Turkey Vulture preening
Cheery sunflower
The size of a popcan
Female Mountain Bluebird with lunch for her babies
Just because it is framed (Explored)
Northern Hawk Owl
Summer colour
Red-winged Blackbird female or juvenile
Goat's-beard with visitor
Northern Hawk Owl
Quietly watching, always alert
Seedhead wisps
Peacefully waiting
Just needed colour
Heart of a Snowdrop
Picked for demonstration
Great Gray Owl, focused
Northern Hawk Owl
Bark patterns on a cut log
Wild Bergamot
Mountain Chickadee
Northern Pygmy-owl
03 A gift in August
Invasive Goat's-beard and Baby's breath
Boreal Chickadee
Pinedrops
Northern Hawk Owl with woodland bokeh
BOKEH
Ruddy Turnstone / Arenaria interpres, Blue Waters…
Allamanda, Blue Waters Inn, Tobago
Tropical tree, Blue Waters Inn, Tobago
Rufous-vented chachalaca / Ortalis ruficauda, Toba…
Shiny Cowbird / Molothrus bonariensis, Tobago
A change from a Black-capped Chickadee
Downy Woodpecker and bokeh
The snowman cometh
Christmas bokeh
Bokeh
Xmas is over ....
Fishhawk Preserve Wild Flower 111516-002
Mountain Chickadee on Donna's hand
Tulip and Bokeh 092816-001
Poor quality, but of interest
Barn Owl
Ever watchful
HFF
Backside beauty
Scarf
Joy for a deep-freeze day
Shooting in the rain
Grass in black and white
Black-capped Chickadee
Small fungi growing among the mosses
336/366: Changing of the Guard
The upside-down bird
334/366: Hearts and Crystal Tears
333/366: Bloody Rose
Seed pods
Oak leaf and insect gall
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A touch of blue
![A touch of blue A touch of blue](https://cdn.ipernity.com/200/26/68/44122668.49d0e4c5.640.jpg?r2)
![](https://s.ipernity.com/T/L/z.gif)
This is my main photo today. I just desperately needed something to remind me of spring and summer today - yet another overcast, bitterly cold day, with lightly falling snow. It's not too far off noon and the temperature has warmed up to -19C (windchill -24C).
In Bluebirds, the blue colour is produced by the structure of the feather - there is no blue pigment. "Tiny air pockets in the barbs of feathers can scatter incoming light, resulting in a specific, non-iridescent color. Blue colors in feathers are almost always produced in this manner. Examples include the blue feathers of Bluebirds, Indigo Buntings, Blue Jay's and Steller's Jays."
www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mountain_Bluebird/id
www.jstor.org/discover/pgs/index?id=10.2307/4077277&i...
On 18 June 2016, I went for a drive SW of the city, checking out a few of my usual roads. Almost straight away, I spotted a beautiful Wilson's Snipe perched on a fence rail in a different area than I usually photograph Snipe.
I had pulled over on the other side of the road and managed to get just three shots when a car came along in the opposite direction. The lady slowed down and asked if I was a birdwatcher. She told me that she had just passed an enormous Bald Eagle - bigger than any she had ever seen - perched on a fence post. Well, of course the Snipe flew off and I definitely wasn't expecting a Bald Eagle to still be sitting where it had been seen. I thanked the thoughtful lady and continued my drive, eventually spotting 'something' big in the distance. I couldn't believe it when I saw it was the Eagle. Expecting it to take off as soon as it saw my car, it surprised me by remaining right where it was. Wrong side of the road and with its back to me, but I was in awe! I think this was the first time I had ever seen a Bald Eagle perched on a fence post, and this close.
I was even more grateful to have seen this majestic bird of prey when I went to check on a nearby Mountain Bluebird pair and there was nothing to be seen. I then stopped at a different pair and, though I did see the female high up on the wire, there was no activity at all. When I eventually reached a third box - where I had recently photographed the male with a beautiful moth in its beak - I saw a Tree Swallow's face peeping out of the hole. When I was there two days earlier, I just knew that the babies were going to fledge any moment and I was so disappointed that I wasn't able to visit them in the last two days.
After driving further to see if I could see either of the Great Gray Owls or the Bobolinks, I was out of luck with both. This made the Bald Eagle sighting more special than ever! Then, driving down a road that I don't normally drive, I spotted a 'new' pair of Mountain Bluebirds. Both Mom and Dad were kept so busy, collecting caterpillars and other insects to feed to their babies. These were definitely 'Bluebirds of Happiness' that evening. Soon, the grey sky and low light finally took a toll on my camera or, should I say, my knowledge of how to use it? It was time to call it quits and head for home.
In Bluebirds, the blue colour is produced by the structure of the feather - there is no blue pigment. "Tiny air pockets in the barbs of feathers can scatter incoming light, resulting in a specific, non-iridescent color. Blue colors in feathers are almost always produced in this manner. Examples include the blue feathers of Bluebirds, Indigo Buntings, Blue Jay's and Steller's Jays."
www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mountain_Bluebird/id
www.jstor.org/discover/pgs/index?id=10.2307/4077277&i...
On 18 June 2016, I went for a drive SW of the city, checking out a few of my usual roads. Almost straight away, I spotted a beautiful Wilson's Snipe perched on a fence rail in a different area than I usually photograph Snipe.
I had pulled over on the other side of the road and managed to get just three shots when a car came along in the opposite direction. The lady slowed down and asked if I was a birdwatcher. She told me that she had just passed an enormous Bald Eagle - bigger than any she had ever seen - perched on a fence post. Well, of course the Snipe flew off and I definitely wasn't expecting a Bald Eagle to still be sitting where it had been seen. I thanked the thoughtful lady and continued my drive, eventually spotting 'something' big in the distance. I couldn't believe it when I saw it was the Eagle. Expecting it to take off as soon as it saw my car, it surprised me by remaining right where it was. Wrong side of the road and with its back to me, but I was in awe! I think this was the first time I had ever seen a Bald Eagle perched on a fence post, and this close.
I was even more grateful to have seen this majestic bird of prey when I went to check on a nearby Mountain Bluebird pair and there was nothing to be seen. I then stopped at a different pair and, though I did see the female high up on the wire, there was no activity at all. When I eventually reached a third box - where I had recently photographed the male with a beautiful moth in its beak - I saw a Tree Swallow's face peeping out of the hole. When I was there two days earlier, I just knew that the babies were going to fledge any moment and I was so disappointed that I wasn't able to visit them in the last two days.
After driving further to see if I could see either of the Great Gray Owls or the Bobolinks, I was out of luck with both. This made the Bald Eagle sighting more special than ever! Then, driving down a road that I don't normally drive, I spotted a 'new' pair of Mountain Bluebirds. Both Mom and Dad were kept so busy, collecting caterpillars and other insects to feed to their babies. These were definitely 'Bluebirds of Happiness' that evening. Soon, the grey sky and low light finally took a toll on my camera or, should I say, my knowledge of how to use it? It was time to call it quits and head for home.
, Roger Dodger, , and 6 other people have particularly liked this photo
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