Look what I saw from my kitchen window this afternoon.

Oh my goodness! Margaret, that is AWESOME!! I've seen a bald eagle flying around our neighborhood a time or two but I've never gotten a good close up view! That is a really, really great photo!

Thanks Lin, it helps to have at least a short telephoto lens, he was there on Dec. 20th also.

A few of my backyard visitors:

American Goldfinch ................................... Chipping Sparrow and ........................................ Red-bellied Woodpecker:



We took a long walk on the beach Christmas morning and I took a few pic's of some shore birds.

Herring Gull .............................................. Ring-billed Gull (with a Christmas treat) and ??? ................... Plover maybe?

I wish I had a more powerful lens ... I might get a new camera for my birthday in March with more zoom capability. I'm not technical though so it won't be one of those cameras that has interchangeable lenses. I'd never be able to handle a camera like that.


I keep going back and looking at your picture and it's really a wonderful shot of that beautiful and regal bird!

Very nice Lin.

Thanks Margaret!

mcash70 said:Look what I saw from my kitchen window this afternoon.

Lin, nice photos you captured too!

Glad you like the eagle Ann.

Now, for your next photography assignment Margaret..... get a photo of a Golden Eagle.



But seriously, it would be stellar if you did.

All of the birds are beautiful but the Eagle especially so as I could never see one around here.

We live near a wetlands so we often see waterfowl, but my son saw one bald eagle and 2 without the white head. How do you tell the difference from an immature bald eagle and a golden eagle?

Ann, we do have Golden Eagles in the area, I have on a few occasions seen them, but most of the time they fly really high over the mountains, so pretty well impossible to photograph them, but I keep hoping.

Teresa, it can be very difficult to tell the difference between an immature Golden and Bald Eagle, especially from a distance.

This from Wikipedia:

" Immature Bald Eagles are distinguishable from the Golden Eagle in that the former has a more protruding head with a larger beak, straighter edged wings which are held flat (not slightly raised) and with a stiffer wing beat, and feathers which do not completely cover the legs.[5]"

and the link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B...

and here are links for comparison:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/g...

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/g...

One of these days Margaret, one of these days......

and you probably won't have your camera handy.......

Oh so true Ann, but I will keep trying....

plantladylin said: A few of my backyard visitors:

American Goldfinch ................................... Chipping Sparrow and ........................................ Red-bellied Woodpecker:



We took a long walk on the beach Christmas morning and I took a few pic's of some shore birds.

Herring Gull .............................................. Ring-billed Gull (with a Christmas treat) and ??? ................... Plover maybe?

The last pic looks like a Ruddy Turnstone. I figured it was before I found pics for you. We used to go to the Gulf Coast in FL during 5 Winters.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/r...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/g...

http://ibc.lynxeds.com/photo/r...

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DPCS...

http://www.arkive.org/ruddy-tu...

Thanks for the link on eagles.
I have a few hummingbird pics from this summer if I can find them

Marilyn: Thanks for the ID of the Ruddy Turnstone! I found it listed in my Florida bird book which says it's also called Rock Plover and Calico-back. There are lots of them on the beach here in Daytona. Here's a picture of another one fiddling with a little shell as it's looking for something to eat: