A few more pics for those that enjoy birds.

[Maestro]

First, from last week. http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Maestro/58 and http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Maestro/59

Yesterday and today I went out and found these little darlings....

An American Robin foraging on the ground.


A European Starling on a branch.


A big crow


Ooops. You're not a bird!


That cow was with these guys. Just your typical cow birds.


I also found a nice meadowlark who was not trying to hide from me.


I found another kestrel. Actually, I think it is the same one I photographed last week because it was in the same place. I think these are bit better.






Then, after I blew a shot yesterday of a red tailed hawk, I was able to go back to the same place and find it again in the trees. I had originally forgotten to reset my ISO to a lower setting for bright sun. :banghead:

Blown shot


Better shot from today.




I'll end with a distant shot of a pretty male cardinal that was making lots of noise. It was very easy to find him since he stood out in and amongst the winter foliage.


Enjoy looking. I enjoyed taking the pictures.

[malta blue]

1. Those are great pictures!

Thanks for sharing them. :hi:

[Call Me Wesley]

2. Great pics!

Thanks for sharing them! The kestrel is just beautiful. :hi:

[Maestro]

6. And thanks for trying to help me out

with that blown pic. :hi:

[Call Me Wesley]

7. Sorry it didn't work well.

Here's a common kestrel from my collection - a few minutes before release, and you can see he was ready to go:

[Maestro]

8. They are certainly skittish little things

but when you are small like that it is good survival technique. :)

[Shell Beau]

3. Those are all great! I love to watch birds! They do

such fascinating things! I love Hawks. I saw the biggest one I have ever seen the other day perched on a fence!

[Maestro]

21. If only I could be so lucky to have one perch on my fence!

Thanks for looking. :hi:

[Shell Beau]

37. Sometimes they are hard to find!

My favorites were the ones that I saw with their prey in their talons! I saw one with a snake! And then one with a mouse! So fascinating! I would have loved to see the actual attack! IT would have hurt my feelings a bit for the snake and mouse, but I bet it is awesome to see.

[Maestro]

38. If you like seeing them with prey, you might like these

that I took back in January. It was right behind my local grocery store at around mid-morning.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. My dear Maestro.......

These are wonderful! And several of them are really terrific.......

I love the bright little cardinal...

The robin and the red-tailed hawk from today are really terrific!

I've tried shooting birds, and I know how difficult it can be.....

Good on ya!

Keep 'em coming, OK?

:hug:

[Maestro]

19. Thanks Peggy.

I'll post more when I have them.

[u4ic]

5. Beautiful!

That Kestrel, especially, is magnificent.

I miss seeing Cardinals. We don't have them in the West...

Thanks for sharing. :hi:

[Maestro]

17. No problem.

Those kestrels are fun little birds.

[Critters2]

9. These are beautiful!!!

I find all the raptors amazing. I see hawks fairly often, but they still take my breath away.

Lately, the beag and I have seen a kestrel in the trees near the riverwalk where we walk each day. We see great blue herrons there nearly every day. They are magnificent.

I used to belong to a birding group in Iowa, but the one here meets on Sunday mornings. I miss it, but try to go by myself when I can.

Again, thanks for sharing these wonderful photos!!

[Maestro]

20. I'd like to get more pics of herons too.

They can look quite regal at times especially when they are stalking.

[idgiehkt]

10. very nice photos

I just fed the birds here so there is a yardful. If I was to post photos it would be 'here is a cardinal' 'and here is another cardinal' 'and another cardinal' 'and another one' 'and another one' etc, etc, etc, lol.

Nice variety you have, I especially like the kestral, I've never seen one up close. I do have few red-winged blackbirds, plenty of turtle doves, some carolina chickadees and a few mockingbirds.

[Maestro]

11. I would like to photograph a red-winged blackbird.

I have yet to see one in my area, but I have only been taking photos of birds for the past 6 months or so. I do see doves and chickadees and the mockingbirds are all over the place. It's the state bird. :)

[eppur_se_muova]

14. Look for stands of cattails. RWB's love to gather there. nt

[Zoigal]

12. Always a pleasure to see your bird

pictues, Maestro....thought of you yesterday when i saw a couple of kestrels at a bird rehab booth. Had never
seen one before other than the picture that you posted last week. Especially enjoy the raptor shots.

[Maestro]

13. Thanks for the kind words.

I really have fun taking them. I get to get out of the house and take pictures of nature. It's pretty cool.

[Kat45]

15. Nice pictures. I love birds.

[Maestro]

16. I didn't realize that loved birds so much as well

but they are quite fascinating as is Nature in general. I wish I could find more wildlife to photograph.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

18. Very nice, Maestro!

:thumbsup:

[Forkboy]

22. Wow...those are awesome pics!

I can't tell you how cool it is to see a simple robin,even if it is just a picture.

I've been living where I am for almost five years now and there's a pair of cardinals that have been here the whole time.I never get tired of hearing them sing.I heard the male the other day and was psyched.They've become old friends.

Other than that though we don't have many birds other than crows and blue jays,though the two cats may have something to do with that. :)

[Maestro]

36. Thanks. I'm glad you liked them.

I've identified several of the same red tailed hawks in my area. I can pretty much find them at least once a week in their "territory." I feel like they are my old friends but I don't think they reciprocate. ;)

[cwydro]

23. Great pics

What a great Monday morning pickmeup!

