Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Flight Training



Four newly hatched barnswallows perch on our roof; we had the privilege of watching as their mother trained them to hunt in mid-air. First, she would bring the bugs right to them on the roof. Gradually, she would decrease her proximity to them as she brought them their prize, so that the younglings would have to take flight and take the bug from her in mid-air. This training progressed systematically and rapidly, as each time the mother would make them fly further and work harder to catch their food. I marvelled at how quickly they learned to maneuver in mid-air, until they were ready to begin hunting on their own, without the aid of their mother.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Unidentified White Bird of Prey


Someone submitted this photo of a beautiful white bird, unidentified thusfar.
Anyone have any ideas as to what it might be?

Thursday, June 7, 2007

Indigo buntings

This year, for the first time, I had the pleasure of getting close enough to some indigo buntings to get some decent pictures. Actually, they came right up to our feeder! Normally they had been very shy and skittish, and the only pictures I had been able to get were from a distance and consequently somewhat blurry. Anyone else had luck with these beautiful creatures?