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In the winter season in south and central Ontario we see small and large flocks of Snow Buntings searching across our open croplands, fields and pastures scratching and digging for seeds and grains both on bare ground and in the snow. Often they will be in mixed flocks of Horned Larks, Lapland Longspurs and Snow Buntings all in attendance. They fly together, land together and flush together as one fleeting unit. Roadsides are commonplace for them as well where they pick up grains of sand or gravel to assist in the digestion of the abundance of hard seed they consume.
The Snow Bunting is one of the toughest little breeders traveling further north to their breeding grounds than any other songbird species. Some of the males show up in early April to establish and defend their favored territory prior to the females arrival.
This bird is gleaning seeds in a farm yard while wintering locally.
"America is home to some strange and, sometimes, downright ludicrous traditions and practices. Having a flamingo (or 50) in your front yard is one such tradition, and enquiring minds would like to know what that is all about.
Truth be told, the meaning of this practice is somewhat subjective as it depends on what the owner would like it to represent. When plastic yard flamingos emerged in the 1950s, it was the climax of America’s post-WWII obsession with the graceful birds. Then, plastic flamingos were kitsch items, cheap décor that added a dash of fun to the garden.
Flamingos also represent Florida, a popular retiree destination. Individuals living the American dream (at least in the mid to late 20th century) intended to spend their golden years on the state’s sun-soaked beaches, surrounded by flocks of pink flamingos. These dreams of ultimate relaxation spread throughout the country, and plastic flamingos were identified as the easiest way to turn homes into “beach houses”.
Of course, no great success story is without detractors. The 1960s saw the first signs of anti-flamingo rhetoric, like “cultured” homeowners and social critics, lambasted lovers of cheap plastic garden ornaments. Cultural publications and other media tried, by all means, to discourage the public from the favored gnomes, idols, and birds.
The sentiment gained so much momentum that even Sears dropped the pink plastic flamingo from their catalog.
Pop culture has also played a significant role in the history of the lawn flamingo. One of the earliest depictions of the ornament was in John Water’s popular 1972 film Pink Flamingo’s although the movie was not about flamingos.
However, the film did help America fall in love with the ornament again, as they were celebrated ironically as a lowbrow icon.
The movie’s success spawned a radical readoption of the pink lawn flamingo as America’s unofficial bird. The ironic wave was in full swing, with flamingo (now a recognized design theme) at the heart of the momentum. Flamingos returned to every decorative item you can think of in the mid-70s and through to the 80s…vases, tablecloths, etc."
This Raptor loves open country where it can be found hunting or perched low to the ground. Wet meadows, prairies, fields, marshes and tundra are all favored habitats of this species. Most of their lives is spent low to the ground since while hunting they fly low over grasslands and short vegetation pouncing on prey from the air. Their diet consists of small mammals, some insects, amphibians and small birds. Quite often when we see them flying back and forth looking and listening for prey we notice that they have been joined by one or more Northern Harriers.
When they find an area where prey is abundant, a large group of Short-eared Owls will gather especially in winter and have been found to form a communal roost of as many as 200 birds which seems unnatural for a species that is so aggressive defending its territory in breeding season.
This silently flying adult is using its keen eyesight and acute hearing while hunting a meadow.
An Owl's daily activity begins with preening, stretching, yawning and combing its head with its claws. The plumage is often ruffled up, and claws and toes are cleaned by nibbling with the beak. The Owl will then leave its roost, sometimes giving a call (especially in breeding season)
Like most owls, the barn owl is nocturnal, relying on its acute sense of hearing when hunting in complete darkness. It often becomes active shortly before dusk and can sometimes be seen during the day when relocating from one roosting site to another. In Britain, on various Pacific Islands and perhaps elsewhere, it sometimes hunts by day. This practice may depend on whether the owl is mobbed by other birds if it emerges in daylight. However, in Britain, some birds continue to hunt by day even when mobbed by such birds as magpies, rooks and black-headed gulls, such diurnal activity possibly occurring when the previous night has been wet making hunting difficult. By contrast, in southern Europe and the tropics, the birds seem to be almost exclusively nocturnal, with the few birds that hunt by day being severely mobbed.
