Friday Night Photos First Time Edition
Submitted by Socialprogressive on Fri, 01/13/2023 - 5:00pm
Happy Friday the 13th everyone. Post any photos, memes, or music you like.
With over 450+ species, San Diego county has the larges number of bird species of any county in the US, so if you go out looking often enough, there will be days with first time finds. Tonights selection are all first time finds for me from the last few months. I've only got 400+ to go.
Lewis's Woodpecker
Female Acorn Woodpecker
Male Common Yellowthroat
Male Townsend's Warbler
Female Bufflehead
Male Bufflehead
Red-tailed Hawk
Male Hooded Merganser
It's always a sad day when one of the great ones leaves us. I was fortunate enough to see JB live back in the late 70's and again in the mid 90's. RIP Jeff Beck.
Comments
Great bird shots SP
I'm a shade tree birder, so almost every one I see is the first time
Here is a beauty ..
~
Taiwan Blue Magpie
and some others here .. https://www.boredpanda.com/beautiful-unique-birds/
thanks for hosting!
question everything
Hi, QMS.
That means the more shade trees you sit under, the more first timers you will see. Sounds like a good deal.
Nice shots of the Blue Magpie.
I'm great at multi-tasking. I can waste time, be unproductive, and procrastinate all at the same time.
Wonderful pictures Sp and QMS!!! Thank you all
as always.
Rec'd!!
Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.
Thank you, orlbucfan.
I'm great at multi-tasking. I can waste time, be unproductive, and procrastinate all at the same time.
Yah I’d say that you will be busy
I’ve seen these dawgs in action and they are amazing to watch work.
Went on a cow roundup with dawgs doing most of the work. The rancher had people drop off dawgs at his place because they knew he’d take care of them. One was a huge German Shepard type dawg who went on the roundup. We rode about 4 hours moving the cows to a certain gate and just as we got them there they started turning back. He couldn’t figure out what was going on but when he got to the front there was the Shepard turning them around. Dawg didn’t have a herding bone in his body. Maybe you had to be there, but funny as hell.
Love the smile at the end!
Scientists are concerned that conspiracy theories may die out if they keep coming true at the current alarming rate.
Hi, Snoopy
Thanks for the video. That dog is earning it's keep.
I'm great at multi-tasking. I can waste time, be unproductive, and procrastinate all at the same time.
Hi snoopy
I'm sure that would have been very funny to see. Dogs do the darnedest things!
That dog looked like it was moving faster than any vehicle could, especially in the mud.
It was
The rancher was the kindest man I’ve met, but he was quite exasperated with that dawg. The rest of us laughed. All the other dawgs were border collies and boy did they earn their dinner. He’d just say to them, "get em up" and they would get the cows off wandering in the ravines and such.
He put me on the sweetest and most mellowist horse and after my body ran out on me and we were returning to the barn the horse decided he had enough of me and dumped me as we went up the hill. Off I went just trying to make sure my foot came out of the stirrup. That was my last invite to the round up, but boy do I have fond memories of it.
Scientists are concerned that conspiracy theories may die out if they keep coming true at the current alarming rate.
Oh snoopy
what a sweet, sweet memory.
and this one is scary
called a Harpy Eagle, it is the largest eagle in the world. Looks like an owl to me.
~
found in the rain forests' upper canopies with a wing span of over 7 feet
question everything
That's a really big bird
I think that thing could carry a small child away.
I'm great at multi-tasking. I can waste time, be unproductive, and procrastinate all at the same time.
Is that eagle for real !
It does look like an owl and very other-worldly.
That sucker looks like a gargoyle. 7' wing span---Yikes!
Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.
Now that's a bird!
Quite the beast there eh? Birds are living dinos. For many that is a bucket list bird. The 'crest' is not always held up like that, it is often held flat or down along head. I would say that is an alert posture, at the least. They can fly through jungle at high speed, and rip monkeys off branches with that foot. And you know how fast and strong monkeys are. A friend held one in Panama and said they told him to keep his arm and fist high over his head, as it will step up and if your arm goes below your head, it will step up to it. Your skull is not strong enough to withstand its grip. Sometimes tours in Brazil have a nest staked out. You can see them anywhere from southern Mexico to South America. Vera Cruz a few hundred miles below the border was the nearest spot for a long time. Tuxtla Guitierez, Catemaco, etc. I was never anywhere they were found, but know lots of birders that have seen them.
