Fortunately, some kind readers have come through with a few batches of photos. But the tank is still low.
Today’s photos of birds (and one flower) come from Pratyaydipta Rudra, a statistics professor at Oklahoma State University. Pratyay’s captions and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them. Pratyay and his wife Sreemala have a big bird-and-butterfly website called Wingmates.
It’s bitter cold outside as the winter storm is here in Oklahoma. So, I decided to share some more photos from the warmer days – A series of backyard bird images from the fall. While we mostly have native plants on our property, most of the images here involve some non-natives that we already had around our property when we moved in. But they do show some nice colors in the fall. We have a raised deck in the backyard which results in some nice eye-level views of the birds.
Female Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) and fall foliage.=:
Male Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis):
Female Northern Cardinal working on some berries:
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata) in light drizzle. It always makes me smile when these little guys show up every fall:
Another Yellow-rumped Warbler from the same day:
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) on our pecan tree with some seed that it grabbed from the bird feeder. Titmice and Chickadees don’t spend too much time on the feeder. They like to grab a seed and take it to a nice perch on a tree where they can break it and enjoy it at its own pace:
Our yard has some larger birds too! This Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) has been a regular visitor for a while, and by now we kind of know some of its unique personalities:
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus). At this time of the year, these woodpeckers are usually busy hiding seeds with the goal of storing them for the winter. I don’t know how many they actually find again:
This is not a bird image, but it has a connection with birds. These low maintenance native Maximilian Sunflowers (Helianthus maximiliani) put on an amazing show every fall, albeit for a short duration. However, during this time, they attract a huge number of pollinators including all kinds of butterflies, moths, and bees. We keep the dried plants after they are done blooming since the seed-loving birds have a feast on them:
House Finches (Haemorhous mexicanus) are one of them. Here is a male and a female House Finch on the dry sunflowers:
American Goldfinches (Spinus tristis) also enjoy the seeds. They are usually much duller by this time compared to their bright breeding plumage:
Couple of goldfinches from the same scene – a wider view:
One more goldfinch from a warm day:
A male Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) on the sunflower stalks:
Lovely photos! Thank you.
I love these pictures!
The female (I think) house finch whites almost blend in with the background such that, at a distance, it almost appears like a sort of endo-skeletal structured animal … perhaps like ribbons of brown outlining the body
Delightful set!
Beautiful compositions!
And speaking of the Maximilian Sunflower, has anyone else noticed that many fall flowers are yellow? Or is that just my imagination?
NOTE: If I’m wrong about yellow flowers in fall, I won’t pretend that my question was for philosophers only. 🙂
Thank you! I tend to agree with this hypothesis although my favorite native in this area that blooms in fall happens to be a non-yellow one. I will share some images on that plant sometime soon.
Really lovely photos, thanks!
Beautiful work!
I’ve noticed a profusion of yellow flowers in the fall too, and wondered the same thing. Similarly, in spring most of the ephemerals are white. The tufted titmouse is very cute. I always like their bright eyes.
Such great photos! Thanks.
Lovely birds. Uncluttered crisp images.
Wildly beautiful colours – I miss these highly evolved creatures. I ended up in New Zealand, with I only a few, more primitive species, left, albeit quirky in their own ways (nowhere near as colourful). Thanks, Jerry (I am a friend of Don Mackay, down here).
I’m always happy to see birds that visit us at our feeder. Not take anything away from all the other gorgeous species that readers post here, but I’m never going to Australia or Brazil, and it’s doubtful you’ll ever find me even in south Florida. The yellow rumper is one of my favorites, such a handsome devil. The snow and ice today has brought enough birds feeding peaceably together to make Rodney King happy. It’s a birding delight.
Lovely!
Some of my favorite birds. Great pictures. Thanks!
Thank you, everyone, for your comments. Glad you liked these pictures of the commoners!