Winged Wednesday 10/11/2023

[Eric Gofreed]

My contributions to today's Winged Wednesday are headshots part 1. Part 2 next week

Regrettably, this was the only photo I got of the elusive Yellow-eyed Penguin. They are endemic to New Zealand and
are the world's rarest penguins and perhaps the shyest too.

The Black Guan is a Costa Rican bird. This portrait shows his red eye and blue face... the most interesting parts
of the bird. He is essentially a unicolored black bird with deep dull red legs and feet.

Great Curassow (Costa Rica) This is another essentially black bird. But what a crown!!!

Angry Wild Turkey or Star Wars character

The Purple Gallinule is a swamp hen... a rail species. Photographed in Florida.

 

[Trent Watts]

Oh my goodness Eric. What a fabulous collection of portraits. Everyone is so unique. The Great Curassow is really something.

 

[Trent Watts]

I'll stick with the portrait theme as I have a few local birds that I have taken closeup shots of over the years.

White-throated Sparrow.

Black-billed Magpie.

Red-breasted Nuthatch.

American Crow.

This Turkey Vulture image is heavily cropped to get a head shot, but thought it was a fitting twin to Eric's Wild Turkey.

 

[Eric Gofreed]

I'll stick with the portrait theme as I have a few local birds that I have taken closeup shots of over the years.

White-throated Sparrow.
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Black-billed Magpie.
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Red-breasted Nuthatch.
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American Crow.
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This Turkey Vulture image is heavily cropped to get a head shot, but thought it was a fitting twin to Eric's Wild Turkey.
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Five incredible headshots. Highest compliments, Trent

 

[Trent Watts]

Five incredible headshots. Highest compliments, Trent

Thanks so much Eric.

 

[AlanLichty]

As always these are hard acts to follow - nice work on the head shots Eric and Trent.

My wings are a bit (a lot actually) more mundane with a Canada Goose doing sentry duty while the rest of the group is eating and mooning us

 

[Trent Watts]

A great example of goose behaviour Alan. Well seen.

 

[DES]

Truly remarkable photos!

I realize I'm among the pros.....and I am not a bird photographer. My contributions are simply "grab shots" that I was glad I had tried.

Sandhill cranes in the nearby bosque.

And a backyard (Cooper's?) hawk. Seems very suspicious of the rose.

 

[larryj]

Cormorant feed 2 hungry chicks

Great Blue Heron feeding 3 chicks

Great Blue Heron feeding 2 new born chicks

This is as close as I can come to a portrait, you guys set the bar very high with your beautiful work!
This is a Gray Crowned African Crane in the Denver Zoo.

 

[Eric Gofreed]

Oh my goodness Eric. What a fabulous collection of portraits. Everyone is so unique. The Great Curassow is really something.

As always these are hard acts to follow - nice work on the head shots Eric and Trent.

My wings are a bit (a lot actually) more mundane with a Canada Goose doing sentry duty while the rest of the group is eating and mooning us

View attachment 65872

Nice shot, Alan. They're such a lovely goose. I should photograph them more often

 

[Eric Gofreed]

Truly remarkable photos!

I realize I'm among the pros.....and I am not a bird photographer. My contributions are simply "grab shots" that I was glad I had tried.

Sandhill cranes in the nearby bosque.

View attachment 65878

And a backyard (Cooper's?) hawk. Seems very suspicious of the rose.

View attachment 65880

Truly remarkable photos!

I realize I'm among the pros.....and I am not a bird photographer. My contributions are simply "grab shots" that I was glad I had tried.

Sandhill cranes in the nearby bosque.

View attachment 65878

And a backyard (Cooper's?) hawk. Seems very suspicious of the rose.

View attachment 65880

Two excellent photos, DES. That is a Cooper's hawk. I guess everybody loves roses. However, he may be eyeing or listening for a hidden bird or rodent.

