View allAll Photos Tagged fallmigration
One of my favorite times of the year is when the estuary fills with birds and waterfowl from the fall migration. Ducks and geese fill the back bay. On the day that I shot these Brant, we were given the opportunity to watch as about a thousand Scaup flew in. The sounds from thier wing beats left us all in awe. There were about 6 of us standing on the overlook and I beleive just about everyone was quiet with their jaws dropped in amazement. It's times like these that I know why I got into Nature and Wildlife photography.
I got off the bus, and saw him fly further into the bay. I followed. He was hiding, and a dog and his pet came along. The dog's pet was taking pictures with its phone. Far as I know, the dog didn't take any pictures.
The overwhelming verdict from GABO, our Georgia birding list-serve, is immature female Common Yellowthroat. My friend David Cree summed it up well in the comments below. Many thanks to those who took the time to respond off-line. One of the wonderful things about photos is how much we can learn from them. Without enough experience you can sometimes read too much into a photo but the voice of experience can use that same photo to teach us what we didn't know so well. Again thanks.
Cochran Shoals.
Miquelon Lake Provincial Park, AB, Canada
September 10, 2011
Initially I thought it was a Marbled Godwit. After confirming with my Sibley guide, it is a Hudsonian. This guy wasn't shy at all, and I managed to get some decent shots before it was chased away by a Merlin.
The background was fairly messy in this shot with crap, feathers, and mosquitoes all over the place (see below). I was able to clean it up via Photoshop easily. If I have time, I would have cleaned the feeding shot too. The purists and 99% of the contests out there would call it a crime even though I didn't change the natural history of the subject, which in this photo a large shorebird wading at the shallow end of the lake.
During the start to fall migration large flocks of sandhill cranes- - - thousands of birds- - -gather in the fields around Desbarats, Ontario.
Joshua Tree, Yucca brevifolia, in the Mojave Desert, Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge along Highway 93 in Nevada, USA
I haven't been doing much bird watching as I'm not as into fall migration as spring BUT as I recently got diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma (and start chemo treatment soon) I figured getting out for hikes might do me some good. Unfortunately it's hot as hell here in PA, so it wasn't a long one. Went back to Evansburg State Park and it was funny I saw nothing really till the end.
If you look in the photo you can see a apple I was eating earlier. I chucked it into a gully and sure enough on my way out all kinds of warblers surrounded it. American Redstart, Pine and Tennesee warblers to be exact.
This Ross' Blue Phase Goose presented himself up front and center strutting his handsome coloring amongst all the white. The Blue Phase continues to be a rare sighting. This early in the season there were a lot of young Snow Geese still sporting their gray coloration, but the distinctive black of this guy really stands out. Among the thousands and thousands of Snow Geese present this day, with the aid of binoculars I was able to spot a total of 5 Blue Phase. In one area there were two immatures still showing a grayish body with the undeniable markings on the white head. All in all, a most satisfying day of birding.
The image below is the full frame of the top one.
Why do birds fly and how do birds fly? These questions have always been in my mind since I was a little girl. ....
In order to fly high in sky, birds have to do a lot of sacrifices and adaptation. Their hollow or semi-hollow bones form the lightweight skeleton. They evolved to lose all their teeth in replace of a lighter jaw. Unlike mammals convert ammonia waste in the form of urea, birds excrete uric acid, which does not dissolve in water easily, so there is not much water to be wasted or needed. In order to maintain the energy they need to fly, their high metabolism could produce feces in as less as 20 minutes after feeding. The most distinctive part distinguishing birds from all other animals is feathers. Not only do feathers play important roles in mating, territorial dominance and thermal regulation, the plumage at different ages and seasons protect birds from predators. Feathers provide a crucial function in most birds, to be able to fly. From the smallest number of feathers in Ruby-throated Hummingbird (about 1,000 feathers) to the most feathered Whistling Swan (over 25,000 feathers), birds control shapes of their wings and tail during flight, chasing and feeding, even use facial feathers as an auditory medium to carry sound into ears like in Barn Owl.
Fly is a symbol of freedom. Thanks to the modern technology of digital photography, it allows me to capture birds in flight that normal eyes could hardly glimpse such a beautiful action. Hummingbirds are migrating to the central and south America for the winter. According to my eBIRD record, they should be all gone by the mid of October. This is a sad month for me as saying farewell to my beloved birds. Would I be luckily enough to have a winter hummer visit my yard this year? I hope so and you will be the first one to know :)
Thanks for viewing and commenting my work :)
Emily Murphy Park, Edmonton, AB, Canada
August 16, 2010
Saw the male feeding a juvenile, but I had no opportunity for a clear shot because of the leaves and branches. However, with the male continuously searching for food, he gave me a chance for these shots.
Kingston, Ontario Canada.
I've never seen a bird with a black, grey and white tail. Didn't get any good pictures of the face, but it had two white wing bars.