View allAll Photos Tagged common
This is a Common Blue, lovely small butterflies, there were loads about today. Quite difficult conditions as it was rather gusty and it also rained rather hard.
Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus)
Rottemburg, 1775
One of the first pictures taken with my new Sigma 70-300 APO DG lens, using the 1:2 macro feature.
The common pochard is a medium-sized diving duck,
In winter and spring, male pochards are very distinctive. They have a bright reddish-brown head, a black breast and tail and a pale grey body. Females are more easily confused with other species; they are brown with a greyish body and pale cheeks.
However, during the 'eclipse' - when ducks grow new feathers - the males look very similar to the females. They become more camouflaged so that they don't draw the attention of predator
A common merganser is captured in mid-flight against a clear blue sky. The feathers are gently illuminated by sunlight, highlighting their graceful movement!!!
A huge leap from the two tropical photos from Trinidad that I posted yesterday! On 4 March 2018, it was such a beautiful winter's day, and I decided to join seven friends for a walk down into Weaselhead in the afternoon. The previous day, a birding walk had been cancelled because the weather was so bad and the long, steep hill down to river level was very icy. It is almost unheard of for a birding walk to be cancelled! The roads were not in good condition especially the residential streets. I have lived in this city for 40 years and I don't remember ever seeing this much snow on the ground. Just crazy.
There were not a whole lot of birds to be seen on this walk, but it is always a delight to see the dainty little Common Redpolls. This female had a rather orangy coloured spot on her forehead, rather than the usual red/deep pink. I seem to remember that last winter, there were no Redpolls to be seen. Nice to see a beautiful lone Coyote travelling across the frozen, snow-covered Elbow River.
Coffee at Tim Horton's afterwards was enjoyable, as always. Thanks for a great walk, Janet, Bernie and Stephen! I always appreciate your giving up your Sunday afternoon for the rest of us.
"As energetic as their electric zapping call notes would suggest, Common Redpolls are active foragers that travel in busy flocks. Look for them feeding on catkins in birch trees or visiting feeders in winter. These small finches of the arctic tundra and boreal forest migrate erratically, and they occasionally show up in large numbers as far south as the central U.S. During such irruption years, redpolls often congregate at bird feeders (particularly thistle or nyjer seed), allowing delightfully close looks.
Some studies show that in winter, redpolls subsist almost entirely on a diet of birch seeds. They eat up to 42 percent of their body mass every day. They can store up to about 2 grams (0.07 oz.) of seeds in a stretchy part of their esophagus, enough for about a quarter of their daily energy requirement.
A few banding records have shown that some Common Redpolls are incredibly wide ranging. Among them, a bird banded in Michigan was recovered in Siberia; others in Alaska have been recovered in the eastern U.S., and a redpoll banded in Belgium was found 2 years later in China.
Common Redpolls can survive temperatures of –65 degrees Fahrenheit. A study in Alaska found Redpolls put on about 31 percent more plumage by weight in November than they did in July." Bits and pieces taken from AllAboutBirds.
Common Cuckoo / cuculus canorus. 16/05/19.
'FEMALE CUCKOO.'
With her slightly smaller more slender body, the female Cuckoo was a feast for my eyes. It was the first time I have ever had such clear, close, prolonged views of a female.
She bore a lot of similarity to a male, but with additional colour tones in her plumage. The sides of her neck were flushed with a lovely warm buff-brown. As the colour extended across her upper breast, it became suffused into a peachy-brown wash. She was stunning and I made a lot of images of her which will be posted over time.
This image was made when she had just landed on a dead tree branch and gives quite a nice side view. of her. She had not landed to rest but chosen the branch as a vantage point to peer down from, looking for caterpillars.
Another image from my trip to the Farne Islands last year. There were a few minutes where a group of common terns gathered on a stone wall and started to display to each other. Most of the visitors ignored what was happening, leaving just me and one other photographer to click away. It's just a shame the light wasn't better on the day.
I managed to delete my previous image (Bright and Beautiful) by mistake earlier. I've reposted it as I want to still see it on my photostream but obviously all the lovely comments I've had have gone. Thanks for them - I didn't want anyone to think I'd deliberately deleted their comment.
This Picture is © Copyrighted.
None of these images may be reproduced and or used in any form of publication, print or the Internet without my written permission
South Padre Island_Mar 28th
We still had time left to scope out another site that we were going to visit in the morning. We were so excited to see everything here! This is a fantastic place for birding!
I like this photo of the gallinule as it shows it's very large lobed feet!
Here is the ebird list for this site:
ebird.org/view/checklist/S54603129
Thanks for your visits, comments and faves! They are all appreciated!
Common Blue Butterfly there was quite a stiff breeze to get a photo of these was difficult just managed these two.
Happy 4th July to all Americans, wherever in the world you happen to be living!
This is another photo of one of the four Common Nighthawks I was so lucky to see three days ago. Only this one was perched on a wooden fence post, which I prefer, but this was the only angle I could get - it makes the bird look much shorter than it actually is. The other three birds were lying on metal railings. Happy to get anything, needless to say!
