Tag: bird

Help.

Faye and I ran errands today.

On our way home we saw a car on the shoulder and a fellow using a stick or bat to herd a bird off the pavement onto the shoulder. As we passed by we saw that it was a . . . Common Loon?!?!?! They aren’t at all common around here; as a matter of fact neither of us have ever seen one. Literally. We were gobsmacked.

So we pulled a u-turn and went back to offer help. The fellow was leaving but said he had called wildlife rescue. We decided to stay until they arrived. Faye got a small blanket from the trunk to cover, protect, and confine it, keeping well away from its long pointed beak. It appeared to have some kind of leg or foot injury. We didn’t realize how BIG a loon is!

Two animal rescue officers arrived about 30 minutes later. They packed it into a small kennel for transport to a rehabilitator.

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Perches

A Downy Woodpecker perches on the sunflower feeder before hitching down and helping itself to some food.

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Hungry enough

I am certain that this American Robin was hungry enough to eat cracked sunflower spilled from the feeder overhead rather than expend energy hunting for insects, which are still scarce in early spring.

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Up? down?

They seem to be the same to the White-breasted Nuthatch.

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Looks

A House Sparrow cocks it head and looks up.

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Silhouetted

A Cooper’s Hawk, viewed against the early sky just outside my workplace on a very cold winter morning.

A photographer’s note: I used a 75-300mm lens at full zoom on autofocus to shoot this through two windows. I was about 20 feet from the hawk, clearly visible to it and was concerned that any more movement on my part would induce it to fly away.

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Consider

A White-breasted Nuthatch seems to consider the best way to help itself to this suet block.

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I wish you a safe New Year evening, and a prosperous 2019. Cheers!

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Watchful

A House Sparrow keeps a watchful eye on me as it cracks open a sunflower seed.

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Difficult

What I think is a juvenile American Bittern has been a difficult bird to capture, all summer long. I waited it out and finally photographed him waiting for small fish, or a frog, to wander close enough to be snatched up. It was a difficult shot – up-sun, with colours, glare, and a fence between us. I decided to take the shot, might get nothing better.

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Cranes

A large flock of Sandhill Cranes visited a field near my workplace. Friends generously alerted me to their presence and I fortunately captured a few in this image.

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