Today we have some lovely bird photos by reader Colin Franks (photography site here, Facebook page here, Instagram page here). Be sure to send in your good wildlife photos; we’re running a bit low.
Pacific Wren (Troglodytes pacificus):
Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa):
Black Turnstone (Arenaria melanocephala):
Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus):
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronate):
Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus):
Mallard Duck – male (Anas platyrhynchos):
Brewer’s Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus):
Very good, as always! I especially like the off-center composition of the Kinglet.
Beautiful, as usual!
Gorgeous Colin! Thanks for sharing these!
Lovely!
Astounding photographs. Especially the harlequin! Such a beautiful bird.
Taken from my balcony near the Willamette River south of Portland. Highly enlarged: 1200 35 mm equivalent, with some cropping. Kathy
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Oh, beautiful portraits, Colin! Male Harlequin ducks look more like gaudily painted decoys than real birds! 🙂
In the ever-difficult distinction between Sharpies and Cooper’s Hawks, I tend to think your individual is the latter. Its breast markings tell us it’s a juvenile; at this stage the Cooper’s has the thin, elongated tear-drop shaped markings, as in your shot, while the Sharpie usually has thicker, cruder brown/reddish-brown streaks. The Cooper’s is also the most likely to have those white spots on the scapulars (and it looks like, also, the tertials?).
Thanks for the kind words all.
@ Diane G. When I took this photo, I put it to a number of birding experts and they said that it was a SSH.
Interesting! I’m still not convinced–calling all bird experts here! 😀
– Supraorbital skin is yellow in sharpies and gray in Coopers this bird has a yellow one.
– The streaking on the flanks on this bird is very broad and on a Cooper’s it tends to be narrower.
– Thin legs.
shrug