Dude has a fused back. Using this laser to decrease inflammation and help heal soft tissue. I've used it on myself; crazy how good it works.
Not a professional capturer, but we've had the same pair of common loons on our cabin's lake for a while now. Caught them diving for fish as a couple. Mom or dad chilling by our dock
Haven't been out with my camera for like a month and a half, but went out today and saw some decent birdage. Red-whiskered Bulbul (species from SE Asia) Scaly-breasted Munia (also from SE Asia) Robin (with big grub) Allen's Hummingbird Female Hooded Oriole
Feeders were getting overrun by Mourning doves, Starlings & Mockingbirds... took all food down for about a month & starting fresh.
Saw some Lawrence's Goldfinches today. These guys are really weird. They have a really limited range, and you never know when they are gonna pop up. Didn't have my camera with me, photo from a few months ago.
Saw some good stuff today. Black Phoebe Zombie Red-tailed Hawk Nuttal's Woodpecker (female) Yellow-rumped Warbler Cassin's Kingbird Peregrine Falcon
Been without a dedicated wildlife/birding lens for several months, as I sold all my non Nikon Z glass... & the new Z180-600mm was on back order. Just got notification that it's about to ship
New lens arrived… It’s going to be a game changer. Relatively light at 4.7lbs, weather sealed & all internal zoom. 2x tele converter gets me out to 1800mm, if needed. Struggles a bit in Low-light, but is sharp as a tack.
I've gotten a couple long looks at Prairie Falcons the last couple days. We see them some in the colder months (Colorado), but it's been endless summer here with temps pushing or edging over 80. The Falcons don't seem very common where we live though. High numbers of Swainson's Hawks normally run this area, and I don't see Falcons when they're around. Our Great Horned Owl is also back, but it's very near dark before I see it. Not my picture of the Prairie Falcon. They are very actively hunting in late afternoons when I've see them.
In Belize for the week & didn’t have plans to hit up any nature preserves/ go birding, so left all telephoto lens at home… only bringing 35mm & 105mm Macro, attempting to pack light. Such a fucking mistake. Resort is absolutely swarming with songbirds, hummingbirds, flycatchers, orioles, woodpeckers, kingfishers & water birds. . Resorting to iPhone & cropping my 105mm/150mm in dx… Currently 2 Cinnamon Hummingbirds just hanging out, taunting me just beyond range Great Kiskadee (flycatcher) Spoiler
This is a phenomenal photo. Excellent centricity and clarity. All the field markings are clearly visible. Frame worthy imho.
You need to go to Costa Rica if you haven’t been. We stayed at two luxury eco lodges (El Silencio and Nayara Springs) that I think would be right up your alley. I did a couple of guided tours, but also saw 100+ species walking the grounds alone. A true embarrassment of riches.
We honeymoon’d there & loved it… haven’t been back since I took up photography & got into birding though. Definite plans to go back soon. I’ll be checking clothes in the future & loading my carry-on with camera gear. I’m furious at myself for leaving it all behind.
Some cool stuff I've seen over the past few weeks. Lesser Nighthawk on the sand dunes a few hundred feet from the ocean in Oxnard. Western Bluebird at dawn. My view walking up the concrete sides of the L.A River. California Thrasher (the largest Thrasher in North America and probably the bird that got me into birding.) Belted Kingfisher. The only time I've ever gotten a good shot of one, they're so fucking skittish. Osprey. Badass.
Had a productive morning of smoking weed and watching birds. It's certainly not the pinnacle of life, but it's pretty enjoyable lol. Spoiler Nuttall's Woodpecker White-crowned Sparrow Yellow-rumped Warbler Oak Titmouse California Scrub-Jay Townsend's Warbler
I felt so god damn free when I spotted a Bald Eagle from like a half mile away. Saw a lot of other cool stuff this weekend too. Bald Eagle (first picture of one, first one I've seen in Southern California. So random.) Phainopepla - One of the coolest birds in my area. They're arid habitat specialists, and they're metal as fuck. Northern Shoveler California Scrub-Jay collecting acorns. and last but not least this Toucan that came into my work for treatment. Unbelievable bird, it sat on my shoulder.
I did some bird surveys in St. Louis last week. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but I did log 30+ species in about 2.5 days on a relatively small parcel. Highlights were seeing a barred owl, great-horned owl, and eastern screech owl all in the same day, a hairy woodpecker (which I rarely see), and a lifer American tree sparrow which isn’t the most exciting bird I’ve checked off but a lifer is a lifer!
Bluebirds are also clearing out my mealworm feeder daily right now. Nothing else super exciting at the feeders yet, white-throated sparrows, song sparrows, and dark-eyed juncos have showed up for the winter. Hoping I’ll get a few fox sparrows and there’s supposed to be an irruption of pine siskins and purple finches again this winter.
My wife asked me “how do we get the house finches to stop eating all of our seeds so the goldfinches can have some?”
Thistle/nyjer socks or feeder. House finches will still feed on those some, but if they’re given other options the goldfinches (and siskins if you have them) will be able to feed mostly in peace.
What “other option” are you talking about? We have the thistle socks but I fill them up and, ten minutes later, I’ve got half a dozen house finches on them (always 1 male and the rest female, never two males at the same time). My wife would love a second feeder that they could go to so the goldfinches could use the socks.
Just a regular feeder (platform or tube) with a generic mix of sunflower/safflower/millet/etc. Diversify the house finches options and they should go for the more substantial stuff.
Hosting a CBC at the refuge I manage tomorrow. Been such a fucky fall in ND - it's supposed to be 50 tomorrow. There's open water on the lake with a pile of canada geese, assorted ducks and a swan. Those birds should be long long gone, so it'll be an interesting count. I live in the refuge house, I have a pile of pine siskins and a purple finch coming to the feeders. The normal juncos and sparrows left after it warmed up this month. I was seeing some snow buntings around last month, but I'm wondering if they went back North after a very brief cold snap. Should be a weird bird count. Last one i did here was in 2021, we had a snowstorm come in halfway through the count. Very different this year.
Our CBC is scheduled for 12/30 and all but 2 folks from our group are out of town (including myself). Very annoyed with the scheduling of that.
Yup. We split an entire county into sectors, and we usually start with owls around 4:30/5 then go until dusk and have a big countdown/cookout at someone’s house. Typically it’s either the first or second weekend in December, so I’m not sure who’s idea it was to schedule it so late this year.
Doing Pasadena CBC this Saturday. My group is doing a segment of a huge oak grove and chapparal area that's nestled up against JPL. There's been a Black and White Warbler hanging around there so I hope I can see it. Might end up hiking further up this canyon so I can finally fucking find a Canyon Wren. My birding white whale for some time now.
How did y’all’s counts go? Had a few rusty blackbirds show up at the feeder in a mixed flock with grackles and red-wingeds today. One of my favorite winter visitors.
We actually got all our target birds except the Gray-headed Junco. Ended up with like 5 or 6 rare bird alerts for L.A County, 61 species and 855 individuals seen over the course of like 4-5 hours. We saw so many Warbler species, like they were just everywhere in the oaks. We got a Wilson's, Black-and white, Nashville, Townsend's, Tennessee, Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped, Chestnut-sided, and Black-throated Gray as far as Warblers are concerned. Was more focused on counting than taking photos, but still got some ok ones. Spoiler Cassin's Kingbird Townsend's Warbler Western Bluebird Acorn Woodpecker Yellow-rumped Warbler