Birds 2012

[mvanrheenen]

Well Yildiz, I actually don't want to disturb the nest too much, as I'm affraid the female will leave her nest for good. I'll keep an eye out for their development though.

Mark

[Birma]

Fabulous Grebe AA - love that clear eye, and the great reflection and still droplets of water on the plummage - gret picture .

Well done for spotting the "bush lady" Mark - it would have been easy to miss it until too late. Hope she has success with her brood - look forward to further pictures if possible without disturbing them.

[aster]

Well Yildiz, I actually don't want to disturb the nest too much, as I'm affraid the female will leave her nest for good. I'll keep an eye out for their development though.

Mark

I agree completely, Mark. Actually that's what I meant as well. 'Keeping an eye out for their development' is good enough.



Yildiz

[mvanrheenen]

Bad news, the female Blackbird and eggs are gone. The nest is abandoned. We think European Magpies (Pica pica) ate the eggs when the female Blackbird was off the nest looking for food. Magpies are as common here as the Blackbirds. That's nature I guess.

[aster]

Bad news, the female Blackbird and eggs are gone. The nest is abandoned. We think European Magpies (Pica pica) ate the eggs when the female Blackbird was off the nest looking for food. Magpies are as common here as the Blackbirds. That's nature I guess.

Hmm, pretty didappointed feelings here, Mark. But I suppose that's not an exception when bird lives are concerned. I was surprised that the blackbird nested so close to human habitation and also so close to ground anyway.

Back to the forest birds then, I suppose.


Good luck! : )

Yildiz

[mvanrheenen]

Hmm, pretty didappointed feelings here, Mark. But I suppose that's not an exception when bird lives are concerned. I was surprised that the blackbird nested so close to human habitation and also so close to ground anyway.

Back to the forest birds then, I suppose.


Good luck! : )

Yildiz

The feeling is mutual, Yildiz. We had the same feeling when we found out. Blackbirds do not fear humans that much I think. It's common for Blackbirds to make a nest in a bush, and most bushes don't grow that high.

I want to get out birding again this weekend if the weather permits. Maybe I'll do a Blackbird tribute.

Mark

[Argonaut]

Meanwhile, back in Tanzania... It was disgusting the kinds of 'cooing' sounds that came from our van when a baby animal was spotted. Even baby warthogs! So this is a baby Black-winged stilt photo. I wish I could have included more reflections at the bottom but I ran out of room. Still I like the reflections of both baby stilt and the grass - for once I don't want to Photoshop the vegetation out. a580, Sigma 400, 1/2500, f11, ISO 800.

The hoopoe is a nemesis photo bird for me. I've been to Africa 3 times and never gotten a shot of the crest extended. In fact, I have had fewer photographs of this bird than I have of gorillas. Go figure. Anyway, this extreme crop turned into a semi-pleasing composition. a580, Sigma 400, 1/1250, f13, ISO 800. (Oops, I just saw that with the increased brightness of photos on this blog that there are some ugly pushed shadows at the bottom. Replacement coming later today.)

Blacksmith Plovers (named by someone who thought the call sounded like someone hitting a tiny anvil - whatever) are common but graphically striking. The trouble is that the eye, which you always want in a bird photo, is black on a black background. I tried to lighten it up but oh well. a580, Sigma 400, 1/1600 f13, ISO 800.

037_Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)_February 23, 2012_DSC00989_a580.jpg

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038_Eurasian Hoopoe (Upupa epops)_120224_DSC01071_a580.jpg

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039_Blacksmith Plover (Vanellus armatus)_120224_DSC01082_a580.jpg

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[mvanrheenen]

Great images as always, Argonaut!

The hoopoe once roamed these parts too gut are alas almost driven from here. Beautiful bird! Very much like the Stilts image, great you've captured them both in one frame! Cute juvenile

Mark

[Argonaut]

Here's a 'better' version of the hoopoe. I think there was a branch very near to me that is showing up as a green haze in the photo. This image is a 1157x769 crop from the original so it's a testament to the sensor that it still looks half decent. I cropped most of it away and darkened the rest (I hope).

Eurasian Hoopoe (Upupa epops)_February 24, 2012_DSC01071_a580.jpg

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[mvanrheenen]

Yes, It's better this way.

[Juanito200]

There is such a great variety of birds in this thread. Here is a Muscovy duck eying me suspiciously at a local park..

[mvanrheenen]

Haha, great moment John. You,re definitely getting the evil eye there! Birds can do funny things sometimes without them knowing it. The missus and I drove home friday night and saw some Egyptian Geese (Alopochen aegyptiacus) walking up ahead. When we approached them, one of them was caught in our headlights and just froze like it was being caught doing something it shouldn't. We had a good laugh on that one

Argonaut, about the Hoopoe. I found out yesterday that the Hoopoe isn't gone here but actually still roams some parts in this small country I saw some images of a few that were spotted yesterday. It's a bummer it's too far away for me.

I'm off to shoot some birds today. The weather isn't good though, so I could return empty handed. We'll see.

Mark

[Birma]

I like the duck amongst the vegetation, nice one John

[aster]

Interesting one of the Muscovy Duck, John. : )

You must have caught him/her during a sweet nap... I like the extraordinary head features. I don't see such duck species here, just Mallards and some Chinese ducks at parks.

Thanks for sharing,

Yildiz

[mvanrheenen]

As I said earlier, I went birding today in the local forest. You could see and hear spring was in the air. What a racket!

Here are the best images from today.

#1 - Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla)

I was looking at a Wren and heard a lot of racket behind me. This is what I saw when I turned around First time I ever saw one of these birds, so I was pretty psyched



#2 - Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra)

Sitting on top of her nest. Wanted to capture one since the breading season started. Pity that one twig is in front of her beak. Didn't see it when I was in the field



#3 - Dunnock (Prunella modularis)

Hidden between the reeds was this Dunnock (weird name ) singing.



#4 - Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita)

These little birds were all over the place today.



Mark