Sunday, March 4, 2012

Birds

Birds become more and more fascinating to me. I love when they come to our garden and I have been feeding them regularly. I think that has increased the number of birds that are visiting our yard significantly. I also like to observe them at the shore. Here are some shots of birds that my husband and I saw lately. All photos are done by him.



These shorebirds (Marbled Godwit?) were a lot of fun to watch, when we went for a walk on the beach last weekend.



This is a male California Quail walking along our garden fence in the backyard. There is an open space area behind our property where the Quails reside. Usually these birds are pretty shy, but somehow they have warmed up to our bird feeder and at certain times of the year they come into the garden.



These colorful yellow breasted guys (Lesser Goldfinch?) are very small and lively. They are really fun to watch at the bird feeder.



A Morning Dove also walking on the backyard fence.



This is a hawk (maybe a Northern Harrier) was cruising in circles above our yard today. I love this photo in particular!



Here is another picture of the same predator bird. The pattern on the wings is quite wonderful.

I am not good at identifying birds, but tried a little bit with the help of a book. If you know birds and recognize the ones that I have featured here, please let me know if I got the names right.

See you in the garden!

Christina



20 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing them Christina, they are lovely bird photos!

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  2. Christina ~ What wonderful shots of different birds. You have some wonderful visitors.

    Have a great week ~ FlowerLady

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  3. Beautiful, amazing shots, Christina !!! The first and the one you like most are masterpieces.

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  4. Wow christina you have captured this birdfriends of my beautifuly. The ones you showed are unknowed by me. To be at the shore is a favorite time spending. There's always so much to see and the sound of the waves makes me always peacefull inside.
    have a lovely week
    marijke

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  5. Mark and Gaz, thanks for your comment! I am glad you like the photos!

    FlowerLady, I also think we have some wonderful feathered friends around here!

    Dani, thank you so much, I will show my husband your compliment!

    Marijke, thanks for your note! Actually my husband has taken the photos of the birds so I can't take the credit :-). I love being at the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately we go way to seldom.

    Christina

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  6. Christina, your husband's photos are beautiful! Nice mix of backyard birds too. The hawk really is gorgeous. Jeannine

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  7. Beautiful photos of the birds. Your lesser goldfinches look very similar to the siskins that have been visiting my garden recently.

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  8. Jeannine, thanks for stopping by and for your compliment regarding the photos of my husband. I will let him know about it. I also find that the hawk is very beautiful!

    Crystal, thanks for your nice comment. I have to look up siskins, I have never heard about of these birds.

    Christina

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  9. Your husband takes great pictures! Wow! Hey, those yellow finches are everywhere in NJ during summer time but nowhere to be found in winter. I guess they travel west to California during winter. How interesting :-).

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  10. Lovely, lovely birds! I, too, am fascinated by birds and enjoy learning more about them. Your photos...your husband took...are beautiful! I felt I was there enjoying them as you did.

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  11. KL, thanks for your kind comment! I really would like to know more about birds and in this case about the yellow finches in particular. If I only would have more time...

    Sage Butterfly, thanks, I am glad you are a bird lover, too. Sound like the photography of my husband brought the birds in our area really close to you. What a better compliment could one receive?

    Christina

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  12. Your yellow birds are goldfinches. We have tons of them but I've never seen a quail, except in pictures. Wonderful pictures!! :o)

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  13. Casa Mariposa, thanks for telling me the name of the yellow small birds! I am happy that you like my husbands photos!

    Christina

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  14. Those hawk photos are amazing! How big of a zoom does your camera have? Please pass my compliments to Klaus.

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  15. Ptaki są śliczne, tylko czasami trudno im zrobić zdjęcia. Twojemu mężowi to się świetnie udało.Pozdrawiam. *** Birds are beautiful, but sometimes it is difficult to take pictures. Your husband is a great success. Yours.

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  16. Masha, thanks for stopping by and leaving such a nice note. Klaus's zoom is 300 mm. I showed him your comment and he was very pleased :-)!

    Giga, thanks for commenting! I agree with you that bird photography is not easy, that's why I prefer to shoot the flowers and leave the birds to my husband :-).

    Christina

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  17. Birds are more interesting to me too now that I garden, I don't exactly know why, but I suspect because I hear and see them more often now that I am outside fooling around in my yard all the time. I still don't like pigeons or sea gulls...to many bad experiences through my NYC years. But I have learned to look past those two species now :)

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  18. Jess, thanks for your comment! I understand exactly what you mean about pigeons and sea gulls, but don't want to go into more details :-)!

    Christina

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  19. Beautiful bird shots! I especially like the quail - I've never seen one in real life! So cool.

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  20. spurge, welcome to my blog! I am glad that you like the bird photos. Quails are really cute to watch. Right now I don't see them in the garden anymore, but I hope they will return. They are kind of on and off guests in our yard, at least that was the way it was last year.

    Christina

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