Barn owls are not particularly territorial but have a home range inside which they forage. For males in Scotland this has a radius of about 1 km (0.6 mi) from the nest site and an average size of about 300 hectares. Female home ranges largely coincide with that of their mates. Outside the breeding season, males and females usually roost separately, each one having about three favored sites in which to conceal themselves by day, and which are also visited for short periods during the night. Roosting sites include holes in trees, fissures in cliffs, disused buildings, chimneys and haysheds and are often small in comparison to nesting sites. As the breeding season approaches, the birds move back to the vicinity of the chosen nest to roost.
The blogger described it as the Brown Avenue in Taichung ...Brown Avenue in Taitung County,
Favored by the director, Become one of the main locations for Taiwan Airlines to promote sightseeing.
Located in eastern Taiwan, Taitung Brown Avenue, How to attract many tourists ...
★ If the image is blurred, Please click refresh !
Aerial photography of Guanshan Township and Chishang Township Brown Avenue…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLxRHKtCbMg
五月的稻田
部落客形容這裡是台中的伯朗大道…台東縣的伯朗大道，
得到導演的青睞，成為台灣航空公司，推廣觀光的主要地點之一。
位於台灣東部，台東伯朗大道，如何吸引許多觀光客…
★如果圖像模糊，請點擊重新整理！
台東縣關山鎮和池上鄉伯朗大道空中攝影…
Southern AZ
The Cholla cactus is native to the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico – the Sonoran Desert. A Cholla skeleton, most commonly referred to as Cholla wood, is the remains of what is formed of the arms and main trunk of the Chain Fruit Cholla cactus after the dying process. It is a favored perch for birds and a hiding place for amphibians and reptiles.
Doves in general aren’t one of my favored birds mostly because they tend to be bullies at the backyard feeders. However, ground doves aren’t common in the places I go to so I decided to document this one.
Normally these birds will be entering their third spring by the time they have acquired their breeding plumage. They are quite noted for the aerial courtship dances they perform and by both genders. Following these performances nesting normally commences after the female has accepted fish offerings from her suitor.
A nest will contain 2 or 3 eggs which will be incubated for about 27 days and the mated pair will raise one brood between May and August. The nesting area is very noisy as they nest in colonies and usually involves gull colonies as well.
Their favored way to handle intruders in their nesting area is to dive bomb the offender repeatedly and defecate on him.
Their feeding technique is to plunge dive for their prey which is mainly small fish but also includes aquatic invertebrates.
This bird is starting to go into a plunge dive after prey along the shoreline of Lake Ontario.
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The road from Madaba city to the Dead Sea & Jordan Valley.
THANKS to all VIEWERS and to those who FAVORED this image.
One of my favorite subjects, for the last several years these owls have been absent from some of their favored historical haunts due to flooding and the resulting extirpation of prey. This has turned around this year in a big way. For better or for worse, word has gotten out in the birding community, so that observers are crowding the birds away from the best photography spots. Nevertheless, there are still shots to be had... Lincoln County, Missouri
I was surprised to see this neat and sweet sight at Lake Meyer Park today. Red-headed woodpeckers have declined precipitously in Winneshiek County during the past couple decades as their favored nesting habitat - open oak forest - disappeared. Maybe there will be some young ones showing up here in the park soon.
This warbler is the most abundant of its species in Ontario by a large margin. They are one of the earliest to arrive in the spring and one of the later to leave on their southern migration.
We have two species in Canada - the "Myrtle" in the east and the "Audubon's' in the west. Where the 2 species overlap in British Columbia and Alberta they do freely interbreed.
Their favored time to feed is in the early hours of morning when they forage for insects like flies, beetles, wasps and spiders among streamside and lakeshore trees.
It has been noted that when they have eggs in the nest or young to feed they seem to remain very quiet but turn quite noisy and aggressive after the juveniles have fledged.
This pictured bird is a male of the "Myrtle" race (white chin) participating in the northern migration.
