The birds and the bees

[Alli]

Those hummingbirds will fight each other all day long. But the bees get into their feeders and nobody cares.

His little body is pretty far up in there and you can see the level drop as the bubbles rise.

Really kinda cute.

iCloud

Sign in to iCloud to access your photos, videos, documents, notes, contacts, and more. Use your Apple ID or create a new account to start using Apple services.

share.icloud.com

 

[Eric]

Those hummingbirds will fight each other all day long. But the bees get into their feeders and nobody cares. View attachment 591
His little body is pretty far up in there and you can see the level drop as the bubbles rise.

Really kinda cute.

iCloud

Sign in to iCloud to access your photos, videos, documents, notes, contacts, and more. Use your Apple ID or create a new account to start using Apple services.

share.icloud.com

We always have them on our feeders too, they never seem to be bothering anyone so we just leave them be to share it with the humming birds. So far, you've had bees and butterflies on your feeders, any hummingbirds?

 

[Alli]

We always have them on our feeders too, they never seem to be bothering anyone so we just leave them be to share it with the humming birds. So far, you've had bees and butterflies on your feeders, any hummingbirds?

Plenty of hummingbirds. They showed up not long after I’d taken that photo and decided they didn’t want to fight with the bees over the feeders. Wimps.

 

[lizkat]

Meanwhile in NYC (yeah the big woods in the middle with several lakes, streams and ponds) what's up lately is a female kingfisher struttin' her skills and fishing the Turtle Pond out while summery weather persists.

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1311762644672696320/

 

[Arkitect]

Found on the road in the middle of town.
The end of a life.
The end of summer…

I picked it up from the hot tarmac amongst the car wheels and placed it on the side in a hedge.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Whenever I see this expression, ("the birds and the bees"), I think (as one is clearly invited to), not just of the wonderful euphemism in English, but also, of that hilarious scene, an agony of excruciating embarrassment (in an otherwise sombre, personally and politically perceptive, powerful, and indeed powerfully moving book, The Remains of The Day), where the exquisitely repressed butler, Stevens, has been asked - by his employer - to explain "the birds and the bees" to his (rather worldly wise, not least politically, and probably personally), godson, the journalist Reginald Cardinal.

 

[Clix Pix]

Meanwhile in NYC (yeah the big woods in the middle with several lakes, streams and ponds) what's up lately is a female kingfisher struttin' her skills and fishing the Turtle Pond out while summery weather persists.

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1311762644672696320/

Kingfishers are very, very fast, and notoriously difficult to photograph. I am envious of this photographer who managed to get some terrific shots! I got a couple a few weeks ago of the resident female Belted Kingfisher here --- just "birdie-on-a-stick" (standing on a branch), no action shots, and even at that I was pretty far away, hand-holding the camera and 100-400mm lens, no tripod, and the shots weren't all that stellar..... I was just too excited that, hey, I'd finally gotten an opportunity to take pictures of our gal, who I'd watched zipping all around the lake this whole summer. In fact I really wasn't even 100% sure of my luck until I got home and looked in my Birds of Virginia book to verify that this sighting and identification wasn't a figment of my imagination.....

She wasn't, and here she is:

 

[lizkat]

I got a couple a few weeks ago of the resident female Belted Kingfisher here --- just "birdie-on-a-stick" (standing on a branch)

Wow such a great shot of the coloration that gives her the species' name!

 

[Clix Pix]

Thanks, Liz! I am happy that I got any images of her at all, but if I'd had my druthers I would have been significantly physically closer to her so that the lens would've picked up more and nicer feather detail in a good way, and also it would have been so helpful if I'd been standing in or near a location where I could find something to support the lens in the absence of my tripod.....

 

[lizkat]

Thanks, Liz! I am happy that I got any images of her at all, but if I'd had my druthers I would have been significantly physically closer to her so that the lens would've picked up more and nicer feather detail in a good way, and also it would have been so helpful if I'd been standing in or near a location where I could find something to support the lens in the absence of my tripod.....

