Thursday, March 3, 2011

Birds...

Other than the crazy birds in the previous post, everything else seemed normal at the strip pits last night. The first thing I saw were male pheasants, but alas, no photos. Just a bit too far away. Almost every time I am out there I see several male pheasants but not females...
last night that streak of luck changed. I spotted these four hens together. As you can tell by the photo they were skedaddling away the minute I slowed down. Not a great picture but at least proof that I saw some....and I saw some more in the distance.
Then there were the swans....these were at the pond the geese in the previous post were attempting to land in.
And there were a couple Northern Harriers...I was surprised to see them. What is so strange in regards to them is this though. When we first started noticing them, it was not uncommon to see a dozen in the air at once...and it was very common to see them hovering in the air. Like a hummingbird. Now, we very seldom see more than two or three out there...and I cannot even remember the last time I saw one hovering in the air.
Of course there were the red-winged blackbirds....always fun to see them.

I am trying to patiently wait for the dickcissel and the bobolink...I will be a while yet before they show up. Still, I look for them every time I am out there.

11 comments:

  1. Great pictures of your birds, Rose... Those pheasants blend right in with the grass/ground, don't they?????

    The swans are so pretty in flight. And you have made me wonder what has happened to the Northern Harriers.. Hmmmmm????

    Great picture of the Red-winged blackbird.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like your red-winged blackbird picture.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh I love bobolinks! They were constant companions in the summer fields when I was a growing up in Wisconsin! I hope you can catch their photos!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your getting very good at capturing flying birds. The pictures of the swans and the hawk are wonderful. Of course the red-winged blackbird is beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  5. you are so lucky to be able to see that variety of birds so close to your home.......


    Gill

    ReplyDelete
  6. Those strip pits are a gold mine for bird photography. What a delightful series of shots. My favorite, I think, is the one of the swans.

    ReplyDelete
  7. They really blend in that top photo. I can't wait to see some bare ground again...I think I'm sounding like a broken record here.

    ReplyDelete
  8. What type of swans are these? We have a black one and a white one that visit, but I've never seen them fly. They sure do eat a lot of bread, though.... :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I've never seen a pheasant at all, so lucky you to see some all the time! It's always the shots you want the most that the subject scurries away before you get what you want :-) A dozen Harriers? Wow. We always see one solitary one searching the fields at Blue Grass. I love to watch them. They are so intent on what they are doing. So good to see the Redwings back and showing off their color.

    ReplyDelete
  10. A fine series of bird shots. It takes lots of patience and returning again and again to get everything one would want. You do a fine job of it!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I wonder what's up with the Harriers.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting my blog...I hope you like it enough to take the time to comment. I enjoy comments so much, and always try to make a return visit.