Month: March 2016

Wazzaap! Through Open Lens Turns 2 Today!

March 7, 2016 — 74 Comments

It has been two years since my first post and what a great two years it has been!  Thank You everyone for your support and I hope to continue entertaining you all throughout many years to come.

Great Blue Heron Wazzaap!

F/11.0, 1/500, ISO 640.

Great Blue Heron

A man is boasting to his buddies that he is taking his wife to Rome for their 40th wedding anniversary.
“What will you do for your 50th?” one of them asks.
“I’ll go and get her.”

Interesting Fact: Thanks to specially shaped neck vertebrae, Great Blue Herons can quickly strike prey at a distance.  ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Blue_Heron/lifehistory )

I Can See My Nest From Here!

March 6, 2016 — 12 Comments

Osprey

F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 500.

Osprey

What do you get when a chicken lays an egg on top of a barn?

An eggroll!

Interesting Fact: Ospreys are excellent anglers. Over several studies, Ospreys caught fish on at least 1 in every 4 dives, with success rates sometimes as high as 70 percent. The average time they spent hunting before making a catch was about 12 minutes—something to think about next time you throw your line in the water. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Osprey/lifehistory )

Quack Off!!!

March 5, 2016 — 21 Comments

Northern Shoveler

F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 400.

Northern Shoveler

What do you get when a duck bends over?

It’s Buttquack

Interesting Fact: When flushed off the nest, a female Northern Shoveler often defecates on its eggs, apparently to deter predators. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Shoveler/lifehistory )

Arguing Isn’t Communication , It’s Noise!

March 4, 2016 — 26 Comments

Monk Parakeets

F/7.1, 1/250, ISO 100.

Monk Parakeets

One day a man goes to a pet shop to buy a parrot. The assistant takes the man to the parrot section and asks the man to choose one. The man asks, ”How much is the yellow one?”
The assistant says, ”
2000.” The man is shocked and asks the assistant why it’s so expensive. The assistant explains, ”This parrot is a very special one. He knows typewriting and can type really fast.”
”What about the green one?” the man asks.
The assistant says, ”He costs
5000 because he knows typewriting and can answer incoming telephone calls and takes notes.”
”What about the red one?” the man asks.
The assistant says, ”That one’s
10,000.”
The man says, ”What does HE do?”
The assistant says, ”I don’t know, but the other two call him boss.”

Interesting Fact: Monk parakeets are the only member of the parrot family to build stick nests and to nest colonially. Their bulky nests provide a year-round home for the colony. The insulation these nests provide may be one reason why Monk Parakeets are able to survive cold winters. A single nest structure typically contains up to 20 nest chambers, and in extreme cases can house more than 200 nests. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Monk_Parakeet/lifehistory )

I Like To Watch What I Eat

March 3, 2016 — 18 Comments

Cooper’s Hawk 1

F/9.0. 1/320, ISO 320.

Cooper’s Hawk

On which side does a hawk have the most feathers?

On the outside.

Interesting Fact: Life is tricky for male Cooper’s Hawks. As in most hawks, males are significantly smaller than their mates. The danger is that female Cooper’s Hawks specialize in eating medium-sized birds. Males tend to be submissive to females and to listen out for reassuring call notes the females make when they’re willing to be approached. Males build the nest, then provide nearly all the food to females and young over the next 90 days before the young fledge. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Coopers_Hawk/lifehistory )

Stay Fly!

March 2, 2016 — 15 Comments

Bald Eagle ( Juvenile )

F/11.0,1/500, ISO 320.

Bald Eagle ( Juvenile )

How does a eagle greet the its prey in the water ?

“Pleased to eat you.”

Interesting Fact: Rather than do their own fishing, Bald Eagles often go after other creatures’ catches. A Bald Eagle will harass a hunting Osprey until the smaller raptor drops its prey in midair, where the eagle swoops it up. A Bald Eagle may even snatch a fish directly out of an Osprey’s talons. Fishing mammals (even people sometimes) can also lose prey to Bald Eagle piracy. See an example here. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bald_Eagle/lifehistory )

I Have A Very Particular Set Of Skills To Find You

March 1, 2016 — 13 Comments

Merlin

F/11.0, 1/500, ISO 250.

Merlin

Two birds in a tree looking down on a man washing his car.
“If he doesn’t hurry up and finish,” says one bird to the
other, “I’ll poop myself.”

Interesting Fact: Merlins don’t build their own nests. Instead, they take over the old nests of other raptors or crows. They also use magpie nests, sometimes laying eggs right on top of the nest’s dome rather than inside the cavity. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Merlin/lifehistory )