Tamron

Move Along There’s Nothing To See Here!

September 15, 2015 — 18 Comments

Cooper's Hawk

F/6.3, 1/800, ISO 800.

Cooper’s Hawk

Day 258 / 365

“Look at that speed!” said one hawk to another as the jet fighter plane hurtled over their heads.

“Hmph!” snorted the other. “You would fly fast too if your tail was on fire!”

Interesting Fact: A Cooper’s Hawk captures a bird with its feet and kills it by repeated squeezing. Falcons tend to kill their prey by biting it, but Cooper’s Hawks hold their catch away from the body until it dies. They’ve even been known to drown their prey, holding a bird underwater until it stopped moving. ( http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Coopers_Hawk/lifehistory )

 

You Make Me Blush!

September 14, 2015 — 23 Comments

House Finch

F/ 6.3, 1/640, ISO 800.

House Finch

Day 257 / 365

Why do birds lay eggs?

If they dropped them, they d break!

Interesting Fact: The House Finch was originally a bird of the western United States and Mexico. In 1940 a small number of finches were turned loose on Long Island, New York, after failed attempts to sell them as cage birds (“Hollywood finches”). They quickly started breeding and spread across almost all of the eastern United States and southern Canada within the next 50 years. ( http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/House_Finch/lifehistory )

I Don’t Think You Want To Pull His Finger

September 13, 2015 — 12 Comments

Skunk

F/6.3, 1/160, ISO 1600.

Skunk

Day 256 / 365

Have you heard the skunk joke?

You don’t want to; it really stinks!

Interesting Fact: Skunks are legendary for their powerful predator-deterrent—a hard-to-remove, horrible-smelling spray. A skunk’s spray is an oily liquid produced by glands under its large tail. To employ this scent bomb, a skunk turns around and blasts its foe with a foul mist that can travel as far as ten feet (three meters). ( http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/skunk/ )

I Want To Fly Like An Eagle

September 12, 2015 — 10 Comments

American Kestrel 1

F/6.3, 1/800, ISO 800.

American Kestrel

Day 255 / 365

Why did the American Kestrel cross the road, roll in the mud, and cross back?

He was a dirty double-crosser!

Interesting Fact: When nature calls, nestling kestrels back up, raise their tails, and squirt feces onto the walls of the nest cavity. The feces dry on the cavity walls and stay off the nestlings. The nest gets to be a smelly place, with feces on the walls and uneaten parts of small animals on the floor. ( http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Kestrel/lifehistory )

 

Yellow Is Back!

September 9, 2015 — 12 Comments

Yellow Warbler 2

F/6.3, 1/500, ISO 1600.

Yellow Warbler

Day 252 / 365

Daughter: Mom, can I have a yellow bird for Christmas?
Mom: NO! You’ll have turkey like everyone else.

Interesting Fact: Yellow Warblers forage along slender branches of shrubs and small trees, picking off insect prey as they go or briefly hovering to get at prey on leaves. Singing males perch near the tops of the bushes or trees in their territory. As male Yellow Warblers are setting up territories they may perform a “circle flight” in which they fly toward a neighboring male or female in a horizontal, semicircular path. A male may also fly slowly with fast, exaggerated wingbeats away from a female he is courting or a male he is competing with. As these territorial encounters proceed, males start by singing at each other; as the dispute goes on, the songs get quieter or switch to chip notes as the males begin to chase each other. Yellow Warblers typically form monogamous pairs that sometimes last more than one breeding season and reform the next. Yellow Warblers defend their nesting territories from many species, including other warbler species, chickadees, House Wrens, blackbirds, and Eastern Kingbirds. They may even chase off other warbler species while on their wintering grounds. Common predators of Yellow Warbler nests include garter snakes, red squirrels, jays, crows, raccoons, weasels, skunks, and domestic or feral cats. ( http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow_Warbler/lifehistory )

Ta-Da!!!

September 8, 2015 — 23 Comments

Clothespins

F/5.6, 1/60, ISO 100.

Day 251 / 365

What did the first sock say to the second sock in the dryer?

I’ll see you the next time around

Interesting Fact: The survival of the spring-hinged clothespin into the modern era is an unlikely story of Darwinian selection. From 1852 to 1887, the U.S. patent office issued 146 separate patents for clothespins. The first design that resembles the modern clothespin was patented in 1853 by David M. Smith, a prolific Vermont inventor. Smith also invented a combination lock, a “lathe dog” (a machine part for shaping metal) and a lifting spring for matchboxes. His “spring-clamp for clothes-lines” offered an elegant model of “two levers” hinged so that “the two longer legs may be moved toward each other and at the same time move the shorter ones apart.” Smith’s design was later improved by the 1887 patent of another Vermont inventor, Solon E. Moore, whose great contribution was the “coiled fulcrum,” made from a single wire, which joined the two grooved pieces of wood at the center of the clothespin. Moore’s version had the advantage of being both sturdy — it kept clothes securely on the line — and easy to manufacture. ( http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/magazine/who-made-that-clothespin.html?_r=0 )

I Have To Stop Clowning Myself.

September 5, 2015 — 2 Comments

American Oystercatcher

F/6.3, 1/1600, ISO 400.

American Oystercatchers

Day 248 / 365

What did the egg say to the other egg?
You crack me up!

Interesting Fact: American Oystercatchers insert their long blade-like bills into mussels and other bivalves, severing the powerful adductor muscles before the shells can close. ( http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/1013/overview/American_Oystercatcher.aspx )

This Fence Can’t Hold Me! I’m Breaking Out!

September 4, 2015 — 6 Comments

Yellow-breasted Chat

F/6.3, 1/640, ISO 800.

Yellow-breasted Chat

Day 247 / 365

Why did the Yellow-breasted Chat scale the chain-link fence?

To see what was on the other side.

Interesting Fact: Unlike most warblers, this species has been known to mimic the calls of other birds, and it’s the largest North American warbler.  ( http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/342/overview/Yellow-breasted_Chat.aspx )

You Can’t See Me I’m A Flower!

September 1, 2015 — 12 Comments

The American Goldfinch

F/6.3, 1/800, ISO 800.

The American Goldfinch

Day 244 / 365

Why did the little bird get in trouble at school?

He got caught peeping on a test.

Interesting Fact: The American Goldfinch changes from winter plumage to breeding plumage by a complete molt of its body feathers. It is the only member of its family to have this second molt in the spring; all the other species have just one molt each year in the fall. ( http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/91/_/American_Goldfinch.aspx )

Bad Hair Day!

August 31, 2015 — 8 Comments

Red-tailed Hawks1

F/ 6.3, 1/1000, ISO 500.

Red-tailed Hawk

Day 243 / 365

How do witches keep their hair in place while flying?
With scare spray.

Interesting Fact: Red-tailed Hawks have a very keen eyesight that is 8 times as powerful as a human’s, allowing them to see prey as small as a mouse from 100 feet (~30 meters) away. ( http://beautyofbirds.com/redtailedhawks.html )