Yardbirds 2022

[ElinL]

Patrick and Dave have posted lovely bird shots lately indicating that time has come for another round of  a “Yardbirds” throwdown.  Here in the “True North”  freezing temperatures and storms have put bird photography on hold. One may risk loosing fingers and/or a nose just to get low quality shots of suffering birds. The only guys that seem to thrive are the Ravens – their mating season has begun – but they also show signs of not enough food to be found. Occasionally you see them feasting on smaller birds.

Last autumn the wood mice told us in very clear terms how this winter was going to be and they were right as usual. There is not much to be done about it – except wait it out and enjoy sunny days in the gorgeous snow that occasionally bless us between the storms.

[Patrick]

Thanks very much for starting this new thread Elin , the big bird looks like it is collecting what it can and good luck to it.

We have strong winds and lots of rain at the moment there is very few birds showing in these conditions except the odd seagull , lots of the small birds are roosting in pine trees as most trees still have no leaf right now while other birds are in and around old buildings .. Will share some shots when this weather settles down a bit 🙂

[ElinL]

Thanks Patrick – hope your skies clear soon.

[Patrick]

Thank you 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

I just happen to have a shot of an immature, White-crowned Sparrow I took two days ago in our yard.  🙂   Thanks for the throwdown Elin.

 

[Patrick]

Sweet little bird mate nice going again 🙂

[Mistyisle]

So cute, Dave!

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Gorgeous little bird and beautiful photo Dave 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Dahlia. 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Same bird just seconds later. 1/1600 wasn’t quite fast enough to completely stop the motion but I think it makes for a fun image.

[Patrick]

Nice capture mate looks good to me Dave 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Patrick. Hoping you get a break weatherwise soon. 🙂

[Patrick]

Weather Alert in place until 7am in the morning 70/80 mph winds  🙂

[ElinL]

Maybe the same beast that is the reason for the orange – to red – warning coming on tonight here ?  Stay safe Patrick.

[Patrick]

I think it is all connected Elin , i thought the roof or windows would have been missing this morning but thankfully all still intact , it was loud though 🙂

[ElinL]

He looks determined – you can see the feeder on the right side. Lovely pictures both of them.

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Elin. My favorite feeder. It’s old, made of copper and has a great patina. Also easy to refill and keep clean. 🙂

[Marty E]

Great shooting to catch him midair, Dave! Great capture!

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Marty. 🙂

[Marty E]

I didn’t know that winter “fat birds” were a thing until I saw these during our Texas “deep freeze” for a week when we lost our power grid for days. The fat birds were doing fine while we had to work really hard to stay warm in our “sub-tropical” climate!

Cedar waxwing & robin

[Patrick]

Nice shot Marty , the American Robin is so different from our European one 🙂

This bloated look is so they stay warm they puff the feathers out like this to hold the heat in.

[Dave Watkins]

Love the POV here Marty. We have a small number of Cedar Waxwings visit when our Mulberry tree sets fruit. Have yet to get a decent photo of one. 🙂

[Marty E]

Thanks, Dave! We see a flock of these zip in & out to strip our heavenly bamboo of red berries in a single afternoon in winter.  They fly in & out as a whole flock for hours & then completely disappear until next year. Love their beautiful coloring, I’ve heard them referred to as “bandits” due to their black masks. Good luck, maybe you’ll get a good shot this year.

[ElinL]

Very nice catch Marty, cutest of birds. They certainly know how to wear their down-jackets.

[Marty E]

Thank you, Elin! We have lots of robins but I have a special love for the colorful cedar waxwings.

[Mistyisle]

Wow, Marty, never seen one like this! – thanks for sharing 🙂

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Lovely shot Marty 🙂

[Marty E]

Thank you, Patrick! I’ve seen another bird puffed out before but never so much as this robin. Amazing!

[Dave Watkins]

Eurasian collared dove. Thought they were mourning doves for a long time. 🙂

[Patrick]

The collared dove  – Streptopelia decaocto (scientific name) Beautiful shot of this adult male Dave , such a beautiful dove captured in its perfect surrounding’s , i love that deep red eye on these birds , lovely work mate and nice share 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Patrick. I agree. Their eyes are…eye catching. Sorry about that. 🙂

[ElinL]

Lovely shot – they are such sweet birds.