In Groningen again I had to, of course, visit the Prinsentuin, once one of my favorite spots out of the hum of the City. It's still very early Spring and quite cold, but Tulips are coming into their own. Especially appropriate, I think, in Groningen. One of the few first-hand sources for the so-called Tulipomania of the early seventeenth century is in the great botanical work by Abraham Munting (1626-1683), professor of botany at the Groningen university. He writes that his father Henricus (1583-1658), also the university's botanist, was nearly bankrupted in the late 1630s by investing unwisely in Tulip bulbs before the market broke. See my earlier www.flickr.com/photos/87453322@N00/4555580909/in/photolis....
These Yellow Tulips, though, wouldn't have fetched high prices in those days. Favored flowers were multi-colored and variegated. You might have had to sell your house to own one...
Those aren't petals -- they are leaves, all around a center.
I don't know much about succulents, but they are supposed to use little water, hence are favored in Southern California.
Thanks for looking. Isn't God a great artist?
Nigritella rhellicani (Orchidaceae) 178 22
Nigritella rhellicani is indisputably the most widespread and frequently encountered of the seventeen species currently comprising the Nigritella nigra group. Its range takes it from the western Alps, eastwards to the Carpathians and although unconfirmed, probably into Russia. It can be abundant in its favored locations, where it grows in short alpine turf as low as 1000 meters up to a recently recorded altitude of over 3000 meters. Nigritella rhellicani together with Nigritella austriaca are colloquially known as the "Black Vanilla Orchids" and are frequently found growing alongside each other. In typical plants there are easily discerned distinguishing characteristics, unfortunately however the natural variation within both species can often render accurate identification all but impossible except to the professional scientific eye.
Nigritella rhellicani is hugely variable in most of its morphological features and not least flower dimensions, shape of inflorescence and coloration. Its suspected that taxonomic changes will take place in the future but for the present this species must be seen as difficult to satisfactorily describe.
Source: Orchids of Britain and Europe.
Timing is everything at the Botanical Gardens in Fort Bragg. The Dahlia Garden is one of the most favored locations for photographers at Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. And this time of year it is in full and beautiful bloom. The riotous blooms of mid- to late-summer provide an exquisite palette for artists, and a glorious backdrop for weddings.
Male (left) has a smaller pupil and slightly lighter feet and is smaller in size than the female
The blue color of the blue-footed booby's webbed feet comes from carotenoid pigments obtained from its diet of fresh fish. Carotenoids act as antioxidants and stimulants for the blue-footed booby's immune function, suggesting that carotenoid-pigmentation is an indicator of an individual's immunological state. Blue feet also indicate the current health condition of a booby. Boobies that were experimentally food-deprived for forty-eight hours experienced a decrease in foot brightness due to a reduction in the amount of lipids and lipoproteins that are used to absorb and transport carotenoids. Thus, the feet are rapid and honest indicators of a booby's current level of nourishment.
As blue feet are signals that reliably indicate the immunological and health condition of a booby, coloration is favored through sexual selection.
(Lynx pardinus) 022A0246 Sierra de Andujar - Spain
Guide Alvaro Peral (Wild Andalucia)
Here is our 2nd Iberian Lynx, he was very far away, about 150 meters.
In the Sierra de Andujar there is a path known to many people: on a bumpy stretch of road you can meet photographers from all over the world. Everyone patrols for a few kilometers (about three) because it's a place of passage favored by many Lynxs.
In any case, there are not many other possible choices because this path is framed by fenced private properties dedicated to bull breeding or by private hunting reserves. The sense of private property is extremely acute in this region.
Common practice is to exchange phone numbers with other photographers so that anyone who sees a Lynx can warn others. This means that very often we find ourselves with more than 10 or 20 photographers to photograph a furtive and often distant animal. There is a lot of intensity, friendly collaboration and shared emotions in these place.
Voici notre 2ème Lynx ibérique, il était très éloigné, environ 150 mètres.
Dans la Sierra d'Andujar il existe un chemin connu de beaucoup de gens : sur une portion de route cahotique, on peut rencontrer des photographes du monde entier. Tout le monde patrouille sur quelques kilomètres (trois environ) car c'est un lieu de passage privilégié par beaucoup de Lynxs.