Where are these taken?

[Maestro]

30. In and around my are of North Central Texas

about 40-45 miles south of downtown Dallas. Thanks for the nice words.

[movie_girl99]

24. those are so pretty, thanks for posting

we have a pair of red tail Hawks that nest in a tree on the greenbelt near our house. I love to watch them.

[Maestro]

31. They are getting more active lately.

I think baby hawks are in the near future. :)

[bigwillq]

25. What great shots!

I love your pics! :hi: :bounce:

[JitterbugPerfume]

26. beautiful pics!

I have GOT to get back to my bird watching ways!!

There used to be kestrals on my friends property, before it was SOLD . Now instead of being a neat farm with wildflowers and birds(and other neat critters ) it is a damn richy bitchy housing development with a golf course

Nary a bird or wildflower in sight

[Maestro]

32. Sorry to hear that.

I am not against development but we need to be environmentally of what we are doing. If subdivision must go in, build the houses around and with the trees. Let's not tear them all down. Bird watching is so much fun for me. I never thought it was. Actually, I have to watch and take pictures. I want to remember the moment.

[Arkansas Granny]

27. I especially like the pictures of the kestrel. There is a pair of them

that I have seen behind the building where I work and I've seen another pair near my house. They are beautiful birds and absolutely graceful in flight.

[Maestro]

33. Yes they are graceful and they

can actually hover in flight.

[patricia92243]

28. You took these pictures yourself? Wow! They are soooo nice. I thought this thread was just going

to be a bunch of pictures of birds that you found on the net.

I'm impressed!!!

[Maestro]

34. All mine

but I am strictly an amateur. I visit a few more professional wildlife photo sites and they put my photos to shame.

[Gormy Cuss]

29. Very nice bird (and cow) pix.

I've never seen cowbirds near cows. I usually see them in parking lots. Red winged blackbirds are hanging out in the parking lots around here these days. I hear them long before I see them. Soon they'll move back to the parks.

Yesterday, sans camera, I saw a pair of yellow-billed magpies. They're common on the I-5 corridor in California but live only in a few pockets around the Bay Area. This is the first time I've seen them close to home.

[Maestro]

35. California has some wonderful wildlife!

I'd love to spend a week there just shooting birds and other fauna!

[Gormy Cuss]

39. Yes it does.

I have these guys in my yard on a regular basis:






and an assortment of the usual suspects like mockers, goldfinches, mourning doves, black phoebes, Oregon race juncos, flickers, and the occasional hawk or owl. The quails are my favorite because we and our neighbors are providing much needed habitat for them on the block.

[Maestro]

40. I have pics of the ladderback woodpecker too

Is that a type of jay in the middle? I don't have quail around here that I know of.

[Gormy Cuss]

41. California scrub jay

They're brighter blue than the Florida scrub jay, I'm told. The woodpecker is a Nuttall's woodpecker, probably a local variant of the ladderback.

I am fortunate to live within walking distance of open grassland and rolling hills. The bird population up there is something. There are several spots where the western bluebirds hang out. Talk about brightly colored!

I'm an Easterner so these birds are all pretty exotic to me. I do miss the cardinals.

[Maestro]

57. Jays are very difficult to photograph.

They are very skittish, at least the ones around me.

[Age_of_Reason]

42. Gorgeous Birds

How beautiful! Loved the cow pics too!
What kind of camera/lense did you use?

[Maestro]

45. Canon

Digital Rebel XT EOS 305D. All of these shots were done with a Canon 100mm-400mm F4.0-5.6L series lens. Thanks for the kind words.

[ashling]

43. For some reason the pics don't show up for me

[Maestro]

47. Strange.

I can see them. Are you at work? Sometimes work filters on the servers block places like Photobucket where I have the pics stored on-line.

[ashling]

48. I'm at home

as
i am recently unemployed

[barb162]

44. They're beautiful.

I also take a lot of photos of birds.

[Maestro]

46. Hey Barb

Please share. If not in the Lounge check out the photography forum.

[stuntcat]

49. yes beautiful!

your camera seems to rock too, the kestral is such pretty colors.
I'm gonna try today to get a cardinal or a woodpecker sitting in the snow, I have some BRIGHT woodpeckers in the backyard today.

[Maestro]

52. Please share if you get some in the snow.

I have a few male cardinal pics but none are very good IMHO.

[stuntcat]

55. not-that-great pics :D

Well I can't hold still enough so they were all blurry but this woodpecker was looking bright!


And this is a picture of our little Whitehouse - it's "for the birds"! hehe
A relative made it for us (since we live near the capitol, I guess) and I added the flag and the post to hold it. It's a campy bird duplex! :patriot:

[Maestro]

56. Love the house and the shot!

I believe that is a male ladderback woodpecker. I still can't get woodpeckers in my backyard. I have to drive to more wooded areas.

[sammythecat]

50. I really like your pictures

They're very good and thanks for sharing them.

[Maestro]

53. No problem.

I'm glad you liked them.

[sarge43]

51. Thank you Maestro. Lovely pictures n/t

[Maestro]

54. Thanks for the kind words. -nt