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
A bucket list bird!
It looks like a supernatural vision of something you might see when you do kick the bucket ; ).
Hi pixelators
Hi all, Hey SP! Hope its all good out there.
That is the best "Goin' Down", amazing mind-blowing stuff it was at the time, and remains so.
GREAT bird photos SP! Awesome shots man!
Guess I don't need to send this note I had for you about Lewis' Woodpecker... "in a sycamore tree next to the stop sign at the corner of Lake Canyon Rd. and Fanita Rd." What a beautiful bird they are. In good sun the back and wings are that oily green no other American bird has. And who would pair it with PINK? The carmine face, whaddabird! They nested near the family house in Big Pine, couple doors down, so I saw them daily. They can be pretty good flycatchers, as Acorn Woodpecker can be too.
The Townsend's Warbler is a beauty. That is an imm., a first fall/winter bird, not an adult, which have a fully black throat. An adult female can show more dark in the throat that that, but the first fall female usually not that much. So, a HY - hatch year - male.
Those Hooded Merganser are awesome birds too. They can fan that crest open and closed, and it opens way further than you think it ought to... their head looks circular when all the way fanned. They use it in displays. Once saw a flock of a couple hundred of them herding a school of fish in a frenzy... it was awesome...
Beautiful wonderful photos SP! Thanks for that!
be well all!
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
Hi, dystopian
The Acorn Woodpecker was shot in that same Sycamore tree by the stop sign at the corner of Lake Canyon and Fanita Parkway. The Lewis's was in another Sycamore a couple of 100 yards away. The Lewis's is not very common in San Diego so when word got out that one was hanging around Santee Lakes bird photographers from all over the county showed up.
As always, thanks for all the info about the birds.
I'm great at multi-tasking. I can waste time, be unproductive, and procrastinate all at the same time.
methinks it's 500 now
too funny... small world, but I'd hate to have to paint it. Especially under the eaves.
Yeah those Lewis' Woodpecker are scarce in socal, some show some winters, and often cache acorns so stay around all winter if they show up. Awesome photo you got!
BTW, I think San Diego and LA County now both have 500 species lists. And I think a few years ago L.A. actually pulled ahead by a bird or two. They are both just barely over that line. All my life S.D. Co. has been #1 U.S. county for diversity. Much of which is the vagrants, accidentals, rarities, e.g., not usual regular breeding or wintering normal species. Probably 20% or so for both counties. I think only a couple states have 500 sps. lists, so a county with one is remarkable. CA and TX are the only states with 600 sps. state lists, and CA is ahead in that race a fair bit. I never lived in S.D. county but did crack 300 sps. on that county list from my forays afield in the county. It is a mighty birdy spot! I think there is a lady there that got way high in the 300's, almost 400 IN ONE YEAR, year listing just in S.D. county.
keep yer eyes peeled!
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
One of the bird photographers
I know said there were Sandhill Cranes at Salton Sea recently. I'd like to get out there and check it out.
I'm great at multi-tasking. I can waste time, be unproductive, and procrastinate all at the same time.
cranes at the sea
The whole south end of the Salton Sea area is awesome birding. Especially now, in winter when the geese and cranes can be there, and it is not smokin' hot. A lot of the birding is driving around roads that crisscross everything, but if on a weekend you will find birders doing the same. And lots of good birds. The NWR, Unit 1, Wister, Red Hill/Obsidian Butte, New and Alamo River mouths, Finney and Ramer Lakes. It is an amazing area, I used to spend a LOT of time out there. Roadrunner and Burrowing Owl often along the roads, mud pots... what a place!
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
Hi dystopian
The mixture of oily green and pink colours sound like a combo made in heaven ; ).
Whaaat?
I had no idea that they cooperated like that as predators. I now assume there are other birds that do this? Which? And thanks.
White Pelicans work together
to herd fish.
I'm great at multi-tasking. I can waste time, be unproductive, and procrastinate all at the same time.
socialist birds
Hi PC, sorry I had no dsl until this afternoon, again... but it is an interesting phenom... Cormorants certainly get in a flock together and herd fish, as at least Hooded Mergs will do. To me the diving in the water that say Gannets or Brown Pelican does is more independent and not really a likely to be mutually beneficial result for another bird next to you. Whereas White Pelican as SP showed, that is certainly the case. I suspect there are a number of other examples. In raptors, there are some that seem to do such. Certainly Harris's Hawks will hunt as a big family group with 5-6 birds working together to flush a rabbit.
