• Home
  • Birds
    • Owls
    • Snowy Owls
    • Eagles2
    • Eagles
    • Hawks/Raptors
    • Raptor Conservancy
    • Greater Prairie Chickens
    • Backyard Birds
    • Spring Birds
    • Spring Birds 2
    • Loons
    • Waterfowl >
      • Snow Geese
      • Swans
      • Geese
      • Ducks
    • Pelicans
    • Herons
    • Whooping Cranes
    • Sandhill Cranes
    • Sandhill Cranes 2
    • Bosque Snow Geese & Cranes
    • More Birds
    • SOAR
    • Florida
  • Animals
  • National/State Parks
    • Yellowstone In Winter
    • Animals/Birds of the Badlands, Yellowstone and Grand Tetons National Parks 2016
    • National Parks Landscapes 2016
    • Animals of Yellowstone/Tetons/Badlands 2014
    • Yellowstone/Tetons/Badlands Landscapes 2014
    • Animals of Yellowstone/Tetons/Badlands 2012
    • Yellowstone/Tetons/Badlands Landscapes 2012
    • Animals of Yellowstone 2011
    • Yellowstone/Tetons Landscapes 2011
    • Yellowstone Textures
    • Custer State Park, SD
    • Great Smoky Mountains NP
    • Rocky Mountain National Park
    • Utah National Parks
  • Landscapes
    • Lake Superior
    • The Great Smoky Mountains NP
    • National Parks
    • Niagara Falls
    • Fireworks2018
    • Fireworks 2015
    • Fireworks
  • Flowers
    • Prairie Flowers
  • Insects
  • MyBlog
  • About Me
    • Recognitions
    • Presentations

Visiting Ducks

4/22/2013

0 Comments

 
I'm pretty much a fair-weather photographer with many birds, because the colors are so intense in the sunlight. We have had one day of sunshine in the last couple of weeks when I wasn't working and was able to get out for most of the day taking pictures. I really enjoyed watching the ducks in the marsh. The colors of the Blue-Winged Teal, Green-Winged Teal and Northern Shovelers were radiant in the sunlight. I don't know if any will nest here or if they are just passing through, but I felt fortunate to get some pictures on a nice day.
It is great to see the water level coming up in the lakes, rivers, ponds and sloughs. Last fall and over the winter most of the shallow wetlands were completely dried up. There were thousands of ducks, geese, Coots and pelicans the day that I was there. A Northern Harrier flew over and scattered all of the ducks from one end of the slough to the other. I also saw a Marbled Godwit, which apparently was a pretty good sighting for this area. You'll have to go look that one up in your bird guides, because I only got a few blurry images of the bird in the distance.
Click the images below to see a larger image or see more pictures of ducks here.
Picture
Blue-Winged Teal
Picture
Green-Winged Teal
Picture
Northern Shoveler
0 Comments

Backyard Birds in April

4/20/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Common Redpoll
Spring is coming slowly to our part of the country. More snow is in the forecast, yet the grass is starting to green, the early spring flowers are blooming and the migratory birds are passing through in waves. I haven't seen any Redpolls at our feeders this winter, despite reports from several others in the area who have had Redpolls all or part of the winter. Then, last Monday I saw the first one. It stayed around for much of the week and then disappeared as abruptly as it came.

A Fox Sparrow showed up for a couple of days also. A curious little bird. It perched in the lilac bush next to the deck for a few minutes - long enough for me to snap only two pictures before returning to forging under the feeders. It would hop forward with both feet and quickly hop backwards again, dragging both feet on the ground to scrape away the top layer to expose a seed underneath. He did this repeatedly for hours, working on the ground under the feeders, but I never saw him feeding at any of the feeders. I wonder if this is normal foraging behavior for this bird species?

The Hermit Thrush was at a local state park and seems to always be one of the early spring birds, graciously allowing me to take a few photos.
Click the images to see a larger image or view more backyard birds here.

Picture
Fox Sparrow in the backyard
Picture
Hermit Thrush at a local park
0 Comments

    Bruce's Blog

    Just a few notes about my photos. See more on Facebook. and videos on YouTube

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    February 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Awards
    Backyard Birds
    Balloons
    Bears
    Birds
    Bison
    Buffalo
    Butterflies
    Canoeing
    Christmas
    Christmas Lights
    Clouds
    Death Valley
    Ducks
    Eagles
    Fireworks
    Flowers
    Fox
    Geese
    Grouse
    Holiday Lights
    Hot Air Balloons
    Insects
    Kayaking
    Kites
    Lake Superior
    Landscapes
    Lightning
    Loon
    Milky Way
    Moon
    National Parks
    Northern Lights
    Owls
    Prairie Chickens
    Raptors
    Reflections
    River
    Rocky Mountain National Park
    Sandhill Cranes
    Sax Zim Bog
    Sax-Zim Bog
    Smoky Mountains
    Stars
    State Parks
    Sunrise
    Sunset
    Swans
    Tetons Yellowstone
    Tetons-Yellowstone
    Trees
    Video
    Waterfall
    Whooping Cranes
    Wildflowers
    Wildlife
    Wildlife Refuge
    Winter

All photographs © Bruce G. McKee - May not be reproduced without written permission - All rights reserved

Proudly powered by Weebly