Willow13's WunderBlog

Saw this peacock and I was mesmerized by its vivid colors and its florecent body.

~~~~~~~Sooooo colorful !~~~~~~~

Is that my bath water down there? A pair of Shaftail Finches having a good time of it.

Female Northern Cardinal

A Killdeer walking along the edge of a road.

This Blue Bird is very shy. He will not stay out in the open long enough for me to get an unobstructed photo. Here it is hiding among the branches of a plum tree.

Our resident Sandhill Crane babies are growing up so fast!

Violet Euphonia

The cardinals in my yard are extremely elusive but the female provided a photo op for me.

... looking like he's just returned from the Ministry of Silly Walks ;)

. . .found the gander yesterday in a different location; closer to Virgin Creek Beach itself than the cliff his mate is on. In this shot, he's deciding whether it's safe to continue grazing, as he looks sharply in the direction of his mate, a distance away to my left.

We've been waiting a month for these little Kildeer to hatch. Oh it was soooo worth it.

HOMER, Alaska - The peanut gallery! LOL. There were a lot of birds around the Homer Spit all weekend, I think a lot of that had to do with the weather. It was windy and blustery, with temps in the mid-30's. Hey, at least it didn't snow on us this year! It was a weekend of learning how to adjust camera settings to account for the cloud cover and the birds. We do this weekend gathering every year and everyone is always welcome to join us!

Wow, this was so amazing and beautiful to watch. A single tri colored heron was standing in the water when the second one approached. They then proceeded to

I'd never seen these birds before and thought they were quite beautiful.

Young Anhinga completely taken by something behind him.

Tri-colored heron

This pelican is coming in for a smooth landing on the Red River. American white pelicans are no doubt unmistakable, they are the only white pelicans in North America. Pelicans have a vertebra in their neck, which prohibits them from ever raising their face. The white pelican is 60 in. in length and 107 in. in width, one of the largest of the 8 true species of pelicans. They have a yellowish pouch connected to the lower mandible of the beak that stretches up to six inches. Their bodies are mostly white, with black primaries and outer secondaries, which are hidden until the bird outstretches it's enormous wings. During mating season the male develops a fibrous plate on the upper part of the beak, this is a unique characteristic of the white pelican. Also the bill is bright orange during the mating season. Their feet are orange, and are webbed not only between the four front toes but also between the second toe and the inwardly directed back toe. They have an enormous wingspan of 8 - 9.5 feet. Their legs are orange, and are extremely short. I photographed these pelicans fishing on the Red River near the locks in Lockport, Manitoba. Lockport is approximately 20 miles from the City of Winnipeg.

Roseate Spoonbill at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens FL

A pair of nesting Great Blue Herons.

striking a pose

~~~~~~~Cormorant-in-action ....fish lunch !~~~~~~~

these little fellas are quite fast, so it's always a thrill to catch on in flight. the light was right on this one, to show off the iridescence on his head...

...portrait of a kingfisher on lookout

Cattle egret in breeding plummage.

~~~~~~~~~~European Bee-Eater~~~~~~~~~~

The wind was blowing and when the cormorant turned its head this is what it looked like.

So many flowers, so little time... ;)