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Elin. We like having them around. 🙂

[Marty E]

Beautiful shot, Dave! Do they coo like the mourning doves?

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Marty. To my ears they sound just like mourning doves. 🙂

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Wow! This is a beautiful photo Dave 🙂

[ElinL]

Max counting yardbirds on the annual January yardbird-counting day.

[Patrick]

🙂 LOVE IT  , great share Elin .. I had planned to go shot some frog images at the local park pond but this weather has conspired against me all week , i looked out at my feeders and wind has them blowing about wildly the poor birds have no chance at the moment 🙂

[ElinL]

Thanks Patrick – hope the weather clears soon – look forward to see your frog shots.

[Dave Watkins]

Max keeping himself entertained. 🙂 Terrific shot Elin.

[ElinL]

Thanks Dave 🙂

[Marty E]

Love your Max bird-watching shot, Elin! I’m sure he was mesmerized for hours

[ElinL]

Thanks Marty – he can sit there for hours.

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Wow! Love this photo Elin 🙂

[ElinL]

First day for ages where weather allowed for taking pics. The redpolls were gorging themselves at the feeders.

[Patrick]

Super work Elin , lovely markings on these little birds beautiful contrast and details 🙂

I hate to say it again but the weather got the better of me today again but i will keep trying , the thing with frogs they can come and go so quickly i just hope they are in no rush because every year since i started photography i have missed them 🙂

[ElinL]

Thanks Patrick :). How about getting frog uniform ?

[Marty E]

Fabulous shot, Elin! It makes me wish we had a bird feeder in our yard

[ElinL]

Thanks Marty. Bird feeders are a good thing, not just for the birds. Max agrees 😉

[Dave Watkins]

In my eye the strong color and contrast here make for kind of an “edgy, gritty” bird photo. I like it.

[Mistyisle]

Excellent shot, Elin – very nice to see!

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Beautiful bird and photo Elin. I love the soft golden light on the bird 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

One of the more common birds in the yard right now. A Black-capped Chickadee.

[ElinL]

Gorgeous image Dave – the framing, position of the bird and and light add up to a perfection. Love it !

[Patrick]

My thoughts are Like Elin’s mate beautiful shot indeed , thanks for sharing mate i will try get a few shots to add 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Elin. Thanks Patrick. 🙂

[Rob Eyers]

Finches are around here in southern Ontario all year. The house finches seem to hold their colour while the goldfinches are pretty drab now.

[Patrick]

Lovely looking with all that red on it Rob 🙂

[Rob Eyers]

Kind of a Christmas theme with the red and green?

[Patrick]

Yes mate it certainly does always a nice color combo 🙂

[ElinL]

Agree on Patricks comment – the avian world certainly displays fascinating aspects of male hormone functions. Just found this article this morning – about sums it up for me:

https://www.birdlife.org/news/2021/10/05/can-birdwatching-really-improve-our-mental-health-the-science-says-yes/?fbclid=IwAR1lKgHj1mA-Ldf9dy-f2xbzT-pFneMNAnv4gVkbwFzlCoefcefkgERAJDc

[Rob Eyers]

Thanks for the article Elin. I couldn’t agree more.

[Patrick]

Thank you for the link Elin 🙂 ,

From my email –

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology

The Great Backyard Bird Count 2022 was amazing! This year, participants have identified over 7,000 species and submitted over 280,000 eBird checklists so far, surpassing the record numbers of 2021

Fantastic to see our feathered friends are getting lots of attention 🙂

[ElinL]

Great news Patrick – actually the opposite of what is being reported from most cities in the world. Here the weather was exceptionally bad on the bird-counting weekend in January and my guess is that the results were equally dismal although the numbers have not been published yet

[Dave Watkins]

Terrific color combo of the finch and feeder. Our finches are more summer residents. Still a few weeks away.

[Mistyisle]

As Dave says, a great colour combo, Rob.  How does the reflection come about?

[Rob Eyers]

Not sure if this is allowed as it’s a few blocks from my home on the Detroit River. Lots of wild fowl fishing and feeding today. Multiple types of ducks, swans and of course…those rare Canadian geese. 🙂 This is a Common Goldeneye duck.

