[boriscleto]

I haven't had any seed out all winter, my window is too fogged up for pictures anyway. So I went to the nature center for the Great Backyard Bird Count today. It was 60F in February...





















Not a bird.

[onlineflyer]

I haven't had any seed out all winter, my window is too fogged up for pictures anyway. So I went to the nature center for the Great Backyard Bird Count today. It was 60F in February...





















Not a bird.

Some very nice shots in the series.

[pepperberry farm]

I haven't had any seed out all winter, my window is too fogged up for pictures anyway. So I went to the nature center for the Great Backyard Bird Count today. It was 60F in February...

hey - so was I!

[normhead]

K-1 and Tamron 300 with F 1.7 AF adapter. (500 ƒ4.5)
3200 ISO, ƒ8, AV (1/500-1/1250s)

I was so bored I ran out to catch a few minutes of sun, but it was gone before I was even set up. Good thing the K-1 is completely dependable at 3200 ISO.

Unfortunately the place was devoid of birds or any other wildlife for the most part. You take what you can get.









Not only did I not get anything else besides these few, I didn't even see anything else. This is definitely the Feb. blahs.

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Last edited by normhead; 02-25-2017 at 02:25 PM.

[Unregistered User 8]

After a very chilly morning, these doves took advantage of a windless, sunny afternoon.

[normhead]

It's nice and sunny today.. so I went out to the blind.
K-1 or K-3
Tamron SP AF 300 2.8 LD [IF] with F 1.7 AF adapter for 510mm ƒ4.5

K-1 at 1600 ISO and ƒ11
K-3 at 400 ISO and ƒ8

The day's participants.
New today, I found a Pine Siskin in the flock of Goldfinches. Finches don't seem to mind who they hang out with, as long as they are other finches about the same size.



Goldfinches








The rest of the gang.

[normhead]

K-3 and DA* 200 2.8 with HD DA 1.4 TC (280mm ƒ4)

640 ISO, ƒ5.6, AV (1/50- 1/500s)
Some claim to not like golden hour, I always wonder, what's not to like>









And one then this morning with the Q-S1 and 60-250 with the Q2K adapter.

[aslyfox]

okay, a day or two ago, I found a mourning dove sunning itself on the rail of the back deck. I grabbed the K 3 + Smc PENTAX-D FA 100mm F2.8 Macro and snapped away

I used the Smc PENTAX-D FA 100mm F2.8 Macro because that was what was on the K 3 and I didn't know if I had time to switch out the lens. All photos were taken through the glass sliding door which was last cleaned in ???????? [frankly I am not in love with how the back ground came out with that lens.

here are some of the resulting photos, all have been extremely cropped, the last two photos are the same image, the last is uncropped so you have an idea of how extreme of a crop was used on the cropped photos.

[dadipentak]

A Merlin stopped by my tree the other day, maybe attracted by the action on my feeder.



It was a bit blustery though so he got a bit puffed up.

[aslyfox]

another visitor to the top rail of the back deck

I believe it is some type of sparrow, can anyone help with the ID

Thanks for the help from jacamar it has been ided as an "import" female house sparrow Passer domesticus

K 3 + Smc PENTAX-D FA 100mm F2.8 Macro + HD Pentax-DA 1.4x AW AF Rear Converter

photographed through glass sliding door

[jacamar]

can anyone help with the ID

Looks like yer basic female House Sparrow (an import from Europe - not related to any of the North American sparrows such as Song, White-Throated etc.)

[aslyfox]

Looks like yer basic female House Sparrow (an import from Europe - not related to any of the North American sparrows such as Song, White-Throated etc.)

thanks that was my guess

I consulted my Sibley's Guide and didn't see it with the other sparrows listed, I didn't look for House Sparrow in the index but went to the pages listing "Sparrows". I just checked and for some reason the "house" sparrow is listed separately on p 582 with the others p 512 - 529 ???

[jacamar]

That's because it's not in the same family, and the Guide is organized by family. A lot of North American birds were named after similar birds that Europeans were familiar with back home - robins, blackbirds, warblers, sparrows, flycatchers -- that weren't necessarily closely related.

Here's a male and female House Sparrow together. They were first released in North America in the mid-1800s and now they are one of the most common birds in cities..



K-3, DA*300mm

[aslyfox]

That's because it's not in the same family, and the Guide is organized by family. A lot of North American birds were named after similar birds that Europeans were familiar with back home - robins, blackbirds, warblers, sparrows, flycatchers -- that weren't necessarily closely related.

Here's a male and female House Sparrow together. They were first released in North America in the mid-1800s and now they are one of the most common birds in cities..



K-3, DA*300mm

I'm a seeker of knowledge and I award bonus points if the knowledge is helpful


you are hereby awarded bonus points


bonus points and $ will buy coffee at the diner

[boriscleto]

I'm a seeker of knowledge and I award bonus points if the knowledge is helpful


you are hereby awarded bonus points


bonus points and $ will buy coffee at the diner

Never trust nomenclature...