ABCs of birds - Letter S

[dale]

Last one for me tonight - will pass the torch to the west coast...

Drawings of Chris's rockstar SCREECH OWLETS when he took the owlbox down (2 different years) to attach a branching stick.

From his photos. If I had a screech owlet on my hand I'd take pictures of it too.

Dale

[dale]

Gayle - I LOVE those white spots on your stilt's head. False eyes, like on a fish.
Mine was a different kind of stilt than this. Do you know what kind?

[gayle]

Spotted Towhee

Towhee from my feeder.

Gayle

[gayle]

White Stork

White storks from the Bornheim cam.

Gayle

[gayle]

Saddle-billed Stork

This large, five feet, stork is African.  He is seen in these screen captures with a grey heron which seems little by comparison!

Gayle

[gayle]

Sandhill Cranes

I do not have them by the thousands, but sandhills are common in Northern California.  Each year, my nephew, who lives in the Central Valley,  calls to tell me fall has arrived whrn he hears them fly ver his house.

Gayle

[gayle]

Sandhill Cranes , finis

These are from a few years ago in Wisconsin.  The water hole group was in Crex Meadows in northern Wisconsin and the closs ups were made at the Internationa Crane Foundation in Baraboo.

Gayle

[dale]

Incredible TEXTURES and COLORS and LIGHT in the sandhill photos, Gayle!

6-foot-tall towhee looks like he could bite your head off. Funny how if you magnify "cute" with a good strong lens it turns into "Don't make me come over there...!"

[Annette]

Steppe Eagle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steppe_Eagle

[Dumpsterkitty]

Last one for me tonight - will pass the torch to the west coast...

Drawings of Chris's rockstar SCREECH OWLETS when he took the owlbox down (2 different years) to attach a branching stick.

From his photos. If I had a screech owlet on my hand I'd take pictures of it too.

Dale

The first one is from 2007-I have the actual picture hanging on my office wall-one of my favorites EVAH!

Ei

[Annette]

Scaup, Greater

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Scaup

[Annette]

Spectacled Eider

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectacled_Eider

[Aafke]

S is for Smew

The Smew is a very beautiful duck, specially the males in black and white are very good looking.
We only have them during the winter and it's hard to find them.
picture 1 a male
picture 2 2 females
greetings Aafke

[MAK]

Snowy owl

(Cornell Lab of Ornithology)

At the extreme northern margins of the arctic tundra lives the Snowy Owl, the northernmost, heaviest, and most distinctively marked owl of North America. Largely diurnal, it spends much of its time perched still and silent on prominent lookouts, waiting to make forays for prey.

First photo-Adult male   Second photo-Adult female   Third photo-First year male

[Annette]

Stonechat, European

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Stonechat