Still you got close enough to catch that sassy "OK ya got me, be quick about it" look of hers there. Great photo, I'm thinking to park it in my desktop pics of assorted birds. I like to have desktops with a central image and space left around it so I can see temporary aliases to folders etc for parking files on the fly.

 

[lizkat]

Cool photos of a red tailed hawk making a pit stop at the corner of a NYC building today

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1330197048914796548/

 

[lizkat]

If I were reading this book right now I'd post about it in the books thread, but I'm not likely to get closer to it than an illustration from it that drew my attention, until maybe Christmas? Well I can hope since I'm going to mention it as a wishlist item for "the season of getting"...

Anyway this drawing is by Barry Van Dusen and is featured in a book by the late Peter D. Vickery et al., Birds of Maine... a loon and two babies, one being indulged with a free ride. Sweet devotion!

 

[lizkat]

Northern cardinal near what looks like black oil sunflower seed feeder... looks like "wheels up" in a quick departure.

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1338214002661482500/

 

[lizkat]

Love this close-up of a blue jay.

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1340424667413274625/​

 

[lizkat]

Snowy owl toughing it out during not exactly beach weather today out at Jones Beach ( Long Island, NY).

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1340831230967857153/

Gee this little guy was Mr. Popularity among the hardy Jones Beach birdwatchers today!

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1340443964521017345/

 

[lizkat]

Welp. Trump done gone pissed off the Audubon Society.

Audubon: “History—and we–will hold responsible the elected officials who have promoted the assault on our democracy.”

A statement from David Yarnold, president and CEO of the National Audubon Society.

www.audubon.org

“Like the rest of the world, we watched the events at the U.S. Capitol in horror as anti-democratic zealots violently disrupted what should have been a ceremonial start to the peaceful transition of power after a free and fair election.

“Every elected official who supports and gives voice to anti-American conspiracy theories about this election is directly responsible for the violence taking place in our nation’s capital today, and they will bear the stain of this moment for the rest of their political lives.

“History — and we — will hold responsible the elected officials who have promoted the assault on our democracy.

“This includes first and foremost President Trump, and regrettably, members of Congress with whom we have previously worked in partnership on conservation issues. To them we say: you should be ashamed of yourselves. You have broken our trust and the trust of the American people and there will be consequences for that. We will not stand with people who have undermined democracy.

“There is no other way to say it: we are disgusted by the Members of Congress who have chosen to weaken the very process that brought them into office and who perpetuate the kind of voter suppression efforts that have long been used to disenfranchise Black and brown voters in this country.

“This is beyond politics. We take great pride in the fact that Audubon members span the political spectrum, and we have historically worked in partnership with members of both the Democratic and Republican parties. But we cannot stand by while the foundation of our democracy is at stake.

“For more than 115 years, Audubon’s members, volunteers and staff have been conservationists and community builders. Everything we stand for, all of the work we do to protect birds and the places they need, is predicated on the rule of law. We believe that those who have committed crimes today should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law — and those who enabled them should be held to account.”

 

[Yoused]

I stepped outside this morning only to to observe one of our little fuckers gnoshing. I stood under the cedar (their tree), about 10' away, watching, when he got up and came over to hover a foot from my face, “Just what is your major malfunction? I have this long pointy thing, and I am not afraid to use it, so you better not challenge me.” He stayed there for much more than briefly, showing me the bright red flashes on his cheeks before at last going on about his business.

Perhaps we need to adjust the nectar formula. It may be a bit too strong.

Of course I had no camera, no pics, so maybe it did not happen.

 

[lizkat]

Looks like this happened... but then the photog was out there a long time looking, sounds like.

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1346968333782904834/

 

[lizkat]

Gonna have to check this out.

The piece cited in the tweet is a great read.


https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1348738969245261826/

 

[Yoused]

Found this somewhere else (where I could not just link it in)