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


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Beautiful photos Salmacis ! No such thing as bombarding ;) post away !! Wow the Nicobar Pigeon ! Looks like art ! The feet :D I love it !

Autumn Sunrise your words paint a beautiful picture, we have Great Blue Herons also and they always take my breath away :)

This little Wren is on his 2nd brood, if you want an alarm clock just put a Wren nest box outside your window - they start early and they are LOUD :D

p1AhDoC.jpg

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stonehengegirl

The area I walk is near a nesting site for blue herons. It's a popular walking path so they're used to people walking by. Here's one of my pictures.

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And this is some sort of stork, I think. I saw it in March while in Florida at Epcot Center. Anyone know what it is?

11041728_10205925244560959_1655449229734

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ElectricMongoose

The area I walk is near a nesting site for blue herons. It's a popular walking path so they're used to people walking by. Here's one of my pictures.

1385601_10204681444666739_14286727347010

And this is some sort of stork, I think. I saw it in March while in Florida at Epcot Center. Anyone know what it is?

11041728_10205925244560959_1655449229734

Beautiful pictures!

I'm not from Florida but it looks like a Rail of some sort. Possibly Virginia or King? And it's standing on a Rail! The irony. Oh wait! I think it's a Limpkin. Don't take my word for it though.

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Autumn Sunrise

We get blue-grey herons here, very similar to the one in your picture, although the bodies seem to be a little more slender. Often one will come quite close to the house - they wander around looking for small creatures to eat.

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I love watching heron's hunt! Either standing so still and suddenly striking, or the skulking way they stalk through the water! :)

Went camera-birding yesterday, so thought I would share a couple of the photos. A female yellow warbler and a pair of young goslings.

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Wonderful pictures !!! I LOVE them !! I was lucky to go to a special wildlife area yesterday, was quite a drive but so worth it. This Heron flew up right by me - so cool !

ajhY9KH.jpg

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HomeBirdJen

Hi everyone, had to come and tell you all-whilst I was away in Scotland I got to fly a HARRIS HAWK!!! It was incredible. It was flying to and from my hand within minutes, the trainer giving me small pieces of chicken to attract it on to my handling glove. WOW!

We also saw goldfinches, song thrushes, oystercatchers, a heron, and along with the harris hawk at the falconry there was a barn owl, an eagle owl, two other harris hawks and a breed of falcon but I can't remember which one. Oh we also saw a buzzard and a red kite whilst travelling round the region!

All birded out now!!!

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Anthracite_Impreza

I hope it's ok I join in here, I'm not over 30 but I do love birds *cough*costhey'redinosaurs*cough* :P I go birding with my mam's boyfriend/stepdad and the rarest thing I saw was the first little bustard in Yorkshire for 100 years! It was quite cool to see and within 10 minutes of hearing about it we were literally in the car ready for an hour and half trip xD

http://birdingfrontiers.com/2014/12/31/little-bustard-in-east-yorkshire/

I love the heron pics, they're my third favourite group (after corvids and raptors) <3

http://pre07.deviantart.net/f101/th/pre/i/2015/077/2/b/sparklebird_by_forvenn20-d8m6164.jpg

This guy has to be the prettiest bird I've ever seen though, a Himalayan Monal :D

http://pre03.deviantart.net/9a9e/th/pre/i/2015/074/d/5/birds_in_the_mist_by_forvenn20-d8lv1ot.jpg

I like this one cos it's cute <3

I shall avoid further pic-spam until it is socially acceptable :P

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I hope it's ok I join in here, I'm not over 30 but I do love birds *cough*costhey'redinosaurs*cough* :P I go birding with my mam's boyfriend/stepdad and the rarest thing I saw was the first little bustard in Yorkshire for 100 years! It was quite cool to see and within 10 minutes of hearing about it we were literally in the car ready for an hour and half trip xD

http://birdingfrontiers.com/2014/12/31/little-bustard-in-east-yorkshire/

I love the heron pics, they're my third favourite group (after corvids and raptors) <3

http://pre07.deviantart.net/f101/th/pre/i/2015/077/2/b/sparklebird_by_forvenn20-d8m6164.jpg

This guy has to be the prettiest bird I've ever seen though, a Himalayan Monal :D

http://pre03.deviantart.net/9a9e/th/pre/i/2015/074/d/5/birds_in_the_mist_by_forvenn20-d8lv1ot.jpg

I like this one cos it's cute <3

I shall avoid further pic-spam until it is socially acceptable :P

(just a little hint - when you're creating a post and want to include pictures you can click the "Image" in the post editing tools and paste the link in to show as a picture in the post rather than as a link in the post. I'm not saying you have to do that, just offering it as a possibility, in case you want to do it. It only works with links to actual pictures in the right formats. If the link isn't the right format it will let you know when you try to submit the post.) :)sparklebird_by_forvenn20-d8m6164.jpg

birds_in_the_mist_by_forvenn20-d8lv1ot.j

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HomeBirdJen that is SO AWESOME that you flew a Harris Hawk !!! I'm so jealous ! I have to look into that - !

