F/6.3, 1/1600, ISO 250.
Common Grackle
How do men exercise at the beach?
By sucking in their stomach every time they see a girl in a bikini.
Interesting Fact: Common Grackles are resourceful foragers. They sometimes follow plows to catch invertebrates and mice, wade into water to catch small fish, pick leeches off the legs of turtles, steal worms from American Robins, raid nests, and kill and eat adult birds. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Grackle/lifehistory )
F/7.1, 1/200, ISO 320.
Vesper Sparrow
Couples first day at a resort decided to hit the beach.
When the guy went back to there room to get something to drink, one of the hotel maids was making the bed.
He grabbed his cooler and was on my way out when he paused and asked, “Can we drink beer on the beach?”
“Sure,” she said, “but I have to finish the rest of the rooms beforehand.”
Interesting Fact: The Vesper Sparrow responds quickly to changes in habitat; it is often the first species to occupy reclaimed mine sites and abandon old farm fields as they return to forest. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Vesper_Sparrow/lifehistory )
F/6.3, 1/100, ISO 320.
Great Blue Heron
How do you prevent a Summer cold?
Catch it in the Winter!
Interesting Fact: The white form of the Great Blue Heron, known as the “great white heron,” is found nearly exclusively in shallow marine waters along the coast of very southern Florida, the Yucatan Peninsula, and in the Caribbean. Where the dark and white forms overlap in Florida, intermediate birds known as “Wurdemann’s herons” can be found. They have the body of a Great Blue Heron, but the white head and neck of the great white heron. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Blue_Heron/lifehistory )
F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 200.
House Finch
What did the bra say to the hat?
You go on ahead while I give these two a lift!
Interesting Fact: The total House Finch population across North America is staggering. Scientists estimate between 267 million and 1.4 billion individuals. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/House_Finch/lifehistory )
F/6.3, 1/640, ISO 200.
Great Egret
What kind of music should you listen to while fishing?
Something catchy!
Interesting Fact: The Great Egret is the symbol of the National Audubon Society, one of the oldest environmental organizations in North America. Audubon was founded to protect birds from being killed for their feathers. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/lifehistory )
F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 160.
Mourning Dove
Why did the rubber chicken cross the road?
She wanted to stretch her legs.
Interesting Fact: Mourning Doves eat roughly 12 to 20 percent of their body weight per day, or 71 calories on average. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mourning_Dove/lifehistory )
F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 250.
Eastern Towhee
Why was the math textbook so sad?
He had a lot of problems!
Interesting Fact: The Eastern Towhee and the very similar Spotted Towhee of western North America used to be considered the same species, the Rufous-sided Towhee. The two forms still occur together in the Great Plains, where they sometimes interbreed. This is a common evolutionary pattern in North American birds – a holdover from when the great ice sheets split the continent down the middle, isolating birds into eastern and western populations that eventually became new species. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eastern_Towhee/lifehistory )
F/13.0, 1/640, ISO 320.
Great Black-backed Gull
What do you call a seagull when it flies over the bay?
A bagel.
Interesting Fact: This is the largest gull in the world. Its broad wings and powerful appearance give it a regal look that have impressed naturalists for years. In the words of one early observer: “It surely seemed to be a king among the gulls, a merciless tyrant over its fellows, the largest and strongest of its tribe. No weaker gull dared to intrude upon its feudal domain.” ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Black-backed_Gull/lifehistory )
F/5.6, 1/500, ISO 360.
Western Grebe
What kind of stroke can you use on toast?
BUTTER-fly!
Interesting Fact: Folk names for this bird include Dabchick, Swan Grebe, and Swan-necked Grebe. It is the largest North American grebe. ( http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/63/overview/Western_Grebe.aspx )
Happy 4th Of July!
F/6.3, 1/320, ISO 200.
Bald Eagle
What do you call a sick eagle?
Ill-eagle!
Interesting Fact: Had Benjamin Franklin prevailed, the U.S. emblem might have been the Wild Turkey. In 1784, Franklin disparaged the national bird’s thieving tendencies and its vulnerability to harassment by small birds. “For my own part,” he wrote, “I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly. … Besides he is a rank Coward: The little King Bird not bigger than a Sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the District.” ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bald_Eagle/lifehistory )
Through Open Lens 