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Birding / nature / photography ~ Older Asexuals for light walking and hiking nature adventures ~


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HomeBirdJen

Love the birding stories! Got really excited before as I saw young great tits visiting my bird feeder! They're so tiny & still have scruffy feathers, but very bold in their youth!

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Autumn Sunrise

Awww! I'd have thought that young ones would be too timid - was there an older bird there as well?

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Earthling

Great photo DexM ! That would be so great to see one, they are so cool looking :) Oh, page 2 - haha..... made me miss 2, HomeBirdJen here we call them a Titmouse and when I brush my horse I stick clumps of it in the fence and they collect it for nesting- I have a cute picture I wish I could figure out how to post...... They are so cute !! :)

I hope this works :) tbr I went to Imgur - thank you !! This is a cute goose family from yesterday ~ the first chick was the leader of the pack :0)

It worked ! Haha - happy clappy hands !! :D

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This is for HomeBirdJen :0)

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the bumbling rotifer

CavyX is visiting me this week, and she requested that we go in search of puffins. Our afternoon consisted largely of going "Ooh is that... Oh no, it's a guillemot" and "Ooh, is that... Oh no, it's a razorbill", but we did see a few puffins :D.

There were also plenty of gannets flying north. Such majestic birds.

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Autumn Sunrise

How nice to be able to get together with a fellow AVENite IRL and pursue a common interest! Sounds like you had a great afternoon :D

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HomeBirdJen

Awww! I'd have thought that young ones would be too timid - was there an older bird there as well?

Probably, I think there's a nest in some guttering somewhere across the road. There's definitely a blue tit nest as I've seen them flying in and out. There's a rowan tree right next to my window too so they hop in and out of that for safety I think.

Was treated on my walk in to work early Sunday morning-another adult great tit on the wooded footpath landed in front of me then kept flitting and flying up just a few feet in front of me, this must have gone on for a good 10-15 yards before it flew off over the park! Lovely start to the day!

I must say it's lovely to be able to discuss these things with a like-minded group. I know I would get some weird stares from my IRL friends if I started enthusing about birds every day :/ yay for AVENite birders!

EDIT: Thought you might like to see where we're thinking of going in a week or so's time as part of our holiday (Red Kite feeding station!) http://www.gallowaykitetrail.com/item-38-bellymack-hill-farm-kite-feeding-station

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Autumn Sunrise

Those baby great tits sounded very cute :wub:

The Galloway feeding station sounds a very interesting place for a visit - very well organised! I love the pictures of red kites on the website!

I hope you have a great holiday, with lots of beautiful birds :)

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Met an AVEN member close by and we're going birding !! :D

Got this picture today of one of my favorite birds <3

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Autumn Sunrise

Oh wow - what a stunning picture! And I love the caption :D

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I love birds, and I'm thinking if taking up the hobby of birding. My favorite birds are finches and starlings. My father raised bull finches, and I loved the little "beep" noises they make.

There's a forest here thats very special, it was once the home of ancient natives. Some sacred structure still stand, and the bedrock is exposed everywhere. When there I feel so close to the earth in a physical way. I'll take pics this summer :)

I've rescued a few baby starlings and they respond well to hand raising.

I recall when I was a very small girl, sitting by creek in the Rocky Mountains with my Father. He had a skill, a special thing with birds. I saw him call a falcon down from the trees.

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Autumn Sunrise

That sounds like a fascinating place, Amaranta - I'll look forward to seeing your pictures :) Your father must have had a great rapport with birds, and it sounds as though you've inherited his skill!

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Thank you Autumn Sunrise :) Starlings remind me of court jesters - they're so colorful when the light hits them - it takes my breath.

Amaranta I can see your dad and the hawk in my mind - beautiful ! I would also love to see your pictures :D

Birding for me is like a treasure hunt and everyday is exciting with something new - it never gets boring ! Birds are fascinating :0)

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Autumn Sunrise

I was having afternoon tea with a friend today; our dining room looks out onto the garden, and we were visited first by a pair of King parrots, attracted by a small dish of sunflower seeds, and later by two crimson rosellas that sat and sunned themselves on the upper branches of a smoke bush. My friend was fascinated - and delighted :)

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I've Googled those two birds, and my they are colourful. :)

Nothing quite so bright here, but a pair of big black crows has taken to visiting to help themselves to the mealworms I put out for the robin. Close to they look so big, and the beak so sharp and black.

The biggest bird to visit the garden is the grey heron, on the lookout for goldfish snacks from the pond, which I have to keep netted. The plastic herons which are supposed to keep them away don't. I have seen them next to or opposite those quite happily, as though they are a rather inactive relative.

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the bumbling rotifer

Cavy and I went on a boat trip and saw both golden and white tailed eagles today. 'Twas very exciting!

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ElectricMongoose

I love bird watching! I'll post some of my photographs later. Though I'm 20, sorry I'm not older. xP

Also I'm from Washington state.

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I have an eternal fascination with nature and all of the life that lies within it. Birdwatching never fails to give me some measure of peace, and I find that the creatures in the sky can have great insights if one takes a moment to listen to them. I am particularly devoted to, and delighted by insects, spiders, and other small invertebrates that exist wherever one looks closely. Much of my time is spent in fields, streams, ponds, and anywhere there are rocks to overturn or logs to shift.

Photography is not my strong suit, but I do take pictures of the things that graciously pose for me and give me the opportunity to do so. If I may, I will post them here. I have only been on the Earth for 23 years now; far from among those who would be called older and wiser.

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Photography is not my strong suit, but I do take pictures of the things that graciously pose for me and give me the opportunity to do so. If I may, I will post them here. I have only been on the Earth for 23 years now; far from among those who would be called older and wiser.