Anthracite.Impreza all are welcome here !!! :cake: Wonderful pictures !!! We have lots of vultures here - they glide in circles way up in the clouds - so cool !

vervain :) I was having trouble till I went to Imgur, if you were trying to post a pic ?

daveb I will try posting "image" next time ! Thank YOU !!! I was wondering ......

Last night I admired a black Dragonfly and then moments later our resident Western Kingbird showed it to me - then I could hear her feeding her young in the nest above me.... nature !

:) I'm curious... if you have Dragonflies around you what color are they ? Here I have noticed blue, orange, green, white, yellow, black, and half blue / green ones - they're the big ones. Dragonflies are so cool !

sjJb5Ch.jpg

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Autumn Sunrise

What a stunning picture, Earthling!

I don't know what are the colour(s) of the dragonflies around here - I'll have to look out for them. However, one interesting thing: the Blue Mountains area has a giant dragonfly, Petalura gigantea (also called the south-eastern petaltail), which is listed as endangered, and is one of the world's largest dragonflies, with the males having an abdomen 6 - 7.5 cm long and a wingspan up to 11 cm, while females have an abdomen 8 - 9.5 cm long and a wingspan up to 12.5 cm. They are brown or black with yellow markings and usually clear wings. The anal appendages of the males are broad and leaf-shaped, hence the common name of petaltails.

One of our favourite local cafes is called Petalura - it has dragonfly motifs all through the decor :D

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Thank you Autumn Sunrise :D I will google your Dragonfly ! ! ! I love the info ! I became a big fan last year, my favorite thing about them is if you find one that likes a landing spot you can watch them fly off and a few moments later land with a bug to eat... watch them eat it... and then they fly off again and repeat a few times !! So cool ! I get mesmerized ~

Hey All Earthlings ! ! ! Check out the new flag for Planet Earth :D I LOVE it ! ! ! Also looks like a cell splitting into many - life <3

:0)

http://www.upworthy.com/the-international-flag-of-earth-is-kind-of-a-big-deal-heres-why?g=2&c=upw1&fb_ref=Default

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HomeBirdJen that is so awesome that you got to fly a hawk! Do you do Falconry as a hobby or was this a one time thing? I think that would be unbelievably cool to do that. I have only seen it done by others. It is so cool to see hawks up that close, since even as a regular birder I only see them every so often and usually from a distance. Though I did stumble on one (a Cooper's Hawk) the other day just sitting in a tree eating, and I was right below it when I noticed and the hawk didn't even move.

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:) Meet the family - I can see 3 babies sometimes - so cute ! I hope I'm there when they fledge, are you seeing / hearing babies... ??

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Anthracite_Impreza

Thanks guys!

@daveb; I didn't want to post the pictures because I thought they'd be too big :) Thanks though!

What species is that bird, Earthling?

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I love seeing everyone pictures !! Don't worry about size - post away !!! :D

Hi Anthracite_Impreza :) They are Western Kingbirds AND --- !!! --- they fledged today :D 4 hours ago - and we also had an Ash Throated Flycatcher fledged this morning ! And a Western Bluebird yesterday - he came right up to me, I was sitting in a chair in my horse's paddock, and it was like he knew me... wasn't afraid of my camera clicking either --- and then it hit me (!!!) He does KNOW ME ! He's been watching me form his bird box and hearing my camera clicks all his baby life :D !!! That was so cool ! (internet is too slow to load pics tonight..... tomorrow).

;)

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Just thought I'd say I'm loving everyone's photos!! I have so many that I really need to upload. I need to find the time to do it so I can share some, too! : ))

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Love to see your photos kelico !! :)

Here's the newly fledged baby Western Bluebird at my feet checking me out - was so cute !! and him looking at me a few weeks ago from his nest box in my garden :0)

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Fl8nbGe.jpg

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Anthracite_Impreza

Love to see your photos kelico !! :)

Here's the newly fledged baby Western Bluebird at my feet checking me out - was so cute !! and him looking at me a few weeks ago from his nest box in my garden :0)

8CvYI16.jpg

Fl8nbGe.jpg

They're very pretty! Not a species we get here.

