I have a comfortable backlog of photos now, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t send your good pictures to me. (Remember, you can reach me using the email address you get when you click on “Research Interests” at the upper right of the page.)
Today we have photos from three readers. The first two come from reader Tim Anderson in Oz, and his notes (like the notes of all photographers) are indented:
Attached are two bird photos. The first is a Blue-faced Honeyeater (Entomyzon cyanotis), a common species in these parts. They rear their hatchlings communally, with the parents and older siblings sharing the job of fetching insects.
The second is a Long-billed Corella (Cacatua tenuirostris), which gathers in large flocks (popularly known as a cacophany of corellas). The do very well out here on The Sunlit Plains Extended, owing to the grain farms hereabouts.
Here are a few more photos from this winter from my 13-year old son, Jamie. He shoots these with a Canon Powershot SX530 HS. Top telephoto in the camera is equivalent to 1200mm in 35mm film, with a slow aperture.
A pair of Blue Jays (Cyanocitta cristata) in the falling snow.
And a Hairy Woodpecker (Leuconotopicus villosus) and Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) sharing our suet log.
A wild tomcat named Cecil roams the property of Stephen Barnard, living on birds and rabbits. It’s too wild to be trapped, but Stephen, who is softhearted, has put a warm box for it in the garage, gives it fancy cat food, and even bought it some catnip. Here’s Cecil in the wild:
All you need now is a cat door in the garage and Cecil belongs to you.
Or, rather, the other way ’round! 🙂
Yes, I thought of that right after I did it the other way.
Very nice pictures! I also like the nice soft out of focus backgrounds that we see here. Well done, everybody!
Where is Oz? Is it for real or a typo? I really can’t tell. Despite my confusion, quite cool birds there.
Cecil is a beautiful cat. I hope the fancy food and catnip will dampen his lust for hunting his food, at least a little bit.
Australia.
Merci.
Nice photo of the Hairy Woodpecker feeding next to a Downy Woodpecker. Today I noticed an article on Project Feederwatch: “Why do Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers look so similar when they aren’t close relatives?” Scientists have been examining several hypotheses using behavioral interaction data collected by FeederWatch participants (sign up to contribute your own observations of the two species). Read the article at: https://feederwatch.org/blog/downy-hairy-woodpeckers-look-similar-arent-close-relatives/
Cool! I got an email from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology on this same subject today.
Two new Aussie birds for me. Thanks!
Stunning blue jay photo. Loved the contrasting red white and blue. The blue jays around here don’t have the beautiful jewel like markings on their wings.
Looks like Cecil has no problem finding noms…he’s thick.
Lovely birds. Much more variety than the ones we have here.