birds

All posts tagged birds

Sheesh!

Posted by Photonstopper on February 4, 2009
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Sheesh, sez I
Sheesh, sez I

We went to bed last night with the barest trace of snow on the sidewalks, the Moon hazily visible through thin clouds overhead. We awoke at 6:00 this morning with about eight inches of fluffy snow piled everywhere… including on the formerly-clean seed trays of the bird feeders. Thank goodness the snow was relatively light and fluffy due to the 15-degree (F) temps. But there was so much of it! Lots of fluff can still be a lot of work, fuss, and bother. In the picure here a tiny finch, one of our first visitors of the day, is nearly lost in the accumulated snow collar on the thistle seed feeder. The feeder in the background? I cleared off the tray when I was out shoveling. We thought this was going to be an easy weather week… Sheesh!

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Little ice storm

Posted by Photonstopper on December 20, 2008
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Icy Feeder
Icy Feeder

In the pre-dawn hours this day snow fell lightly. Soon it changed to light rain dripping from the low clouds on to ground and objects chilled to below-freezing temperatures. Pretty much everything received a thin coat of ice making for a hazardous commute for people driving to work. Me? It was a day off for me… I worked my weekend rotation last week and this day off was comp time!

After It stopped raining I ventured outdoors to clear out the seed-catching trays from our bird feeders. The trays were blocked by ice and seed shells and, with rain expected, needed to be emptied to be clean.

After my little chore I strolled around the grounds with my camera. Trees and shrubs were covered with a thin  coating of ice that was rapidly melting. I thought I had a couple of very good images but, for various reasons, found I only had one or two I liked. A berry, encapsulated within an ice globe, was pretty and fascinating.

Ice Globe
Ice Globe

Holiday Card?
Holiday Card?

It's looking like we won't be making our own holiday cards this year. I'd picked out an image –ivy in a snowy setting– but it was judged not "just right" for a card. {sigh} Shown here is that image, which I like very much, recorded in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, during a November 22 visit. There's still one more photo that may please us both, but precious little time remaining to make and send cards. Sorry!

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Hang on, it could be rough!

Posted by Photonstopper on November 19, 2008
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Snowy Flowers
Snowy Flowers

I took the day off today to attend the house while workmen from WindowPro featuring Renewal by Andersen repaired a patio door. A portion of the outdoor "skin" of the fixed (non-moving) portion had started peeling off! So, despite the cold temperatures (~28 F) the guys removed both portions of the door, replaced the deteriorating part with a brand-new door panel, and reassembled the thing. It only took about 30 minutes and the door is now –literally– good as new. With the entire patio door out for some time, it got really cold in the house (~ 54 F). I had the heating system shut off so as not to waste energy and it took a good long time to bring the place back up to comfortable levels once the install was done. Overall a good repair experience and I've got to hand it to Andersen for really standing behind their product. Thanks!

It's been cold here and, thanks to weather conditions peculiar to the region, we got not just arctic air but a nice snowfall as well. Between snow, ice, and clouds it looks and feels like mid-winter. Our beautiful late-season daffodils are covered with globs of flaky snow and are, no doubt, finished. I'll be hosting a Cub Scout troop at the Observatory tonight but all they'll see is the telescope — 100 percent overcast for days and more expected. {sigh}

Thistle Station
Thistle Station

With the snowfall I've started feeding the birds in earnest and they've responded in force. Cardinals, sparrows, woodpeckers, chickadees, goldfinches, and other varieties clamor around our feeders. One red-bellied woodpecker, in particular, repeatedly darted in, chased off smaller birds, picked out a peanut, and zoomed off to consume it. I topped off the big feeder this morning and it may be empty by nightfall! The thistle seed feeder is also getting heavy traffic but will "only" be down by half tonight.

Yep, it certainly feels like winter. Hang on, it could be rough!

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Seriously, folks…

Posted by Photonstopper on September 3, 2008
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Memorial to Martha & Inca
Memorial to Martha & Inca

This beautiful structure is to be found on the grounds of the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens. A plaque mounted on the stone beneath the sculpture in the foreground reads as follows:

This memorial, sponsored by the Langdon Club, is dedicated to "Martha" September 1, 1914, the last passenger pigeon and "Inca" February 21, 1918 the last known Carolina paraquet and all extinct species. This building was home to "Martha" and "Inca" for many years until their deaths. It is the hope of the Langdon Club that people who visit this memorial will work toward the preservation of all of the world's fauna.

Notes: The Langdon Club was named in honor of Dr. Frank W. Langdon, an early Cincinnati neurosurgeon and naturalist. The bronze statue atop the plaque-bearing stone is of Martha, commissioned as a part of the monument. Martha lived at the zoo (where she was hatched) for about 29 years before her death.

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Birds think I’m delicious

Posted by Photonstopper on September 1, 2008
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During our visit to the Cincinnati Zoo August 30, I learned that certain birds find me to be delicious. The zoo was very difficult for us to find due to apparently missing directional signs and an inaccurate map but once we got there we loved the place. Some of the birds loved me… possibly as food!

We visited the zoo's Lorikeet Landing: one of those free-flight places you can walk around inside and feed the birds seeds or "nectar" purchased from the official vendor. The birds I encountered did not seem to care that I had no purchased goodies. They liked me… a lot! Not long after entering the enclosure I was set upon by a smallish, beautifully green creature. You can see it tasting my hand below…

Taste Test
Taste Test

Next I was accosted by a rather larger and more menacing feathered beast. At first it also seemed content to sniff my hand, as if looking for treats. Finding no seeds hidden in my palm, however, the monster tried to take a finger. Again, see below…

The Attack
The Attack


Undeterred, I remained inside the danger zone and soon three more birds joined "Big Red" in the feast. The trio perched on my head and shoulders sampling my hair, ears, and skin! Horrible. Simply horrible! (A photo of that incident may never be seen.)

So if you enter a lorikeet enclosure in order to be close to the birds, beware. Look around and, if you see a bird staring at you as in the photo below, you might just want to buy some nectar and save your skin!

Menacing Stare
Menacing Stare

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Great day for a safari

Posted by Photonstopper on June 2, 2008
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Lorikeet
Lorikeet

Today, Sunday, was a perfect day weatherwise for darned near anything we would have wanted to do. Surprising to me, She Who Must be Obeyed did not feel like cycling so we walked to breakfast and a quick trip to the grocery to pick up a couple of items. Then She suggested a visit to the Cleveland Zoo. We hadn't been there in a while and it was early enough to beat the crowds that were sure to come later. So off we went.

We had a splendid visit under nearly cloudless skies. It became a sort of photographic expedition. She had her most excellent Panasonic Lumix camera and I had my Canon Digital Rebel with Tamron lens. She and I shot lots of photos. She had spare batteries; I did not. So for about half the visit my camera was dead weight. No matter, really, we had a very pleasant visit. The animals were very active and the air was fresh and light.

Later, as we sought a spare battery, we discovered Cord Camera had moved its area "superstore" from a location near where we live to one near where I work. We zipped over for a quick look and were very impressed. I need to stay away from there as it awakens the desire to acquire more expensive gear!

It will be a clear night tonight but there will be no stargazing for this boy save, perhaps, a quick trip to the balcony with binoculars. I must get up and go to work and goodness knows Mondays are hard enough without adding fatigue to the mix.

So I leave you with my two best photos from today's zoo safari –Hers are better than mine, in general– and hope you had a good weekend and will have a fine week ahead.

