HUMMINGBIRDS

We don’t typically feed the birds at our place because of the cats. I have also put out a hummingbird feeder in the front though as the cats don’t really hang out there and well, I highly doubt they’d catch one.

As a kid my first encounter with hummingbirds came when my grandparents bought their cottage at Lester Beach. My Grandfather hung a feeder outside the kitchen window and for the longest time everyone would gather around to watch them. In no time he added more feeders to keep up with them. I remember my Grandmother making syrup every Friday when we arrived.

In the past we’ve had some fancy feeders for the birds but I find that they are hard to clean and you have to do it often to get rid of that black mold that grows on the inside so this year I just bought a feeder from the dollar store. I typically chuck them out at the end of the summer. Anyways, we’ve had a lot of action at the feeder between the hummingbirds and the orioles.

This was earlier in the Spring as the birds started to arrive. This bird spent a lot of time resting in the tree between drinks. He also had to wait his turn as the oriole tried to find a way to drink out of the feeder as well. There was also the odd oriole fight over oranges.

ORIOLES

Every year we have hummingbirds. One of the first years we were here we had orioles but they didn’t stay for long as I couldn’t find an oriole friendly feeder and I didn’t take the time to research what else they could eat. Somewhere I have a photo of the oriole hanging upside down off the feeder.

Well this year they are back! Lots of them. Instead of the grape jelly we went with oranges. Well they can eat one a day!

This photo was taken through our living room window.

BUBO SCANDIACUS

This Snowy Owl, which I have been referring to as a “he” in all of my other postings is actually a “she”.  How do I know this?  The male Snowy Owl is mostly white while the female has more flecks of black in its plummage.

Cade, Makenna and I were out and about, touring around for houses that I had permission to shoot.  We pulled up to my final stop of the day only to discover that I would be soaked and covered in mud after getting through the ditch and then across the section of land to the house.  Cade started to drive around the section of land to see if I could get in easier, from another angle.  While driving around and contemplating just making the trek to the middle of the section Cade spotted this Snowy on the pole.

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I got my camera ready, lens extended and Cade slowly turned the car so that I could roll down the window.  I thought for sure I’d get it on the fly, the shot would be blurry and I would be pissed.  She didn’t move.  In fact, she wouldn’t turn her head and look at me.  I started to make noises and whistle.  I walked some distance and was pretty much under her when I got this shot.  I wanted her to fly.  She finally did and it wasn’t until we were driving away and I went through the shots that I found this.

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This was worth my numb fingers and sore shoulder from carrying my 600mm and trying to support it and hold it still in the wind.

Once she flew away I figured our photo shoot was done for the day but nope, she landed on an old fence post off in a field, not out of reach of my lens.  At this point, Cade had to drive back to get me, I had followed her that far by foot.  And of course, I didn’t have mitts and my hands were frozen.

We ended our session with this.  Cade figures this should be framed and displayed in the house as well.

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If I were to have this printed, I may crop it a tad.  What a day.  This is exactly why I bought this lens and I’m sure happy I did.

 

THE EAGLES HAVE TAKEN OVER

For the last 5 days I have been lucky enough to be able to tour around with my family and today, my husband.  Of course they don’t have the enthusiasm that I do when it comes to an old house but they sure do like the wildlife that we come upon every once and again.

Today while we were going from one house to another we spotted an eagle.  As we drove a little further ahead I spotted a nest and for some dumb reason decided that I needed a photo of it.  Well all I would have shot, picture wise, was a mass of twigs.  Well when I zoomed in, which Cade figures was about 50 yards, was a white head with an orange beak.

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I didn’t get out of the car as we didn’t want to distrub this family any more than we already had and we certainly didn’t stay long.  This family has taken over an abandonded yard, the yard we were heading to.  When we left, Mr. was sitting in the tree making his odd little noise, I’m assuming he was telling us to get lost.

I’d like to go back in a couple weeks with a better lens, which I plan on purchasing tonight, to see if I can see any little eaglettes.

REMEMBER US?

Remember a while back when Reg, Colton and I found the “dead” birds in the upstairs of the abandoned house?

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Well the last couple weeks there has been a lot of activity on the roof of the old house so today we were lucky enough to get a couple shots.

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I don’t know if these are two of the young or Mom and one young but regardless we moved very slowly and ventured closer and closer until they finally figured we were to close and flew away.

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Well, only one flew away.

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Really neat to see them all grown up.  Hard to believe they were once tiny little fluff balls.