These aren't great shots but I loaded them for this forum. I have watched the 4 of them since they hatched around the pond in my back yard. Cool little fellas. Green Headed Herons.
These love to wake me up in the morning chatting with the neighbors cows.
Had 5 baby thrushes hatch out in a bush - then hop about the lawn driving our dog bonkers.
Once they had left the nest they would just walk about in the open and freeze if you saw them - which I have to say worked astonishingly well (even in the open), but even after you had seen them, they would continue to sit there regardless, so you could walk right up to them, or in my dog fantasies play with them like some kind of squeaky toy - well he is a Terrier . . .
Bad enough he wasn't allowed out the back for 4 days - but then they started hopping upto the patio doors to say hello to him : ) Poor dog . . I think he aged prematurely over those 4 days . .
The woods back up to our yard, with a bit of a marsh that is protected land. We have lots of birds, foxes, raccoons, skunks, chipmunks, and more than a few deer. We have yet to see the bear that is around our parts, but it is suppose to be close....
Here are just a few from our backyard
My friend the barred owl that visits often
One of the many birds that frequent our feeder
The imfamous squirrels that annoy our dog
And a few flying insects that like my meager garden
Here is 'Honey' as my wife has nicknamed our visitor. I have tried for years to get pictures of any of the bear that visit our yard and surroundings. I have many blurry shots and hundreds of 'bear butt.' Today I just happened to see her coming and this is what I got:
Not the best pics. Shot in auto mode. Cropped and re-sized only. Both in my back yard about 40-50 feet from the house. First shot I am about 30 feet from it and the second about 10 feet from it.
I live in an apartment complex that has a bayou (small river) running in the back. I have to walk about 100 feet to get to it and this is what I have seen so far.
I am so-o-o jealous of people with bayous and bears in their backyards!!! I have lots of weeds and flowers, and a fair number of smaller wildlife-types thanks to my NWF-certified Backyard Wildlife Habitat :-) Right now I am seeing a fair number of momma birds introducing the kids to the feeders. Yesterday was a Tufted Titmouse. The fledgling sat on a nearby tree and tried the bark and leaves after momma flew off; then started cheeping pitifully for her to return with actual food. I didn't get up and get the camera, for once, but have lots of other pictures:
One of the squirrels that drive my dogs crazy (worldwide squirrelly pasttime):
Birds, birds, and more birds:
Bugs:
Toads (I love them; they eat bad bugs and are great models for silly pictures):
And that's just some of the ones I already had in my portfolio. I have hundreds ... maybe even a thousand or two .. that I haven't processed!
We returned from vacation to find this fellow had made himself comfortable in the rocks around our pool. We corralled him and took him to a pond in a nearby park.
We returned from vacation to find this fellow had made himself comfortable in the rocks around our pool. We corralled him and took him to a pond in a nearby park.
Heh. I wish I had a picture, but one of the highlights of our trip to Fiji was when we found an octopus in the pool. One of the hotel employees chased him down (they're really fast!), pulled him out of the pool, and walked him back to the ocean where he belonged.
A new shot of one of the Greenhead babies. As you can see, they are no longer babies. They are flying back and forth between trees now. I am sure they will move on soon. For those that are just seeing this, I posted earlier that I have watched these herons since they hatched behind my house. I am getting the older shots together to post as well.
