View allAll Photos Tagged behaviour
In the bird kingdom Jays are loud, brash, bullies, but they are also beautiful. Despite their behaviour, most people would categorized Blue Jays in the "likeable" category (vs. Vultures, Buzzards, etc. on the "not likeable' side).
Taken on the trails at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington, Ontario.
Used Luminar3.1 to enhance details and remove a distracting branch.
Telemonia male jumping spider courtship show, there is a female telemonia jumping spider in the opposite side! Will post the other image soon!
A little artistic licence for this one.
The Red Kites were circling together at one stage but I photographed them separately before combining them in Photoshop for this shot.
Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com
The Crested Lark, Galerida cristata, breeds across most of temperate Eurasia from Portugal to northeast China and eastern India, and in Africa south to Niger. It is non-migratory, and the sedentary nature of this species is illustrated by the fact that it is only a very rare vagrant to Ireland, despite breeding as close as northern France.
This is a common bird of dry open country and cultivation. Its food is weed seeds and insects, the latter especially in the breeding season.
This is a smallish lark, slightly larger and plumper than the Skylark. It has a long spiky erectile crest. It is greyer than the Skylark, and lacks the white wing and tail edges of that species.
In flight it shows reddish underwings. The body is mainly dark-streaked grey above and whitish below. The song is melodious and varied, with mournful whistles and mimicry included.
Some care must be taken to distinguish this lark, which has many subspecies, from its close relatives in areas where they also occur. In the west of its range the Thekla Lark, Galerida theklae, is very similar. (wikipedia)
I did not stumble upon too many Crested Lark during our family holiday in 2023 in Portugal. However, a pair were holding territory along the edge of a nature reserve close to where we were staying. They were quite skittish and best views were had across the road from them.
They called her The Silly Cat, a creature of loyalty and longing who couldn’t let go of a past that no longer belonged to her. Left behind with a few other cats when her owners moved away, she kept returning to her abandoned "home," only to find herself trapped behind cold, unyielding bars. Too afraid of heights to climb out, she would wait, helpless, as strangers fed her through the holes, her green eyes filled with quiet desperation.
Days would pass, and she’d almost give up, her small body a picture of misplaced hope. Finally, someone forced the cage open and carried her away, most likely leaving her somewhere far, far away—away from the trap of her own memories.
Now, she is free—at least, we hope she is. But in her story, there’s a haunting question: Is this a reflection of ourselves? How often do we cling to familiar places, people, or moments, even when they leave us confined and powerless? Like the cat, do we sometimes need others to help us break free from the prisons we create?
Her bittersweet tale reminds us of the cost of misplaced loyalty and the courage it takes to leave behind a past that no longer serves us. Perhaps, like her, we too can find the strength to embrace freedom—and a new beginning..
Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com
There are three species: the Bohemian waxwing (B. garrulus), the Japanese waxwing (B. japonica) and the cedar waxwing (B. cedrorum). The Bohemian waxwing is a starling-sized bird. It is short-tailed, mainly brownish-grey, and has a conspicuous crest on its head. The male of the nominate subspecies has a black mask through the eye and a black throat. There is a white streak behind the bill and a white curve below the eye. The lower belly is a rich chestnut colour and there are cinnamon-coloured areas around the mask. The rump is grey and the tail ends in a bright yellow band with a broad black border above it. The wings are very distinctive; the flight feathers are black and the primaries have markings that produce a yellow stripe and white "fishhooks" on the closed wing. The adult's secondaries end in long red appendages with the sealing wax appearance that gives the bird its English name. The eyes are dark brown, the bill is mainly black, and the legs are dark grey or black. In flight, the waxwing's large flocks, long wings and short tail give some resemblance to the common starling, and its flight is similarly fast and direct. It clambers easily through bushes and trees but only shuffles on the ground.
The range of the Bohemian waxwing overlaps those of both the other members of the genus.
The Bohemian waxwing's call is a high trill sirrrr. The Bohemian waxwing has a circumpolar distribution, breeding in northern regions of Eurasia and North America.
This waxwing is migratory with much of the breeding range abandoned as the birds move south for the winter. Migration starts in September in the north of the range, a month or so later farther south. Eurasian birds normally winter from eastern Britain through northern parts of western and central Europe, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and northern China to Japan. North American breeders have a more southeasterly trend, many birds wintering in southeast Canada, with smaller numbers in the north central and northeastern US states. Birds do not usually return to the same wintering sites in successive years. One bird wintering in the Ukraine was found 6,000 km (3,700 mi) to the east in Siberia in the following year.
In some years, this waxwing irrupts south of its normal wintering areas, sometimes in huge numbers. The fruit on which the birds depend in winter varies in abundance from year to year, and in poor years, particularly those following a good crop the previous year, the flocks move farther south until they reach adequate supplies.They will stay until the food runs out and move on again. (wikipedia)
Always a pleasure seeing Waxwing. This bird was one of a flock of 50 in an industrial estate on the outskirts of Dublin city. Every few years there is a larger invasion into Ireland when the food supplies in their normal winter range is exhausted prematurely. Flocks of up to 400 Waxwings have been recorded in Ireland. This year seems to be one of those irruptive years for the species.
