Posted on 10/02/2018 6:50:46 PM PDT by Chipper
Going to start this back up, with permission from Islander7. Posts, comments and stories for the birders/birdwatchers/twitchers on FR. Post and share.
I was walking through a small sanctuary in my county, when I had two Barred Owls paying very close attention to me. I happened to look straight up over my left shoulder and saw why.
Then on the other side of the tree I saw another reason why. One of the best birding experiences I have had. 
Parent bringing in the food. 
The other watchful parent 
Barn Swallow 
Northern Harrier so focused on hunting it was within 30 feet of me flying. 
Cackling Goose - rare but regular here in Michigan 
Burrowing Owl from a trip out West. 
Anna's Hummingbird 
This picture I had Mallard drake come by the dock I was on and got some decent pictures of. Shortly after it passed by I hear quite the commotion. Two Mallard drakes started to fight behind me. I started snapping pics and didn't even realize until about 1/2 through there was a third Mallard under the pile. Unbeknownst to me a pair were in the middle engaging in Springtime activities, and the second drake wasn't taking kindly to that. I did a gif that compiles all the pics I took (will take a little while to load). There are times where the two bottom ducks were completely submerged. 
Islander7 if you wouldn’t mind pinging the Birds list please.
I love to listen to the barred owls when I’m out camping. Thanks for starting this back up.
Wow awesome bird pics. Love those owls. Is there a bird ping list ?
Thanks, I really miss Swampsniper.
Islander7 had one put together.
I’ll work on my html formatting for future posts.
Wonderful pics.
Somewhat related to the topic of Birds:
A book for those into light fiction.
Birdy, by William Wharton 1978, 360 pages.
A novel about a boy named Birdy and his friend Al, both who grow up in a Philidelphia suburb just before WW2. Birdy is fascinated by pigeons.
Once the boys are in High School, Al’s attention shifts to girls, but Birdy moves from pigeons to canaries. He eventually raises an entire aviary. Birdy becomes devoted to his canaries, and tries to help them achieve some level of sublime perfection, perfection of form and purpose he will never have. This book is eccentric and a little bit sad, but also adventurous and compelling.
One of the most unusual short novels I’ve ever read.
Very nice. Thanks for posting.
Birdy ping in memory of Swampsniper.
Thanks...those are lovely.
I miss Swampsniper too.
Thanks!
Thanks for the ping.
I love the Barred Owl - the brown-eyed owls are the prettiest.
The founder of Wild Birds Unlimited has an owl box on his property, and seems to have pairs nesting in it every year. He puts a webcam online in conjunction with the Cornell Bird Cams Project so that you can see them nesting and the babies growing. It was fascinating to watch this year, and I’m looking forward to the next brood:
Highlights from last Spring:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I7tjk6Z4VM
https://www.wbu.com/owl-box-history/
Thank you for the ping.
Great pictures, Chipper.
SwampsniperIP, Swampsniper.
Great photos!
Beautiful! Thanks for the great ping.
Thank you for those lovely photos.
You’re a great photographer.
Nice...
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