De toutes manières, il n'y a pas beaucoup d'autres choix possibles car ce chemin est encadré de propriétés privées cloturées consacrées à des élevages de Toros ou, par des réserves de chasse privées. Le sens de la propriété privée est extrêmement aigu dans cette région.
La pratique courante est d'échanger nos numéros de téléphone avec les autres photographes de façon à ce que celui qui aperçoit un Lynx puisse prévenir les autres. Ce qui fait que bien souvent nous nous retrouvons à plus de 10 ou 20 photographes pour photographier un animal furtif et souvent éloigné. Il y a beaucoup d'intensité, de collaboration amicale et d'émotions partagées en ces lieux.
This is the pretty Spring flower of a shrub that hails from Japan. It went by several names after its discovery by westerners in the first half of the nineteenth century. By the end of that century taxonomists had settled on 'Magnolia stellata'. Soon it became a favored Spring shrub and today you'll see it generally before the greening of trees.
Photo taken in part of shell bank area located in Kuröd Natur Reserve, east of the city of Uddevalla in Bohuslän, Sweden, in May 2023.
East of Uddevalla located one of the world's largest shell banks. In the shell banks, shell remains from more than 100 different marine invertebrates have been found. Also skeletal remains of whales, seals and fish have been found. The huge mounds of shells were formed about 10,000 years ago when the area was covered by seawater. For a period of about 1000 years there were here a wide strait where fresh water from it melting ice sheet mixed with The salty waters of the West Sea. Strong water currents favored a rich plant and animal life in the sea. Eventually, more was drained and more of the land due to the land uplift. Today, the banks are 55 – 75 above current sea level.
A black swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes, hatched out recently, in my neighbor's lepidopterarium. He grows fennel in the yard, and that is one of the favored host plants of black swallowtails. Wild butterflies oviposit on the fennel and when caterpillars become visible, they are bagged (still on the plant) in mesh bags that exclude predators and parasites but allows the caterpillar to feed.
Today he released two black swallowtails, one male and one female--this is the female. The female settled on the fennel plant--shown here--the male immediately went off to celebrate his freedom.
A black swallowtail caterpillar was shown in a previous post, and it is copied into the first comment, below.
The Cape May is never happier than in the years we have a spruce budworm outbreak. They favor this insect over all others and will successfully fledge more young in those years.
Their favored habitat is aged forests because it is easier to find an abundance of canopy-dwelling insects among older trees. They seek white spruce and balsam fir as their prime breeding grounds.
The Cape May is a unique warbler in that it has a semi-tubular tongue that enables it to feed on fruit juices and nectar both on its wintering grounds in the tropics and on their breeding grounds where they aggressively chase other birds from flowering trees where they can suck up the nectar from the blossoms.
The chances of this species increasing its numbers is being somewhat adversely affected by mans harvesting of old-growth forests and using pesticides to control the spruce budworm.
Petra Jordan RAW Contetna Premium Tiff ad21 dn df JPEG 9.94 MB.
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The burial complex was carved into the rocks around 2,000 years ago, featuring four pyramid-shaped pillars.
It is an ancient tomb and funeral hall carved into the sandstone rock in the 1st century AD.
This amazing monument is located at the start of the trail, 2 Km from where the Treasury is.
"Itt wus tuf werk, butt, I wus abel too git er dunn!"
P.S. I had posted this picture earlier, but, somehow I deleted it. So, for those who viewed it, favored or commented on it, this is a second posting. Sorry!
That attribution for the Scarlet Tanager is from Cornell's wonderful "allaboutbirds" website and is most apt. Easy to hear, but hard to see in their usual high-canopy bowers, this one favored me with a glimpse low down in a stand of Arbor vitae.
Italia, Liguria, Riomaggiore (SP), Estate 2012
Un territorio in cui mare e terra si fondono a formare un’area unica e suggestiva. Diciotto chilometri di costa rocciosa ricca di baie, spiagge e fondali profondi, sovrastata da una catena di monti che corrono paralleli al litorale. Terrazzamenti coltivati a vite e a olivo, il cui contenimento è assicurato da antichi muretti a secco. Un patrimonio naturalistico di grande varietà. Sentieri e mulattiere dai panorami mozzafiato. Cinque borghi: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola e Riomaggiore, che si affacciano sul mare.
