Friday, August 24, 2012

Flora & Fauna

Anyone with a large-ish window with proximity to birds has heard the occasional "thump" as a feathered body collides with glass. It's a reasonably common occurrence at Chez Baron as my yard is very bird-friendly. (Bird-friendly = lots of trees, bushes, flowers, weeds and, oh yeah, feeders.)

Thankfully, most such collisions are benign, causing no hurt to birds or glass.

A few months ago, I heard several muffled little thumps in the span of a few seconds. This is what I saw:


Apparently, this chickadee was having serious issues with his reflection. The little rascal would buffet his "rival" once, twice, five times and then perch on a nearby limb and rest up until the next bout. The amusing sparring match carried on for several days. I'm thinking it stopped because emerging foliage altered the lighting. In the chickadee's mind, he probably figured he won.

The next shot also features a winner. Like the first, it's not going to win any photographic awards. The lighting was poor and the photographer not as ept as he could be. The robin doesn't care about any of that, though. He caught dinner.


Some of you will recall that herons, especially the Great Blue Heron, are very special to me. Every encounter with them over the years warms my heart. Getting a chance to take some pics during some of those meetings is a blessing. Actually getting a decent shot or two is thrilling.

It is a regal-looking bird don't you think? With the keen eye of the born hunter.


I love watching them take slow, careful steps as they prowl shorelines, often pausing for long seconds as they survey each square inch of surrounding water for an unwary victim. When they spot one, quick as a snake - they strike.



Mmmmm...sushi....


From one of the largest birds in this area to one of the smallest. The wee fellow below is a Ruby-Crowned Kinglet. (Thanks for that research, Hil.) Which is a lot of name for a bird smaller than a Chickadee. Cute little guy, though.


Twigs, branches and their shadows are often a photographer's bane. They distort and obscure and can generally mess up a shot. (Especially for those of us without the software, or skills related to such software, for removing unwanted stuff from photos.)

In the next shot however, I was actually pleased with how the shadows of the twigs helped highlight aspects of the chickadee.


Time for some flora, I reckon. Lest my subject line prove to be a fib.

Bleeding Hearts is a sad name for a pretty flower.


I like the way the emerging leaves in the next pic blend with the background.


And we'll wrap up this offering with a shot of crab apple (I think) blossoms.


Thank you kindly for your time and attention. See you next time.


16 comments:

  1. Very nice shots, dear. And they bring back fond memories as I was with you for most of them. My favourite is that goofy chickadee. I was lucky enough to see it in action a few days later. And nice clear shot of the ruby-crowned kinglet.. you can just see a tiny bit of its red patch.

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  2. Gorgeous shots- all! I really love that first one- how funny! I have a large front window and I hear thumps at least once a week. They always recover themselves, but I have seen one or two sitting on the porch looking dazed.

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  3. Let me share the pics of the Cooper Hawk that was trying for breakfast when he hit our front bay window. www.WingWriter.blogsopt.com Thanks for the pics.

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  4. Whatever those last ones are, they are beautiful.

    We have a woodpecker who does the same with one of our windows as your chickadee did; we have to close the blinds to help him out.

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  5. These are all just amazingly beautiful. There's no way I'm going to try to pick a favorite. As for the chickadee incident, we've seen similar activity with male cardinals. But, instead of throwing themselves against our windows, they attacked our car...hubcaps and rear view mirrors.

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  6. We have had more than our fair share of window collisions. We have added decals (http://www.windowalert.com) from WindowAlert on the outside of windows for maximum effect. There is a company that provides Bird Protective Glass. http://www.ornilux.com/

    We also get hawks and falcons running birds into the windows too.

    On a positive note, your images are refreshing and a delight to the senses. I wish you'd post more.

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  7. Great pics, Frank. We get our share of window thumps. One of us runs out to check and applies mouth to beak resuscitation as needed.

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  8. really great pics Frank. I love the blue herons myself. back in my river guide days we would chase them downriver to the edge of their territory til they turned and headed back upstream.

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  9. - Thanks, Hil. :)

    - Hi Terri. Thanks for the kind words. :)

    - Good story and pic, Bruce. Thanks. :)

    - Glad you liked, mimi.

    - Thanks, Linda. Hope the birds don't attack while you're driving. ;)

    - Thanks, Daniel. But be careful what you wish for... ;)

    - Thanks, Leah. And good for you and hubbie.

    - Thank you, Ellen. They're a treat, aren't they?

    Thanks all, for taking the time. I appreciate it.

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  10. I love the action shots of the Great Blue Heron. Such regal and magnificent birds. And that closeup of the chickadee was fantastic.

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  11. The timing on that first shot is just perfect. It makes for a great photo. I love the heron shots and the flowers are just lovely.

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  12. - Thanks, Linda. :)

    - Glad you enjoyed, Reb. Thanks both for your kind comments. :)

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  13. Great pics, Frank. Thanks for posting.

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  14. Beautiful photographs, nature is introducing superb views us. I am greeting

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  15. hello Frank,
    I see this is an older post, so good to see all this life as autumn leans toward winter.
    I had a little titmouse knock on my window years ago, it was in California. It did it a few mornings in a row at a much too early time for me.... fun all the same. Hope all is well with you.

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  16. - Glad you liked them, Dawn.

    - Thank you, ZielonaMila.

    - All is well, thanks, Tammie Lee.

    Thanks for taking the time. :)

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