Bird Weekly – Photo Challenge – Birds Perched Up

Posted on May 7, 2021 by

76 Comments

Welcome to Week #46 of the Bird Weekly Photo Challenge. Week #46 challenge is birds perched up on anything.

The feature image is an Osprey perched up on a Cypress snag eating lunch.

Birds are much easier to photograph when they are perched up on something. A perch is a place for a bird to rest and observe their surroundings. They use perches to scan the area for predators. Predators perch themselves up in search of their next meal. Most bird species will use perches to enjoy said meal.

Anna’s Hummingbird

Anna’s Hummingbird was perched up in the desert at Floyd Lamb Park in Las Vegas, Nevada. Bright lights are not the only magnificent sight in Vegas. The hummers here in Florida almost never stay still so when we went out west to visit, we were amazed at how long they would stay in one spot.

Eastern Phoebe

This Eastern Phoebe came around last spring and stuck around until winter. I haven’t seen it yet this year, but the Eastern Bluebirds just got back. Since the mosquito population has returned, maybe this guy will be back soon too. Eastern Phoebes are flycatchers that usually sit upright and will wag their tail from their low perches. It was raining on this day and this little song bird was waiting for the right time to strike.

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.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

This Red-bellied Woodpecker entertained me for more than 20 minutes. Flying to the feeders and back to the palm tree in our front yard. He stashed his peanuts in the fronds of the palm.

Carolina Wren

The Carolina Wren perched up on the water barrel near the garage with some kind of flying insect in its beak. He was enroute to the nest that had 3 hungry baby chicks. The female was right behind him with some live mealworms that we had put out.

Red-shouldered Hawk

This is the pair of Red-shouldered Hawks that perched up on the fence at the park. I left the flying photo below in the post because that bird is the one that was on the left. It completes the story of why he was angry with me. He was in hot pursuit of the female on the right.

Red-shouldered Hawk got irrigated at me even though I was that close. This photo is zoomed in and cropped but he was courting a female nearby.

Mourning Dove

This Mourning Dove perched up on the branches above the feeders making sure the coast was clear for the whole gang to embark upon the feeders. They are messy eaters and scatter seeds all over the ground allowing others in their flock to eat from the ground. They store the seeds in an enlargement of the esophagus called the crop. After they busily eat to their heart’s content, they can fly to a safe perch to digest the meal.

Tri-colored Heron

This Tricolored Heron was perched up on a branch waiting for his photo op. He is in full breeding plumage.

Macaw

We got to visit this Macaw at the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, Florida. He was quite used to people and would say hello when you got near.

Bald Eagle

This Bald Eagle was just coming into adulthood. There was still some black mottling in the feathers on the head where it looked like he had stuck his head in a pile of black coal and shook it loose…a little on the dirty side.

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron stands tall as the sun breaks the darkness on an early morning sunrise over Cape Canaveral Space Center in Titusville, Florida.

Next time…Week #47 – Birds with a color in their name like Yellow-throated Warbler or Mountain Bluebird or White Ibis. (5/14/21)

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Category: birds, Birds Weekly Photo Challenge, nature, photo challenge, photography, reflection, travel, Uncategorized, water, wildlifeTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

76 Comments on “Bird Weekly – Photo Challenge – Birds Perched Up”

  3. Pingback: Bird Weekly – Photo Challenge – Birds Perched Up – Cee's Photo Challenges

  7. I wonder if that’s a peculiarity of Anna’s hummingbirds. They’re the predominant species in my neighborhood here in Tempe, AZ and they often hang out and “sing.” (Their songs sound like rusty hinges to me, but that’s sort of wonderful in its own way.) Great photos!

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    • I think it must be. They would sit up for long periods of time when we were out in the Vegas area. We went back to back years and it was the same thing. I love to listen to them. I was like a kid in a candy store picking them out and photographing them. Thanks for the compliment! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  8. Your Pine Warbler looks an awful lot like our Goldfinches, but even with taking one of the course from Cornell, I STILL can’t tell one warbler from another. At least the finches have the decency to come in very different colors, though I’m still not convinced there’s really a difference between the Purple and the House Finch. I think they are just messing with me.

