Birders' Nest

[Iota]

Lovely shots of the birds in snow, Elgarian! That robin seems truly in maximum 'borb' mode, looking like a child bundled up in its warm clothing, made me smile. And both he and the dunnock seem to have very resigned, blimey-it's-a-bit-parky expressions, a feeling with which I'm very sympathetic!

Also the gull at the back here is surely another worthy entrant in the Saturday Night Fever avian portfolio ..

[owlice]

Flyby, as I fly soon...


Gilded Flicker (female)


Gilded Flicker (male)
Someone please hand this dude a tissue; thanks


Anna's Hummingbird, display mode on


Greater Roadrunner

[Iota]

Beauties, owlice! That Hummingbird is positively extraterrestrial! And the Roadrunner a fantastic moment of energy frozen in time, brava! 

[Papy Oli]

Beep-beep 

[Elgarian Redux]

Flyby, as I fly soon...


Gilded Flicker (female)

Bird on a bed of nails.

Gilded Flicker (male)
Someone please hand this dude a tissue; thanks

Another bird on a bed of nails. But why, out of all the comfy places they could choose, do they do this?

Anna's Hummingbird, display mode on

'Take me to your leader.'

Greater Roadrunner

'I'm late! I'm late!
For a very important date!
No time to say Hello! Goodbye!
I'm late I'm late I'm late I'm late ....'

[owlice]

Ooof, that took an insane amount of time, but the proposal has now been submitted. Does this Diner perchance offer hard spirits?

The ducks on our street have produced a brood.

A brood?? Just one?? That looks like an entire street's worth of (adorable!) ducklings!!

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

Yay! for snow!!

And with the snow came some black-headed gulls in their winter plumage (i.e. with no black head, but dark grey spots.

Lovely pics! And those "dark grey spots" are his headphones.

Well, maybe in this case, earmuffs; hard to tell.

What a beautiful LBJ!

[owlice]

I was in Arizona for a conference. As I often do, I went a little early and stayed a little late to fit in some wildlifeing. Though I've been to AZ before, I had a guide (who was excellent!) to make the best of the short time I had for nature. The photos I posted on 1/3 were from this trip, and here are a few more.


Rosy-faced Lovebirds (introduced)


Green-winged Teal showing off the lovely teal of his wing


Black-crowned Night Heron


Rock Squirrel because into every birding excursion, a little mammal must fall


American Coot, for his sartorial shoe choice  As my friend and fellow birder said, imagine going into the shoe store and deciding on these!

[JBS]

Ooof, that took an insane amount of time, but the proposal has now been submitted. Does this Diner perchance offer hard spirits?

Consult the What Are You Drinking? thread.

A brood?? Just one?? That looks like an entire street's worth of (adorable!) ducklings!!

In fact I later realized several of them were much larger than the others. So it must be a double-hatch batch.

[Iota]

Rosy-faced Lovebirds (introduced)

Hahaha, so aptly named, I've never seen two birds look more in love! 

American Coot, for his sartorial shoe choice  As my friend and fellow birder said, imagine going into the shoe store and deciding on these!

Oh gosh yes, they're extraordinary!

Yet again, one mesmerising image after another, owlice, thanks for sharing!

[Elgarian Redux]

Ooof, that took an insane amount of time, but the proposal has now been submitted.

Hoorah! Well done, that Owl!

[Elgarian Redux]

I was in Arizona for a conference. As I often do, I went a little early and stayed a little late to fit in some wildlifeing. Though I've been to AZ before, I had a guide (who was excellent!) to make the best of the short time I had for nature. The photos I posted on 1/3 were from this trip, and here are a few more.


Rosy-faced Lovebirds (introduced)

Billing and cooing, no less.

Green-winged Teal showing off the lovely teal of his wing

Yes: exquisitely delicate colours.

Black-crowned Night Heron

Sleek customer!

Rock Squirrel because into every birding excursion, a little mammal must fall

Gorgeous little fellow. But do you think he secretly wants to be a bird?

American Coot, for his sartorial shoe choice  As my friend and fellow birder said, imagine going into the shoe store and deciding on these!

Well I think he stole those shoes. They obviously don't fit him.

[Elgarian Redux]

Delicate little green job flew into the garden today, landed on a feeder, flitted about for a few seconds, and flew off. A siskin. We don't see many, but always a delight when they call in. No chance of a photo.

Yesterday, at our daughter's house which is by a lake, we had a nice view of a cormorant out on the edge of a wooden pier, sunning himself in the meagre heat of the setting January sun. Nice view in binoculars but no camera, sadly.
(Don't tell Owlice!)

[Elgarian Redux]

This morning I looked out of the bedroom window to see that we had a large fluffy visitor in the garden: a sheep! While I was looking for my camera, my wife was outside, shooing it back through the hole it had found in the hedge to escape from the adjoining field. She was faster than I was.

So: no photos. No birds. Just a flying visit from a sheep.

[Elgarian Redux]

The siskin is a beautiful bird but terribly highly strung. A male siskin (black cap) landed on one of the feeders this morning, and the moment I saw him, he was off. Doesn't he know I'm a friend?

[owlice]

Well I think he stole those shoes. They obviously don't fit him.

Elgarian, 😂😂😂! That made me laugh out loud!

You have siskins AND sheep?! Lucky man!!! The siskins will learn -- especially if you're putting food out for them -- that you are friend-not-foe. It has been a while since they have visited you; they just need to get their confidence up a bit.

In fact I later realized several of them were much larger than the others. So it must be a double-hatch batch.

I hope they are all doing well! It's fun to watch little ones become bigger ones.

Yet again, one mesmerising image after another, owlice, thanks for sharing!

My pleasure, and thank you; you are very kind!

[owlice]

Elgarian, here is a Pine Siskin to tide you over.


And a Cape Siskin for good measure.


And now I'm going to go read up on siskins, because I rarely see them and don't know anything about them (except that they are pretty little birds I rarely see).

[Elgarian Redux]

Elgarian, here is a Pine Siskin to tide you over.

Thank you. And very lovely too, even though a bit lacking in the green department.

And a Cape Siskin for good measure.

Yay! Green!

And now I'm going to go read up on siskins, because I rarely see them and don't know anything about them (except that they are pretty little birds I rarely see).

The road to wisdom.

[Iota]

Maybe I'm having a senior moment, but that Pine Siskin seems to be in a pretty gravity-defying pose!

[Elgarian Redux]

This is not a new photo, I've posted it before some months ago, but I've adjusted contrast/saturation etc, to get a bit closer to what our siskins actually look like. But even so, they are a richer, more luscious green than this.

[owlice]

Maybe I'm having a senior moment, but that Pine Siskin seems to be in a pretty gravity-defying pose!

. They can manage just about any orientation if there's something to hold onto!

This is not a new photo, I've posted it before some months ago, but I've adjusted contrast/saturation etc, to get a bit closer to what our siskins actually look like. But even so, they are a richer, more luscious green than this.

What a pretty little bird!!

According to iNaturalist/Wikipedia, your "... small finch is an acrobatic feeder, often hanging upside-down like a tit." Your little bird and the Pine Siskin are Genus Spinus: Siskins and New World Goldfinches. I suppose we can consider them first cousins. The Cape Siskin I posted is a second cousin; it is Genus Crithagra: African Seedeaters, Serins, Canaries, and Citrils. Still a finch(ish), but apparently not as closely related.

So many freakin' birds. How am I to keep them all straight?!?!