F/11.0, 1/500, ISO 500.
Ruddy Duck
What is crazy and walks along the sides of buildings?
A walnut.
Interesting Fact: Ruddy Ducks are very aggressive toward each other and toward other species, especially during the breeding season. Unlike most ducks, they form pairs only after arriving on the breeding grounds each year. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ruddy_Duck/lifehistory )
F/13.0, 1/640, ISO 400.
Semipalmated Sandpipers
What is a bunny’s favorite music?
Hip-hop.
Interesting Fact: The Semipalmated Sandpiper gets its common name from the short webs between its toes (“palmated” means webbed). The Western Sandpiper is the only other small sandpiper with similarly webbed toes. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Semipalmated_Sandpiper/lifehistory )
F/5.6, 1/500, ISO 100.
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron ( Juvenile )
Why did the boy eat his homework?
Because his teacher said it was a piece of cake!
Interesting Fact: Yellow-crowned Night-Herons forage both during the day and at night—in coastal areas the tide can trump the time of day: most foraging occurs from 3 hours before high tide to 3 hours after. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow-crowned_Night-Heron/lifehistory )
F/6.3, 1/400, ISO 400.
Green-Winged Teal
How do you make a tissue dance?
Put a little boogie in it.
Interesting Fact: The Aleutian Islands of Alaska support their own race of Green-winged Teal, Anas crecca nimia. Unlike other Green-winged Teal populations, this race doesn’t migrate. In winter the birds move from summering sites on ponds and lakes to the islands’ beaches, where they forage in tide pools and on shallow-water reefs. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Green-winged_Teal/lifehistory )
F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 500.
Savannah Sparrow
What can you catch but not in your hands?
A cold!
Interesting Fact: In many parts of the species’ range, especially in coastal areas and islands, Savannah Sparrows tend very strongly to return each year to the area where they hatched. This tendency, called natal philopatry, is the driving force for differentiation of numerous Savannah Sparrow subspecies. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Savannah_Sparrow/lifehistory )
F/7.1, 1/200, ISO 320.
Tufted Titmouse
A tourist was being led through the swamps of Florida.
“Is it true,” he asked, “that an alligator won’t attack you if you carry a flashlight?”
“That depends,” replied the guide, “on how fast you carry the flashlight.”
Interesting Fact: The oldest known wild Tufted Titmouse was at least 13 years, 3 months old. It was banded in Virginia in 1962, and found in the same state in 1974. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Tufted_Titmouse/lifehistory )
F/7.1, 1/200, ISO 320.
Black-and-white Warbler
What do you call a guy who never farts in public?
A private tutor.
Interesting Fact: The Black-and-white Warbler is the only member of the genus Mniotilta. The genus name means “moss-plucking,” a reference to its habit of probing bark and moss for insects. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-and-white_Warbler )
F/6.3, 1/500, ISO 1000.
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Two fish are in a tank.
One turns to the other and says, “Hey, do you know how to drive this thing?”
Interesting Fact: Although it used to nest almost exclusively in boreal spruce-fir forests, the Golden-crowned Kinglet has been expanding its breeding range southward into conifer stands of the Midwest and Appalachians. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Golden-crowned_Kinglet/lifehistory )
F/7.1, 1/200, ISO 320.
Palm Warbler
Why didn’t the sailors play cards?
Because the captain was on the deck.
Interesting Fact: Canada’s boreal forests stretch for miles and miles. The great boreal forest, often called “North America’s bird nursery,” is the summer home to billions of migratory birds and an estimated 98% of all Palm Warblers. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Palm_Warbler )
F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 200.
Killdeer
What’s the difference between a guitar and a fish?
You can tune a guitar, but you can’t tuna fish.
Interesting Fact: Gravel rooftops attract Killdeer for nesting, but can be dangerous places to raise a brood. Chicks may be unable to leave a roof because of high parapets and screened drain openings. Adults eventually lure chicks off the roof, which can be dangerous – although one set of chicks survived a leap from a seven-story building. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Killdeer )
Through Open Lens 