Who's KNOCKIN'..........

Osprey Whisperer

....... at my patio door? :dunno :scratch :huh A hungry GBH....that's who. I almost had this guy coming in for lunch. :rofl Crummy rainy day but this silly bird was standing on my patio getting wet. :uhoh :scratch Bet if I had some fish...he'd have come on in for lunch. Snapped him with a P&S that was sitting on the counter. :

Cheers

MM




Harry the night heron was looking for a handout as well. :thumb

marlof

So now I know how you birding guys take the pictures. You just sit on your couch, waiting for the birds to show up.

Thusie

marlof wrote:

So now I know how you birding guys take the pictures. You just sit on your couch, waiting for the birds to show up.

I just knew it! Now the proof:D

ShannonW

Wow and to think all we ever have at our door is a cat!

Thanks for sharing

The second bird looks huge!

bfjr

Come on Mike tell em the whole truth
There's a pineapple pizza lurking just inside the door !!

and to think I waste gas and carbs to find em :wow

Osprey Whisperer

Thanks for looking folks. Ben...you were right. Those birds can't resist a good pizza. Actually some pretty sad looking "snapshots". Not much photographic merit here. Just wanted to document the situation. Grabbed the G2 and sat in a swivel recliner with the back of the chair blocking me from the sight of the bird. Shot overhead with the fancy flip LCD screen turned so I could shoot backwards and over my head. Neat little feature that comes in handy for just such a situation. Didn't want to move to get a better composed shot...as I know I would have scared the birds off. The door was OPEN and the bread almost got them to come in. I had a GBH in the house a couple years back. It walked in and stole my niece's Barbie doll...ran out the door as the kids chased it.... and flew off with Barbie in tow (by her hair in his beak) The neat thing about that story was that there were 6 EYE witnesses that can confirm the tale.

Cheers

MM

Rohirrim

Ummm.... I dont think you need a 500 mm lens to capture those guys. Unless you want to shoot the pictures while your sitting in your Lazy Boy Recliner in the Living Room. :lol6

DanielB

Rohirrim wrote:

Ummm.... I dont think you need a 500 mm lens to capture those guys. 6

Exactly... so you could just hand that over to me and we'll be the best of pals


amazing tale.

DoctorIt

I have lots of snow outside my sliding glass door.


different worlds, eh?

Osprey Whisperer

Hey guys. I don't own a 500mm....but if anyone wants to send me one for Christmas. It's definitely winter here. I had to break out the windbreaker and sweatshirt lately. It's only reaching the low 70's and this week might only hit the high 60's. Dropping to the low 40's at night. Just want to thank you Canuckleheads for that.

The birds around here are very friendly for the most part. Probably why I have used my trusty 200mm most of the time. These were not taken with the DSLR though. Used the Canon G2 zoomed as far as it would go with the optical zoom. Digital zoom on this one seems to suck big time. Then again...it stopped working correctly after I dropped the thing.

Glad to see you like our green snow down here. :uhoh

Keep warm folks. .

MM

Harryb

OK, I'm calling a foul here Mike. Its not kind to the folks from the other 49 states to show these shots. I have lots of my birds hanging by my house but I won't shoot them. I won't shoot any of my local wildlife unless I drive 10 minutes from my house. Those are the rules.

ginger_55

Thanks, Mike!

You all know where I shoot, and I am sure that Mike shoots other places.

Yes, I wish I lived where you can pet the birds, but I am glad when people show me their "studios", no matter what they are shooting. It is nice to compare "equipment".

I shot today from about 10 minutes away to about 20 minutes.

And it wasn't chilly, it was cold! It was so cold the birds, if you could find them were hiding out on the "lee" side of the marsh grass. (That was pointed out to me by the only other person silly enough to be out in those temps.).

I am debating whether I need to go shoot the shrimp boats right now, five minutes away. It is the winter solstice, and D cold, too.

Love to see your studio, Mike.

Now on location..........................

ginger

Osprey Whisperer

You're calling a FOWL, Harry? Ibis I could follow your rules of etiquette, but I have no egrets about my fowl behavior or my shooting situation. I wish you would stop crowing about it. At least you can drive. :uhoh I may seem like a total loonatic but at least I'm not chicken of a little cold. I spend years in Illinois freezing my tail feathers off. I was a snow bird for many years until I moved down here. I might seem like a real turkey for bringing this up but at least I don't shoot from sitting inside my car. That is just lazy and a real lark. You need to sparrow me the sob story and swallow some pride (or pineapple pizza). I promise to tern a blind eye and deaf ear to your groussing. Next time I'll think about robin a bank and buying a car to travel miles away for bird shooting and picking up chics. :uhoh

I must admit I'm pretty lucky when it comes to location for bird shooting. I've heard there is an eagles nest down the end of the road so I'll be checking that out soon.

Thanks for looking, Ginger and Harry.

Michael Allen

Hey Mike, I think somebody's jealous.

pathfinder

I love the shot of the GBH looking in the doorway. It also confirms a suspicion of mine. I have suspected for some time that the birds in Florida are much more tolerant of human proximity than they are here in Indiana.
I spent several weekends over the last few years trying to capture decent shots of GBHs which are plentiful here also, but could never get closer than 75 - 100 yards before they would loft and be gone. They just will not remain if your approach any closer, and I have even tried it on the river in a slowly drifting boat - noiselessly. No help!! So it is nice to see that they are not always so recalcitrant to cooperate!!:):

Osprey Whisperer

Thanks for looking guys. Path....I think our birds are pretty friendly here. They are also like people. Some are more approachable than others. Some of the GBHerons will let you get within inches of them. Others you can hardly look around the corner of the house and they are flying off. The odd thing is that it seems like the smaller the bird....the more fearless they are. GBHerons will fly off long before the little snowy egrets. I think pound for pound these little egrets are some of the most fierce and scrappy of the birds. I've seen them chase off GBH for food. It's kind of funny. Having said that..I've also seen a great blue attach a shark that a fisherman had pulled in. Pretty wild. I do enjoy the birds in the area. For the most part they are great big hams and will pose for you.

Cheers

MM