What da ya have in your yard? :)

Nice pictures....

This was in my yard Saturday morning.

Come to find out, there are entire wild flocks of them in Miami... who knew?

Vetteography wrote in post #16753914
This was in my yard Saturday morning.

Come to find out, there are entire wild flocks of them in Miami... who knew?

We have a canal in the back yard, so we have a lot of Muscovy ducks

And a couple of times a year, we have these little guys

Now, where is that "Reptiles in your yard" thread?

WOW those are amazing birds! Beautiful captures BTW!

My backyard is pretty boring this evening I've got one of these guys checking out stuff... ( very common Male Cowbird)

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …77724886@N06/13​114987354/

Well, this Hawk made a quick meal out of one of the visitors of my feeders... He flew off a ways to finish the meal so I was not able to get very close and it was already fairly dark so they are not great quality captures. Anybody want to guess as to the ID of the prey?

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By the first shot I was going to guess mourning dove. But the second shot threw me off a bit. hmmm...

I wish it were one of the cow birds. One less cow bird would be a good thing, imo.

The color makes me think "Titmouse", but it looks way too big for that. Blue Jay, maybe?

Thanks for the replies!

I actually had those thoughts regarding the cowbird (although from my admittedly limited knowledge it's the female cowbird that does the bulk of the unethical behavior). Hmmm, kind of want to rule out the Bluejay, for one I would be a little broken hearted because I enjoy watching them so much (yes, I know about the unethical behavior they also are known for as well) and did'nt really see any blue feathers. I thought Titmouse as well, but I agree this prey was too big. With so much grey and white I also thought maybe mockingbird? Still not ready to rule out a dove as they are so many around my home and the size and color. It is so interesting that when I'm seeing something from a distance with my own eyes and later looking at the photos and see things that I did'nt while I was taking the shot. Maybe it's just me?

Like the Cooper's Hawk (Immature)??? in the second picture is looking right at me with a cold icey stare of a natural born killer. Also as Paul replied the second picture the prey looks very different.

You might be right about it being a mocking bird. In the second shot it looks like the head of the kill is in the right. The eye color would coincide with a mocking bird.

bwfishing wrote in post #16747827
Nice one Peter! So how does the new Tammy fair with the hummers? I'm jealous also because I don't get them around my house until late summer ;-(

I'll try to put my feeders out and see if anyone comes looking.

I hear we also get Orioles here, but they are also considered rare sight.

Thanks Bruce. The Tammy is great with the hummers too.

Awesome capture Bruce. I like the 2nd pic the most. Awesome capture of the cowbird too. I have not seen them in my backyard. But I remember last year they are all over my feeders. I don't exactly when they show up.

Thanks Peter!

Yes, I've seen a huge drop in the numbers to almost nothing from compared to last year they were everywhere (brown-headed cowbirds). I think I've only seen two males this year... I wonder if the host species are now ejecting the unwanted egg, or laying down a new nest lining over it (like the Robins are known to do) ? Or something else going on?

That Tammy looks like a Great value! I could have certainly used the extra reach the other night, but I also like being able to use the wide 2.8 f stop too.

Paul,

Yeah, I've not seen the adult mockingbird that has been a regular for like the last 2 months. I've seen all of the regular doves today.

This guy was watching me as I cleared some old timber away....

bwfishing wrote in post #16754070
My backyard is pretty boring this evening I've got one of these guys checking out stuff... ( very common Male Cowbird)

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …77724886@N06/13​114987354/

EF200mm f/2.8L II USM

That is incredibly sharp.. the detail in the feathers is amazing!