Author Archives: birdsinmyviewfinder

This is a Downy Woodpecker taking seeds from an end-of-the-season sunflower plant. Why bang your head digging out grubs from a tree when you can just nibble on some nice sunflower seeds?

My last post was a photograph of a Swainson’s Hawk that I took in Alberta Canada. This is one of a darker morph with a dark gray head that I took the same morning. Photographed near Craigdhu, Alberta about 25 km NE of Calgary in August 2017.

I was in Calgary, Alberta for a conference and did some photography after it was over. This is a Swainson’s Hawk soaring over the open prairie near Keoma, AB about 25 km NE of Calgary in August 2017. It glanced at me just as I took the photo.

Great Blue Herons are stalkers and will grab anything they can potentially swallow including fish, amphibians, nestlings, mice and snakes. This Heron found a small eel but had to work hard for the meal. An Avocet watches as the Heron picks up the eel and attempts swallow it. But the eel isn’t making things easy.Continue reading “Great Blue Heron”

Ducks are starting to show up in their fresh plumage after breeding season. Gadwall males have a distinctive white patch on the wing and some black on their rump. It’s a nice look, not too flashy but catchy. The females look a lot like a Mallard but have a darker bill and different head shape.

A Belted Kingfisher had just flown into a dead tree after diving for its prey. I got this series of photos showing her shake off the water before resting up. The chestnut band is what marks it as a female. This was a tough sequence to capture since the bird is about 12 inches (30Continue reading “Kingfisher Drying Off”

Warblers are very active birds, especially during migration when they are packing in the calories. It can be tough getting a photograph as they flit through the foliage. But if you are patient you can sometimes catch them in the open.

Photos from a fly over and return with its prey.

I was able to photograph two marsh birds together that are rather hard to spot even on their own. They are fairly common but often stay somewhat hidden. The Bittern, for example, can be hidden in plain sight due to its ability to blend in with the reeds and vegetation. This was a very opportuneContinue reading “Bittern and Gallinule”

Spoiler alert and just a friendly warning, arachnophobes should skip this post/email! You can encounter all sorts of companions on the trails as you search for birds to photograph. I was photographing birds near the Rio Grande in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The area was a typical semiarid bosque (forest) environment that is common alongContinue reading “Found in the Clutter – Unusual Companion”