On Canada Day, 1 July 2017, it was such a thrill to see this Common Nighthawk / Chordeiles minor (a rather strange looking bird), as I had always wanted to see one actually lying on a fence post or wooden railing. People get such amazing photos of them like that, and that is what I was determined to find this summer. Last year, I had driven to this area in southern Alberta, hoping to find one, but had been out of luck. These birds are 9½ inches from the tip of bill to the tip of tail. Not only did friend Pam and I see this one, but there were three other Nighthawks there, too. How close we came to missing them. I said I wanted to just check the first part of a small side road first, before continuing on the road we were on - and there they were! It took a round trip of 414 km to get them, but it was so worth it! I had seen a nighthawk on maybe five different occasions over the years, but never been able to get a proper photo. For Pam, this was the first time she had ever seen one, and she was so happy to see this lifer.
"On warm summer evenings, Common Nighthawks roam the skies over treetops, grasslands, and cities. Their sharp, electric peent call is often the first clue they’re overhead. In the dim half-light, these long-winged birds fly in graceful loops, flashing white patches out past the bend of each wing as they chase insects. These fairly common but declining birds make no nest. Their young are so well camouflaged that they’re hard to find, and even the adults seem to vanish as soon as they land." From AllABoutBirds.
www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Nighthawk/id
www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/little-backpacks-gps-used-to-trac...
Towards the end of our day, the rain arrived, accompanied by lightning streaks. This couldn't have been timed more perfectly, to wash off a lot of the dust that covered my car after 12 hours of driving hot, dusty roads! So welcome! We have another hot day today and the forecast is for very hot days for at least the next week. So far, the forecast is 33C for Friday, 35C for Saturday and 31C for Sunday.
I was so tired after driving such a long distance and in the heat - the temperature got up to 30C. I so rarely do such a long drive, and I've barely driven all winter and spring. It felt so good to actually get out on a long drive like this, and we saw all sorts of interesting things that we just had to stop and photograph - of course!
Every single time I go out with my camera for a drive, I never forget to be SO thankful to live in a country where I have the freedom and safety to go where I want, and to see such beauty. Thank you, Alberta and Albertans - and Happy 150th Birthday, Canada! Such a young country.
Explored Oct 23, 2017 #284
PLEASE DO NOT FAVE WITHOUT LEAVING A COMMENT. THANK YOU.
IF YOU DO, MY PHOTOS WILL BE REMOVED FROM YOUR FAVES AND/OR YOU WILL BE BLOCKED
Latin name: Falco tinnunculus - Common Kestrel
Back in August we met up with family at Herrings Green Activity Farm & Bird Of Prey Centre in Bedfordshire, which is a super place to visit.
The common kestrel is a bird of prey species belonging to the kestrel group of the falcon family Falconidae. It is also known as the European kestrel, Eurasian kestrel, or Old World kestrel.
When hunting, the common kestrel characteristically hovers about 10-20 m (33-66 ft) above the ground, searching for prey, either by flying into the wind or by soaring using ridge lift
Common kestrels measure 32–39 cm (13–15 in) from head to tail, with a wingspan of 65–82 cm (26–32 in). Females are noticeably larger, with the adult male weighing 136–252 g (4.8–8.9 oz), around 155 g (5.5 oz) on average; the adult female weighs 154–314 g (5.4–11.1 oz), around 184 g (6.5 oz) on average. They are thus small compared with other birds of prey, but larger than most songbirds. Like the other Falco species, they have long wings as well as a distinctive long tail.
Their plumage is mainly light chestnut brown with blackish spots on the upperside and buff with narrow blackish streaks on the underside; the remiges are also blackish. Unlike most raptors, they display sexual colour dimorphism with the male having fewer black spots and streaks, as well as a blue-grey cap and tail. The tail is brown with black bars in females, and has a black tip with a narrow white rim in both sexes. All common kestrels have a prominent black malar stripe like their closest relatives.
The cere, feet, and a narrow ring around the eye are bright yellow; the toenails, bill and iris are dark. Juveniles look like adult females, but the underside streaks are wider; the yellow of their bare parts is paler. Hatchlings are covered in white down feathers, changing to a buff-grey second down coat before they grow their first true plumage.
Taken with my Canon Telephoto Zoom 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM EF Lens and framed in Photoshop.
Better viewed in light box - click on the image or press 'L' on your keyboard.
Common Redshank (Tringa totanus). Lifer #215. Réserve Ornithologique du Teich, Le Teich, France. July 23rd, 2017.
I missed out on this species during the 2014 Spring Euro-Invasion of Newfoundland. I am glad that I finally got to see it.
Common People is a photo story about young adults with learning disabilities on their way to achieve independence. It offers a unique look inside their first “grown-up” rooms, where they keep a world of their own. But is it really that different from the one we live in?
Common Twayblade / neottia ovata. Hartslock NR, Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. 31/05/18.
A final close-up of one little flower on a Common Twayblade Orchid.
BEST VIEWED LARGE.
You can see the square ended notch on the yellowish-green lip quite nicely .The image also shows how the flowers are spaced and arranged up the downy stem.
The Common Gallinule has long toes that make it possible to walk on soft mud and floating vegetation. The toes have no lobes or webbing to help with swimming, but the gallinule is a good swimmer anyway (eBird). This Common Gallinule was photographed at a nature preserve in Fruitland Park Florida.
COGA_7D2_5947
A lovely small shorebird - happy to have finally got a decent image of one. I love the patterns on their wings. The tail is a little blurry, showing off their characteristic nervous bobbing.
No. 123 in my Birds of Australia set.
Nature in Focus ~ 500px ~ G+ ~ Redbubble
A Common Blue Damselfly takes a rest along the shore of Peck Lake in the southern Adirondack Mountains of New York State.
The dried plant was interesting and the common blue butterflies thought so as they were all over them