Sunday, April 01, 2007

Blue Birds

After complaining about my inability to get any good shots of bluebirds, a friend told me that she had bluebirds in her yard and they often nested in her birdhouses. Yesterday she called to tell me that a pair of bluebirds had babies and invited me over. The light was bad, so I put it off until today. And it was a perfect day for it.

I was able to take several really great shots of the birds (the parents only, the babies are only a few days old). The first shot is the female. And as you can see, I was having some fun with PSP and the frame tool.








Here's the male. The birds would often wait outside and look around to be sure there were no predators waiting before going in. They would also peek out the entrance for several minutes before "zooming" out to get more bugs for the hungry babies.

This has to be my favorite of all. The birds were so fast, that most of the flying shots were merely a blur. I was thrilled with this one. One interesting thing, if both birds came together, the female would wait until the male fed the babies before she went in with her catch. In fact, sometimes she would wait for him even if she arrived first. No feminist movement among bluebirds!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great pics as always Stormy! I wish I had pics of the red cardinals that would sit on the bare tree limbs outside the living room window during the cold, grey of winter peeking in. (As if to say, "Hello, I'm here to remind you there is still beauty out here!")
Told Marc we owe you both a dinner. You both sound a lot like what Sarge and I want to be when we grow up. ;)

Stormy said...

Thanks Liz,

I love Redbirds too (see here for some of my faves: http://cabinwood.blogspot.com/2007/02/yard-birds.html)

They are so startlingly bright -- especially in the winter time.

Yes, we'd love to do dinner -- have to be a weekend, because weekdays are pretty much gone by the end of the commute!

Lee said...

What wonderful photos they are, Stormy...so beautiful. Thanks for sharing. :)

Lee said...

Hi again, Stormy...just thought I'd pop in and say a friendly "G'day" from Down Under seeing Marc reprimanded me when I said you were lazy for not posting lately! ;)

I was only kidding and I know he was too. Don't take on too much... your beautiful bird pictures are missed.

Take care. :)

Stormy said...

OK... I can take a hint. ;-)