Birds

Lonesome Junco Nest.jpg

Little Robin A.jpg

Little Robin B.jpg

Little Robin C.jpg

Autumn Robin.jpg

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Tufted Titmouse - Hopefully I have identified the bird correctly, as this is really my first time trying to capture a bird. I had to dig out an identification book, but I am pretty confident I got the right one. I tried to make a mission for myself to get a bird shot yesterday to expand my subject selection.<br />
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I don't really have an appropriate lens for these distances, especially with such little birds, so I tried for more of an overall composition to the shot as I could not isolate the bird with any kind of real quality. I pretty much left the shot as is, with a couple of color pops and a little bit of work to help accentuate the depth in the tree as it was such a large part of the shot, I though giving the branches a bit of character helped bring it all together.

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Tufted in Lavender.jpg

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Red-Bellied Woodpecker-A.jpg

Red Male House Finch-A.jpg

Red Male House Finch-B.jpg

Tufted Titmouse-A.jpg

Tufted Titmouse-B.jpg

Tufted Titmouse-C.jpg

Tufted Titmouse-D.jpg

White-Breasted Nuthatch-A.jpg

White-Breasted Nuthatch-B.jpg

Blue Jay-A.jpg

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Tufted Titmouse-I.jpg

White-Breasted Nuthatch-C.jpg

White-Breasted Nuthatch-D.jpg

White-Breasted Nuthatch-E.jpg

White-Breasted Nuthatch-G.jpg

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Downy Woodpecker - Male 1.jpg

Downy Woodpecker - Male 2.jpg

Downy Woodpecker 1.jpg

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White-Breasted Nuthatch-I.jpg

White-Breasted Nuthatch-J.jpg

Caught this little Tufted Titmouse coming into the feeder for a splash landing :)

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Adults have a long, square-tipped brown tail and are a brown or dull-brown color across the back with some shading into deep gray on the wing feathers. Breast and belly feathers may be streaked; the flanks usually are. In most cases, adult males' heads, necks and shoulders are reddish. This color sometimes extends to the belly and down the back, between the wings. Male coloration varies in intensity with the seasons and is derived from the berries and fruits in its diet. As a result, the colors range from pale straw-yellow through bright orange (both rare) to deep, intense red. Adult females have brown upper-parts and streaked underparts.

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Red Male House Finch perched on a tree branch as the sun sets

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A male and female house finch on the feeder at the same time

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American White Pelican just relaxing and casually swimming across the pond.

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Yellow-Crowned Night Heron chillaxing up on a branch.

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Sarus Cranes staying next to each other almost in a way to make sure each other remains safe.

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White Ibis stopping a posing for the camera.

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A cool yet wavy reflection of a American White Pelican swimming on a pond at the Saint Louis Zoo.

Pelican Takes A Swim.jpg

The grey crowned crane is a bird in the crane family Gruidae. It occurs in dry savannah in Africa south of the Sahara, although it nests in somewhat wetter habitats.

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Although all penguin species are native to the Southern Hemisphere, they are not found only in cold climates, such as Antarctica. In fact, only a few species of penguin live so far south. Several species are found in the temperate zone, and one species, the Galápagos Penguin, lives near the equator.

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Grackle With An Additude.jpg

Grackle Grabs a Seed.jpg

Getting My Gracle On.jpg

We Three Geese.jpg

I was unsure if I should catalog this shot under birds, or poop....

Gull Poop.jpg

The Great Egret, also known as Great White Egret, Common Egret, or Great White Heron, is a large, widely-distributed egret. Distributed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world, in southern Europe it is rather localized.

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The gangly Double-crested Cormorant is a prehistoric-looking, matte-black fishing bird with yellow-orange facial skin.

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Like most owls, the Great Horned Owl makes great use of secrecy and stealth. Due to its natural-colored plumage, it is well camouflaged both while active at night and while roosting during the day. Despite this, it can still sometimes be spotted on its daytime roosts, which are usually in large trees but may occasionally be on rocks. This regularly leads to their being mobbed by other birds, especially American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos). Since owls are, next to Red-tailed Hawks, perhaps the main predator of crows and their young, crows sometimes congregate from considerable distances to mob owls and caw angrily at them for hours on end. When the owls try to fly off to avoid this harassment, they are often followed by the corvids.

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With its long, earlike tufts, intimidating yellow-eyed stare, and deep hooting voice, the Great Horned Owl is the quintessential owl of storybooks. This powerful predator can take down birds and mammals even larger than itself, but it also dines on daintier fare such as tiny scorpions, mice, and frogs. It's one of the most common owls in North America, equally at home in deserts, wetlands, forests, grasslands, backyards, cities, and almost any other semi-open habitat between the Arctic and the tropics.<br />
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Great Horned Owls are fierce predators that can take large prey, including raptors such as Ospreys, Peregrine Falcons, Prairie Falcons, and other owls. They also eat much smaller items such as rodents, frogs, and scorpions. Great Horned Owls have large eyes, pupils that open widely in the dark, and retinas containing many rod cells for excellent night vision. Their eyes don't move in their sockets, but they can swivel their heads more than 180 degrees to look in any direction. They also have sensitive hearing, thanks in part to facial disc feathers that direct sound waves to their ears.

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Male Mallard Duck was running for his life from all the little kids on a hot humid day at the zoo. ..The male birds (drakes) have a bright green head and are grey on wings and belly, while the females are brown all over.

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Females and juveniles are mottled brown with orange-and-brown bills. Both sexes have a white-bordered, blue 'speculum' patch in the wing. Large dabbling duck Streaked brown and tan overall Dark blue patch on wing Dull orange and black bill

Female Mallard Duck.jpg

$Columbia, an adult female bald eagle, came to the National Eagle Center in 2003 as a juvenile. She hatched in the spring of 2001. After feeding on road kill near Dunbar, WI, Columbia was struck by a van. This accident left her with an open fracture near her right shoulder. While this wound was significant and would render her unable to fly again, the accident most likely saved Columbia's life. During treatment for her injuries, Columbia was found to have nearly twice the lethal dose of lead in her blood. Lead is extremely dangerous for eagles. Just a tiny amount of lead can be lethal in 4-5 days. She was able to be treated for lead poisoning, but any damage already incurred would be irreversible. Columbia arrived at the National Eagle Center just a few months before the Space Shuttle Columbia mission that ended in tragedy. Columbia was named in honor of the commander and crew of this shuttle.$