I believe this is a green winged teal. If I am wrong let me know. This is one of the many birds I saw in London in one of the parks.
The green winged teal is a dabbling duck. According to Ducks Unlimited they visit shallow waters such as flooded fields and marshes. They feed by tipping up rather than diving.
I am still going back to the many bird photos I took in England and trying to identify them. Happy Columbus Day if you are in the U.S. Happy Thanksgiving if you are in Canada!
This was another first for me. Owls occupy most of my birding. I saw the glossy ibis at a large wildlife refuge in Central New York during a long weekend vacation trip.
All of these are quite far away taken with a zoom lens and heavily cropped. The first day I was there they mainly stuck to hiding amongst the plants. They were farther away the first day and luckily someone at the refuge with a powerful spotting scope located and let me view them.
They seemed to stick to the island like areas in the wetlands and occasionally on the second day went in the water. They came closer the second day and these images are from then.
There were two of them. Sometimes they were close together and other times they were near to each other, but not that close.
These images are not that great, but I was happy to see them regardless. Maybe sometime in the future I can witness them up closer. Have a great week.
These are the first birds I photographed at a large wildlife refuge in Central New York. After I climbed a viewing tower they flew towards me then passed by. I only had a chance to get off one shot.
They appear to be Sand Hill Cranes. There were three flying together. The next shot is an even closer cropped image of the first shot. This is the first time I photographed this bird. As you can tell I am far from an expert.
My understanding is it is the only crane that nests in New York. There are reports in the Adirondacks of nesting sights as well as other areas. It does appear to be not so common to see one in New York.
When visiting a wildlife refuge be prepared to take shots as soon as you arrive. Otherwise you might miss out.
I had a long weekend, so I made the trek out to central New York to visit a wildlife refuge. I saw this small water bird that was swimming not too far out from the wildlife drive. It seemed to spend more time underwater then above water, so it was hard to capture.
To me it is very cute. Can anyone confirm what kind of water bird this is? Is it a pied billed grebe? Have a great week!
While kayaking a lake that is mostly shallow, I saw this osprey hanging out there. I think it flies between another body of water and this one. It seemed to come back to the same area of the lake when it caught the fish.
I did see it splash into the water on the other side of the lake before it flew back in circles with a fish. Lucky for me that it landed nearby.
Look at those talons speared into the fish. I am assuming the fish is already dead.
He seemingly holds on with one foot. This was a cloudy day and very windy. Sitting in my kayak to try to take shots was far from steady. I’m still okay with these. Here’s hoping to see one dive in close by in the future. Have a great weekend.
Kingfishers in New York , known as belted kingfishers, are less colourful than the kingfishers in England (common kingfishers). They are interesting to watch. They are very skittish though and do not let you come to0 close usually. I was kayaking on a windy day and was surprised when this one let me drift closer than usual. It was not until I got home and looked at the images on my computer that I may have seen why.
This kingfisher seemingly has a fishing line attached to it. It did fly from tree to tree overhanging the water and I did see it drop into the water. However, I hope if it needs help, it will allow someone to get close enough to bring it to help.
According to NOAA Fisheries: “Entangled animals may drown or starve because they are restricted by fishing gear, or they may suffer physical trauma and infections from the gear cutting into their flesh.”
The lake I went on is popular with fishermen on shore and on fishing kayaks. Although this bird was on an unpopulated side of the lake, those on kayaks could fish in that area.
It was not possible for me to get there before dark today, but I have put the word out. Incidentally, I also have a picture of a turtle with fishing line stuck to it as well from the same outing. Hopefully if this bird needs help it will allow someone to get close enough to grab. The hazards of life for wildlife that depend on water seem to be many.
This great blue heron showed no fear. It hung out near a boat launch. I kayaked out a short ways and it actually walked towards me. It was fun to watch.
As usual these are taken with a zoom lens. I am thinking this is a juvenile. It seems it is not as knowledgeable as it should be in the ways of the world. As much I enjoyed it walking towards me and these are not cropped a lot, I just hope it becomes more knowledgeable about safety in the future. Have a great week!
I could not tell what this Greenie was trying to catch. Is it a feather, or some kind of bug? Is it something from a tree?
I think it was hoping for a dragonfly. Do you know what the object of his attention is?
I believe in order to control where osprey build nests in different spots in New York they are building platforms on top of telephone / power poles etc, to attract their nest building to that location. I usually see these as active osprey nests once they are built.
This osprey nest had two osprey on it when I first saw it , but one flew away to an area with possibly a creek or river nearby. I assume this is an adult. I do not think I saw any young. I am guessing they fledged already.
It was a nice find. My GPS actually led me the wrong way to get to the nearby location I was stopping at. I’m actually glad it did. It had me backtrack and go a different way when I continued ahead after it readjusted. A mistake by the GPS worked out to be a good thing. Take advantage of these moments. Have a great week!
I was fortunate enough to see some gray herons at different Royal Parks in London. It turns out these places are great places to bird watch.
Gray herons are similar in appearance to great blue herons, but are smaller in size. All About Birds has the length of the gray heron being between 35.4-38.6 inches, while the great blue heron is between 38.2-53.9 inches in length.
The above pictures appears to be an adult. It has the pronounced black stipe on its head and the beak is lighter. During peak breeding season its beak can be orange.
I am guessing this image may be a juvenile gray heron. It does not have the pronounced black and white colours on its head and its beak is darker.
I highly recommend visiting the Royal Parks in London. It is a great way to get in some steps in while being nature in the heart of London.
“In every walk in nature, one receives far more than he seeks.”
John Muir
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