04/30/2005 - Real Mixed Bag.....

Retief · May 1, 2005

We finally got our feeders up and going in our back yard and are now attracting some birds and hoping for some more. So far it has been Finches, Finches and More Finches. My next step is to add some natural perches. With very good advice from several Forum members, I set up so that I open my back door and be about 20 feet or so from the feeder and shoot through the opening. These are all D70, 500mm + 1.4 TC

Pine Siskin:

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Washington State Bird - American Goldfinch - Male:

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Pair of American Goldfinch - Male and Female:

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Purple Finch, why Purple when they look so Red???:

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Pine Siskin:

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Backyard Defender:

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OK, Scooter isn't a bird but I was FORCED to put this one up as well :wink:

Then it was off to Skagit Flats and Padilla Bay, this time to look for huge bunches of Great Blue Herons on Padilla Bay at Low Tide. As usual, things did not quite work out as planned. Frist stop Fir Island Reserve. Saw a bunch of Eagles flying in the distance and then my wife nancy says "Hey, Look! Something coming this way!" I turned and found this.

Northern Harrier #1:

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Northern Harrier #2:

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These shots are a perfect example of why I need Nikon to repair and return my D2H. The D70 is a great camera, but on smaller faster birds it just can't keep up.

Then we drove a bit further North to Padilla Bay. Got there and realized that we really want to be there as the tide is going out, not when it is almost all the way out, but the term "hundreds of Great Blue Heron's" is not an exaggeration. We will do this again. Here is on example of what we saw, and this is not a large bunch by any means.

GBH, in flight and feeding:

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On the way back we checked the flats again, stopping at the Fir Island Reserve one last time. Pretty quiet but we did find a Red Tail in a tree. Watched him for 20 minutes or so waiting for him to fly. He was looking right at us so we figured we would get some great shots. Well, we all know how that goes, don't we? The little bugger turned sideways and then did this...

Red-Tail Take-Off:

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Best part, we got outside and it didn't rain :lol:

Flew · May 1, 2005

Excellent series of shots Bill. I really like the ones around your new feeder. You should add the natural branches as you mentioned, and smear a little peanut butter on them. That will bring in the birdies. 8)

Regards,

Frank

Gale · May 1, 2005

Great shots Bill,

Along with the peanut butter, you can fill a pinecone with peanut butter and roll it in bird seed.

Quite a show on that. Different anyway. Tie it in the tree on a branch or swinging on the string.

Scooter is looking like he is saying, that camera thing again. Adorable PUP.

drueter · May 1, 2005

Nice shots, Bill! Wow, you and others are making my 300 f4 feel really short these days!! The lust for a longer lens is growing again!

PhotoDawg · May 1, 2005

Good series Bill. Scroolling....Scrolling.....looking at all the wonderful imagery of birds.....scrolling....scrolling........WHAT THE?!?!?! Schnauzers RULE!!!

Backdoctor · May 1, 2005

Nice shots Bill. I'll be responding to your message soon. Been in the hospital a lot this weekend. Look forward to connecting.

greyflash · May 1, 2005

Good bunch of images Bill. You had a good day for sure.

Retief · May 2, 2005

Flew said:
Excellent series of shots Bill. I really like the ones around your new feeder. You should add the natural branches as you mentioned, and smear a little peanut butter on them. That will bring in the birdies. 8)

Regards,

Frank

Thanks, Frank. I have tried to shoot through windows before to the backyard, and the only way to describe that is "Sucked" :lol: . When we moved in here I thought for quite a bit on how to set up for this, and so far I'm happy. Along with this a bird bath is in the plans.

The place we get our "bird bits" from, Wild Birds Unlimited, has a special fitting for the feeder stand that allows attaching of branches, and your suggestion of PB is good. Should I add some Grape Jelly as well? Better now, or I'd be out there eating it :lol: .

We also have a suet block out, hoping to eventually attract some larger birds, maybe even a Flicker or two. Keep your fingers croseed, OK?

Retief · May 2, 2005

Gale said:
Great shots Bill,

Along with the peanut butter, you can fill a pinecone with peanut butter and roll it in bird seed.

Quite a show on that. Different anyway. Tie it in the tree on a branch or swinging on the string.

Scooter is looking like he is saying, that camera thing again. Adorable PUP.

Thanks, Gale. That is a slick idea regarding the pinecone. Have you had any issues with PB attracting things you didn't want?

As to Scooter, first thing is, he is a SHE, and she is quite particualr about that :wink: . You are pretty correct about the expression, although it was more of, "What the heck do you want me out here AGAIN for anyway????".

Thanks, you folks will see the results in the next few weeks.

Retief · May 2, 2005

PhotoDawg said:
Good series Bill. Scroolling....Scrolling.....looking at all the wonderful imagery of birds.....scrolling....scrolling........WHAT THE?!?!?! Schnauzers RULE!!!

Well, Bryan, if you find yourslef out in the Oregon direction in August you can come to the Portland Mini-Schnauzer Club's Schnauzer walk. Imagine over a hundred Schnauzers, mini/std/giant all in one place for a whole day. Truly amazing.....

Since the forum is Birds and Animals, I figured what the heck :lol: .

Thanks for the very kind words.

ps. Yes, Schnuzers DO rule, and they certainly let those that live with them know it, too :wink:

Retief · May 2, 2005

daodang said:
Very good serie Bill. Similar to Bryan, I scroll and scroll with WOWs then... open up a 2nd IE window searching for bird ID of #6 . Thank for a pleasant surprise.

Thanks, Dao, but she does fly.......

Scooter, the UFO:

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Look in Sibley's, "SchnauzeriusUfoairius".......... often found masquerading as couch potatoes....... :wink:

Retief · May 2, 2005

Backdoctor said:
Nice shots Bill. I'll be responding to your message soon. Been in the hospital a lot this weekend. Look forward to connecting.

Thanks, Harris, and absolutely no rush, take care of family first, please.

Retief · May 2, 2005

greyflash said:
Good bunch of images Bill. You had a good day for sure.

Thanks, Gordon, that we did. Most interesting bit of the day was not the images I got, but a better understanding of the habits of the GBH's up in the Padilla Bay area. That is one thing I have to keep reminding myself of. Watch the behavior, understand as much as I can of what is going on so that I can be better prepared the next time out. I have been told that so darned many times, and I get so anxious I often forget it.

Besides, any day out doors is a good day by definition, eh :?: :lol:

Retief · May 5, 2005

jczinn said:
Bill, I would say your reddish finch is a House Finch, not a Purple Finch. Its not so easy to tell them apart, especially without a frame of reference like size (Purple are larger than House), but a Purple Finch would usually have less brown streaking on the front and the wash of color would look less cherry-red and more raspberry-red. I'm not an expert on this but looking at some web sources (don't have my field guide here at the office) I'm going to say House Finch.

Anyway, a great assortment of birdies (and puppies ;-)

Thanks, Janet. After looking at the Field Guide some more I wondered about those very color and pattern issues myself. The other thing was that in another image I have of the bird where I can see the tail I think there was a difference there as well, having to do with it being forked on the House and not on the Purple, and this one appeared to be more Forked.

I was most happy that I quit calling the Pine Siskin an immature Goldfinch though :lol: :lol:

Fun stuff, both the taking and the "figuring out".

Thanks!