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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 )

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 )

This Way To The Airport, We Flying South!

February 29, 2016 — 16 Comments

Wild Turkeys

F/6.3, 1/125, ISO 320.

Wild Turkeys  

A lady was picking through the frozen turkeys at the grocery store, but couldn’t find one big enough for her family. She asked the stock boy, ‘Do these turkeys get any bigger?’

The stock boy answered, ‘No ma’am, they’re dead.’

Interesting Fact: When they need to, Turkeys can swim by tucking their wings in close, spreading their tails, and kicking. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wild_Turkey/lifehistory )

LA LA LA LA!!!

February 6, 2016 — 15 Comments

White throated Sparrow

F/ 9.0, 1/320, ISO 320.

White-throated Sparrow

What do you call a rooster who wakes you up at the same time every morning ?

An alarm cluck !

Interesting Fact: White-throated Sparrows typically nest on or near the ground. Occasional nests are built up to 15 feet off the ground in conifers. Usually, these nests are second attempts after a pair has had a ground nest robbed by a predator. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-throated_Sparrow/lifehistory )

Knock Knock!

February 5, 2016 — 22 Comments

Downy Woodpecker

F/ 9.0, 1/320, ISO 320

Downy Woodpecker

What do you get if you cross a woodpecker with a carrier pigeon ?

A bird who knocks before delivering its message !

Interesting Fact: The Downy Woodpecker eats foods that larger woodpeckers cannot reach, such as insects living on or in the stems of weeds. You may see them hammering at goldenrod galls to extract the fly larvae inside. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Downy_Woodpecker/lifehistory )

Red Means Stop!

February 4, 2016 — 23 Comments

Northern Cardinal male

F/ 8.0, 1/250, ISO 320.

Northern Cardinal ( Male  )

What goes ‘peck, bang, peck, bang, peck, bang’ ?

A bunch of chickens in a field full of balloons !

Interesting Fact: The male cardinal fiercely defends its breeding territory from other males. When a male sees its reflection in glass surfaces, it frequently will spend hours fighting the imaginary intruder. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Cardinal/lifehistory )