Nikonbill's 2026 random photos

[nikonbill]

Our first yellow rump this year - this signals spring feelings

 

[nikonbill]

Swamp sparrow

 

[nikonbill]

 

[nikonbill]

This was a long shot that turned out better than I thought - some day I'll get close to the illusive (for me) kingFisher

 

[Marilynne]

This was a long shot that turned out better than I thought - some day I'll get close to the illusive (for me) kingFisher
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They never let you get close!!

 

[nikonbill]

They never let you get close!!

That seems to be true, my personal goal for this year is get better at getting closer to the birds. I know this is the next step for me. I got a little pack stool so I can sit and blend in, we'll see how I do. I think clothing colors can help (and hurt if wrong) so I'll experiment there too.

 

[nikonbill]

Here is our getting famous Ross's Goose at the local lake, many are (understandably) mistaking it for a snow goose. Snow geese are very common in our area (this time of year). Here with the head back you cannot see the gray marks behind the neck.

 

[nikonbill]

Greater Scaup visits the lake

 

[nikonbill]

Bufflehead's acting crazy

 

[nikonbill]

Canvasback

 

[nikonbill]

A resident Mute swan

 

[nikonbill]

One of our ring bills in flight yesterday

 

[nikonbill]

These two look like a couple

 

[nikonbill]

A female mallard has some interesting colors in flight

 

[nikonbill]

Its snow geese time at Middle Creek Wildlife refuge in PA its a little over an hours drive but I had some great photographic karma yesterday. I would have done better with more focal length and a tripod but its a great time all the same. The official report for 2/24 was 60,000 snow geese

 

[nikonbill]

Here is a blue morph posing in from of the others for me

 

[nikonbill]

The moon was up in the sky and I was eyeballing it, then some eagles sent the snow geese skyward - it was pretty neat - getting several different shots

 

[nikonbill]

This year being the lake is mostly frozen the large eagle population has resorted to feeding on the Canadian geese as they cannot fish easily
here a juvenile gets the snow geese excited

 

[Clovishound]

They will predate on other birds even when other options are available. I've seen eagles go after ducks here, even though there is no ice cover on ponds, rivers and lakes in this area. Or maybe they are just in the mood for chicken nuggets when they get tired of the fish sandwich.

 

[nikonbill]

They will predate on other birds even when other options are available. I've seen eagles go after ducks here, even though there is no ice cover on ponds, rivers and lakes in this area. Or maybe they are just in the mood for chicken nuggets when they get tired of the fish sandwich.

I have long known they do feed as needed. But seeing all the evidence on the ice was astounding

By observation I now see the real reason the snow geese just take off and fly - it's quite a sound when they all go up