swag
August 2, 2014
House Sparrows, Woodpecker and Mourning Dove

The first four photos are fairly close-up ones of female and male House Sparrows at our feeders.

close-up of a sparrow feeding (I)

Male House Finch (22-Jul-14; © Richard L. Bowman)

close-up of a sparrow feeding (II)

A Female and Male House Sparrow Flirting (17-Jul-14; © Richard L. Bowman)

male sparrow feeding

A Lone Female House Sparrow (19-Jul-14; © Richard L. Bowman)

male sparrow on shepherd's crook

Three Female House Sparrows on the Bird Feeder (19-Jul-14; © Richard L. Bowman)

One pleasant visitor whom I have not seen a lot of this summer is the Red-bellied Woodpecker. This use of "bellied" is not referring to the bird's stomach or breast area. But since another definition of the verb "bellied" is "to swell out", I am guessing that it refers to the red color blooming out of the top of the woodpecker's head. Anyone have another suggestion here?

red-bellied woodpecker (I)

Two Female House Sparrow Are One Too Many (19-Jul-14; © Richard L. Bowman)

red-bellied woodpecker (II)

A Female House Sparrow Flies in to Feed (19-Jul-14; © Richard L. Bowman)

Here is a female House Sparrow on our other feeder than the one at the beginning of this post. I like it when I can capture an animal (or person, for that matter) is in action. So here this bird is trying to crack the seed. Or maybe it will eat it whole. 

female sparrow feeding

A Common Grackle on Our Lawn (17-Jul-14; © Richard L. Bowman)

And I needed to capture the stately Mourning Dove one more time while we are still in Harrisonburg, VA, USA.

mourning dove

Mourning Dove Sitting on Our Lawn (17-Jul-14; © Richard L. Bowman)

For some reason, the House Sparrows congregated under our feeder the other day. Maybe mating season is over and they simply want some community. I don't know.

flock of sparrows feeding on ground

Eastern Gray Squirrel Stands to Eat (19-Jul-14; © Richard L. Bowman)

While the lens on my Canon SX30 IS camera (a so-called "supper zoom" camera but not a DSLR or digital single lens reflex camera) is not large enough to be fast enough to stop birds in flight, I can capture them in flight with blurred wings. Here is one coming into land on one of our feeders. Feet are down and ready to land.

sparrow flying in for a landing

Eastern Gray Squirrel Searching for Food (19-Jul-14; © Richard L. Bowman)

There is always something interesting for me to catch. And I hope you have enjoyed these photos, too.

--©2013-14, Richard L. Bowman

Response Form

Your Name:

Your Email Address:
Confirm Email Address:

Your Questions, Affirmations or Other Comments:

By submitting your comment, you give permission for your comment to be placed in this blog (as appropriate). Your name will be the only identification included. No other use of your name or email address will occur except to respond to any question you raised.