Several readers answered my plea for wildlife photos, so we’re set for a short while, at least. Today’s photos come from reader Bob Fritz, whose notes and captions are indented.
This batch of bird photographs were all taken from my backyard in Orange County, California. We live next to a wooded park which attracts frequent avian visitors.
Acorn Woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus), one of them appropriately holding an acorn in its beak.
Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans). I watched this bird repeatedly diving off our fence to catch insects in flight, then return to look for yet another hapless insect to devour.
California Thrasher (Toxostoma redivivum).
Two shots of Cassin’s Kingbird (Tyrannus vociferans).
Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum).
Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus).
House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus).
Lilac-crowned Parrot (Amazona finschi). Primarily found in Mexico, these birds can be seen as far north as San Francisco
Adult Parrot feeding a juvenile
Mourning Doves (Zenaida macroura). Overcast day provided a nice white background.
Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana).
WOW what a delightful selection. Great pictures. First time I’ve ever seen an acorn woodpecker and here are two.
May I suggest something called Acopian blinds. I live in the boonies of southeastern British Columbia, The bird strikes on our house were heartbreaking. This year we made and installed the aforementioned blinds (easy peasy) and the strikes have been dramatically reduced – in the neighbourhood of 90%.
Sorry, this was a reply to darwinwins below.
Lovely
Phenomenal! You are very fortunate to have all of these as backyard visitors. The roadrunner is an awesome bird.
How nice of the Mourning Doves to afford you a puffed up and a sleek look together!
Great pix, all. I love cedar waxwings, but they have an unfortunate propensity to injure themselves flying into windows. I don’t know how many I have taken to PAWS.
Beautiful, crisp photos, Bob. Thanks for sharing these.
What equipment are you using? Thanks,
I’d like to know too. I want a camera like you have! Although I suspect I couldn’t afford it, and couldn’t master it as you certainly have!
Thank you! In the past I mostly shot with Nikon and Canon – both excellent. Currently I am using Sony equipment, the latest being the Sony A7R4 with Sony 200-600 telephoto. I have also posted these photos to my Flickr account, where you can see the specific photo data for each photograph. Here’s a link:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bobfritz/albums
Thanks Bob!
I’ve gone mirrorless (since 2015); but m4/3 for me.
Wow, beautiful landscape work, Bob. Thanks for the link.
What SW are you using for your B&W images? Very nice! 🙂
Thank you very much! I shoot everything in raw then process in Adobe Lightroom. Sometimes I also use Photoshop and Aurora.
Thanks Bob,
I am also a LR guy. I love it.
Going through your NP landscape work: Very nice.
Love your compositions, your varying point of view, capture of the light, and capture of people in the landscape.
Your B&W shots have beautiful tones and texture.
Wrangle / St. Elias: East Bunkhouse windows shot: Wonderful! (I love shooting windows and doors. 🙂 )
Thanks for posting the XIF data and summary. Fun reading for us photo-geeks. 🙂
Some very nice closeups with good light. The California thrasher must use that greatly curved beak for something rather special. I love the way cedar waxwings seem to always stay within a foot or two from each other.
Bird social distancing.
Lovely. All so familiar yet different than what we have here in the Midwest…well, excepting Amazona finschi. It’s a sad reminder of what we SHOULD have had if idiots with guns hadn’t slaughtered our Carolina parakeet. Really love that roadrunner. Magnificent.
Spent a while on Flickr enjoying more of your photos. Wonderful. Thank you.
You captured some great birds here. That second Cassin’s Kingbird is special. Interesting that the parrot ventures so far north. Neat to see parrots in the wild.
What a great collection of bird photos, Bob! I’d be ecstatic were I to see not one or two but four cedar wings! Thanks for sharing these.