[Patrick]

This is a lovely shot Rob , loving the eye color ,  very much like the tufted duck , the white spot below the eye is cool looking as well .. Nice share and shooting mate 🙂

[ElinL]

Lovely shot of a interesting looking bird – here they live mostly in the Northern part around Lake Mývatn. I went there last summer and saw them mate  for the first time – a pretty violent affair. Defining “yardbirds” in the context of the challenge has changed as the Covid restrictions have eased. During the spring 2020 most of us were confined to our homes and thus the challenge was to take photos of birds within the limits of our living spaces. Today the situation is different so in my mind “yardbirds” are birds living in an urban environment, a yard belonging to you, your neighbours, friends of family, park, lake, river within the boundaries of a city etc. Do you agree @patrickw @pentaxfan @dahliaambrose ? If I had to restrict myself to my own yard there would be no birds, only cats. Most of my shots are taken in a nearby park, almost devoid of cats, where we are a group of people that collaborate in feeding the birds. Later in spring I go to three lakes within the boundaries of Reykjavik, where birdlife is abundant and the display of very expensive zoom lenses likewise.

[Patrick]

Yes that sounds Prefect Elin , all my birds will be from said locations above my yard has more or less the same birds i will find at the local park but the park allows for better backgrounds and a little more space to change background for some variety.

Thank you for the update Elin 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

No problem Elin. My bird shots will mostly be taken in our yard as we have a sizable yard in a rural location. But as both you and Patrick said, sticking only to the yard the variety of birds and backgrounds is definitely limited. So I may be venturing out and about as well. 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Two more from the yard.

[Patrick]

Very nice Dave two lovely shots mate , do you have a name for these little birds just curious 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Patrick. First is an immature Golden-crowned Sparrow. No black and gold striped head yet. And the next is a Dark-eyed Junco. Both are very common in the yard right now.

[Patrick]

Thank you so much mate appreciate your info , both new names to me so i will have a read up on them 🙂 cool names as well.

[ElinL]

Lovely birds Dave – not much winter where you live – so good to see for eyes that are getting weary of looking at the white stuff.

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Elin. I spent the first half of my life living in northwest Wyoming so I know how the winters and freezing temps can sometime seem endless. Where I am now we only get 2 or 3 good snowstorms a year. And has usually melted away in just a few days.

[Patrick]

Looking at the weather for your place Elin you have no rest from it yet .. Hope it warms soon for you guys 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

I’m thinking it’s time to go find something besides yard birds to photograph. But it’s just so convenient. 🙂 In the meantime, here comes another.

Tom turkey strutting his stuff. Shot through a wire fence into my neighbor’s cow pasture.

 

 

[Patrick]

He seen you coming and gave a beautiful display for you and us 🙂 Lovely capture mate.

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Patrick. These turkeys wander in from the forest land nearby and spend most of the day looking for food on the neighbor’s pasture. These are wild turkeys and these guys were off like a shot right after the shutter was released. 🙂

[ElinL]

Nice one 🙂  –  he obviously has no idea of how well he tastes……

[Dave Watkins]

🙂 Thanks Elin. And you are correct. He has no idea. 🙂

[Patrick]

Urban Gulls over my yard i liked the rule of odds , Heading out this morning to try get some photos , today is the first dry bright and low wind day so trying to make the most of it plus i have a spare bag of sunflower hearts 🙂

[ElinL]

Hope your day went as planned Patrick. Yesterday was such a sleety sloshy day here – all the birds were gathered in the thickets, chatting and chirping, completely invisible but it sounded like spring.

[Patrick]

Haha unlucky there Elin at least you got some nice bird song , i am about to head out just drinking a quick coffee right now , a frosty morning here but the sun is on its way up fingers crossed the birds want to play 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Hmm. Can’t seem to post directly under your “Urban Gulls” photo Patrick. My favorite so far since Elin started this thread. Great job.

[Patrick]

Thank you Dave that is very kind of you , i got out for a few hours today and spent most of it talking to other photographers all new people to me , i met 4 different guys and they were all out shooting wildlife and it was nice having a yarn with them. They shared locations for things like woodpecker , kingfishers and even stoats which i thought was very decent of them , I managed to get a few shots of robins , great tits , finches and thrush i even some frog spawn , looks like i missed them frogs again the pond was covered in spawn but not a single frog to be seen .

