F/11.0, 1/500, ISO 320.
Green-Winged Teal
Why aren’t there any famous skeletons?
They’re a bunch of no bodies.
Interesting Fact: The oldest known Green-winged Teal was at least 20 years and 3 months, based on banding data. It was a female banded in 1941 in Oklahoma, and recovered by a hunter 1960 in Missouri. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Green-winged_Teal/lifehistory )
F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 320.
Downy Woodpecker
What’s the problem with twin witches?
You never know which witch is which.
Interesting Fact: Downy Woodpeckers nest in dead trees or in dead parts of live trees. They typically choose a small stub (averaging around 7 inches in diameter) that leans away from the vertical, and place the entrance hole on the underside. Nest trees are often deciduous and the wood is often infected with a fungus that softens the wood, making excavating easier. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Downy_Woodpecker/lifehistory )
F/6.3, 1/320, ISO 400.
Song Sparrow
What did the Mummy movie director say when the final scene was done?
Ok, that’s a wrap.
Interesting Fact: Some scientists think that Song Sparrows of wet, coastal areas have darker plumage as a defense against feather mites and other decay agents that thrive in humid climates. The darker plumage contains more of a pigment called melanin, which makes feathers tougher and harder to degrade than lighter, unpigmented feathers. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Song_Sparrow/lifehistory )
F/13.0, 1/640, ISO 400.
Cedar Waxwing
Why was Tigger looking inside the toilet
He was looking for Pooh!
Interesting Fact: Many birds that eat a lot of fruit separate out the seeds and regurgitate them, but the Cedar Waxwing lets them pass right through. Scientists have used this trait to estimate how fast waxwings can digest fruits. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Cedar_Waxwing/lifehistory )
F/5.6, 1/500, ISO 250.
Black-bellied Plover ( Juvenile )
I went to a seafood disco last week… and pulled a mussel.
Interesting Fact: Wary and quick to give alarm calls, the Black-bellied Plover functions worldwide as a sentinel for mixed groups of shorebirds. These qualities allowed it to resist market hunters, and it remained common when populations of other species of similar size were devastated. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-bellied_Plover/overview )
F/7.1, 1/200, ISO 320.
Pileated Woodpecker
What did one eyeball say to the other eyeball?
Between you and me something smells.
Interesting Fact: A Pileated Woodpecker pair stays together on its territory all year round. It will defend the territory in all seasons, but will tolerate new arrivals during the winter. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pileated_Woodpecker/lifehistory )
F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 250.
Bufflehead Duck ( Female )
Why are trees very forgiving?
Because in the Fall they “Let It Go” and in the Spring they “turn over a new leaf”.
Interesting Fact: Unlike most ducks, the Bufflehead is mostly monogamous, often remaining with the same mate for several years. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bufflehead/lifehistory )
F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 250.
Brant Goose
What’s red and bad for your teeth?
A brick.
Interesting Fact: It used to be a strictly coastal bird in winter, seldom leaving tidal estuaries, where it feeds on eel-grass (Zostera marina) and the seaweed, sea lettuce (Ulva). On the east coast of North America, the inclusion of sea lettuce is a recent change to their diet, brought about by a blight on eelgrass in 1931. This resulted in the near-extirpation of the brant. The few that survived changed their diet to include sea lettuce until the eelgrass eventually began to return. Brants have maintained this diet ever since as a survival strategy.[6] In recent decades, it has started using agricultural land a short distance inland, feeding extensively on grass and winter-sown cereals. This may be behavior learned by following other species of geese. Food resource pressure may also be important in forcing this change, as the world population has risen over 10-fold to 400,000-500,000 by the mid-1980s, possibly reaching the carrying capacity of the estuaries. In the breeding season, it uses low-lying wet coastal tundra for both breeding and feeding. The nest is bowl-shaped, lined with grass and down, in an elevated location, often in a small pond. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brant_(goose) )
F/6.3, 1/125, ISO 100.
Rufous Hummingbird
What do you do with a sick boat?
Take it to the doc.
Interesting Fact: The Rufous Hummingbird has an excellent memory for location, no doubt helping it find flowers from day to day, or even year to year. Some birds have been seen returning from migration and investigating where a feeder had been the previous year, even though it had since been moved. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Rufous_Hummingbird/lifehistory )
F/6.3, 1/100, ISO 500.
Wild Turkeys ( Male )
A blonde driving a car became lost in a snowstorm.
She didn’t panic however, because she remembered what her dad had once told her. “If you ever get stuck in a snowstorm, just wait for a snow plow to come by and follow it.”
Sure enough, pretty soon a snow plow came by, and she started to follow it.
She followed the plow for about forty-five minutes. Finally the driver of the truck got out and asked her what she was doing.
And she explained that her dad had told her if she ever got stuck in a snow storm, to follow a plow.
The driver nodded and said, “Well, I’m done with the Wal-Mart parking lot, do you want to follow me over to Best Buy now?”
Interesting Fact: Wild Turkeys nest on the ground in dead leaves at the bases of trees, under brush piles or thick shrubbery, or occasionally in open hayfields. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wild_Turkey/lifehistory )
Through Open Lens 