Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Best In Awhile

A bird finally got close enough for me to get a few good pictures. In fact, these are the best pictures I've had in awhile. What you are seeing here is a European Starling. You can see these birds at many places here in the United States even though they aren't native to this country. Not many of us originated here.

I was lucky with these pictures. This one bird decided to fly in close where I didn't have to extend the zoom on my camera too much. They usually stay just at the limits of my camera's zoom so the pictures look awful. There's a tree they like there for some reason.

It doesn't help me that whenever I go out all the nearby birds flee the scene. I used to think the reason for their flight was my always big and sometimes obnoxious dog, but I'm not so sure anymore. I watched the other morning while she barked like crazy at some birds just beyond her chain, but then when I came out they all flew away. I guess they just hate me. Boohoo!

Maybe I'm in the wrong part of the country from the friendlier birds. What I should do is get a good car and drive around until I find some friendlier birds, and search for car hire usa might be just the place to look for that slick automobile. Can you imagine a weirdo in a giant white rat suit chasing down birds in a car?

I could do that or I could just continue my search at home. It seemed to work okay this time. I think these pictures turned out okay. As the weather warms up I think my luck will get even better. I guarantee that winter will be over in less than a month. I said it and I'll stick by my word!

And why? Because baseball teams report for spring training this week! That's always my first sign of spring. Even though I moved a few states away I still cheer for the Detroit Tigers. I'm sure your favorite team is good too, but this is mine.

I'm sure you've noticed that I haven't been posting quite as much lately. For some reason I've just been having a little trouble keeping up with everything. Part of the reason for that is my past computer problems. I'm still in the process of reinstalling all of my software. And I'm also trying to make my computer a little more secure from these problems.

What I've been doing is backing up some of my most important data to the cloud(internet). This way if I have any more problems I'll first configure my new programs to get those files that are floating there waiting. I hope it all makes things easier next time. There's always a next time.

Anyway, I'm not sure of the other reasons why I've been falling behind lately. I'm having fun, but I keep getting busy with other things too, so it sometimes gets hard to keep up. If only we had more hours in a day. Maybe I'll find out who to call about getting that done. Anyone know any better ideas?


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22 comments:

  1. Looks like this starling is still small, but very pretty.

    I don't know Ratty, I'm falling behind in everything too, but I won't wish for more hours in the day because I then would have more things to work out anyway :-(

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    1. @Icy BC
      I treat every day as if I was on vacation. Today I sat on my back porch and took pictures of nature. It was such a beautiful warm day. That's the part I wish I could have more hours for.

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  2. Have you ever witnessed a murmuration of starlings Ratty? Fantastic spectacle.

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    1. @Don't unplug your hub
      No, I never have. I haven't seen a whole flock of birds in quite some time. I'm not sure why I keep missing them.

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  3. Speaking of murmurations, here's one caught on film:

    http://hikinginglacier.blogspot.com/2011/11/murmuration.html

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    1. @The Smoky Mountain Hiker
      I took a look and it's a glorious sight.

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  4. The starlings have a unique flight pattern, I have almost ran off the road watchuing them. Lots of birds returning, saw red-winged blackbirds and meadowlarks this week.

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    1. @Out on the prairie
      I've been happily spending most of my time outside watching and listening to all of the birds.

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  5. I didn't know that's what it was called, it's amazing. Your starlings are probably hunted and chased away like ours are (they eat all the fruit in the orchards) So they've learned to flee from people.

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    1. @Country Mouse Studio
      I'm not sure if they're chased away here. I do know that they are not particularly welcome anywhere in the western hemisphere.

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  6. Ratty, you always make me smile. I need to visit more often. I'm a little bit blue right now because today marks six weeks until my four month visit to India draws to a close. I should have gotten my rear in gear long ago so I would have had my full six months here. I have had an absolutely wonderful time and, in the last month, I've gotten out of Mumbai and visited two different states in India, Jaipur, Rajasthan and the Punjab, which was great.

    Glad to see that you are doing well.

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    1. @RNSANE
      I remember that I was excited for you when I first read that you were going to India. I knew how much you love to travel. The main thing to remember when it's over is all of the wonderful memories you'll have. Also try to remember to make every new day of your life a vacation, even at home. I am always happier when I remember to do that.

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  7. Starlings are very popular where I live and frequents the bird feeders regularly. They are a very bossy bird and spend a lot of time fighting among themselves to get the best food,,,,this does however leave the other birds free to help themselves whilst they are squabbling!!

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    1. @allotments4you
      I personally love the starlings, but they are considered as invasive here, much the same as the gray squirrels are where you live. I was happy today to get to watch many different birds including starlings and some new birds visiting my little area.

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  8. Kind of makes you wonder what Isabella has been telling those birds when she's barking at them. I wonder if she's telling them to fly when you come out so that you'll pay attention to her and not the birds....lol
    Love that blue sky in those pictures

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    1. @Ann
      Isabella is sneaky and willful enough to do exactly that. There are times when I go to bring inside only to find her hiding from me behind a tree. I know she's hiding because I catch her peeking out at me to see if I can see her.

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  9. Yay, Bird TV! Your bird photos ALWAYS get my attention! Especially since you seem to find ones we don't get in southern California.

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    1. @Sparkle
      I'll be showing lots of birds in the coming weeks. They're out and ready for spring. Winter is fighting back though.

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  10. The bird really shows up well against that gorgeous blue sky. I'm glad to hear you are getting your computer back in shape. Having an ailing computer really slows us down.

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    1. @SquirrelQueen
      Having an ailing computer is hard when it's my primary computer. Otherwise I like working on them.

      Delete
  11. Those are very nice photos of the starlings! I saw small flock of them arrive here this week and also a few blackbirds.

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    1. @montucky
      I'm glad the birds are starting to return. That means I'll get more practice with my photography.

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