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


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You keep on like there's some kernel of humor in all those puns. :p

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You have a stalk pile of those jokes, don't you.

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Jimmy crack corn and I don't care.

Sorry, I'll stop now and get back on the thread track!

This afternoon, walking home from work, I saw 2 sparrows flying around and around each other. I don't know if they were playing or fighting or what, but they seemed so intent on whatever they were doing that they swirled and tumbled within maybe around a half yard/half meter or so of me at about my chest level. And then they swirled away again.

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On this mornings river walk I saw one very impressive Great Blue Heron (they always look prehistoric to me), and two hunting Ospreys. :)

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Saw three beautiful hobbies swooping over the water hawking for dragonflies. And a red backed shrike sitting in a bramble bush causing much excitement among the bird watchers as it is a very rare bird here indeed.

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Loving the puns guys!! :lol:

I entered my stag and goldfinch pictures plus 4 others in the local Village Show today and won!!

2 firsts and a second and won the silver cup (which I get to keep till next year) for overall Photography winner.

Here's my cup and the winning pics....

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Feeling v v proud and chuffed. -_-

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Awesome stuff, Elnae!

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So, speaking of light walking, anyone else here play Ingress?

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I'm not a birder either, just another person who likes seeing birds and recognizes a few species (or genus?) when I'm out and about. I have seen quite a few different kinds over the years - in the wild: owls, hawks (sparrow and red-tailed), egrets, crows*, Canada geese, ducks, seagulls, roadrunners, quail, blackheaded phoebes*, California blue jays* (also called scrub jays. They don't have crests.), mockingbirds, sparrows, robins, woodpeckers, California blackbirds, just to name a few.

(* I see these ones especially often in my neighborhood)

Roadrunners are real? How did I not know this?!

I see roadrunners a lot too. They are real. Very large birds too, a good "crow" size but with longer legs.

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Tja, I don't know what they are. But the clarity of those photos is brilliant.

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A couple of flowers I found outside my hotel this morning. :)

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Are they hibiscus?

Kinda look like it.

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That does look like hibiscus. We used to have some outside my parent's house when I was growing up.

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Birder here. This is the second-best time of year to be out birding, at least around my neck of the woods. The lovely warbler species are migrating through -- wish they'd stay, but most of them don't nest around here, just pass by in spring and fall. I guess it makes springtime more special when they finally start to sing.

Birding is a fantastic hobby for aces. Most of the folks I meet at events tend to be quiet folks who are focused on the birds to the exclusion of pretty much everything else. We are far more interested in monitoring the kestrel population or discussing the merits and drawbacks of freely spreading information about local rare bird sightings (is it really a healthy thing to the animal for numerous humans to come traipsing around looking for them, and so on). Of course there are jerks everywhere you go, that's a given, but I think the ratio is much smaller here.

And there is such a delight when the completely unexpected pops up in front of you. Nature is just astonishing sometimes, and so beautiful. It's a fantastic way to get out and enjoy springtime instead of just watching it from the windows.

I could go on and on!

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Autumn Sunrise

I just saw your pictures, Tja - beautiful flowers and great photography :D I'm pretty sure they're hibiscus - both the leaves and the flowers, especially the stamens, look right. The colours are just stunning!

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  • 1 month later...
Autumn Sunrise

I had a "magic moment" this morning while I was waiting for the breakfast to cook. I looked out through the glass doors at the end of the dining room, and saw three King parrots with bright orange-red heads (i.e. mature males). Usually it's just one adult and a bunch of juveniles. They were feeding in a dense Correa bush, so their heads kept appearing and disappearing, and I noticed a little self-sown California poppy just in front and exactly the same red-orange colour. One of the parrots, bolder than the rest, came over to the verandah and peered through the door at me :D

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I just saw your pictures, Tja - beautiful flowers and great photography :D I'm pretty sure they're hibiscus - both the leaves and the flowers, especially the stamens, look right. The colours are just stunning!

I really can't take credit. It was so humid, the lens kept fogging up. I repeatedly wiped it with my shirt, but could not get it completely clear. :P

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  • 3 months later...

This thread has been a bit quiet. :O So here is a resumé of birds in the garden recently: wren, pair of robins, wood pigeons, collared doves, dunnock, great spotted woodpecker, nuthatch, blue tits, coal tits, great tits, long tailed tits, blackbirds, blackcap, jay and song thrush. The Big Garden Birdwatch is this coming weekend, and I can guarantee I will spend an hour looking at very little bird feeding activity - maybe a dunnock and a feral pigeon. :P Casual glance - there they all are. Settle down for an hour's watch - they hide.

A sparrowhawk - female - has been flying over regularly terrifying the pigeons, but I haven't seen her perched up anywhere in the garden.

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Autumn Sunrise

I was doing a wander through the veg garden this afternoon, and I happened to notice something "out of place" on the edge the tomato bed. As I got closer, I realised it was a male king parrot: he looked at me, then apparently decided to brazen it out, and flew right past me with a green tomato in his beak - cheeky little devil! I hope he got indigestion :ph34r: . . . no, not really - I guess I can spare the odd tomato :P I hope I don't lose too many that way, though :D

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Autumn Sunrise

Addendum to the above: I think the birds have found the strawberries too. All the rain we've had lately has prompted a flush of new growth - first fresh green leaves (they'd been looking very faded and speckly) and now lots of flowers and some big juicy fruit. There's nothing nicer than eating ripe strawberries still warm from the sun - and I can see the birds agree with me on that! - but I know I'm going to have to be very vigilant if I want to get my share.

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The dawn chorus just matches my going out of the house time at the moment, which is an enjoyable way to scrape the ice off the car

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