BIRD WEEKLY – PHOTO CHALLENGE – BIRDS PERCHED UP
Talk about hard choices! I excluded all the birds on feeders because there are too many to choose from. I also excluded woodpeckers working on a tree because that isn’t perching. I knew I wanted to included Garry’s shot of the Osprey, even though I had a lot of cropping to do before you could really see him. And, finally, I looked for anything that was really kind of cute. And here they all are.
All of these birds are either regulars along the New England coastline and rivers, or are garden birds. I am thoroughly annoyed by our endless flock of Cowbirds. Yesterday, though, they got at least a bit of a comeuppance when they tried to tangle with one of the big Red-Belied Woodpeckers.
“Go away or I’ll peck you” cried the Woodpecker. The Cowbird, realizing he was outclassed, flew away.
Birds don’t mess with the woodpeckers. They are sturdy and have long beaks that can penetrate oak trees. Just think what they could do with your skull.
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Categories: #Birds, #Birds, #gallery, #Photography, Anecdote, bluebirds
THE HUNGRY CREATURES 
GARDEN BIRDS AND SURVIVAL 
SERENDIPITY - SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
Lovely set of images.
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These are great photos!
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Thank you 🙂 It a fun hobby and I feel like I’m also doing good for the birds who are having such a hard time.
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These are awesome! I love the Yellow-crowned Night Heron. The cowbirds are so aggressive when they need to drop their eggs. Let them tangle with the Woodpeckers. They might chase the Downy but the Red-bellied is the same size basically and you are right about the beak. Hello!?! Duh! LOL!
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We took down the feeders today. There must have been two dozen Cowbirds on the deck AND four squirrels. Between the squirrels and the cowbirds, they chased away all the pretty little birds. The only birds they couldn’t push away were the Hairy and Red-Bellied Woodpeckers. They didn’t try to push them around.
I haven’t seen a finch or a Cardinal or anything but damned Cowbirds for weeks. I figure two or three weeks of no feeders should convince them to move on. They are all outside on the railing complaining that there’s no food.
I figure the other birds will find their way back, but maybe the Cowbirds will find some other crazed person to feed them.
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That is a wise decision. They are leeches and lazy! We don’t have food in our feeders at the moment because we are dang near in summer here so there is plenty of food around. Plus the kites are back and we just don’t feed the birds during the summer because of them. No reason to serve them up on a silver platter. 🙂
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Nice. Real nice.
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Thanks. I still can’t get onto your site. Just letting you know. It does let me read it, but I can’ “like” or comment.
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I think changes made in the last day or so might fix things??
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I tried midday today. I’ll try again tomorrow.
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Wow! Amazing photos
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I think this is proof that if you keep at it for long enough, you eventually improve. When I first started, I was really bad. it has take a few years of shooting to start getting better pictures. Patience, patience.
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You’re absolutely amazing.
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I throw away more pictures than I publish. MANY more than I publish. I threw away a whole folder today. There was nothing in there worth keeping. Actually, part of success is knowing when your pictures aren’t good enough.
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That’s true.
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It took me even longer to develop both the judgment and will power to recognize mediocre, uninteresting, and “just a little bit too soft” photography and just toss it. I used to save everything, but you really can’t do that without eventually having your computer explode for excess volume of unprocessed photographs.
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Indeed, recognizing the good one from the mediocre is the true art.
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