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
Tribble Tree
This is a Tribble Tree. For those that don't know most first found out about Tribbles in an episode of the first original run of Star Trek, methinks 'Trouble with Tribbles' or somesuch was the title. Anyway this is them in their native home habitat just before harvest for the pet trade. I found these on Zardoz.
alright alright, it is Ball Moss, Tillandsia recurverata or somesuch, same genus as Spanish Moss, and a big craze as 'air plant' in the 70's. Said to be an epiphyte, however when a branch breaks that they are on, they die. So I have some doubts about what we think we know about it.
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
I remember the Tribbles
Scenes from that episode were used years later in an episode of Star Trek Deep Space Nine, my favorite of all the Star Trek series.
Zardoz. Wasn't that a sci-fi movie from the 70's with Sean Connery?
I'm great at multi-tasking. I can waste time, be unproductive, and procrastinate all at the same time.
we have a winner!
Hold the phones, we have a winner. Sean Connery in Zardoz is correct.
I think later he said it was the most embarrassing thing he ever did, he hated it. It was B-grade camp. Midnight wasted viewing material. Yes tribbles, I sorta recall that re-appearance on DS9. Which I watched as my best birding friend was the editor on the series. It was his first digital editing, and it went big... He had done feature films and all, but that was film, this was a new world.
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
Speaking of oily green and pink
It looks like those are the colours in your photo. The moss silhouetted against the pink sunset probably looked some kind of green in person.
Hi Social
Wonderful photos as always, thank you. I really enjoy how clearly you capture the birds in their momentary and solitary state. I wonder what the Lewis's Woodpecker is doing in that moment. Is s/he starting to drill a hole to plant a seed like squirrels do? Is it climbing backwards down the tree after scoring a berry to eat or bring back to its nest? So much to wonder about in your photos.
Have a good weekend all.
Hi, Janis
That momentary and solitary state doesn't last very long, specially with the little birds. They're constantly moving around. They don't like to sit in one place for very long. I was surprised to see the Lewis's with an acorn. The bulk of it's diet is flying insects.
I'm great at multi-tasking. I can waste time, be unproductive, and procrastinate all at the same time.
So that is an acorn in its beak!
The Woodpecker is bigger than I thought. Thanks for the info. I can only imagine from my limited experience trying to capture a bird of any kind, how truly difficult it is. It's a special kind of dedication. Thank you for yours.
Thank you, Janis
I'm great at multi-tasking. I can waste time, be unproductive, and procrastinate all at the same time.
making a cache
generally they are storing the nuts for winter. When they wander in winter it is often due to acorn crop failure in their home area. For both Lewis' and Acorn Woodpecker. So they go find an area with a good acorn crop on the live-oaks. And hang out for the winter to spring usually. Especially early in winter if you watch and they stash an acorn, they are planning on hanging in the area. Acorn woodpecker famously drills granaries that perfectly hold the acorn. They can destroy a telephone pole. Some in big Ponderosa Pines had tens of thousands of acorns.
And yeah, birds are one of the ultimate photo subjects. For their difficulty to acquire. Arguably the most challenging of subjects to capture well. Like SP does.
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
Hi Mr. Google, of birds and other things
Animals are so intelligent. I imagine it has largely to do with survival and their sensitivity to their environment. I'm not sure we humans are an improvement.
Hey J
sorry just got dsl... I'll have you know, flattery will get you nowhere.
One thing for sure, humans seem to have lost the ability to live in concert with their environment. At least in most places. Which I would score as devolution.
I spent most of my life birding. And like a fool squandered the rest.
We are not smart enough to figure out how smart birds are. Or whales, dolphins or octopus... and likely lots of other things.
be well amiga
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
Damn
You can't say I haven't tried ; ).
Speaking of octopus, since I recommended My Octopus Teacher to a friend he has been reading lots about their short life span and how closely attached they become to humans. His reading is mostly motivated by curiosity, and I think partly by guilt for having speared them while living so long in the islands. They are truly amazing creatures deserving of understanding and honour.