Will upload some pics as soon as i get them of the camera 🙂

[Pat Garrett]

Grumpy Robin

[Patrick]

Really nice shot Pat , i bet it is wishing the temps would rise because it sure give the feeling of a cold day , well captured and thanks for posting here 🙂

[ElinL]

Lovely capture Pat  with a perfectly fitting title. He seems to be thinking “one more day of this sh….. “

[Mistyisle]

Very nice, atmospheric photo, Pat.  He seems puffed up too, for winter.  Not something we see here in New Zealand.

[Patrick]

A few from yesterday , Finch

Great tit

Great tit

[Tersha]

Great set Patrick! The finch is particularly lovey with his look!

[Patrick]

Sorry just seen this Tersha , thank you very much 🙂

[Patrick]

A Few more from yesterday morning , Robin and a yet to identify little bird also a my first bird Shot of the morning  Thrush

Thrush

[Patrick]

Thrush

[Dave Watkins]

Good to see the weather has finally cooperated for you. Beautiful series of photos. Love the play of light and shadow in this last Thrush shot.

[Patrick]

Thank you very much Dave , it was a frosty start to the morning but once the sun came up a touch it turned out lovely mate 🙂

[ElinL]

Lovely series Patrick –  excellent shots – thank you so much for sharing – makes my day 🙂

Good to see that spring may be creeping up to the Northern Hemisphere.

 

[Patrick]

Good Morning Elin , fingers crossed the cold weather is starting to clear away and some warmer stuff is coming our way , we have a little drizzle today but at least the temps are ok , thank you so much for the kind words as well 🙂

[Patrick]

The little bird i could not ID is A Dunnock 🙂

[Marty E]

I’m loving all of the bird shots posted here, thanks to everyone for sharing!

Fun fact:  I read an interesting article in a flight magazine in Hawaii years ago asking what was the world’s most popular sport? Wait for it, wait for it………

 

Birdwatching is more popular than football, baseball, tennis, golf, soccer, rugby, cricket, etc!

[Marty E]

Female mallard duck stopping by to get a drink of rainwater

 

[Patrick]

They are a lovely duck Marty , thanks for sharing 🙂

[ElinL]

A sweet shot Marty – thanks for sharing. Bird-watching classified as sport is news to me – thanks for the information 🙂

I found this today: https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-attached-tracking-devices-to-magpies-that-s-when-things-got-weird

Clever guys.

[Patrick]

Thanks for the link Elin , I seen this on the news but this info you shared has much more detail in it , goes to show how smart they are i think all members of the crow family are much more clever than people realise 🙂 classified as sport is news to me as well lol

[Patrick]

He’s Behind You

[ElinL]

Ha ha ha – sweet !! Wonderful shot Patrick.

[Patrick]

🙂 The little blue tit was not a bit amused the finch was eating his seeds lol.

Thank you Elin 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

🙂 Nice one. 🙂  Seems we got the weather you were dealing with a few days back. Wind and rain.

[Patrick]

I feel for you mate it can get annoying , I have been trying to work out a plan so i can shoot from inside my house on these wet and windy days because waiting for good weather to come around i miss out on a lot of shooting time across all seasons , My garden is not very big and trying to get enough distance between me and the subject relative to my background is hard work but i am trying to arrange things so i can get some photography done when conditions are not the best.

[ElinL]

One of the first signs of spring is when the starlings begin to hang out on my neighbours rooftop

[Patrick]

Lovely shot , glad the signs of spring have visited you now Elin fingers crossed things will improve from here on in , The starlings are hard to keep up with seed wise they can empty your feeders and bird table so quick 🙂

[ElinL]

Thanks Patrick – it lasted about an hour 😉   Hopefully better tomorrow – going on a trip with the photo-club – good company for comfort if the weather lets us down.

[Patrick]

Awesome stuff Elin , wish i was going too but i must cut my grass now we have some sunny days 🙂 Have a nice time and good luck with the weather.

[Dave Watkins]

Nice shot Elin. We thought spring was on its way here but then it turned cold and wet. Was better today.

[Dave Watkins]

Western scrub jay. Very common. Kind of a bully around the feeders. But beautiful blue feathers.

