Birding.

[Greg.D.]

You definitely have the pic's to back up your story. Well done!

 

Are you mostly working from a tripod or just have superior optical stabilization?

[Allon]

Good question. If you have a 70-300 lens, at 300 there's a whole lotta shakin' going on. I have a 400 and can't stabilize it. I hate carrying a tripod.

[MikeandRong]

You definitely have the pic's to back up your story. Well done!

Are you mostly working from a tripod or just have superior optical stabilization?

Good question. If you have a 70-300 lens, at 300 there's a whole lotta shakin' going on. I have a 400 and can't stabilize it. I hate carrying a tripod.

No, the tripod I gave to my daughter to use. There are just too many angles and different views to consider using one. Basic stance is sitting with knees raised and elbows on the lower thighs using a two handed hold. Think of a sitting position while qualifying at 300 yards with a rifle. It's rock steady as long as I control my breathing and heart rate. I use the strap around my neck the same way you would use a rifle sling for added support. At times I will play around with them doing a slow creep in a gillie suit to get an upward shot. But most are just in darker colored drab green and black shirt and pants while sitting on the back deck.

[MikeandRong]

I have a real soft spot for the sick and injured, so I keep 1 feeder in a protected area that lets some of the more nervous birds feed in peace. I have been watching this Female Goldfinch for a couple of weeks now and could only catch a glimpse of her left side face, never long enough or clear enough to verify what I was thinking. Well this evening it is quite clear she was in a fight or flew into something and is blind in her left eye. She is usually nervous and will only feed alone, so I'm glad to see that she is at ease using my safe zone. These 3 photos are all I will take of her while she is there as I do not want to disturb her with any of my movements. In fact, I eased back away and came inside and she is still feeding all alone and undisturbed by any other birds. She looks in good shape otherwise and is eating heartily.

 

 

 

[MikeandRong]

Now compared to a healthy Female Goldfinch, after the sound of the camera shutter if they do not want to be disturbed, they will turn their heads up at you and cross their back tail wings showing off the white edges of their tail feathers. They sure can be fiesty for being such a small bird.

 

 

[MikeandRong]

Saturday morning I changed the suet blocks from peanut butter to nut and berry. This yearling Male Downy Woodpecker just kept on smelling the new odor over and over before starting to take a taste and then eating away on it.

 

[MikeandRong]

Just caught this Adult Male Cardinal catching what looks like a Katydid. All morning he was in and out of the yard feeding his newly hatched 2nd batch of babies this year.

 

[MikeandRong]

This little Ruby-throated Hummingbird came in when I was sitting on the opposite side from my usual spot. I would have missed these photos if I had not moved, as the feeder would have been in front of him from where he was feeding.

 

 

 

 

[MikeandRong]

This yearling Male Hairy Woodpecker would not eat the new suet flavor I had out today. Instead he was going for the assorted nuts that were mixed in this feeder at the bottom. Notice how he uses his strong tail feathers for a brace to lean against things with, almost like having a third leg.

 

 

[MikeandRong]

This yearling Female Cardinal is starting to color up nicely. Neither she or the Female Housefinch would back down and leave, so they both stayed and ended up eating together and not fighting about the food and space.

 

 

 

 

[MikeandRong]

This Adult Male Goldfinch I have nicknamed BA. The much bigger Male House Sparrow was there first. He (BA) positions himself first and gets a big mouth full of thistle seed. Then he rakes his beak up and across the steel mesh screen making a real loud buzzing noise. It really seems to work as it scares this Sparrow away all bug eyed out, leaving BA to eat all alone in peace.

 

 

 

[MikeandRong]

I think this is the same Red-bellied Woodpecker I saw from Wednesday. You can clearly see in this picture the new red head feathers that are starting to grow in now. When complete he should be a real beauty as he is at least 2 years old now and a really good size.

 

[MikeandRong]

This is a new Adult Male Goldfinch that I haven't seen before. The white on their shoulder patch and back wings are a little different on each one. This guy has a lot of white, so maybe he is more than a couple of years old. He called a lot and when I heard an anawer I looked up and saw this Female he was calling to. She just jumped off the tree branch and dove headfirst straight to the feeder, only opening her wings to stop.

 

 

[Greg.D.]

I am amazed and impressed. Mainly about the photo's, but I think, too, you're in a geographic hot zone for the avian diversity AND I think you command the attention of all the seed and suet feeders for a mile around.

 

You must have some hawk predators, too?

[MikeandRong]

I am amazed and impressed. Mainly about the photo's, but I think, too, you're in a geographic hot zone for the avian diversity AND I think you command the attention of all the seed and suet feeders for a mile around.

You must have some hawk predators, too?

It's an older neighborhood with very mature trees, and that makes for a real thick canopy of foliage and cover. Lots of Red Tailed Hawks, but too thick for them to do any damage, they stick to the baseball and soccer fields and other more open areas. The Cooper Hawks hit the Doves hard, but again once the trees leaf out they miss more often than not. Have a couple of Perigran Falcons that dive in super fast from the hiding places they have and they usually connect on Doves and Robins (ground feeders). Once the leafs fall though, the Hawks do a real number on the birds and I really slow down the feeding. A Great Horned Owl family nested in the back corner this year and on the morning of July 4th at 3:30am decided to teach the babies to fly. Such a continues ruckus they made I went out and recorded a non-stop almost 4 minute audio of them hooting and screeching and crashing through the branches. A lot of other neighbors feed the birds too, but I try to use a better quality to make sure they will make an appearance.