Le prime notizie di Riomaggiore si hanno solo nel 1251, quando gli abitanti del distretto di Carpena, sparsi a mezza costa, giurarono fedeltà alla Repubblica di Genova. Tra il Duecento e il Trecento gli abitanti di questi insediamenti decisero di scendere verso il mare e dare vita al paese. Uno spostamento che fu favorito dal consolidamento del dominio genovese che consentì un più tranquillo accesso al mare sul quale poter sviluppare commerci veloci e sicuri.
A territory in which sea and land are founded forming a unique and evocative area. 18 kilometers of rocky coastline abounding with abundant bays, beaches, and deep sea, surrounded by mountains running parallel to the coast. Terracings cultivated with vineyards and olives, kept under control by old dry stone walls. A naturalistic heritage of great variety. Paths and mule tracks look onto breathtaking views. Five villages, Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, Monterosso face onto the sea.
We have the first news of Riomaggiore only in 1251, when the inhabitants of the district of Carpena, spread coast, swore faith to the Republic of Genova. Between 1200 and 1300 the inhabitants of these settlements decided to go down towards the sea and give life to the village. A movement which was favored by the consolidation of the Genovese rule which consented to more tranquil access to the sea on which commerce could develop quickly and safely.
Íbamos en busca de este animal y finalmente lo encontramos, poco antes de irnos pero apareció. Y como no, aprovechamos el momento para fotografiarlo.
Día con nubes, que en algunas ocasiones favorecía la foto y en otras la complicaba.
Macho de Orthetrum nitidinerve en Barinas (Murcia).
We were looking for this animal and we finally found it, shortly before we left but it appeared. And of course, we take advantage of the moment to photograph it.
Day with clouds, which on some occasions favored the photo and on others complicated it.
Male of Orthetrum nitidinerve in Barinas (Murcia).
Better known Firethorn Berries ...................
The berries of the Firethorn — high in Vitamin C — are actually pommes which is a fleshy fruit with seeds at the core, like apples. They are greatly favored by Black Birds and Cedar Waxwings, which have been know to strip a tree of all its berries. .
A favored location of mine on the Gasconade River of Missouri, not too far from home. I have seen a good number of sunsets from here. I have watched the morning's first light touch the tips of the trees and work its way down to the water's surface. I have sat upon this rock and pondered many things.
The three-to-four-day old Percheron colt is playful after a race in the pasture.
Today, Saturday, May 6, is the running of the 149th Run for The Roses Kentucky Derby! There are 20 horses in the race
and am always excited for the Kentucky Derby!
Last year a horse with odds against having a chance to
do well let alone win the race did win.
Rich Strike had 80-1 odds and in the race his jockey was able to suddenly bring him up and move him into position to have a chance and he won!
This year, at this time, a racehorse named Forte, is favored to win with 3-1 odds. There are 3 horses ( at this time) who
could win. Tript Trice, Disarm and Skinner
The Kentucky Derby's winner is draped with roses and why they call the it Run for the Roses
As the day goes on the odds could change and who knows, perhaps another dark horse could win again?
Update
Favorites Trip Trace and Skinner scratched from race
Kentucky Derby winner is Mage
with 382 owners investing in this horse
Two Phill's came in second
Angle of Empire placed third
As a summer visitor to the region, favored nesting habitats include water meadows and damp grazed grassland, like Elmley Nature Reserve in Kent.
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THANK YOU for your visit and friendship, enjoy the new week, and keep well and safe, God bless you
......................Tomx
Jordan Landscapes - RAW Cont Tiff Nk dn Biclr ad21 df dn psdR sk PNG 31.8 MB.
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The old road to Petra.
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The Washington Square Park Arch located at the northern end at the terminus of Fifth Avenue in the heart of Greenwich Village at blue hour, the powerful lights providing the wonderful white glow on the marble of the arch contrasting beautifully with the deep blue sky. This arch was actually the second arch erected in Washington Square Park, formerly the Washington Parade Grounds christened back in 1826 on a potter’s field located on what was at that time the northern outskirts of the city of New York. A potter’s field is a public burial place where the poor and the indigent were laid to rest; a large plot of land was needed because of the many victims of yellow fever that ravaged the city especially the poor and indigent because the lack of sanitary practices.