[Patrick]

Yeah this is a real beauty mate . the grey and blue look fantastic together , wonderful shot and thanks for posting Dave 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Patrick. Your Urban Gulls inspired me to do the following bird silhouette.

[Tersha]

Beautiful colours Dave, great shot. Our jay is different, but has bright colours, too.

[Tobie]

What a beauty Dave! TFS!

[Dave Watkins]

[Patrick]

Nice mate , good strong shapes nicely shot 🙂

[Tersha]

Love the silhouette Dave!

[Dave Watkins]

Oops. Missed this. A belated thank you Diane. 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

BOSS is my favorite snack.

[Patrick]

Lol it looks happy Dave , nice shooting again 🙂

[Tersha]

siskin…

[Patrick]

Really lovely Tersha nice work , I have ever seen one for myself never mind photograph them but i would love to get a chance , I was told about a Red Kite hide not very far from my home that can be rented i might look into that in the near future 🙂

[Tersha]

Thanks Patrick, we have a lot of them in the garden on the feeders.
Red Kites are amazing birds, I see a lot when out and about, also over the garden sometimes. Years ago they were rare and nests were watched carefully …. I had a job guarding Kite nests at a visitor centre nearish to me. Nowadays there are up to a hundred of them that come down at feeding time everyday, there are hides there, and one day I’ll get there.
You should go to the one near you, you’ll get some amazing shots! 🙂

[Patrick]

Yes you guys have a fantastic population of red kites most of the ones i have seen posted online have been photographed in and around your area , they are gorgeous 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Nice shot. What a great perch for bird photography too. We have pine siskins in our area but are not as colorful as yours.

[Mistyisle]

Here is a Tui I have photographed in our section (your ‘yard’), here in New Zealand.  We feed them sugar water and they come for it every day.  It is a substitute for the nectar that they also drink.  You can see the white tuft of feathers that they all have at the throat.

[Patrick]

Beautiful shot Jim and such a gorgeous looking bird , the colors in this bird are fantastic mate thanks for sharing 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

What a cool looking bird. Love the decoration in the neck area.

[Tobie]

Nice shot of un unusual birdie Misty!

[Patrick]

[Dave Watkins]

Nice B&W treatment. Have always liked the sort of goofy expressions of pigeons.

[Patrick]

Lol they do have that look , thanks Dave 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

First sunny day we’ve had in a while so we drove to a nearby wildlife refuge. Turned out lots of others had the same idea. Cars and people everywhere. But the Canada geese out numbered us all. This is just part of one flock that we saw.

[Patrick]

Amazing looking mate did they make much noise when all together like this.

[Dave Watkins]

There was a lot of honking going on for sure. 🙂 Had never seen so many at one time. Was glad they didn’t fly directly overhead. Just washed the car a couple of weeks ago.

[Patrick]

Haha , it would have taken another fortnight to scrub it clean 🙂

[Patrick]

European goldfinch

[Tobie]

Wow this is a real beauty Patrick! TFS!

[Patrick]

Thanks so much mate 🙂

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Wow! Very beautiful Patrick 🙂

[Patrick]

Many many thanks Dahlia for your kind words 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Terrific shot Patrick. Beautiful bird. Love that orange face. 🙂

[Patrick]

Thanks a lot mate,  this was just in my yard i have lots visiting the feeders 🙂

[ElinL]

Fantastic shots Patrick – and a great idea with the background !

[Patrick]

Thank you so much Elin , Hope your Well 🙂

[ElinL]

Thanks Patrick – everything is fine here – shooting entirely different kind of birds these days 🙂

[Patrick]

Haha , Good to hear you are well 🙂

[Mistyisle]

You are very fortunate to have such a beautiful bird visiting, Patrick.  Great shots, not encumbered by stray branches, foliage, etc.  🙂

[Patrick]

Thanks very much Jim , to be honest mate this Perch is connected to one of my bird tables with cable ties , the table is below and they land on the branch/Perch before feeding so getting a few shots is fairly straight forward , i am sitting in the hallway that leads to my yard when shooting and as long as i am not banging about they come to the feeders regularly .. Have ago at setting a perch up mate you will get some nice results i am sure ,  you can set it up in such a way that you will have a clean background and you can always switch the perch up for a new one so you get different photos each time, it is handy if the weather is bad and you can’t get out  🙂 look here for some ideas

https://youtu.be/FaEQ-WbZ-SY

 

[Dave Watkins]

Great post Patrick. These set ups work really well. On another site I visit occasionally, a guy that posted a lot of really nice yard bird shots did basically the same thing. He also painted a couple of old sheets with different colors so he could switch back grounds. Hung them on his fence behind the perch. Fence was far enough away where he got a really nice soft, blended colored background. Your set up is definitely working well for you.

[Patrick]

Awesome Dave i like the idea of the painted sheets and have thought about doing the same thing and after reading your post i think i will get a few sheets myself now haha , i did get some Artificial Ivy Privacy Fence Screen that i still need to put up yet , this was just so i could hide the fence panel slots in photos , with a bit of preparation it really can help get some nice images without leaving home especially when the weather is not great.

Adding a shallow bird bath will also attract the birds into your garden Jim and it does not need to be very big if your short on space birds always need water nearby plus you can get some nice action shots when they use the bath 🙂

[Patrick]

An old shot of a Black Bird on my lawn

[ElinL]

Lovely Patrick – they are getting pretty noisy here – maybe spring is not that far away although everything is still covered in snow.

[Patrick]

Glad to hear they are making in through the awful weather and that spring is coming , every time i check the weather map for our weather i look at the weather for your area and each time it looks like there is always another pile of snow getting dumped on you guys fingers crossed it eases up , Thanks very much Elin 🙂

[Patrick]

Another old shot , young goldfinch looking very scruffy with some tail feather damage

[ElinL]

Looks like you caught him on a “bad feather” day poor thing, with a look on his face angry enough to kill Putin. Well caught Patrick – works very well in bnw.

[Patrick]

Lol @ angry enough to kill Putin .. His time will come Elin

Thank you as always for your kind words , I have a couple of days booked for some bird photography at Oxford Island National Nature Reserve on the shore’s of Lough Neagh in May and i can’t wait to go just hope the weather plays ball 🙂

[ElinL]

Looked this place um on Google – looks very inviting for long lenses. Sincerely hope the Weather Gods will cooperate !

[Dave Watkins]

An angry bird look for sure. Nice 3D effect here.

[Patrick]

Thank you mate 🙂

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Love this shot Patrick. The bird looks cute 🙂

[Patrick]

Thank you very much Dahlia much appreciate your feedback as always 🙂

[Patrick]

Double post sorry

 

[Dave Watkins]

From last Sept. Not too much longer and I’ll have to get the bird bath up and running again.

 

[Patrick]

Really liking the light in this shot Dave , i keep my bird bath topped up all year but this last few mornings i had to break the thin layer of ice that formed during the chilly clear sky nights , we have high pressure most of this week but cold nights but next week the heat will fall away again and April showers on the way 🙂

[ElinL]

Lovely shot Dave.

[ElinL]

Traditionally, the arrival of the golden plover is regarded as the first sign of spring here. The first arrival was registered on the 20th of March, while the whole island was still covered in thick snow, poor birds. Thankfully it has been raining cats and dogs since then, so most of the snow is melted.
A shot from last year

[Patrick]

Lovely Photo Elin , glad to hear the white stuff is melting a sign of better conditions on the way i hope 🙂

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Really beautiful photo and bird Elin. Love the soft light 🙂

[Mistyisle]

Technically this is not a bird in our ‘yard’, nevertheless I took this shot not much more than 10 minutes from our home.  It is of a white-fronted tern.

[Patrick]

Nice mate , It looks like it is Zen mode 🙂

[Patrick]

Grey Wagtail

[Dave Watkins]

Great shot Patrick. The creek side habitat adds a lot more interest for me than the usual “bird in tree” image. The darker tones of the water and rocks give the bird that little bit of pop to make him stand out. A very nice subtle vignette. Nicely done.

[Patrick]

Thanks very much Dave 🙂

[Tobie]

Beautiful Patrick! Interesting name because we have ‘real’ grey wagtails, one of them having just a touch of yellow. Then we have one with more yellow, but less than yours – known as the Yellow Wagtail.

