F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 160.
Sandhill Crane
What bird can lift the most?
A crane.
Interesting Fact: The Sandhill Crane’s call is a loud, rolling, trumpeting sound whose unique tone is a product of anatomy: Sandhill Cranes have long tracheas (windpipes) that coil into the sternum and help the sound develop a lower pitch and harmonics that add richness. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Sandhill_Crane/lifehistory )
F/8.0, 1/1000, ISO 200.
Sanderling
Bobby: “I am on my sea food diet right now”
Joey: “How does it work?”
Bobby: “Whenever I see food I eat it!”
Interesting Fact: Long-distance migrant. Some Sanderlings travel as few as 1,800 miles to coastal New England, while others fly more than 6,000 miles to temperate South America. Even individuals that winter on the same beach can take different migration routes and may end up on different breeding grounds. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Sanderling/lifehistory )
F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 400.
American Goldfinch
An angry wife was complaining about her husband spending all his free time in a bar, so one night he took her along with him. “What’ll you have?” he asked.
“Oh, I don’t know. The same as you I suppose,” she replied.
So, the husband ordered a couple of Jack Daniel’s and threw his down in one shot. His wife watched him, then took a sip from her glass and immediately spat it out.
“Yuck, that’s TERRIBLE!” she spluttered. “I don’t know how you can drink this stuff!”
“Well, there you go,” cried the husband. “And you think I’m out enjoying myself every night!”
Interesting Fact: American Goldfinches are the only finch that molts its body feathers twice a year, once in late winter and again in late summer. The brightening yellow of male goldfinches each spring is one welcome mark of approaching warm months. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Goldfinch/lifehistory )
F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 250.
Ring-necked Duck
Why did the duck go to jail?
Because he got caught selling quack.
Interesting Fact: Ring-necked Ducks on their breeding grounds occasionally get attacked by the much larger Common Loon, the Red-necked Grebe, and even the much smaller Pied-billed Grebe. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ring-necked_Duck/lifehistory )
F/13.0, 1/500, ISO 800.
Northern Cardinal ( Female )
Why couldn’t the leopard play hide and seek?
Because he was always spotted.
Interesting Fact: A week or two before the female starts building, she starts to visit possible nest sites with the male following along. The pair call back and forth and hold nesting material in their bills as they assess each site. Nests tend to be wedged into a fork of small branches in a sapling, shrub, or vine tangle, 1-15 feet high and hidden in dense foliage. They use many kinds of trees and shrubs, including dogwood, honeysuckle, hawthorn, grape, redcedar, spruce, pines, hemlock, rose bushes, blackberry brambles, elms, sugar maples, and box elders. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Cardinal/lifehistory )
F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 320.
American Coot
What did the rug say to the floor?
Don’t move, I’ve got you covered.
Interesting Fact: Although it swims like a duck, the American Coot does not have webbed feet like a duck. Instead, each one of the coot’s long toes has broad lobes of skin that help it kick through the water. The broad lobes fold back each time the bird lifts its foot, so it doesn’t impede walking on dry land, though it supports the bird’s weight on mucky ground. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/american_coot )
F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 250.
Sandhill Crane
Where do fortune tellers dance?
At the crystal ball.
Interesting Fact: The earliest Sandhill Crane fossil, estimated to be 2.5 million years old, was unearthed in the Macasphalt Shell Pit in Florida. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Sandhill_Crane/ )
F/6.3, 1/160, ISO 160.
Butterfly
What do you call a belt with a watch on it?
A waist of time.
Interesting Fact: Butterflies in their adult stage can live from a week to nearly a year depending on the species. Many species have long larval life stages while others can remain dormant in their pupal or egg stages and thereby survive winters.[30] The Melissa Arctic (Oeneis melissa) overwinters twice as a caterpillar.[31] Butterflies may have one or more broods per year. The number of generations per year varies from temperate to tropical regions with tropical regions showing a trend towards multivoltinism. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly#Biology )
F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 320.
Brown Creeper
How do you make a tissue dance?
Put a little boogie in it.
Interesting Fact: The Brown Creeper builds a hammock-like nest behind a loosened flap of bark on a dead or dying tree. It wasn’t until 1879 that naturalists discovered this unique nesting strategy. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown_Creeper/lifehistory )
F/11.0, 1/500, ISO 200.
Snowy Egret
A little boy asked his father, “Daddy, how much does it cost to get married?”
And the father replied, “I don’t know, son, I’m still paying for it.”
Interesting Fact: During the breeding season, adult Snowy Egrets develop long, wispy feathers on their backs, necks, and heads. In 1886 these plumes were valued at $32 per ounce, which was twice the price of gold at the time. Plume-hunting for the fashion industry killed many Snowy Egrets and other birds until reforms were passed in the early twentieth century. The recovery of shorebird populations through the work of concerned citizens was an early triumph and helped give birth to the conservation movement. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Snowy_Egret )
Through Open Lens 