 

[Eric Gofreed]

Cormorant feed 2 hungry chicks

Great Blue Heron feeding 3 chicks

Great Blue Heron feeding 2 new born chicks

This is as close as I can come to a portrait, you guys set the bar very high with your beautiful work!
This is a Gray Crowned African Crane in the Denver Zoo.

Thanks for your contributions, Larry. That Gray-Crowned African Crane headshot is beyond awesome. Love the first GBH nest shot with the chicks.

 

[Douglas Sherman]

My contributions to today's Winged Wednesday are headshots part 1. Part 2 next week

View attachment 65846
Regrettably, this was the only photo I got of the elusive Yellow-eyed Penguin. They are endemic to New Zealand and
are the world's rarest penguins and perhaps the shyest too.


View attachment 65847
The Black Guan is a Costa Rican bird. This portrait shows his red eye and blue face... the most interesting parts
of the bird. He is essentially a unicolored black bird with deep dull red legs and feet.

View attachment 65855
Great Curassow (Costa Rica) This is another essentially black bird. But what a crown!!!


View attachment 65848
Angry Wild Turkey or Star Wars character


View attachment 65854
The Purple Gallinule is a swamp hen... a rail species. Photographed in Florida.

Fantastic images, Eric.

 

[Trent Watts]

Cormorant feed 2 hungry chicks

Great Blue Heron feeding 3 chicks

Great Blue Heron feeding 2 new born chicks

This is as close as I can come to a portrait, you guys set the bar very high with your beautiful work!
This is a Gray Crowned African Crane in the Denver Zoo.

I loved the feeding shots Larry. It is always amazing to me that GBH nest in trees. The African Crane is so beautiful. What a shot.

 

[Douglas Sherman]

Here are my portraits. The Pheasant and Great Crowed Crane are from a friend of mine that rehabs wild animals. The Mandarin Duck is from the wild.

Mandarin Duck

Ring-necked Pheasant

Great-crowned Crane

 

[larryj]

I loved the feeding shots Larry. It is always amazing to me that GBH nest in trees. The African Crane is so beautiful. What a shot.

Thanks Trentfor the comments. The feeding shots were fun and I was please to get them, but the African Crane is an all time favorite!

 

[Ken Rennie]

More "fake" bees from my garden last month, this is a take off sequence, I envy people who have the brief recording images on a shutter half press, Olympus call it Pro Capture mode but that is exactly what it isn't; Pros were able to get bird and insect "take off" shots without it but bungling amateurs can now get them. Having a faster shutter speed than 7fps would also help to get more images. The weather has now turned cold and we are about to get our first frost plus snow on the Scottish mountain tops. I hope to visit at the end of the month after our latest Covid injections. Ken

 

[Trent Watts]

Here are my portraits. The Pheasant and Great Crowed Crane are from a friend of mine that rehabs wild animals. The Mandarin Duck is from the wild.

Mandarin Duck

View attachment 65888

Ring-necked Pheasant

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Great Crested Crane

View attachment 65892

These are gorgeous Douglas. Those Mandarin Ducks seem to be painted by someone with a real sense of humour.

 

[Douglas Sherman]

These are gorgeous Douglas. Those Mandarin Ducks seem to be painted by someone with a real sense of humour.

Thanks, Trent. Birds are amazing animals aren't they.

 

[Douglas Sherman]

More "fake" bees from my garden last month, this is a take off sequence, I envy people who have the brief recording images on a shutter half press, Olympus call it Pro Capture mode but that is exactly what it isn't; Pros were able to get bird and insect "take off" shots without it but bungling amateurs can now get them. Having a faster shutter speed than 7fps would also help to get more images. The weather has now turned cold and we are about to get our first frost plus snow on the Scottish mountain tops. I hope to visit at the end of the month after our latest Covid injections. Ken
View attachment 65897View attachment 65898View attachment 65899

Great images, Ken. These are anything but "fake,"