April photos

I have been living all month in Florida at an RV park that resembles a bird reserve. My favorite photo this month is one of a Painted Bunting. Your first reaction to this shot is that I have jacked the colors way up. But trust me, that is exactly how bright a male really is. This is only the second Painted Bunting I have ever seen and the first one I have ever photographed.

The last photo of the group looks like Cleo my cat. I was out walking around the RV park a block from my RV a few days ago and ran into a cat that looked identical to Cleo is color, size and shape. So naturally I stopped to chat with the owner. She told me the name of her cat was Cleopatra but they call her Cleo. Twilight zone time - do do do do do do do doooo. I mean what are the odds of an identical looking cat with an identical name living a block away, especially considering the relative rarity of calicoes and the name Cleopatra.

All the photos this month were taken with one of two of my cameras. There are 22 shots. Eleven of them were taken with my 16 mp  Sony a55 DSLR and the Tamron 200-500 lens. That combination cost me $1500. The other 11 were taken with my brand new 12 mp Canon SX260 which cost $215. Go full screen and see if you can tell which camera took which shots more than 50% of the time. To find out if your guess is correct what you do is click on the Full Details Page link in the upper right hand corner of the screen when you view a photo that is not full screen. I bet you can't do it. It amazes me how great the image quality is for p&s cameras today.

The link is below in my signature.

Tom, great photos as usual!  My favorite this month is also the Painted Bunting, I've never seen one of those before.  Are you sure you didn't brush some water colors on that bird?  It's beautiful!

I also like the Eastern Bluebird, we get those in Minnesota but they are hard to find.  You've got the picture filename labeled correctly but the description incorrectly says it's a Western Bluebird.  I know it's not a Western Bluebird because they have a blue throat.

Is that a Purple Martin birdhouse that the Eastern Bluebird is perched on?  I've not seen many Purple Martins in Minnesota lately, we used to have lots of them.  I have an 8-holer Purple Martin birdhouse at our lake cottage but we haven't attracted any Purple Martins in it for quite a few years.  One reason may be that we don't open up the birdhouse (the holes are covered to keep out the sparrows during the winter) until we open the cottage in mid-May, and the Purple Martins usually arrive and start nesting much earlier. 

BTW, I picked up a Canon PowerShot SX30 IS recently so I'm looking forward to taking some bird pictures of my own soon.  I really like the zoom on this camera but am still learning how to use it.  I did like the size of the SX260 and was considering buying one before, but the 35X zoom on this camera won me over.

Rolf - Thanks for noticing the file name was wrong. That will teach me to work on my photos at 6 am. 

Yes that is a Purple Martin house. I have never seen a Purple Martin in my life so I am waiting for one to show up so I can add it to my Life List. A friend of mine mentioned to me that Eastern Bluebirds were nesting in the Purple Martin house so I went over there and got a shot. It is a terrible shot, but the only one I have so far. I added it to my Life List, but I am hoping to get a better shot of one to replace it.

No I did not brush any colors on the Painted Bunting.  ;D Besides, I am a terrible artist. :-[

I would have bought the SX50 which has a 50x zoom, but I needed a smaller camera to take into the concert. I don't think they will let me in with a bridge camera. The 35x zoom on your SX30 is positively wonderful for birds.

Awwww, can't help myself.  My favorite is the Muscovy head shot.  Muscovy ducks are really frightfully ugly in a beautiful kind of way.  ;D

Margi

Tom and Margi said:

Muscovy ducks are really frightfully ugly in a beautiful kind of way.

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Kinda like me. ???

Rolf - Thanks for noticing the file name was wrong. That will teach me to work on my photos at 6 am.

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Tom, no, the filename is correct.  The description on the picture (where it says Western Bluebird) is wrong, it should read Eastern Bluebird.

And now your hyperlink below your name (http://picasaweb.google.com/SeilerBird) is intruding in on your message text.  ;D

I particularly like the "Big Bird" and the "Duck Head" shots, Tom.  The clarity of the eyes in each are spectacular...the catchlight in the ducks eye for instance.  Well done on them all.  Talent shows!

Gord

OK I changed the title to read Eastern Bluebird.

The Painted Bunting is very nice!!    Well done.

My favorite this month is also the Painted Bunting, I've never seen one of those before.  Are you sure you didn't brush some water colors on that bird?  It's beautiful!

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Nope -- no extra paint on the bird. Below are a couple I took at Palo Duro Canyon in May 2009, though not as sharp as Tom's pix (they were cropped from a 3000+ pixel wide shot, no touchup at all).

Very nice Larry. And both shots are in the shade, which dulls the colors a bit. They are definitely stunning.

My favorite is big bird.  I also noted red flower is one I see often at Christmas.  Micheals carries them and they last forever.  Good one Tom!

Gotta say my favorite is baby duck with momma, but then, it WILL be Mother's day soon and I'm being sentimental!

Lovely as usual, Tom.  The colors are gorgeous.  The orange and reddish flowers are hibiscus I think.  The purple flowers are morning glory.

That Muscovy Duck is really a strange looking bird!  Almost looks like it has two heads or two sets of eyes.  I never would have known what it is.  We learn so much from one another!

ArdraF

Beautiful photos, Tom. Love the painted bunting photo. Would love to see that type of bird in person sometime.

-Roni