Zoo Elephant
Zoo Elephant

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Sunday explorations

Posted by Photonstopper on May 26, 2008
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Birdsong
Birdsong

Though we were tired, Sweetie and I took a nice hike on some Lorain County Metroparks trails we'd never visited before. It was a marvelous experience! The trail –and we didn't walk the entire distance– covered environments ranging from hillside woods and flat forest,  through wetlands, along a river bank, and into a meadow dotted with blue bird nest boxes. Weather was partly cloudy and very pleasant for walking. We shot many photos (I'm generally not happy with mine for several technical reasons), saw a spider that had to be two inches (yikes!) across, watched a long black snake sunning himself, heard the amazing song of a Baltimore oriole, and enjoyed seeing a wide variety of plant life. While we saw a bluebird perched atop a bluebird box, we saw a wren exit that nesting place, later saw a swallow perched atop a different nest box and photographed it. Excellent afternoon! After dinner, She fell asleep on the couch while I sat beside her and watched live coverage of the Mars Phoenix spacecraft landing operation. So very pleased to see it was a text-book flight and shared in the joy the mission team expressed. I was even able to see first images, via the Web, before heading off to bed. Great way to end the day for this "space cadet."

Today, Monday, Memorial Day, looks to be rainy, mostly gray, and quiet. That's good. No plans. We'll see what develops but we could use a quiet day, I think. I'll do some prep for a meeting I have with college staffers tomorrow. The meeting concerns a proposal by an outside group to build an observatory on college property. As in everything, there will be costs and benefits.

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Buzzards and blooms on a very good morning

Posted by Photonstopper on April 16, 2008
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We are enjoying a string of very beautiful spring days. Since I'll go to the office late today, what better way to spend the morning than taking a photo hike along the shores of wooded Hinckley Lake. I imagined fog rising from the surface of the water, backlit by the low sun. I hoped for deeply blue skies. And I hoped I'd see buzzards basking in the first warmth of the day, as I'd seen once before. I got most of what I wanted and I am a happy fellow indeed. I also shot my first digital photos in RAW format, which I will play with later.

Spring Morning at Hinckley Lake
Spring Morning at Hinckley Lake

Walking along the gravel path was a pleasure. I spotted a downy woodpecker up in a tree but couldn't get a clear view for photos. Meanwhile a male cardinal perched above me and gave me a stern look; I was wearing a red jacket and he probably thought I was a rather gigantic intruder! Rounding a curve I sighted them: perched all over the top of a dead tree were turkey vultures, "buzzards," basking in the morning sun to relieve the nighttime chill.

Basking Buzzards
Basking Buzzards


The big birds watched me cautiously and some folded their wings preparing to make an escape, if necessary, as I approached and stood beneath their perch. Leaning against the trunk of a neighboring tree, I watched as some of the buzzards took short flights from branch to branch, and others to a nearby tree. As time passed the birds became more and more active, ruffling their feathers and moving around.

Buzzard Banking
Buzzard Banking


One by one, over the ensuing quarter hour or so, the birds took flight and began soaring individually and in groups. They circled, sometimes alighting again on their tree. Once or twice birds landed on branches that could not support their weight and the twigs, without birds, came crashing to the ground. Soon all but one of the birds were in the air and moving off over the surrounding countryside. Vultures are magnificent fliers.

Gliding Overhead
Gliding Overhead


Just in case large carrion-eating birds aren't your aesthetical cup of tea, here's one last shot for you –taken from among the many bunches of spring flowers blooming around the entrance to the park and boat house– a backlit daffodil.

Hinckley Lake Daffodil
Hinckley Lake Daffodil


It was a very good morning and I'm feeling better today than I have in quite some time! Unfortunately, I now must leave for work.

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Winter is setting in

Posted by Photonstopper on November 30, 2007
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Cold Mill Stream
Cold Mill Stream

Today is a day off for me since I worked Saturday and Sunday last weekend. I ran errands midday: to the Post Office, recycle center, heating/cooling supply shop for filters, Taco Bell for lunch, and Staples for the heck of it. Along the way I stopped by the Mill Stream Reservation of Cleveland Metroparks in Strongsville, Ohio. The land there is a large wildlife preserve with a tiny parking lot and observation blind at one end — it's good to see the wetland set aside for wildlife. The chilly wind was whipping up, stinging my ears and bare hands as I held my camera for a few shots. Overhead I heard the call of a single chickadee and later the screech of an unseen hawk. Aside from a couple groups of mallard ducks bobbing about in the stream and on the ice-skinned pond, the woods and waters were largely quiet. Winter is setting in.

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