Looking Up, checking for a predator.
This is my day 26 contribution to Becky’s January Squares on the theme of Up.
A Chipping Sparrow looking Up, checking the sky for a predator.
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January Squares: Up #26
Tag: bird
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From Ground or Water Level
This is my contribution to the Cosmic Photo Challenge: From Ground Level prompt.
It was a good prompt for me as I usually try to get to eye level with birds and mammals. This often involves lying on the ground behind the camera.
However, I quickly realised just how many photos I had to pick from. So initially I decided to limit myself to four photos. Then I decided to go with one photo from the past four decades, partly to make the selection easier.
1980s. A male Common Blackbird checking 1what the photographer is doing. I was in a ditch photovraphing something when I noticed this male spying on me. Photographed in an abandoned orchard at Faddiley near Nantwich in southern Cheshire, England.
1990s. A breeding plumage Horned Grebe on a cattle watering hole. I wanted to get as low a viewpoint as possible so had the legs of the tripod fully spread and then stomped them into a mixture of mud and cattle poop before lying behind the camera. Photographed near Punnichy, Saskatchewan, Canada.
2000s. A juvenile Red Knot resting on the Lake Huron shoreline during autumn migration. The shoreline was too rocky to lie down behind the camera so I was kneeling, trying to get as low a possible. I spent long enough with the birds that they fed, bathed and napped in front of me. Photographed on the Lake Huron shoreline in Southampton, Ontario, Canada.
2010s. An American Red Squirrel in dappled sunlight. From the 52 week photo project I did in 2018 when I spent lots of time lying behind the camera photographing birds and mammals. Photographed on the South Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, Canada.
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Female Pine Grosbeak
My Saturday Bird this week is the Pine Grosbeak (Pinicola enucleator), a large finch with a long tail.
The species breeds in the far north of North America and Eurasia. It is an irruptive species meaning numbers can vary greatly if the birds move south for the winter. Often absurdly tame allowing close approach they will land within a few feet of an observer.
This is a female photographed in light snow at Greenwater Lake Provincial Park, Saskatchewan, Canada in the winter. Males are pinkish red and gray.
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Natural Patterns on the Bay
This is my contribution to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Patterns in Nature prompt.
I had a few ideas for the challenge before thinking of some of the ripples on Colpoy’s Bay I had photographed in the six months the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions were lifted a little.
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January Squares: Up #16
Riding Up on top.
This is my day 16 contribution to Becky’s January Squares on the theme of Up.
Two young Common Merganser riding Up on top of their mothers back.
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In the Water and On the Water
This is my contribution to Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge: In or On Water prompt.
I started out considering all the bird species I have photographed on water before thinking of photos of rocks and boulders in water.
Then I remembered the tree stump that appeared at Hurleston Reservoir when the water level dropped and I realised that I could go with in and on water with a single photo.
Winter plumage Black-headed Gulls swimming around and standing on a tree stump in Hurleston Reservoir near Nantwich in southern Cheshire, England.
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January Squares: Up #11
Singing Up in spring.
This is my day 11 contribution to Becky’s January Squares on the theme of Up.
A male Yellow-headed Blackbird singing Up to proclaim its territory and attract a mate near Punnichy, Saskatchewan, Canada.
