Summer of '07, because of the drought, was a particularly great time for access to shore birds. Even with my limited equipment I could get close enough often enough to get some pictures I really like of these critters in some beautiful settings. A close-up of a bird is one thing, and necessary occasionally to appreciate feather texture, or just because the bird is too small to appreciate any other way, but placing them in their environment both in terms of location and action is the most satisfying thing for me.

     ALL BIRD PICTURES ARE IN THUMBNAILS BELOW. THE SLIDESHOW IS JUST EAGLES AND A FEW TAKE-OFF SEQUENCES OF HERONS AND GEESE. In the first sequence a red-winged blackbird is seen closing on and attacking (or at least harassing) an adult bald eagle. The next sequence is the somewhat ungainly takeoff of a great blue heron from the water. The third sequence is another red-winged blackbird attacking this time a juvenile bald eagle. The last sequence shows all the (lack of) grace and artistry of geese taking off.     The red-winged blackbirds seem very territorial to me, and the eagles were hanging around the blackbird space looking for, among other things, turtle eggs.

 

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                 DON'T FORGET - CLICK ON PICTURE BELOW TO ENLARGE

Green Heron

bald eagle

The following eagle pics are all of one family (I'm pretty certain) who hang out on the north end of Lake Monroe.

Peeps a'flyin'

This and the next few pics are Yellowlegs. They're at least as difficult as eagles to get a decent shot of. (No grammatical corrections, please.)

red-winged blackbird

This is one of the characters you'll see elsewhere on my site chasing eagles around. They're particularly difficult to get a good shot of in the wild due to their habits and coloring. (They don't sit in bushes, but up in trees. And they seem to like the dead trees, so the sky tends to get totally washed out if there's enough exposure to get their black feathers decently.) Here I was lucky enough to get a decent flying shot against a more useful background.

green heron

Competition for landing space.

a young bald eagle keeping an eye on me

Great Blue Heron

Beautiful when they're not under foot.

It looks like I was in a helicopter, but actually just got him against the hillside. From this Friday, Sept. 14

young wood duck motoring

a 6-shot sequence of geese taking off

Great Egret

more green heron

I love the flow of the curves in this Great Egret shot

I think of these as timeless moments. A graceful part of nature that has existed for a million years.

male wood duck in flight

Blue Heron 8

Soaring Turkey Buzzard

Red-Headed Woodpecker

Territorial deep-woods loners in my experience, these guys are difficult to photograph. I got this one this morning, March 4 of '07 - only my second decent pic of one.

Taken 9/20/06. Turkey Vulture

American Coot

blue-winged teals

blue-winged teals

blue-winged teals

green heron again

 

11/24/10

   

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This site was last updated 11/24/10