Birds

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Grackles & Apples …

January 17, 2012 Birds

… and grackles foraging across Nevada, exploiting urban food scraps. One of my favorite things about visiting southern climates is the summer night chatter of grackles … the cavatina that becomes the dissonant ensemble of grackle song when huge groups of the birds roost on urban plazas. These were winter-time grackles — Great-tailed Grackles roaming [...]

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And Osprey Makes Two

July 6, 2011 Animal Behavior

So far, that’s all I’ve seen at this nesting site . . . two diligent Osprey, bringing each other fish and taking turns sitting. The structure of the cell phone tower obscures the interior of the nest, so I see only what happens on the rafters outside. To date, it’s been just a male and [...]

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The Turns of Terns

June 6, 2011 Animal Behavior

I’ve described terns, with their distinct calls, as aerial barflies with too much whiskey and smoke on the voice box. Each tern is raspy in its own way, and Caspian Terns have a sharp croak that pierces the air over my balcony. They’re huddled on a warehouse rooftop one minute, hundreds of them, blurred by [...]

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Kingfisher of the New Wave

April 3, 2011 Birds

photos ©ingridtaylar – email me for permissions Big-haired, 80s-style, Belted Kingfisher — on a windy day in Des Moines, Washington. Kingfishers are famously elusive when they see a lens pointed at them. This girl had good fishing prospects at the Des Moines Marina, so she put up with me for the sake of her prime [...]

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Anatomy of a Cormorant Landing

March 25, 2011 Animal Behavior

Double-crested Cormorant – Phalacrocorax auritus. Photographed with my Olympus E-3 and Zuiko 70-300mm. The birds were silhouetted in late afternoon light, high ISO 1000, some post-processing NR to compensate for the darker conditions.. I shot this series along the Lake Washington Ship Canal in Seattle. If you’ve watched Double-crested Cormorants [literally] coming home to roost, [...]

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Bald Eagle in the Backyard

March 8, 2011 Raptors

This is a huge bonus of living in Seattle: the urban and suburban wildlife includes a multitude of Bald Eagles. This morning, Hugh went into our friends’ garden to fill up their bird feeder — a chore we both kind of enjoy. A huge contingent of birds descends right when our boots leave the scene [...]

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Eagle En Route . . .

February 23, 2011 Ducks and Others

. . . it’s a Seattle thing. First alert — a look overhead and warning calls: American Wigeon first responders leave lone Eurasian Wigeon to contemplate his next move: And he’s off: Safety in numbers: The instigator comes into view: The juvenile Bald Eagle shows little interest in the ducks, catches the thermals, and whirls [...]

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In the Reed Dome

January 29, 2011 Herons and Egrets

I saw this Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias), submerged to the top of its legs, an immersion I haven’t seen often among herons and egrets. Shortly after I snapped the photo, an unlucky fish made a splash in the cattails, and the heron whipped around and disappeared into the camo of the reeds.

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Great Blue, Great Light

January 22, 2011 Herons and Egrets

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) in Seattle, Washington. I shot these photos today at Normandy Park Cove, a semi-private beach and enclave where we have temporary access. We’ve seen this heron on multiple occasions, fishing in the creek, foraging through the cattails in the duck pond, perched in the perimeter of Madrone trees. But this [...]

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I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart

October 5, 2010 Perching Birds

A Starling’s tribute to Duke Ellington . . . jockeying for best song position, and losing it to a crow. Shot with my Olympus E-520 and Zuiko 70-300mm. The photo was taken as the sun receded behind clouds, just above the horizon, so it was later-afternoon warm and filtered.

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Balde Interloper

September 27, 2010 Pacific Northwest

I was shooting in the fog — the silhouettes of crows foraging at low tide — when every bird on the beach suddenly flushed and flew into the mist …

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Redondo Pelicans

August 20, 2010 California

On a last-minute work detour through Los Angeles (en route to the Northwest), I caught my favorite group of Redondo Beach pelicans waiting for fish scraps to drain into the harbor.

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One More Reason [for Me] to Love Starlings . . .

August 15, 2010 Non-Native Species

. . . because they have artistic sensibilities: Related posts: The Lady Fairer How Starlings Colonized the United States

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Floating Fast Like a Hummingbird

July 31, 2010 Perching Birds

Hummingbirds occur only in the New World. There are occasional reports of hummingbirds in Europe but they’re thought to be escaped from captivity. Fossilized skeletons of ancient hummingbirds were, however, found in Germany.

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Scrub Jay Way

July 14, 2010 Corvids

This Scrub Jay came to us as a tame and inquisitive interloper. He landed on the bannister, then sat and looked in our kitchen window all morning. He’d obviously done this before. But … he’d landed at a kitchen fresh out of peanuts. He gave up. True to jay form (persistence and sweat), he showed [...]

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Up On the Roof

June 6, 2010 Pelicans

Hugh and I traded lenses for this casual shoot several months ago. He took the E-520 and the 70-300, and I went wide with the 14-54mm on the E-3. I thought I’d capture scenery against a mackerel sky. I wasn’t expecting to get this perspective on pelicans. In fact, I admit handing over the 70-300 [...]

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Nest Bound

April 25, 2010 Perching Birds

This Robin was building a nest, low in a trellis at a public park. I kept my distance while shooting this image, but kept wishing she would reconsider the positioning of the nest.

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Bird Bath Bliss

February 18, 2010 Animal Behavior

I’ll never forget the experience of Mikiko and his bath. He was a hospital rescue, a Japanese Quail with no verifiable background. Most likely, he was being raised for food, for eggs, for hunting or for dog training, and the lucky little guy escaped into the arms of a good samaritan. Dust Baths I had [...]

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Super Raven

December 7, 2009 Corvids

I took this shot the day after Thanksgiving — just getting around to posting it. The 25-foot swells off Ocean Beach were camera worthy. But I found myself swiveling with lens toward the cliff’s edge, where ravens were striking these comical poses in the headwinds. I captured several such raven moments, but this was my [...]

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Tussle on Mountain Lake

November 21, 2009 Animal Behavior

This was a first for me . . . witnessing a down and dirty fight between American Coots intent on keeping each other off coveted turf. Neither bird was hurt. Well, maybe emotionally. The loser scrambled across the water to escape the victor. American Coots can drown in territorial battles, although it’s not common. They [...]

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