Potpourri

Over the past several days I've had the opportunity to get some shots of Kaver from around the Kodak tower and some birds closer to home. I don't have a complete narrative for any of them, so I thought I'd toss them all together for your viewing pleasure...

I was up on the roof of Bldg 9 last week, when a Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) wandered a bit too close to the nest box. Kaver was perched on the east side of the tower, out of my line of sight, but he flew into instant action to drive off the intruder. The harried flight of the TV happened right in front of me, and so close and fast was the action that I was hampered by the teleconverter on my camera, so I wasn't able to catch a shot of Kaver and the TV. I did get a few of Kaver though, as he drove the Turkey Vulture northeast over the river and out of his territory. Here, he passes in front of the middle RGE smokestack. The TV was just out of the frame:


After the chase he returned to the tower:


He swung behind the tower and emerged on the west side before making his landing:

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Walking the dogs continues to yield some excellent photographic opportunities, as long as the birds don't get spooked by two cavorting Malamutes. Here's a group shot during a break in the action:


The most ubiquitous bird on our walks continues to be the colorful Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus). Here's one calling to his colleagues in the marshes near the Erie Canal:


My second favorite woodpecker, the Red-bellied (Melanerpes carolinus), was also out. This one's usually pretty quick to fly away when the dogs and I approach, but he stayed put this time, excavating what looks to be a nest hole:

He was very accomodating, allowing me to take several shots before he hopped around to the back side of his bough. I think this is my best shot of a RBWP to date. I like his expression, which looks to me like a sly smile, and the background worked very well. Usually I catch these birds at one of my suet feeders, and while I can get a nice close shot from them, the context is a bit artificial, so I'm always happy when I can get a good picture of a bird in a natural setting.

The foregoing shouldn't be construed to take anything from this next shot-- I'll take them where I can get them! Dawn happened to spy this male Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus), a frequent visitor to our back yard suet cage. My camera was close at hand, and she got a nice shot of him snacking:


This past weekend we were sitting on our porch looking for birds in the beeches and maples in our front yard when we spied a pair sitting on a branch beneath the sparse leaves. I saw crested heads, and thought immediately of the Tufted Titmouse, a common enough sight at our home. I was surprised to look through the binoculars and see that they were, in fact, Cedar waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum)!

I think these are first year birds, because they appear to lack the red lined wing feathers of an adult bird. We don't usually see waxwings in our neighborhood because there aren't many fruit tress around, so this was a real treat.