As Promised, Some Decent Bird Pictures
Well, given the title of this post (and the political climate), let's start this one off with a non-bird picture. Tonight (2/20/08), at around 10 PM EST, we had a lunar eclipse. Take a good look now, because the next one won't come round until December of 2010.
Ok, ok... On to birds. Some time ago, we started the "amateur ornithologist" series of posts. As a matter of fact, the first entry of that series took a look at the Grackle. In particular, we focused on the bony plates (or "scutella") that covered the legs and feet. Here's a good photo from the NovaBird camera of the scutella on a crow's legs.
Very cool... Note the tiny bumps ("papillae") on the pads of the feet. (If there are any ornithologists out there who can tell us more about scutella, feel free to use the comment button at the end of this post.)
The next photo is a great example of almost perfect. Whether by luck, or true intent of the blue jay, the rakish nature of the bird is apparent. Unfortunately, what isn't apparent is the last of the tail. D'oh! ... Double D'oh!
There are times when cropping to a chest and head pic is the only way to go. Still... If that jay had just shifted a little bit...
The next photo ain't bad. In fact, we put it on the cover of our first calendar. Check out the red-bellied woodpecker...
But that is literally a 1 in 5,000 picture for me. Granted, pros can get shots like this all the time... But pros are in short supply around here. To say the very least, this is maddening.
Let's see... What else? What else? Ah yes... The "eBirdseed.com Encryption Contest" remains open until someone solves the puzzle. (And don't forget the hints.)
And speaking of contests... No one has entered the mystery-prize "New-York Style Pizza Contest"... Hmmm...
Stay in touch, and see you by the feeders,
CapeCodAlan