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Hi A_I :) They are cuties - this is an adult, I feel like they're wearing red sweater vests - haha !! Love um :)

yPXvHZz.jpg

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Anthracite_Impreza

Hi A_I :) They are cuties - this is an adult, I feel like they're wearing red sweater vests - haha !! Love um :)

yPXvHZz.jpg

OMG they're so sweeet! That one looks so proud of him/herself :3

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Autumn Sunrise

Thank you, Earthling - those pictures are incredible!

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Butterfly Belle

Hi A_I :) They are cuties - this is an adult, I feel like they're wearing red sweater vests - haha !! Love um :)

yPXvHZz.jpg

Such a beautiful bird. The blue colour is exquisite. And gorgeous photo by the way.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Autumn Sunrise

Yesterday we had a visit from a flock of seven straw-necked ibis. I wasn't sure at first what they were (the "straw" necks weren't very obvious - maybe they were juveniles, which apparently have white neck feathers), but as they spent quite a long time wandering through the property, grazing, I had a good chance to observe them and compare them with the pictures in my two Australian bird books. Luckily I had a set of binoculars, which made fairly detailed observation possible.

I was amazed at how relaxed they were; they weren't very far away, and they showed no signs of unease or fear. However, keeping in mind that in Sydney straw-necked ibis have adapted to the close proximity of humans (and their garbage bins), I guess they're not timid birds. In fact, I believe they're regarded as a bit of a pest! I'd heard that they were beginning to move westwards from Sydney, but I hadn't seen them around here before.

It was a very interesting experience :D

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Autumn Sunrise - I love Ibis, I didn't know they are a scavenger bird. This is Very interesting ! We are seeing many scavenger birds grow in numbers in the last few years. The Great Tailed Grackle is a new one for us, but the crows and ravens are so prolific now you almost never see a hawk or prey bird without one or a lot on it's tail. Often times I run out to my porch because the hawks are screeching in distress with a murder of crows on it's tail ! And I see posts from birders on other sites noticing too.

Thanks for posting !! :)

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Autumn Sunrise

"A murder of crows" - I love it! :D

Addendum to yesterday's post: I realised why I had a bit of trouble recognising the visitors as straw-necked ibis - the ones I used to see in Sydney had white heads, but these ones have black heads.

I saw a couple of them again this afternoon, not long before sunset, and the resident wild ducks sent them packing! The ibis are bigger than the ducks, but obviously the ducks are bolder, or maybe they were just exercising "sitting tenants'" rights :lol:

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  • 2 weeks later...
HomeBirdJen

Jumping in without reading back to give you all a birding update-been meaning to post this for a few days now!

Out for a walk on Tuesday, and I saw FOUR goldfinches!!! They were sitting pecking at grass seeds on a barbed wire fence in a field. I was in raptures as a man jogged past me in shorts and a t-shirt, mum said "you missed that," (THAT?! HIM, surely?) and I was just like "Mum. There are FOUR goldfinches all perched together over there. PRIORITIES!" Le sigh!

AAAND... on the way to work on Friday (about 6.45am) I saw four MAGPIES! Baby ones with an adult, perched high up on a lamppost, one flapping it's wings asking to be fed! Glad no-one else was about at that time because I was just making stupid "AWW" noises at the lamppost!!!

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I've been terribly lazy and busy and haven't uploaded any of my new pics! : ( But here are some older ones! Spoiler for sizes:

Osprey

DSC_0249a_zpsbeamlw1r.jpg

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Wren (Carolina, I think)

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Mallards

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House finch family! I love the babies. These were from a couple years ago...but they remain my faves.

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Red-eyed vireo (I think)

DSC_0400_zpsr7awkfyz.jpg

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Autumn Sunrise

Great pics, Kelico! Those baby finches are sooo cute :) And I love the osprey!

I've discovered there's a very fat, fluffy kookaburra that likes to sit on one of the fence posts just behind our house. The other day I saw a second one perched on the tap next to the shed, at the same time. It's nice to be able to observe kookburras so closely: they're very handsome birds - cream (on the breast) and brown, with touches of blue on the wings. We often hear them "laughing" in the trees.

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