F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 400.
Harlequin Duck
What do you call a crate of ducks?
A box of quackers!
Interesting Fact: Also called the Sea mouse because of its very unducklike squeaks. Other names include Circus duck or painted duck for its beautiful colors. ( http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/360/overview/Harlequin_Duck.aspx )
F/13.0, 1/640, ISO 320.
Some people can tell what time it is by looking at the sun.
But I have never been able to make out the numbers.
Interesting Fact: Sunset colors are typically more brilliant than sunrise colors, because the evening air contains more particles than morning air. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunset#Historically )
F/5.6, 1/500, ISO 200.
Marbled Godwit
Why does it take pirates so long to learn the alphabet?
Because they spend years at C!
Interesting Fact: It often inserts its entire bill into the mud, and its head is totally submerged at times. ( http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/251/overview/Marbled_Godwit.aspx )
F/8.0, 1/250, IOS 320.
Crocus
What did the big flower say to the little one?
You’re really growing, bud!
Interesting Fact: The first crocus seen in the Netherlands, where crocus species are not native, were from corms brought back in the 1560s from Constantinople by the Holy Roman Emperor’s ambassador to the Sublime Porte, Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq. A few corms were forwarded to Carolus Clusius at the botanical garden in Leiden. By 1620, the approximate date of Ambrosius Bosschaert‘s painting (illustration, below), new garden varieties had been developed, such as the cream-colored crocus feathered with bronze at the base of the bouquet, similar to varieties still on the market. Bosschaert, working from a preparatory drawing to paint his composed piece spanning the whole of spring, exaggerated the crocus so that it passes for a tulip, but its narrow, grass-like leaves give it away. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crocus#History )
Happy First Day Of Spring!
F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 320.
Narcissus ( Daffodils )
When do people start using their trampoline?
Spring-Time
Interesting Fact: Spring is one of the four conventional temperate seasons, following winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of the term varies according to local climate, cultures and customs. When it is spring in the Northern Hemisphere, it will be autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. At the spring equinox, days are approximately 12 hours long with day length increasing as the season progresses. Spring and “springtime” refer to the season, and also to ideas of rebirth, rejuvenation, renewal, resurrection and regrowth. Subtropical and tropical areas have climates better described in terms of other seasons, e.g. dry or wet, monsoonal or cyclonic. Often, cultures have locally defined names for seasons which have little equivalence to the terms originating in Europe. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_(season)#Meteorological_reckoning )
F/9.0, 1/200, ISO 100.
Ring-billed Gull
What do you get when you cross a bird and a lawn mower?
Shredded tweet.
Interesting Fact: Many, if not most, Ring-billed Gulls return to breed at the colony where they hatched. Once they have bred, they are likely to return to the same breeding spot each year, often nesting within a few meters of the last year’s nest site. Many individuals return to the same wintering sites each winter too. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ring-billed_Gull/lifehistory )
F/6.3, 1/640, ISO 200.
Mallard
What says “Quick, Quick”?
A duck with the hiccups.
Interesting Fact: The standard duck’s quack is the sound of a female Mallard. Males don’t quack; they make a quieter, rasping sound. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mallard/lifehistory )
F/6.3, 1/125, ISO 800.
Blue Jay
How do blue jays stay fit?
Wormups.
Interesting Fact: Thousands of Blue Jays migrate in flocks along the Great Lakes and Atlantic coasts, but much about their migration remains a mystery. Some are present throughout winter in all parts of their range. Young jays may be more likely to migrate than adults, but many adults also migrate. Some individual jays migrate south one year, stay north the next winter, and then migrate south again the next year. No one has worked out why they migrate when they do. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Blue_Jay/lifehistory )
F/6.3, 1/500, ISO 200.
Canvasback
Chickens rise when the rooster crows, but when do ducks get up?
At the quack of dawn!
Interesting Fact: The Canvasback is a very good flier and can reach speeds of up to 70 mph. ( http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/100/overview/Canvasback.aspx )
F/6.0, 1/500, ISO 220.
American Robin
What happened when Batman and Robin got run over by a steamroller?
They became Flatman and Ribbon!
Interesting Fact: Robin roosts can be huge, sometimes including a quarter-million birds during winter. In summer, females sleep at their nests and males gather at roosts. As young robins become independent, they join the males. Female adults go to the roosts only after they have finished nesting. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Robin/lifehistory )
Through Open Lens 