedrich in the darkish silhouette above outlined against the sky .. a pheasant pondering his destiny. Kind of touching in its way.

And thanks, owlice, for yet another gallery of sumptuous and absorbing images!
I note the House Finch on a cactus pic above contributes to the burgeoning John Travolta library of birds here. And just to take the following from your collection .. I mean that's 'watching' in nuclear-powered form! His whole neck, head and eyes give the impression of a single laser beam of watching-ness, it's a magnificent image and indeed creature!

 

Great Egret watching a hawk

(.. Vaguely connected, I was in Gran Canaria over Christmas and one afternoon was pondering some regular Egrets swooping over a kind of sea lagoon, and a guy came up, parked himself next to me and said sweet and simple, 'Pterodactyls!', followed by a brief chat thereon .. so it's not just us on this thread making dinosaur-bird connections then.)

[owlice]

I was very taken with the one on the right, echoed by its reflection (see attached edit below).
(I know that images of birds reflected in water might be thought hackneyed, but 'Phoo!' is what I say to that.)

You know he's just looking for his car keys, yes?   

[Elgarian Redux]

You know he's just looking for his car keys, yes?   

I hadn't realised that, but it makes sense. When he finds them, he just jabs his beak through the keyring, flips his head up, and he's set to go. An example of Nature adapting itself to change.

[Kalevala]

Great pheasant pics, Elgarian! There's something of Caspar David Friedrich in the darkish silhouette above outlined against the sky .. a pheasant pondering his destiny. Kind of touching in its way.

And thanks, owlice, for yet another gallery of sumptuous and absorbing images!
I note the House Finch on a cactus pic above contributes to the burgeoning John Travolta library of birds here. And just to take the following from your collection .. I mean that's 'watching' in nuclear-powered form! His whole neck, head and eyes give the impression of a single laser beam of watching-ness, it's a magnificent image and indeed creature!

 
(.. Vaguely connected, I was in Gran Canaria over Christmas and one afternoon was pondering some regular Egrets swooping over a kind of sea lagoon, and a guy came up, parked himself next to me and said sweet and simple, 'Pterodactyls!', followed by a brief chat thereon .. so it's not just us on this thread making dinosaur-bird connections then.)

  I first learned about their connection when I started watching Cornell's hawk cams; pretty neat! 

K

[Elgarian Redux]

We have snow! We have snow! (We hardly ever get snow.)

And with the snow came some black-headed gulls in their winter plumage (i.e. with no black head, but dark grey spots. They zoomed into the garden and zoomed out - hard to get any photos but here are two, plus a context shot, beyond the garden.

[Elgarian Redux]

The theme for today is: 'Birds in the snow'. Gosh it looks cold for 'em out there.

[Elgarian Redux]

And a couple more, because the reed bunting was so obliging as to hang around for a bit. Also a bit of snowy context.