Birds

Lens -Artists Challenge #404 – Subjects on the Letter B

/ Leya / 34 kommentarer

I am Back with Birds for Beth!

Cranes at Hornborgasjön, Sweden. Then a gallery from far and wide. Some strange birds, like the Shoebill stork and the Kori bustard. I think you will recognise the others, ”the flying banana” and the night heron too.

I hope you have fun finding lots of things starting with B. Please limit your responses to no more than 10 images for your response. Please be sure to tag your post with Lens-Artists and include a link back to the original post.

The Lens-Artists team will be taking a break for the next two weeks. I, Leya/Ann-Christine will be hosting the next challenge when we return on July 18. Until then – stay well, and huge apologies for late comments!

You can keep up with all of our challenges by subscribing to the Lens-Artists team members websites: Tina, Patti, Ann-Christine, John, Sofia, Anne, Egidio, Ritva, Beth.

For information on how to join the Lens-Artists challenge please click here.

Thursday Thoughts – Birds, birds, birds!

/ Leya / 24 kommentarer

Among the many African treats were the beautiful birds. Here is a collage of: Striated Heron, Hadada ibis, Southern Banded Snake Eagle, Lesser Blue-eared Starling, European Roller, Bee-eaters, Magpie Shrike, Egyptian Goose and Lilac breasted Roller.

The glossy starlings were everywhere – shining beauties. Bee-eaters were also frequent.

I really loved all the birds, for their colours and for them being easily spotted in trees and on twigs on the savanna. I’ll finish with two charming couples that caught my heart:

The Southern Yellow-billed Hornbills (flying bananas according to our ranger…) and the Southern Carmine Bee-eaters. The Hornbills came very close and seemed to seek our company, and the bee-eaters flew through the soft air like sparkling jewels.

April is the month when our migrating birds return to nest. I am looking forward to welcoming them – their nesting boxes are ready for new families! In fact the last two or three years we’ve had bee-eaters too in Skåne, the southernmost part of Sweden. At least something good with the warmer climate.

Thursday Thoughts on a Friday…

/ Leya / 13 kommentarer

Noticed that this wasn’t posted as I had forgotten to schedule it – hopefully you will enjoy an early morning walk among the birds in the wetlands! I have a moderate lens length only, but still ok.

Thursday Thoughts – A day at Phoenix Parc

/ Leya / 26 kommentarer

We had missed that in Nice they do not close their museums on Mondays – but on Tuesdays. Instead we went to Phoenix Parc near the airport, a short train ride and we were there.

Many flowers and some animals – a sunny and relaxing walk! One of the peacocks decided to show off his beauty – and we had a hard time figuring out if his front or back was the most attractive part of him…

The flamingos were spotted from down under the foliage, pruning and prancing…

So, feathers and flowers – another lovely day in Nice!

Thursday Thoughts – Winter Birds

/ Leya / 38 kommentarer

Some of my winter guests every year, photographed through my window. Of course Robin is my absolute favourite – and I have two of them. They eat on different sides of the house, this one outside my room and the other one outside my kitchen window. Fighters they are, so better stay apart…

Every year in January there is a national bird count, and everyone who has a feeder or a garden can participate and count their birds during three days and then report the results. For the last ten years the birds have been declining and some species are not here anymore. This is a fact all over the world. But, it is interesting to participate and follow your own reports as well as from the whole country over the years. Some years there is an invasion of a certain species, and this year we had a massive invasion of the Common Redpoll all over the Sweden.