In 1870 the ragged parade grounds were transformed into a landscaped park. Then it was 1889, the centennial of George Washington’s inauguration downtown on Wall Street at Federal Hall was nearing and the city’s civic & cultural leaders commissioned architect Stanford White of McKim, Mead and White to design a temporary triumphal arch to ensure the parades would go through the park named after the first president. The papier-mache and white plaster centenary arch was actually located half a block north of the park on Fifth Avenue. The arch was so warmly received that after the centennial celebrations were terminated, White was commissioned to design a permanent arch that would be located in the park. Stanford White chose marble as the building material and he fashioned the arch after the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and classic Roman arches. The second and current arch was dedicated in 1895 and given to the city’s Parks Department. On this northern façade are two sculptures of George Washington. The Washington on the left or east pedestal of the arch is Washington at War which was the work of Herman Atkins MacNeil and was installed in 1916. In 1918 another statue of George Washington was added to the west pedestal, the work of Alexander Stirling Calder, George Washington in Peace. Seeing the park today, many don’t realize that Fifth Avenue until 1964 crossed the park so vehicular traffic used to make its way through the arch until then. Washington Square is one of my most favored areas in Manhattan to just sit and people watch, there’s always something going on, in the hot summer and in the coldest of winters, it just a place that New Yorkers, artists, musicians, protestors, NYU students and visitors gather.
Captured with Olympus E-5 with an Olympus Zuiko 12-60MM F2.8-4.0 SWD lens processed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.
This male Osprey is a bit warier than most and most are warier than most of the other birds on the bayou. I was a fair distance away from him on his favored perch that overhangs the water en route to my takeout point when he lightened his load and launched into the wind toward my position. But instead of continuing on to his backup favored perch, he made a slow loop and prepared to land right back where he started, even though by this point I was almost directly underneath.
Setophaga coronata. Riverstone Wetlands is replete with Yellow-rumped Warblers. This M43 shot has the creamy bokeh favored by my FF friends, so, I thought I’d post it. Sugar Land, Texas.
The Old Main, also known as the Livingston C. Lord Administration Building, is the oldest building at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois. Construction on the building began in 1896 and was completed in 1899.
Architect George H. Miller designed the building, which has a medieval style resembling a castle. The building features a central tower, multiple turrets, and a crenellated roof line. It is one of five medieval buildings built at Illinois' public universities under Illinois Governor John Peter Altgeld's administrations; the buildings are collectively known as Altgeld's castles.
Altgeld was a German native who favored Gothic Revival architecture. The governor had a great liking for medieval castles and insisted new state construction during his term in office be inspired by them. Other Altgeld castles can be found at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Northern Illinois University at DeKalb, and Illinois State University at Normal. EIU and ISU are the only schools where the "castle" is not named after Governor Altgeld.
The Old Main originally housed all of the offices and classrooms for Eastern Illinois, its library, auditorium, and gymnasium. It was the only building on campus until 1909, when Pemberton Hall opened. The building is now used mainly as an administrative building, though it still contains some classrooms.
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.
Sources:
Old Main (Eastern Illinois University), Wikipedia
Altgeld's Castles, Wikipedia
From earlier this year - re-discovered in my "edits" folder.
View Large On Black (for Contacts) - or view with B l a c k M a g i c
Petra Jordan - RAW Tiff ad21 df dn psdR sk Nk Tc BiClr dn PNG 35.9 MB. RP.
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The back road to Petra, it is unknown to most tourists.
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One of my favored shots of the Western Pacific was golden hour running as a extra through Altamont Pass with white flags flying four of my babies crossing the SP 40 years ago
Lecce is a compact city of less than 100,000 inhabitants large enough to have all the amenities but small enough to not attract too much attention, it is often called the “Florence of the South” but Lecce has a much longer history dating back to the Trojan wars so maybe Florence is in reality the “Lecce of the North”.
