Thursday, October 18, 2007

Red breasted Nuthatch

These pictures were taken in October 2007 in our back yard. They have a tendency to hang out with Chickadee's and are very friendly. I had one land on the sleeve of my shirt while I was putting out more bird seed. They like Chicadee's can be trained to eat out of your hand. During nesting season, they can be very aggressive and will chase off other birds of similar size.










Redhead Duck


This picture was taken on 22 March 2006 near Mission Texas. They are a diving duck and eat aquatic plants and small fish.

Dark eyed Junco - Slate coloured


These pictures were taken in October, 2007 in our back yard. They do migrate but not too far. They winter in all of the lower 48 States plus southern parts of Canada. Males are darker coloured than females.








Black capped Chicadee


These pictures were taken in October, 2007 in our back yard. They are a very friendly bird and can be trained to eat out of your hand. Twice, while taking these pictures, I had one land on my camera. Too bad I couldn't have gotten a shot of that.



















American Avocet

These pictures were taken on 2nd March at Port Aransas, Texas. The Avocet is mainly a wader but can swim well. They eat aquatic insects by moving their head from side to side with their long beak in the water. Although they are coloured black and white most of the year, the male gets some brown during breeding season.



Anhinga


These pictures were taken on 9th March 2007 at Wakulla Springs, Florida Panhandle. The Anhinga is also known as the Snake bird because with it's neck outstretched it looks like a snake going through the water. They spear fish with their beak, then surface and try to dislodge the fish from their beak by tossing it in the air and then catch it. They sometimes miss.