I wen't down to check out the birdbath after and a few feathers remained. So sad really but that is nature right?
Matti-Jay asked for photos of her playing with the lock to the tools shed at Memorial park back in December. Bit cheeky really, I'm not sure she would have had such a grin if park maintenance turned up :)
I was delighted to note that she's wearing the flower earrings I made many moons ago that I gave her for Christmas. Boxing Day 2017.
Psychologist Timothy Leary developed an interaction behaviour theory which demonstrated a strong and consistent interdependency of behaviour between people.
Based on his research Leary arranged a set of interpersonal variables into a circle and which lead to an interpersonal circumplex model for assessing interpersonal behaviour, motives and traits. The construct of the model is formed by two main dimensions:
-1 - the degree of dominance / submission and
- 2 - the degree of friendliness / unfriendliness.
The first set of behaviour is located on the orthogonal y-axe of the model; the latter set of behaviour is located on the orthogonal x-axe of the model. Interpersonal behaviour plotted in the model reflects the degree of friendliness and dominance of that specific person at a given moment in time.
7 Days of shooting
Week #39
Flowers
Shoot anything saterday
A fine looking Stag struts his stuff amongst the bracken whilst trying to impress hinds. It's always great to watch this behaviour as they always look so snooty.
Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com
The great black-backed gull (Larus marinus) is the largest gull in the world. It is 64–79 cm (25–31 in) long with a 1.5–1.7 m (4 ft 11 in – 5 ft 7 in) wingspan and a body weight of 0.75–2.3 kg. it is a very aggressive hunter, pirate, and scavenger. It breeds on the European and North American coasts and islands of the North Atlantic and is fairly sedentary, though some move farther south or inland to large lakes or reservoirs. The adult great black-backed gull has a white head, neck and underparts, dark grey wings and back, pink legs and yellow bill.
This species can be found breeding in coastal areas from the extreme northwest portion of Russia, through much of coastal Scandinavia, on the Baltic Sea coasts, to the coasts of northwestern France, the United Kingdom and Ireland. Across the northern portion of the Atlantic, this gull is distributed in Iceland, the Faroe Islands, southern Greenland and on the Atlantic coasts of Canada and the United States.
Great black-backed gulls are opportunistic feeders, apex predators, and are very curious. They will investigate any small organism they encounter and will readily eat almost anything that they can swallow. Unlike most other Larus gulls, they are highly predatory and frequently hunt and kill any prey smaller than themselves, behaving more like a raptor than a typical larid gull. They get much of their dietary energy from scavenging, with refuse, most provided directly by humans, locally constituting more than half of their diet. (wikipedia)
The Great-black backed Gull is resident along all Irish coasts. Less frequently seen inland, usually only following storms. They follow trawlers and other fishing boats along the coast, even hitching a ride on smaller lobster and crab fishermen's boats, just like this one. This was off Dun Laoghaire, Dublin.
Being the same breed, Flynn has many behavioural similarities with "big brother" Barney. However, they also have a lot of differences. Let Barney loose in a wood like this & he'd just run & run for the sheer joy of it - no need for an incentive like a toy to chase, or even much in the way of interaction from me - Barney just likes to RUN. Even at nearly 10 years old & a bit arthritic, given the opportunity, Barney will race off for an adventure. Oh, he checks in on me from time to time but when loose, Barney likes to range far & wide - & do so at speed.
Flynn is very energetic as well but he usually needs some kind of participation from me, or another human, before he'll start running around. If I'm ignoring him, or at least, not actively playing, Flynn will most often just potter quietly along nearby, sniffing about at interesting scents & keeping an eye on me - checking whether I might be about to play with him. Sometimes, he'll half-heartedly chase after a pheasant, or rush a short way ahead to see what's round the next bend of a path but he comes back fast & generally, he just stays close & wanders along.
In a lot of ways, Flynn's behaviour on walks is a lot more relaxing than Barney's! I'm certainly far more confident Flynn won't get lost or get into some kind of trouble while going for a solo-adventure somewhere. However, it does mean I have to be more focussed as we walk - making sure Flynn actually burns off his physical energy... & doesn't just meander about & get home as bouncy as when we set out!
This Crow had dumped something in the birdbath and was disturbed by Harry who ran down the backyard barking. I called Harry back not really realising what was going on. It came back and I clicked a few shots, after review I realised that this is a baby bird the Crow was devouring. I hope it wasn't from my backyard!!
Whilst watching these fascinating little Cuckoo Wasps on Monday I noticed this one backing into a hole in a wooden fence. I thought there were 2 possible reasons for this behaviour:-
1) It had just found the nest of a possible host and it was ovipositing (Laying egss) on its host.