When the Romans were conquering the south of Italy in the 3rd century BC the Emperor Hadrian was taken with the charms of Licea so spent a lot of time fortifying and linking it to the Appian Way favoring it as well with a 25,000 seat amphitheater, this sealed its status as a favored city south, if you search the back of Lecce remnants of the theatre still can be seen today.
The best thing to do in Lecce is to get lost wandering the maze of back streets and alleyways through streaming sunlight light pocketed with deep shadows but be prepared for a neck ache your head needs to be on swivels to take in all the ornate details of every nook and cranny, picture here is one of the many scenes you will find in your explorations.
I took this on Sept 25, 2016 with my D750 and Nikon 24-85 f3.5-4.5 Lens at 24mm 1/200s f/16 ISO 720 processed in LR, PS +Lumenzia, Topaz , and DXO
Disclaimer: My style is a study of romantic realism as well as a work in progress
After 2 and a half days in Kentucky we transitioned about 2 hours south to Tennessee for another 2 and a half days where the habitat favored some other species in addition to some of the same ones.
Jordan Landscapes JPEG 9.04 MB.
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www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQlSlFGNOdk&t=94s
Road to Petra through Heasha Al-Baida (White Tobacco Road).
This road is unknown to most tourists.
(Video with silent Audio)
From the American Bird Conservancy -
The Wood Stork has many folk names, including Wood Ibis (due to its downcurved, ibis-like bill) and flinthead (for its scaly-looking bare head). The word "wood" probably refers to the bird's favored nesting habitat in lowland wetlands.
This is North America's only breeding stork, and the U.S. population is now federally listed as Threatened, downlisted from Endangered in 2014 due to some population recovery. However, like the Snail Kite, Wood Storks face continuing threats from habitat degradation and invasive species.
Wood Stork are widespread and fairly common throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, although populations there are also probably declining for similar reasons.
Florida holds the largest nesting population of Wood Storks in the United States. Canals, irrigation, and other water control projects have long affected the flow and path of the water channeling into the Everglades, the stronghold of this species.
Raccoons are major Wood Stork nest predators in the Everglades, particularly when drought allows them easy access to colonies. Invasive plants and animals, especially the exploding population of escaped pythons, pose a serious threat to habitat and birds.
In addition, pesticides and mercury accumulating in water and fish can kill adult storks.
These social storks nest colonially, with up to 25 nests in one tree. Pairs often mate for life.
In Florida, Wood Storks breed during the late winter dry season, when their fish prey are concentrated in shrinking pools. They regularly fly up to 12 miles from the nesting colony while foraging and will go much farther during droughts in search of food.
Wood Storks have a specialized style of feeding, relying on touch to catch fish. A group feeds by slowly wading through the water with open bills; when a bird's bill touches a fish, it quickly snap it shut to secure the meal.
Although not considered true migrants, juvenile Wood Storks disperse northward after the breeding season, and adults move in response to food availability. They are impressive fliers, with flocks soaring as high as 6,000 feet on warm air thermals.
From the photographer - I've seen many hundreds in the air at once riding thermals at Harris Neck NWR.
Explored.
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A powerfully built flycatcher with a big head and a heavy, long bill. It has pointed but broad wings, and its medium-length tail shows a shallow notch in the center.
Forages by catching large flying insects on the wing, sallying out from a favored perch (often a telephone line) and returning to it to consume the prey. Also feeds on fruits, particularly during cooler weather. Perches conspicuously and when nesting flies out to confront many sorts of birds that come too close to the nest.
I had seen this warbler once before a few years ago, but that little guy flew from its perch before I could get my lens on him.
So I had to keep trying. The Grace's Warbler nests in higher elevations in mature pines. They hang out in the upper reaches, which makes photographing them difficult.
They are not difficult to find if sought on breeding grounds. I chose a mountain side near Price, Utah, to look for this warbler of the West. I walked the several miles up the road listening for it (and looking for its favored pines). A bird or two would come in, but they wouldn't hang around for long.
And look at its small size. It is perching on needles!!
Sadly its numbers are falling as its habitats are disappearing. Hopefully, we find the sense to protect their forests so this species and others will survive.