What I see in my backyard...

[leelai]

We have kangaroos, wild ducks in our yard all the time,and the occasional emu...

That's just wonderful to hear...how lucky are you!

I'm thinking you live in Clermont

Hi from Brissy!

iPad 2 3G 64gb

 

[stranding]

That's just wonderful to hear...how lucky are you!

I'm thinking you live in Clermont

Hi from Brissy!

iPad 2 3G 64gb

Oh, are we talking to a PLACE...?

 

[leelai]

Oh, are we talking to a PLACE...?

Lol. Maybe......there's a Clermont up north from me..........quite a ways north actually.

But there would be lots of wildlife there.

iPad 2 3G 64gb

 

[clermont]

That's just wonderful to hear...how lucky are you!

I'm thinking you live in Clermont

Hi from Brissy!

iPad 2 3G 64gb

No west of Toowoomba, property name is clermont

 

[clermont]

Will try to work out how to get pics into here, just learning to use the iPad

 

[stranding]

Will try to work out how to get pics into here, just learning to use the iPad

How about using the iPad camera to take them?

 

[leelai]

No west of Toowoomba, property name is clermont

Must be cold there lately.....

Would love to see some pics.....it's much easier from the App to include a pic.

After writing your post or before or between, doesn't matter, just press the advanced tab, top right, you'll get an option to take a photo with the iPad camera or from Photos. Select your photo and once it has downloaded just press on download and you will get an Insert option, select this and it will take you back to your post, just press send.

If you don't already have the app
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/discussion-forum-for-ipad/id412896524?mt=8

iPad 2 3G 64gb

 

[stranding]

Yes, the babies are like that & easy to mix up with others, like robins. They get black feathers when they moult I think. But the mum & dad feeding him were blackbirds. I will post a photo of that.

Here is the promised photo of the father blackbird feeding the baby in the shed and another out on the grass. They both sat very patiently waiting in between visits.

The mother was busy feeding all the rest who were following her around in the trees. All going: me me me me me me!! Hard work being a parent, isn't it?

 

[HappyPelican]

Great pics everyone!

 

[stranding]

Here is the promised photo of the father blackbird feeding the baby in the shed and another out on the grass.
The mother was busy feeding all the rest who were following her around in the trees. All going: me me me me me me!! Hard work being a parent!

The first & second baby here (as a comparison with the previous blackbirds) is a starling. He was funny as he kept peering all round for mum, who had lots of others to feed. In the pouring rain most of the time.

The 3rd photo is a baby robin. This is a convenient branch in the diner where a lot of babies like to sit while they wait to be served and also very convenient for us to snap them. It's about 15 feet? from the kitchen window, which acts just like a hide--the reflection must hide us completely.

The 4th is a young baby bluetit & the 5th a slightly older baby with his mother. Neither has developed the blue topknot colours yet. Bluetits often raise 2 or 3 litters a year, but it takes a tremendous amount of work for both parents--look how thin & scraggy she is.

 

[Czevski]

Love the pics Stranding. I'm a little late to the birding obsession, but I'm learning and love it when I get a good bird picture. Of course I take pictures of squirrels, turtles, butterflies, flowers, etc, too.

 

[leelai]

Wonderful photos Stranding.....that bluetit mum does look all thin and scraggy!

iPad 2 3G 64gb

 

[stranding]

Wonderful photos Stranding.....that bluetit mum does look all thin and scraggy!

Thanks Leelai.

Birds are such attractive subjects! It was only when I started watching them more carefully to photograph them that I realised how frantically busy they are ALL day during the season. They just never, never stop.

I will post some other baby birds snapped, just to compare, all common ones around here.

There was a TV programme (might have been "Springwatch") which counted how many trips a pair of bluetits made while they fed their young. Can't remember exactly but it seemed astronomical. So no wonder she looks a bit frazzled!

It's great to see the birds & wildlife that others find common in their area. They sound so exotic here! Like hummingbirds...wow! And cougars, for heavens sake!--thought they were mythical )

Not forgetting the flora: the dog rose is my top favourite flower & we have lots in the garden.
.

 

[stranding]

This beautiful bumblebee flew into the kitchen this morning so I'm hoping that counts as in my garden? I just wanted to snap him before we returned him onto a nice juicy flower (he dived in!)

He was big--about an inch + long?--and very active so not easy to get a good pic with the iPad--he wanted his coffee & toast for breakfast. Probably has honey on the toast

The bumblebee conservation group here have asked people to tell them when you see one and, if possible, send a photo because they are in decline. When you send in a sighting, they reply with an identification & ask you about where it was & so on.

 

[Amy Rose The Hedgehog]

I caught a hummingbird once. It trapped itself under the deck umbrella and couldn't find it's way out, so I caught it using a spiders web, so I could release it safely.

How do you catch a bird with a spider web?