F/ 6.3, 1/60, ISO 1600.
American Robin
Day 259 / 365
What did the cat say after eating two robins lying in the sun?
I just love baskin’ robins.
Interesting Fact: Robins eat different types of food depending on the time of day: more earthworms in the morning and more fruit later in the day. Because the robin forages largely on lawns, it is vulnerable to pesticide poisoning and can be an important indicator of chemical pollution. ( http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Robin/lifehistory )
F/6.3, 1/800, ISO 800.
Cooper’s Hawk
Day 258 / 365
“Look at that speed!” said one hawk to another as the jet fighter plane hurtled over their heads.
“Hmph!” snorted the other. “You would fly fast too if your tail was on fire!”
Interesting Fact: A Cooper’s Hawk captures a bird with its feet and kills it by repeated squeezing. Falcons tend to kill their prey by biting it, but Cooper’s Hawks hold their catch away from the body until it dies. They’ve even been known to drown their prey, holding a bird underwater until it stopped moving. ( http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Coopers_Hawk/lifehistory )
F/ 6.3, 1/640, ISO 800.
House Finch
Day 257 / 365
Why do birds lay eggs?
If they dropped them, they d break!
Interesting Fact: The House Finch was originally a bird of the western United States and Mexico. In 1940 a small number of finches were turned loose on Long Island, New York, after failed attempts to sell them as cage birds (“Hollywood finches”). They quickly started breeding and spread across almost all of the eastern United States and southern Canada within the next 50 years. ( http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/House_Finch/lifehistory )
F/6.3, 1/160, ISO 1600.
Skunk
Day 256 / 365
Have you heard the skunk joke?
You don’t want to; it really stinks!
Interesting Fact: Skunks are legendary for their powerful predator-deterrent—a hard-to-remove, horrible-smelling spray. A skunk’s spray is an oily liquid produced by glands under its large tail. To employ this scent bomb, a skunk turns around and blasts its foe with a foul mist that can travel as far as ten feet (three meters). ( http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/skunk/ )
F/6.3, 1/800, ISO 800.
American Kestrel
Day 255 / 365
Why did the American Kestrel cross the road, roll in the mud, and cross back?
He was a dirty double-crosser!
Interesting Fact: When nature calls, nestling kestrels back up, raise their tails, and squirt feces onto the walls of the nest cavity. The feces dry on the cavity walls and stay off the nestlings. The nest gets to be a smelly place, with feces on the walls and uneaten parts of small animals on the floor. ( http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Kestrel/lifehistory )
F/6.3, 1/500, ISO 1600.
Yellow Warbler
Day 252 / 365
Daughter: Mom, can I have a yellow bird for Christmas?
Mom: NO! You’ll have turkey like everyone else.
Interesting Fact: Yellow Warblers forage along slender branches of shrubs and small trees, picking off insect prey as they go or briefly hovering to get at prey on leaves. Singing males perch near the tops of the bushes or trees in their territory. As male Yellow Warblers are setting up territories they may perform a “circle flight” in which they fly toward a neighboring male or female in a horizontal, semicircular path. A male may also fly slowly with fast, exaggerated wingbeats away from a female he is courting or a male he is competing with. As these territorial encounters proceed, males start by singing at each other; as the dispute goes on, the songs get quieter or switch to chip notes as the males begin to chase each other. Yellow Warblers typically form monogamous pairs that sometimes last more than one breeding season and reform the next. Yellow Warblers defend their nesting territories from many species, including other warbler species, chickadees, House Wrens, blackbirds, and Eastern Kingbirds. They may even chase off other warbler species while on their wintering grounds. Common predators of Yellow Warbler nests include garter snakes, red squirrels, jays, crows, raccoons, weasels, skunks, and domestic or feral cats. ( http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow_Warbler/lifehistory )
F/6.3, 1/1600, ISO 400.
American Oystercatchers
Day 248 / 365
What did the egg say to the other egg?
You crack me up!
Interesting Fact: American Oystercatchers insert their long blade-like bills into mussels and other bivalves, severing the powerful adductor muscles before the shells can close. ( http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/1013/overview/American_Oystercatcher.aspx )
F/6.3, 1/640, ISO 800.
Yellow-breasted Chat
Day 247 / 365
Why did the Yellow-breasted Chat scale the chain-link fence?
To see what was on the other side.
Interesting Fact: Unlike most warblers, this species has been known to mimic the calls of other birds, and it’s the largest North American warbler. ( http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/342/overview/Yellow-breasted_Chat.aspx )
F/6.3, 1/800, ISO 800.
The American Goldfinch
Day 244 / 365
Why did the little bird get in trouble at school?
He got caught peeping on a test.
Interesting Fact: The American Goldfinch changes from winter plumage to breeding plumage by a complete molt of its body feathers. It is the only member of its family to have this second molt in the spring; all the other species have just one molt each year in the fall. ( http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/91/_/American_Goldfinch.aspx )
F/ 6.3, 1/1000, ISO 500.
Red-tailed Hawk
Day 243 / 365
How do witches keep their hair in place while flying?
With scare spray.
Interesting Fact: Red-tailed Hawks have a very keen eyesight that is 8 times as powerful as a human’s, allowing them to see prey as small as a mouse from 100 feet (~30 meters) away. ( http://beautyofbirds.com/redtailedhawks.html )
Through Open Lens 