When I was in my late teens I took b&w photos of birds in the Public Gardens. The birds were bold in the city gardens and seemed to pose for me. Especially the geese :D cheeky

I am intimidated by digital photography. I haven't used a camera in 25 yrs, save for that on my device which is *not a camera in the classic sense. I mean 35mm.

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All are welcome to this birding nature thread !!!! Have some cake :) :cake:

I'm a bug geek too !! Anything in nature that fills me with fascination Blomdor I have a photo of a Dung Fly that you might like :)

I also enjoy garden visitors and city park birds that are used to people and will strike a pose :) I love bird head shots - and digital cameras today do all the work - the point and shoots, you might rent one from a camera store and try it. Loading the pictures to your computer is very easy too. You might have found a new hobby and a great way to share what your see and love with others :)

I also want to thank everyone for sharing their photos !! Now that I've figured out how it does take some time to load to an external site and then here so thank you very much !!! For your efforts and for letting us see a little bit of your world :0)

This is the Dung Fly - they are so cool looking !!!

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I have a lot of spiders in my apt. It's a basement apt, and they're scary spiders. Brown recluse ans an occasional wolf spider. Both of these bite, and the recluse bite is bad-but I've never been bitten, thank god. I'm very cautious and when I find one, I thank the spider for its visit but tell it it has to leave. Then I put it outside. The fear of the recluse is diminished because it's true to its name. It will only harm me if I harm it in some way accidentally, or challenge it, they do fight.

Spiders are beautiful, and the recluse is a fiddle back type, I love that dangerous, but beautiful marking. I think I read either the recluse or wolf spider has 6 eyes. I had a picture of one very close up. It was a male, and very lovely. The eyes shimmering in rainbow colours.

I also have crab spiders which are harmless-they nab fruit flies-and they're not spiders :) they're always on the ceiling crawling about like a crab.

I know, it's weird I've so many spiders-king slugs and centipedes make it in here at night too. It's just a badly built basement apartment, and I've learned to share the space with the crawlies :) They don't harm me.

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Those look like Robber Flies - I like the way they look too.

I live in an apartment that's part of a huge horse barn and have all kinds of visitors, and so have jars in every room to help them back outside :) My favorites are the lizards - I like to call Wizards, one of which is my friend now - I've named him Booboo and he even comes when I call ! I read they live ten years, have better eye sight than we do and in more vivid color ! I believe he recognizes me and I can see his eye looking right into mine - it's pretty neat :0) They are called Fence Lizards or Blue Bellies.

Booboo :0)

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Aw lucky you!!! We don't have lizards up here. In Mexico I had one living in my shower. He'd come n go :D

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Oh, yes. Roadrunners are real (but not much like the cartoon). I saw one just a few blocks from where I live, near some orange groves, a while back. I've never seen a Great-tailed Grackle, as far as I know. I have seen herons, mourning doves, meadowlarks, and swans (the last, when I was traveling in Europe, not around here).

I used to work out whitewater and in palm desert and I saw plenty of roadrunners out in there, and yes he looks nothing like the roadrunner in the looney tunes cartoon with Wile E. Coyote......

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Ahh, fellow birders! : )) I have a thread for bird lovers (the link is in my signature), if you wanna check that out, too! I really have to update my flickr (it's been months since I've uploaded my new pics).

I live in an area with lots of species and lots of tree-filled places...so I can always find birds when I go for a walk. I always go with my dad (I'm 26, btw) because he got me into it. Birding became a really big therapy for me when I was struggling a lot with my panic/depression/anxiety. Nature and birds...they're so calming.

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ElectricMongoose

Here's a few photos I promised.

Black-headed Grosbeak (male) at our feeder285507_135384216550288_540575_n.jpg?oh=1

Green Heron eating tadpoles at our creek

reflection_by_electric_mongoose-d4699ui.

Black Oyster Catchers at Deception Pass black_oystercatchers_by_electric_mongoos

Red-breasted Sapsucker red__breasted_sapsucker_by_electric_mong

Northern Flicker (red shafted) take_off_by_electric_mongoose-d46hc79.jp

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the bumbling rotifer

Wow, ElectricMongoose, those black oystercatchers... I mean, they're clearly oystercatchers, but they're black! How bizarre.

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Autumn Sunrise

Fantastic pictures, ElectricMongoose! I love the green heron - very different from the kinds we have around here. It looks smaller, with a shorter neck, and quite differently coloured - very pretty :)

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Wow ElectricMongoose ! Those photo are Awesome ! I just got a Black-headed Grosbeak here for the first time ever last month ! And this was also my first year to see a Red-breasted Sapsucker ! And the Northern Flickers are some of my favorites - I love how their wings flash red when they fly. Wonderful !! Thanks for sharing !

Welcome blondie12 and kelico :) :cake:

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Sorry for semi-hijacking the thread. - I'm probably unlikely to ever become a birder but I am a bit into photography and have been neglecting the long end of my lens line for eternities. So my question to the active posters and shooters here: what are you using / recommending? - I suppose I might need a new SLR too. so my question is not brand related so far. - From reading up I assume a Nikon D750 might be a good bet bodiy wise. - Would you recommend pairing it with a Sigma 150 - 600 contemporary?

Is there a chance to get away with significantly less, like maybe using MFT gear?

So far I have outdated Pentax APS SLR and old manual focus lenses to mount on it, which didn't knock my socks off. - 300mm Tair, 400mm f6.3 aperture preselect cheapo and the 1000mm Russian mirror lens (the whole bunch pretty much resembling my "stay at home" department, I barely ever took them out).

I am really interested what the active birders are using, what it weighs, how you compromise on gear etc. - Thanks in advance for replies.

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