Oh, I love all these photos, Karen! Do the orchard orioles take off for the south just as soon as the babies can feed themselves? I was always amazed by the Bullock's and hooded orioles I knew in CO and NM. They were the first to disappear, in early August. I always questioned the orioles' parenting choices: were those babies really ready for thousands of miles of flying?? :-D
You know, I’m not sure when they leave! Looking at ebird it seems I see very few after July, but they are still commonly seen in the area in August (and not after). Interesting!
Those photos were fun to look at. And my goodness, the Purple Martin mamma has a mouth full! So like the symmetry of the heron and red wing blackbird shot.
Our local wildlife officer told me a great story recently. In the winter, he drags roadkill animals off the highway verges so scavengers, especially eagles, don’t get hit by cars.
One morning, he dragged a roadkill mule deer several hundred feet up a hillside near our busiest road. Before he got back to his truck, an eagle landed and started gorging itself on the deer. And gorging and gorging. Finally, the eagle decided to fly away, but it was too heavy to just flap its wings and fly. After a couple of tries, it turned and waddled far up the hill, then turned, spread its wings and ran until it could lift off into the blue.
It was probably a bad day to park a car out under the open sky!
Oh, I love all these photos, Karen! Do the orchard orioles take off for the south just as soon as the babies can feed themselves? I was always amazed by the Bullock's and hooded orioles I knew in CO and NM. They were the first to disappear, in early August. I always questioned the orioles' parenting choices: were those babies really ready for thousands of miles of flying?? :-D
You know, I’m not sure when they leave! Looking at ebird it seems I see very few after July, but they are still commonly seen in the area in August (and not after). Interesting!
❤️❤️😍😍👍👍
Thank you Sharon
That eagle was an apt national symbol for us overstuffed Americans!
Those photos were fun to look at. And my goodness, the Purple Martin mamma has a mouth full! So like the symmetry of the heron and red wing blackbird shot.
Thank you Jan
These photos are amazing!
Thank you
Just beautiful...you certainly have an eye for just the right shot.
Thank you Ken
I love these wonderful action shots. And I very much admire your devotion to your deadline, despite some critical circumstances. Yay for you, Karen.
Thank you Janisse
In a word, this posting was FUN! :-)
Thank you Lauren :)
Our local wildlife officer told me a great story recently. In the winter, he drags roadkill animals off the highway verges so scavengers, especially eagles, don’t get hit by cars.
One morning, he dragged a roadkill mule deer several hundred feet up a hillside near our busiest road. Before he got back to his truck, an eagle landed and started gorging itself on the deer. And gorging and gorging. Finally, the eagle decided to fly away, but it was too heavy to just flap its wings and fly. After a couple of tries, it turned and waddled far up the hill, then turned, spread its wings and ran until it could lift off into the blue.
It was probably a bad day to park a car out under the open sky!
I love this wildlife officer! And omg, that story is hilarious!!