Welcome to Week #45 of the Bird Weekly Photo Challenge. Week #45 challenge is birds in Flight.

The feature image is a Wood Stork coming in for a landing with a large branch for nest maintenance.

Birds are hard to capture in flight. At least they are for me. I’m sharing some not so great photos this week to prove my point. Smaller, song birds are especially hard to photograph in the air and they usually happen when I’m taking one or more photos while the bird is perched. Perched will be next week.

Tufted Titmouse

Above, this Tufted Titmouse took off right when I got my camera up. Just missed it! The bottom photo is not photoshopped. The bird was taking a small flight from the blue feeder to the house feeder and I caught it in midair as he tucked his wings to land. Weird, right?

Pine Warbler

This Pine Warbler was a frequent visitor to the feeders this spring. The birds were crazy about Frank’s newly built feeders. 2021 is the first year that we have had this species in our yard even though they are quite common in Florida year round.

Goldfinch

This male Goldfinch was really beginning to get his colors in. Against a gray, raining sky, those colors really popped.

Northern Cardinal

With a peanut in his beak, this male Northern Cardinal was sharing some grub with a Red-bellied Woodpecker (bottom right). The female Cardinal was nearby.

Red-shouldered Hawk

There is a notable difference between these two photos. The top images was taken with my old Nikon 70-300mm kit lens and the bottom photo is taken with my Sony mirrorless with a full frame 200mm lens. Technology has come a long way and quality really is in the lenses and not so much the camera body. Plus, I practice a lot and I think I’ve gotten better over the years.

Swallow-tailed Kite

Swallow-tailed Kites are back for the summer. I saw one fly over my house last week. It is a little early but the temperatures are rising and the birds hanging out at our feeder are no more. There is plenty of food around and we won’t offer up all the finches, cardinals, titmice and other songbirds to these beautiful birds of prey. Why can’t they just prey on the squirrels or snakes. Leave the baby birds alone!

Great Egret

This Great Egret was coming in for a landing near a nesting spot.

Pelicans

In the U.S., we have two Pelican species. The Brown Pelican on the right and the American White Pelican on the left. As most of you know, Pelicans are my favorite bird. As if I can choose only one…but I have. Brown Pelicans dive bomb from high in the air to retrieve their next meal. American White Pelicans work as a team to corral schools of fish beneath the water’s surface.

Next time…Week #46 – Birds perched on anything. (5/7/21)