    We’ve had a huge influx of Red-bellied Woodpeckers AND some really BIG Hairy Woodpeckers this week. Do our Bluebirds migrate to you?/ Or do we both have Bluebirds?

    Never seen a Tri-colored Heron before, but all the big herons look the same except for coloration. Same size and all look like they used to be baby dinosaurs. I don’t know where our swans have gone. We had one very, very bad winter a few years ago and I haven’t seen any of them since. Maybe they flew to somewhere where the lakes weren’t frozen solid. It’s got to be hard to eat when dinner is a mass of ice.

    We now have easily two dozen Mourning Doves living in our woods. They don’t leave and we count on them to clean up the deck. This morning, I counted eleven of them (but they came and went, so there were probably more) on the deck eating all the seeds the other birds knocked to the ground. The really are our clean-up crew, though a few other birds also like to walk around eating any fallen seeds. In the winter, it’s the Juncos and now, it’s sparrows and Blue Jays, though the Jays will also perch on the feeders.

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  14. my favorites are the osprey, the hummingbird, and the macaw (too bad it was at the Alligator Farm!) And I can see why the hawk would be angry 🙂

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    • Thank you Maria. The Phoebe was such a treat for several months. Hope he comes back to our yard this summer. 🙂

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  18. Now I’m going to look for perched birds, Lisa! That is doable! You have quite a collection and some great stories to go with each one. The Macaw is gorgeous. The colors around the Great Blue Heron warmed him up a lot. 🙂

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  19. What a great perched collection you have, Lisa! They do cooperate with our lenses quite nicely while they sit still. The little ones you show are adorable all fluffled up in perch mode. I think some secretly like having their pictures taken. I’m linking my barn swallows (another set) for Sunday Stills tomorrow…what has that to do with weather, you ask? You shall see 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    • Thanks Terri. So much easier to capture. I’ll check out Sunday Stills eventually. I haven’t been on the blog since Saturday. Had a great time with the kids and grandkids over the weekend. I’ve got weather too. It may be Saturday before I post it. 🙂

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      • Sounds good, Lisa. Being busy in the real world is better anyway! Sorry I missed you guys on the call, I had hoped to be back and as I was all set to join, the contractor came by with questions about our upcoming shop build!

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  20. These are such beautiful photos, and the colors of the Macaw are so vibrant! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a hummingbird just chilling, usually they’re such busy little guys lol!

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    • The Macaw was a treat to see even though it is a bird in captivity. I’d love to see them in the wild someday. You are right about the hummingbirds. Our Ruby-throated hummingbird never sits still. 🙂

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  21. Lovely photos. The world is so amazing, the continents you live on have birds occupying very similar ecological niches as the ones I know here. They look superficially similar, but most are quite different species. Some of the groups are not found on other continents: like macaws.

    Here’s my entry for the week:

    Huddle

    Liked by 1 person

    • You are right about the birds crossing over to similarity. We don’t have bee eaters at all. I would love to see them. The Macaw isn’t native here either. That was a bird in captivity even though their wings are not clipped, they are trained and are well taken care of. I’d love to see them in the wild. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

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    • Please don’t ever be intimidated by my photos. That is not the purpose at all. I just love sharing my adventures and I so enjoy seeing what birds others see. It’s all about sharing our experiences. I loved your gallery! 🙂

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    • I was very behind as I was on vacation. I got to see my kids and grandkids this past weekend for the first time since the pandemic. I’ve been slowly catching up. Your photo was absolutely awesome! 🙂

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      • Thank-you! This pandemic has been awful for families. My Dad lives in NZ so at least I didn’t have to worry about him (no covid there, thank God) – it’s good that you got to see your kids and grandkids. Hopefully you’ll have a lot more visits this summer!

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      • I’m sorry it has been so hard on your family. I needed a good dose of my family and am happier and more motivated. I would love to live in New Zealand though. It is a dream! We watched America’s Cup and all I could think of was…they got freedom over there with no covid. Plus, they are known as the friendliest people on the planet! 🙂

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