Category Archives: Birds

Rufous

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rufous' bright gorget

rufous on aspen twig

rufous on the feeder hook

Beautiful little rufous arrives in July and the property disputes begin as he tries to claim ownership of all the feeders, flowers, and the good lookout perches. The Broadtails give way to him and sneak in to sip when he’s not watching. The smallest of our bird community, Rufous is only here to rest and feed for a bit on his long migration south, so the broadtails who stay all summer only have to put up with Rufous ruling for part of their time here. I’ve read Rufous is the faster and more agile flier and my natural light shutter speeds confirm this.

rufous in flight

currant abundance

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male broadtail hummingbird sips currant flower

A hummingbird sips nectar from a wild currant flower amid the multitude of tiny pink flowers covering the bushes. Too dark a day for wing stopping shutter speeds, I opt for a wing blurring speed and find the resulting transparency of the wing make this a favorite image of recent days.

spring birds returning

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robin on buck fence

Two images, same bird, taken minutes apart but they look seasons apart. Conifers form a springy green background for the bird on the fence while the pond ice background gives the second image the feel of winter. 

robin at icy pond

 

Though ice still covers the ponds this week, the Canada geese, six of them,  have returned to Lower Lake Ranch to stake nesting claims at the fishing ponds. The one below hid from me in the tall grass the same evening I photographed the robin.  Same buck fence in the background but how different the color due to a passing cloud and  my angle of view which excludes the conifers in this one.  

canada goose in grass

I caught a glimpse at great distance of a blue heron on the creek the same day I made these photographs so know they’ve come back to us as well. If the high winds of the past week ever slow down I’ll get out to make more photographs of our spring birds.

winter birds

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pygmy nuthatch with seed

The pigmy nuthatch comes close to me to get a seed from the just-filled feeder. The finch waits in the trees until I’ve gone back in the house to take his turn at the seed mixture.

finch on aspen

mouths to feed

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mouths to feed - western bluebirds

Western bluebird and two hungry mouths to feed. The nest is high in an old aspen. I cropped away more than half the image I was able to capture from a respectful distance with my telephoto zoom extended to 400mm.