Freakzilla.com Photo Blog » birds

Osprey Nest

sterlingphoenix — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 05:08:29 +0000

I took this a few weeks ago. We saw the nest while biking through a trail through what used to be an ammunition plant. It’s right by where they’re planning on building the new Vikings stadium, thereby destroying all the nature bits.

The area is all sealed off and I’m not really into trespassing on federal grounds, so this was taken from WAY far away with a 200mm lens with a 2x teleconverter.

I’m not really all that happy with it, but I did think it’s kinda cool. I like how the birds adapted.

Blackbird

sterlingphoenix — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 07:49:38 +0000

While taking the swan pics I posted earlier (as in, 30 seconds ago) I got this nice shot of ~~lens flare~~ a red-winged blackbird, which is one of my favourite birds.

Swan Song

sterlingphoenix — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 07:42:44 +0000

I’ve been seeing these swans around here for a while now. Never when I have the camera, naturally. One time I rushed home and got the camera but by the time I got back, they were gone. Apparently they can fly away or something. I was starting to think that maybe I was imagining them.

Today, K spotted them really near home on her way back from work. I was out walking the dog, so she called and told me where they were, and offered to grab my camera and meet me there. Because she’s just that cool.

So I finally have proof that they’re real! Well worth wading knee-deep in a pond and getting my shoes wet for the foreseeable future.

Woodpecker on Pole

sterlingphoenix — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 19:09:45 +0000

I love Pleated Woodpeckers. I want them to come over and let me pat them.

Kestrel

sterlingphoenix — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 04:11:58 +0000

Not fantastic pics, but I’ve never seen a kestrel in the wild before.

Or maybe I have, they’re kind of tiny. I actually thought this might be a baby red-tail hawk till I looked at the pictures at home.

Another one in the Couldn’t Decide Which I Like Better So I’m Posting Both series.

Common Grackle

sterlingphoenix — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 02:31:25 +0000

I had a flock of about a hundred of these marauding around the yard a few weeks back. They came back this weekend and I managed to get a nice shot of one of them.

Golden Finch on a Thistle

sterlingphoenix — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 15:32:05 +0000

Dinner Time

sterlingphoenix — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 04:53:46 +0000

Sandhill Crane

sterlingphoenix — Tue, 11 May 2010 04:10:50 +0000

I noticed a couple of these just walking around the neighbourhood for the past few weeks. Yesterday I noticed one of them while we were driving home, so I grabbed the camera and got on my bike and tracked it down.

Raptor Center

sterlingphoenix — Mon, 10 May 2010 01:23:43 +0000

We visited the University of Minnesota Raptor Center today. The raptor center is a combination vet/education center for and about raptors. They take in wounded raptors form all over the country and do their best to heal them, and then release them back into the wild.

Some birds, while healed, can’t be released back into the wild due to the nature of their injury. An eagle with a badly healed broken wing that has been rendered flightless, for example, or a peregrine falcon that’s lost her depth perception. These birds are kept around and cared for and shown to people to help with education about raptors.

If you’re in the area, you should definitely visit (and, if possible, give them money. They have cheesy t-shirts you can buy).

Anyway, since this is the photo blog, here are some raptors:

Red Tail Hawk:

Great Horned Owl:

Obligatory Bald Eagle: