ferine | Entries tagged with bird pics

As we pressed on through the softly falling snow, we noticed many Red-tailed Hawks all around us. None of the pictures came out very well due to the multitude of tree branches camouflaging them. The poor camera would focus on the foliage, and not the fowl. D'oh! Farther along, we spied what had to be two enormous birds in a tree in the distance. We moved forward as cautiously as possible to keep from spooking the birds. One did fly off to an adjacent tree--we couldn't tell if it was a Red-tailed or a Cooper's Hawk. The other bird, to our excitement, was a Bald Eagle! We weren't able to get very close to take pictures, as the area was private property and fenced off. Still, it was a neat surprise:
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A jarring patch of color:
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Seed pods:
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We had to photograph the amount of mud that caked my wheels for posterity's sake:
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Feeling: amused

Beautiful...

Feeling: impressed
Listening to: Every Dog Has Its Day by Let's Active

This was purely coincidental, and made me extremely happy:

Remember this odd looking bird at the zoo that drove me nuts in my futile attempts to identify it?

Last week I received an email from The American Bird Conservatory which just so happened to feature the same bird! It's the Trinidad Piping-Guan!

Locally called the “Pawi”, the Trinidad Piping-Guan is a glossy, black, turkey-like bird, with bold, pale blue facial skin and a white shoulder patch on the wing coverts. Its black and white crest is often concealed.

This mostly arboreal guan is found mainly in primary forest, but has also recently been sighted in disturbed forests and small-scale agricultural areas.

Once found everywhere on the island, Trinidad’s only endemic bird now stands on the verge of extinction due to loss of its habitat to agriculture and logging, along with illegal hunting. Its critically endangered status and confinement to one remaining area qualify it as an Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE)-listed species.

In July 2010, a Pawi Species Recovery Strategy was devised. Recommendations include working with local residents to reduce hunting pressure, clearly marking the boundaries of protected areas, and developing strategies to improve locals’ livelihoods while reducing threats to Pawi habitat.

More information is available from The Pawi Study Group.

Feeling: pleased

Great Blue Herons were at every turn:
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Eastern Kingbird:
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A different Eastern Kingbird:
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American Robin:
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Feeling: awed
Listening to: Heartbreaker by Pat Benatar

This Snowy Egret was a wonderful study:
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Double-crested Cormorants along the river were busy drying their wings--or, as I prefer to think of it, doing their Dracula impersonations:
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A gaggle o' Canada Geese:
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Feeling: bouncy
Listening to: Dazzle by Siouxsie & the Banshees

A striking Bullock's Oriole:
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A cool shot of a Killdeer flitting close to the water's surface:
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A hawk, probably either a Red-tailed or a Cooper's, perched atop this tower and watched us for a good ten minutes:
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A male and female Mallard:
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Western Kingbird:
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This Cliff Swallow sequence amazed me; in all my time, I've never been able to observe a Cliff Swallow siting still, just chillin' out. Too cool:
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Feeling: mellow

We watched this Kestrel hovering and diving through the air in the distance:
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Along the trail a rabbit's hind quarters, and a bird's hind end were spread out. With so many birds of prey in the area, as well as coyotes and foxes, finding dead bits on a hike aren't a surprise:
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Grackle in a tree above us:
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American White Pelican flight sequence:
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Feeling: calm

These Canada Geese goslings are getting big!
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Two other Canada Geese:
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Robins hoppin' by:
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I love how these Red-winged Blackbird shots turned out:
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Feeling: bouncy

This drying fish carcass was probably the remains of a cormorant or a pelican's snack:
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An American White Pelican lounging nearby:
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This was a great sequence of a Red-tailed Hawk mobbed by Red-winged Blackbirds:
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The Red-tailed Hawk, solo:
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Two bone-riddled bird of prey pellets discovered along the way:
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Dead bird near a Great Horned Owl feather:
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Feeling: good