2) This I think was a more likely explanation, it was simply taking shelter. The sun had gone in and it had cooled down a bit. It did eventually re-emerge when the sun came out again.
Anyway, I managed a number of shots, the middle image was a 6 image focus stack and the other images all single shots.
Taken late evenng. The fish is about to eat a worm which is a little strange as I understand this type of parrotfish browses on algae.
White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) female (doe) resting in the woods of Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada.
I spent a couple of hours observing the behaviour and movements of this and one other doe during my visit to the park last fall.
27 October, 2016.
Slide # GWB_20161027_7537.CR2
Use of this image on websites, blogs or other media without explicit permission is not permitted.
© Gerard W. Beyersbergen - All Rights Reserved Worldwide In Perpetuity - No Unauthorized Use.
Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com
The European golden plover (Pluvialis apricaria), also known as the Eurasian golden plover or just the golden plover within Europe, is a largish plover. This species is similar to two other golden plovers: the American golden plover, Pluvialis dominica, and Pacific golden plover, Pluvialis fulva, which are both smaller, slimmer and relatively longer-legged than European golden plover, and both have grey rather than white axillary feathers (only properly visible in flight).
The European golden plover is quite thickset, with its wings only being slightly longer than its tail. Its most distinct feature is a white "s"-shaped band stretching from its forehead to its flanks.
The European golden plover is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies. (wikipedia)
There was a nice winter flock of Golden Plover off Blackrock, Co. Louth, in Dundalk Bay, coming to rest on the exposed mudflats at low tide. Such a great sight to see and hear, as they come wheeling down in loose flocks to settle.
This sp. was much more numerous than its seemingly close relative, E. shestakovi. Its behaviour is the same as that of the related sp. Ant host is unknown. (If I had to guess, I vould suggest Cataglyphis aenescens, a rather common sp. in the area.)
Size: 5-6mm.
Eucharis is an odd generic name (given by Latreille in 1804), meaning something like "good news". I wonder wether anybody ever asked ants about that...
(Again, I believe these are the first pictures of the species.)
This is behaviour I've not witnessed before. This pair of Robins are building a nest in our garden. For the last few days the male has been taking food from me and flying across the garden to present it to the female. I finally caught them in action today!
Long tailed Tit - Aegithalos Caudatus
The long-tailed tit is globally widespread throughout temperate northern Europe and Asia, into boreal Scandinavia and south into the Mediterranean zone. It inhabits deciduous and mixed woodland with a well-developed shrub layer, favouring edge habitats. It can also be found in scrub, heathland with scattered trees, bushes and hedges, in farmland and riverine woodland, parks and gardens. The bird's year-round diet of insects and social foraging bias habitat choice in winter towards deciduous woodland, typically of oak, ash and locally sycamore species. For nesting, strong preference is shown towards scrub areas. The nest is often built in thorny bushes less than 3 metres above the ground.
The nest of the long-tailed tit is constructed from four materials - lichen, feathers, spider egg cocoons and moss, with over 6,000 pieces used for a typical nest. The nest is a flexible sac with a small, round entrance on top, suspended either low in a gorse or bramble bush or high up in the forks of tree branches. The structural stability of the nest is provided by a mesh of moss and spider silk. The tiny leaves of the moss act as hooks and the spider silk of egg cocoons provides the loops; thus forming a natural form of velcro. The tit lines the outside with hundreds of flakes of pale lichens - this provides camouflage. Inside, it lines the nest with more than 2,000 downy feathers to insulate the nest. Nests suffer a high rate of predation with only 17% success.
Social behaviour
Outside the breeding season they form compact flocks of 6 to 17 birds, composed of family parties (parents and offspring) from the previous breeding season, together with any extra adults that helped to raise a brood. These flocks will occupy and defend territories against neighbouring flocks. The driving force behind the flocking behaviour is thought to be that of winter roosting, being susceptible to cold; huddling increases survival through cold nights.
From July to February, the non-breeding season, long-tailed tits form flocks of relatives and non-relatives, roosting communally. When the breeding season begins, the flocks break up, and the birds attempt to breed in monogamous pairs. Males remain within the winter territory, while females have a tendency to wander to neighbouring territories.
Pairs whose nests fail have three choices: try again, abandon nesting for the season or help at a neighbouring nest. It has been shown that failed pairs split and help at the nests of male relatives, recognition being established vocally.] The helped nests have greater success due to higher provisioning rates and better nest defence. At the end of the breeding season, in June–July, the birds reform the winter flocks in their winter territory.
Population:
UK breeding:
340,000 territories
Love & Aggression - Mute Swans showing differing aspects of their personality.
Please see my other Photographs at: www.jamespdeans.co.uk
A little artistic licence with this one by using Photoshop to combine two shots. Cheating or all part of the creative process?
St Aidan's Nature Park