[Patrick]

Thank you Tobie 🙂

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Love the moody frame and beautiful photo Patrick 🙂

[Patrick]

Thanking you kindly Dahlia 🙂

[Pat Garrett]

Some wonderful backyard birds. It’s spring here and we have 2-3 pair of Eastern Bluebirds.

“Love Spurned” – a disappointed male.

[Patrick]

Lovely shot Pat the blue on it is gorgeous 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Beautiful capture Pat. And title to match. 🙂 We just put up a blue bird box about a week ago. Saw a pair checking it out two days ago but seems they’ve moved on.

[Tobie]

Awesome colours Pat!

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Very beautiful Pat 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Our maple trees are coming back to life and attracting some birds. Heavily cropped shot of a Black-capped chickadee using one of my older Pentax lenses. An SMC 200mm f/4 that was in production for only a short time between 1975-1977. Bought it on ebay a couple of years ago for just under $80.00.

[Patrick]

Sweet shot Dave lovely little birds these , the lichen and the light is lovely as well and the lens was a bargain at that price 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Patrick. These chickadees stick around pretty much year round. I’ve seen this lens go for even less but this copy is in like new condition and I really like the look of the images it produces. Going to keep it on the camera for a while.

[Tobie]

Lovely shot overall Dave! Well done!

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Tobie. 🙂

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Wow! I love this a lot Dave. The lichen, the light and the beautiful bird – just awesome 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Dahlia. Around here the trick would be to get a bird on a branch photo WITHOUT lichen. 🙂

[ElinL]

A stellar shot Dave – stunning !

[Dave Watkins]

I appreciate that Elin. Thanks. 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Collared dove. Quite a bit of purple fringing along these backlit branches. The B&W conversion was an easy fix.

[Patrick]

Very nice Dave , I like this in Black and white and all the branch lines look free from any fringing on my screen mate nice job.

I have been out shooting for a couple of weeks now but i am itching for some bird shots maybe i will go this week and watch the ravens at a local quarry and try get some flight shots.

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Patrick. Weather has been keeping me close to home. BIF photography is something I haven’t done much of. Looking forward to seeing some from you.

[Dave Watkins]

I wouldn’t consider Canada geese yard birds, but some did fly OVER my yard this morning. 🙂 Still using that 200mm lens from the 70’s.

[Patrick]

Another lovely photo Dave , this time round i am liking the soft colors in the sky and those high clouds , lovely seeing and hearing a group of  geese overhead like this nice work mate 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Patrick. For a while there, a pretty large flock of them were spending a lot of time in one of my neighbor’s pasture or the other. This one from three days ago.

[Patrick]

Nice shot mate , do they normally settle here or has there been stormy weather lately , just curious to know if this is a spot they visit regularly or has the weather brought them down , thanks for posting Dave 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Thanks Patrick. In the past they’ve hung out across the road from us in a large, unused pasture. New owners have been cleaning up the property this year so there’s been more human activity there. On this day they were on the next-door neighbor’s pasture. This small group was closest to our fence line. But still far enough away that the shot is cropped quite a bit. Weather not a factor. A lot of Canada geese in the area this time of year.

[Patrick]

Thank you for that info Dave , it must be nice having them so close for photo ops 🙂

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Beautiful frame Dave 🙂

[Dave Watkins]

Thank you, Dahlia. 🙂

[ElinL]

Peekaboo

[Patrick]

Gorgeous framing Elin , lovely share thank you 🙂

[ElinL]

Thank you Patrick 🙂

[Dahlia Ambrose]

Oh dear! For a moment I thought it was snow. Lovely photo and looks like it is still very cold there Elin 🙂

[ElinL]

Thank you Dahlia 🙂 – yes it is still a bit cold here and vagrants with variable arrival times are unusually late in returning this spring. Hopefully the temperatures will rise in the coming days.

[Dave Watkins]

Beautiful image Elin. Love the high key and composition.

[Dave Watkins]

Well hidden. Probably would not have seen this collared dove if it hadn’t moved. Perched near the top of one of our elm trees. Taken from quite a distance with the ol’ 200mm lens. Image cropped quite a bit.

[Patrick]

That is another beautiful photo Dave , love the compositon a lot and i love its soft fluffy head , lots of nice details on the bird and the tree well done mate lovely work 🙂

[Author]

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