Coyote Hills Regional Park

Fremont, CA

Thanks for your visit, faves and/or comments.

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper

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Several of the ponds at the WTP have lowered water levels at present.

This has given the waders some rich mudflats, that would normally be covered with water, to feed over.

Cuticle Scissor 2” blade

I recently embarked on my first adventure to Antarctica with the Muench Workshops Team as an instructor. It was quite an amazing experience for sure. As we crossed the Drake Passage into the South Shetland Islands, this incredible scene opened up before us on the starboard side of the boat. It was one of the most impressive mountainscapes I've laid eyes on in my lifetime. The creeping shadows and diffused light created by drifting clouds was the icing on the cake for me.

I personally highly recommend a trip to Antarctica for any serious landscape / nature photographer, you will truly be mesmerized by the fantastic wildlife and landscapes there - it is quite abundant and unlike anything else in the world.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Holiday season and that all of your wishes are fulfilled. I know mine were!

The heron just looking sharp that no danger or menace.

I thought this was a Sharp-shinned hawk when I first saw it and it may be. What do you think? It is smaller (maybe 12 inches in length) than the adult Cooper's Hawk that I have photographed several times, and may have slightly skinnier legs.

Yesterday (Feb. 5) I saw this bird on my apricot tree out the back window. I walked out my front door and looked around the corner and didn't see it until it hopped up on another branch. I got one photo, which is the 3rd photo in this series. Then it flew towards me and landed on a fence only 20 feet from where I was standing, which is the 2nd photo. A short time latter it flew down to where I took the last picture, which is the first in this series. There was a bird, probably a junco under the propped up plywood. The little bird flew under my car with the hawk in hot pursuit. IMG_5794

Male Common Kingfisher.

Best viewed large.

I enjoyed watching and photographing this bird yesterday morning. As I have done several times with what I believe is the same bird since back in early November I walked to within 50 feet and spent about half hour near this bird. He/she even left for about 5 minutes to chase after a sparrow and returned to the same brush pile. Birds were hiding in the brush pile. For those who don't know this hawk eats other birds to survive. Even after he/she left, and while I was spending time photographing a hummingbird, juncos, goldfinches, and a woodpecker this bird reappeared at least 3 times. They move so fast this there can be hard to see so he/she may have passed by more than that. This all happened over a period of about 2 hours. After that, because I was not properly dressed for the cold weather I went indoors to thaw out. IMG_8841

I appreciate all of the views, kind comments, awards, and faves. Thank you.

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper

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You fly 10,000 km to argue about a spot in a spacious pond.

Summers evening suits the cat for a quick stroll

A juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk,

Accipiter striatus,

waits for the food to come to him.

I wasn't going to upload more photos today but this hawk showed up and let me get a few photos. It moved around so I am posting 3 shots from different positions. This is in my backyard, Yakima County, Washington. This adult bird has now stopped by 3 consecutive days. IMG_6971

Debated between Cooper's hawk and Sharp-shinned hawk. Had settled on Cooper's hawk but was happy to be corrected as it is a lifer for me. It was perched on a branch overlooking a large bird feeder and was not at all bothered by my presence.

This peculiar, forty-five degree angle of a pasture corner casts a different shadow. The boulders inside the fence are evidence of hydraulic mining for gold in Tuolumne County, California.

Calidris acuminata, with Least Sandpiper in foreground.

Morro Bay salt marsh as a 6.2 ft. tide was receding,

Seen from marina boardwalk,

Morro Bay, California

The bird had been found the previous day at about high tide by Kilian Hampl and identified by Will Knowlton. This species breeds in northeast Asia and after a long migration, winters in southeast Asia and Australasia. A few birds migrate down the other side of the Pacific Ocean and it is considered a rare autumn migrant in North America.

My friendly garden hawk keeping a eye on the bird feeders

www.texastargetbirds.com

Yesterday I had an opportunity to spend the morning out at Smith Point for the hawk watch and it ended up being a great experience with plenty of raptors seen and photographed. This young Sharp-shinned Hawk flew right over us at close range and definitely checked us out.

_MG_0127-web

Accipiter striatus

Sharp pocket computers, PC1350 and PC1360. These were the only two PC13XX models released by Sharp in 1984 and 1987. Both had 4 lines of 24 characters and were very capable in their day for BASIC programming, graphing, etc.

The key differences between the two were increased memory, an additional RAM port, as well as improved BASIC and faster CPU in the PC1360.

At home

Another small flock of sandpipers flew in.

Have a mouth as sharp as a dagger,

but a heart as soft as tofu.

(Chinese Proverb)

Weekly Theme Challenge - Something Fluffy

Looking close... on Friday! - Combination of Soft & Sharp

(photo by Freya, edit by me)

Thanks for views, faves and comments!

A group of 6 sharp-tails showed up in the yard today and feasted on sunflower seeds under the feeder.

Shot as a JPEG, as the camera was still in factory default settings!

WSOR brings a loaded grain train down the CN through Ackerville.

WAMX 3871

WAMX 3870

WAMX 4172

WAMX 4173

Hepatica acutiloba

Thank you to everyone who visits, faves, and comments.

Cooper's Hawk

Accipiter cooperii

A visitor to my back yard early this past fall. I think it sees me, I am lucky to have not spooked it.

So, Sharpie or Coop? The top blocks of the retaining wall it landed on are about three inches thick, putting the bird at roughly 12-14 inches head to tail. The tail appears to be rather squared off, plus the streaking looks more like Sharp-shinned rather than Cooper's. All things considered I'm calling it a Sharpie. What do you think?

CORRECTION: A couple sharp-eyed Flickr friends provided evidence that this hawk is a Cooper's, not a Sharp-shinned. See the comments below. I stand corrected.

View large

Grand Traverse County, Michigan

shot with a fujifilm x-s10 and a 7artisans 35mm f1.2 mark i lens

IMG_0511 2023 07 09 file

after the rain......

shot with an olympus om-d e-m10 mark ii—720nm infrared converted—and the 14-42mm electric zoom (ez) kit lens--with a raynox dcr-250 close-focusing diopter

On this day I had been invited to visit my friend Barb who lives in the Millarville area. She has many feeders and quite a bit of garden as well as a greenhouse. There was lots to see! The evening before had been quite chilly providing lots of dew on the flowers.

This Sharp-shinned Hawk was chasing after the Blue Jays. There was constant commotion as the Jays chased it around and around.

Thanks for your visits, and comments! They are all appreciated!

I found this bird in my backyard yesterday (10/31) eating a Halloween treat. The prey may have been a Dark-eyed Junco. Unfortunate for the junco but the hawk has to eat. Although it is hard to tell from the photo the hawk was under the canopy of a shrub on a dark mostly cloudy day so the shutter speed was slow and the photos are not as sharp as I would like. Yakima County, Washington. IMG_9526

Sharpness

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper

A few more shots of these birds feeding a long the sand flats at low tide..

Scientific name: Calidris acuminata

SPONSORED:

---Horns: VOODOO – Pierced Horns – Find it @ Astrophe Event

---Top: [ROT] – Bitter Tees – Find it @ Astrophe Event

OTHER CREDITS:

---Hair: NOVA

---Eyeliner: LEPUNK

---Nails: APIKA