It was, according to myth, the birthday of the goddess Artemis. To honor her special day, the boys and I went for a stroll along our much loved 104th Open Space and bike trail. A new trail and walking bridge have been erected in the opposite direction we normally go, so we went that way first, after photographing this pretty bush beside the parking lot:
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I love how green the moss looks beneath the South Platte River in this particular shot:
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For some reason the tree in the two following shots struck me as the presence of Artemis:
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Lovely little wildflowers along the new path:
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Fragile green butterfly:
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Hive of bees in a tree:
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Tree of holes and nooks:
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Snowcapped peaks in the distance:
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Inviting off-trail spots in the new area:
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As we doubled back, we caught this Canada Goose couple. Look how tiny their gosling is!:
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Following the trail in our usual direction now, we spied the Cliff Swallows flitting about the 104th highway bridge. Lo and behold, some were mobbing Red-tailed Hawks:
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Beside the Platte was a male Mallard, followed by a Cattle Egret, followed by Black Crowned Night Herons:
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Scattered feathers, an empty egg shell, a dead frog:
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We came across a rotting doe carcass. It was killed by coyotes that live by the river, we surmised, as its throat had been torn out and the stomach ripped open. Not much edible remained, though one leg and the head/neck still had fur on them. The stink was astounding:
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Swainson's Hawk area:
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Red-tailed Hawk area:
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Golden and Bald Eagle in the huge flight area. I love the photo of the Bald Eagle preparing for lift off; the Golden Eagle's expression below its body is priceless:
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Prairie Falcon:
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Peregrine Falcons:
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Osprey (the poor fellow was tailless!):
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Great Horned Owls:
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Ironically, a wild Great Horned Owl decided to erect a nest in a pine bush beside the owl enclosure. She's raising two chicks with her mate. It was near these pretty roses:
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Yes, the boys and I were Raptored Saturday afternoon, the 21st of May, when we attended the annual Birds of Prey open house. It was a perfectly warm and sunny day, a welcome contrast to so many days of solid rain before and after.
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We enjoyed looking at all of the BoP gift shop items and goodies for sale donated by members that were strewn about the balcony. Here's a prime example of my useless but entertaining psychic (for lack of a better descriptive) ability: see my cute Mood owl .gif for this entry? Oddly enough, one of the BoP member's had donated a perfectly rendered plastic motorized figure of it. They look the same, though the owl figure is perched on a fake yet realistic bit of log. When the switch underneath is engaged, the owl's eyes open and close, it cocks it's head from side to side, and finally hoots and flaps its wings. Terribly charming. Only $4.00! Amazing. We picked up a funny book titled What Animal Are You?, and given our answers to a rather lengthy and absurd list of questions, ironically I'm a dolphin, Antonio's an ostrich, and Jay's some sort of ant, I think. We also snagged a few shirts and free booklets. We then made our way down to the outdoor information tables and onto the flight and rehabilitation cages.

At the table featuring birds of prey pellets and feathers, the volunteer eagerly handled this beautiful Bull Snake, which had been spotted in the yard earlier:
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A newly refurbished area for the resident educational Bald Eagle, who is unable to fly, was shown to us:
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The Barred Owl was first:
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Beside the Barred Owl was this Long-eared Owl, peering between the slats:
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Chuck the resident educational Turkey Vulture:
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The Kestrel (aka Sparrowhawk) area:
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Feeling: Woo-hoot!

Penguin:
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I especially adore these Emu shots:
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Sparrows took advantage of the duck food:
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As we left the outdoor bird habitat, Jay barely had time to catch a skirmish between two male Robins:
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An array of ducks and geese on display:
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Male Black-necked Swan:
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Male White Mandarin Duck:
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First, we spotted this pretty plant erupting by itself, surrounded by nothing but dead leaves and hard earth:
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Rainbow Lorikeets:
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Love their beaks- they resemble old driftwood. Hornbills rock! The first photo is a female, the second is its male mate. Bushy-crested Hornbills:
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A male Von der Decken's Hornbill:
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I love me some Secretary Birds, oh yes. And they were feeling their oats, darting about and posing for some fabulous shots:
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All my favorite weirdos waiting for the summer, to be released into their usual outdoor spot.

Ahh, Roseate Spoonbills. So ungainly and dinosauric. How I love thee!
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Flamboyant Flamingos, and an extreme close-up:
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A vibrant Scarlet Ibis:
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Cattle Egrets:
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Boat-billed Heron:
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