Northern

Look, I Found Your Business…. It Was All Up In Mine Again!

January 30, 2023 — 10 Comments

F/7.1, 1/200, ISO 320.

Northern Cardinal ( Female )

How do you make a lemon drop?

Just let it fall.

Interesting Fact: Northern Cardinals eat mainly seeds and fruit, supplementing these with insects (and feeding nestlings mostly insects). Common fruits and seeds include dogwood, wild grape, buckwheat, grasses, sedges, mulberry, hackberry, blackberry, sumac, tulip-tree, and corn. Cardinals eat many kinds of birdseed, particularly black oil sunflower seed. They also eat beetles, crickets, katydids, leafhoppers, cicadas, flies, centipedes, spiders, butterflies, and moths. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Cardinal/lifehistory )

Are You Mocking Me?

January 29, 2023 — 17 Comments

F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 250.

Northern Mockingbird

What do you call a snowman in July?

A puddle.

Interesting Fact: It’s not just other mockingbirds that appreciate a good song. In the nineteenth century, people kept so many mockingbirds as cage birds that the birds nearly vanished from parts of the East Coast. People took nestlings out of nests or trapped adults and sold them in cities such as Philadelphia, St. Louis, and New York, where, in 1828, extraordinary singers could fetch as much as $50. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Mockingbird/lifehistory )

Save Water Take Baths With A Friend!

December 27, 2022 — Leave a comment

F/11.0, 1/500, ISO 400.

Northern Shoveler

What did the duck say when he dropped the dishes?

“I hope I didn’t quack any!”

Interesting Fact: Females use their body, feet, and bill to make a small depression on the ground about 8 inches wide. The nest scrape is usually surrounded on at least three sides by vegetation and lined with downy feathers. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Shoveler/lifehistory )

 

 

If The Mud Ain’t Flying You Ain’t Trying!

February 27, 2022 — 8 Comments

F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 320.

Northern Pintail Duck

How do crazy people go through the forest?

They take the psycho path.

Interesting Fact: When it comes to breeding, Northern Pintails don’t waste any time. They start nesting as soon as the ice starts to thaw, arriving by late April in places as far north as the Northwest Territories, Canada. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Pintail/ )

Red Mean Stop And Admire!

February 20, 2022 — 29 Comments

F/6.3, 1/125, ISO 1000.

Northern Cardinal ( Male )

Did you hear the joke about the roof?

Never mind, it’s over your head!

Interesting Fact: Males sometimes bring nest material to the female, who does most of the building. She crushes twigs with her beak until they’re pliable, then turns in the nest to bend the twigs around her body and push them into a cup shape with her feet. The cup has four layers: coarse twigs (and sometimes bits of trash) covered in a leafy mat, then lined with grapevine bark and finally grasses, stems, rootlets, and pine needles. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Cardinal/lifehistory )

You Quack Me Up!

February 7, 2022 — 10 Comments

F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 250.

Northern Shoveler

At what time does a duck wake up?

At the quack of dawn.

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/overview )

Quack You, You Quacker!

January 17, 2022 — Leave a comment

F/ 10.0, 1/320, ISO 320.

Northern Shoveler 

What do you call a kid who doesn’t believe in Santa?

A rebel without a Claus.

Interesting Fact: They are often referred to as the “Spoonbill” or “Spoony” because of their unique spatulate shaped bill, which has about 110 fine projections (called lamellae) along the edges, for straining food from water.  ( http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/97/overview/Northern_Shoveler.aspx )

Finally! Spring Is Here!

March 20, 2021 — 31 Comments

F/6.3, 1/160, ISO 320.

Northern Cardinal ( Female )

What season is it best to go on a trampoline?

Spring time

Interesting Fact: The brilliant red of a male Northern Cardinal calls attention to itself when males are around. You can also find cardinals by getting a sense of the warm, red-tinged brown of females – a pattern you can learn to identify in flight. Away from backyards, cardinals are still common but inconspicuous owing to their affinity for dense tangles. Listen for their piercing chip notes to find where they are hiding. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Cardinal/overview  )

I Can See Your Butt Quack!

March 17, 2021 — 8 Comments

F/6.3, 1/500, ISO 250.

Northern Pintail 

Why are celebrities so cool?

They have a lot of fans.

Interesting Fact: Northern Pintails migrate at night at speeds around 48 miles per hour. The longest nonstop flight recorded for a Northern Pintail was 1,800 miles. ( Northern Pintail Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology )

 

 

Muddy Quack!

February 5, 2021 — 10 Comments

F/6.3, 1/250, ISO 450.

Northern Pintail Duck

What day do fish hate?

Fry-day!

Interesting Fact: The Northern Pintail is among the earliest nesting ducks in North America, beginning shortly after ice-out in many northern areas. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Pintail/lifehistory )