Photo Challenge – Backyard Visitors – May 2013

It has been a long while since I have spent an afternoon sitting in the yard watching the birds; but with my new 7D I’m back out there again!

Yesterday this little mourning dove came to visit and he hung around for a good long while. He would sit up on a high branch far away from me, then float down to the ground and take a walk around, then fly back up to his branch and watch for a while, then he’d be back down for another walk….

I’m not sure who was watching who.

Small Mourning Dove

Canon EOS 7D – Canon 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS
250mm – 1/200 – f/6.3 – ISO 200

Judging by his size I’m going to say he just might be a fairly young bird; he was much smaller than the mourning doves I usually see.

I hope you all take time to enjoy your backyard and capture a shot or two of your visitors; you never know who might stop by.

Kansas Wildlife

…and yet more of Kansas week on the blog…

Kansas is filled with some pretty awesome wildlife all across the state; from bald eagles to bunnies we’ve got it all.

I live in North Central Kansas  bordering on Western Kansas and in this part of the state you will find critters like…

muskrats, mule deer, coyotes, prairie chickens, ring-necked pheasants, white-tailed deer, bobwhite quail, thirteen-lined ground squirrels, pocket gophers, kangaroo rats, collared lizards, six-lined racerunners, garter snakes, bullsnakes, rock wrens, chimney swifts, western kingbirds, northern mockingbirds, cliff-swallows,  warblers, ducks, grebes, cormorants, and geese, ospreys, sandhill cranes, mountain bluebirds, golden and bald eagles, I’ve even heard that there are elk roaming around the Fort Riley Military Reservation (ok; so that is east of here a good ways but it’s still pretty cool!).

You’ll also find; raccoons, opossums, striped skunks, fox squirrels, beavers, wood rats, skinks, rat snakes, rattle snakes, and several species of frogs, toads, and aquatic turtles.

Oh; yes this list goes on….

We’ve got; ring-billed gulls, long-tailed ducks, common loons, upland sandpipers, eastern meadowlarks, dickcissels, grasshopper sparrows, mourning doves, mallard ducks, Canada geese, red-tailed hawks, wild turkeys, horned owls, bobcats, black-tailed jackrabbits, swift fox, black-tailed prairie dogs, burrowing owls, horned larks, kingbirds, yellow-headed blackbirds, magpies, white pelicans, rough-legged hawks…

Ok; you get the idea.

We’ve got a lot of wildlife in the area.

Now that I’ve given you this huge list I must say that I have only captured a few critters through my lens; here’s a little taste of what is at KKHPhotos.com…

enjoy!

American Tree Sparrow

Junco

Mourning Doves

American Coot

Golden Eagle

Turkey Vulture

Turkey

Bobcat

Picture Of The Week – Victoria Crowned Pigeon

I was texting with L the other day and she was with #7 at an office picnic. It sounded like they were having a good time. Along with a tasty hog roast they had a chance to visit the zoo. So I thought that my KKHPhotos.com picture of the week  this time around needed to be a shot from that zoo.

You all know I like to visit the zoo and try to capture a shot or two of the colorful animals.

The day I took this shot this colorful bird was walking along side the path quiet as could be. Had it not been for someone else pointing him out I may have not even noticed him. I thought his bright blue feathers kind of make him look like he’s dressed for a tropical vacation!

Victoria Crowned Pigeon

June 2009 – 168 mm – 1/320 - f/5 – ISO 800

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All the photos, in the public galleries, over at KKHPhotos.com are available as prints in a wide assortment of sizes, canvas gallery wraps, standout displays,  fotoflōts, photo greeting cards, and postage stamps. They are also available in a wide range of gift items; aluminum bookmarks, coasters, tempered glass cutting boards, keychains, magnets, mousepads, and much more! You can even do your own thing with my photos when you purchase them as digital download stock photos for personal or web use.

Let Zenfolio host your photos. Use referral code CV6-ZGB-B5M to save 10%.

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Zazzle Product Of The Week ~ Peacock Postage Stamp

Make each letter a special delivery with US Postage Stamps from Zazzle.

I’ll bet you didn’t know you can get postage from Zazzle; did you?

This stamp features one of my favorite peacock photos; and way back in July of 2008 it even won a Today’s Best Award!

Available in several amounts from postcard to priority mail; this stamp is sure to make your letters stand out from the crowd.

Check out the Variety Store for more US Postage Stamps.

Looking for Holiday stamps? I’ve got some of those too; just select the Holiday you are looking for.

Chatter Down By The River

Before the weather warmed up this morning I headed out to look for something interesting to shoot; I ended up down by the river. I saw a big mulberry tree just dripping with ripe fruit and I took a few shots of the bright red berries against the green leaves; only to discover later that I had the shutter speed much much to slow for our windy day. I came across a small brown rabbit racing through the equally brown grasses and the end results were nothing to look at. You could hardly even tell there was a rabbit there at all. I tried to capture the larger bird circling overhead but mostly just blinded myself as the lens passed by the bright morning sun; yep it was just one of those days. I couldn’t seem to get a shot of anything worth keeping.

As I was walking along I kept hearing this loud chatter coming from the other side of the river. I really couldn’t be sure what it was because the wind was blowing, adding its own noises, but I thought it might be voices. This particular spot along the river has a nice big golf course on the other side and I just figured it must be a tournament going on. But usually if there are people out on the course you can spot the colorful flags blowing behind the trees and I wasn’t seeing any spots of color anywhere.

I came to a point where the river’s edge was clear enough for me to walk up between the trees and get a good look at the bank on the other side. I found the source of the chatter…

It was a group of birds on a bare branch; they were having a great time darting in and out of the thick trees and chattering away as they did so. I think they must have found a ripe mulberry tree over there and were having one tasty breakfast!

Even though I didn’t come home with many good pictures I did have a nice walk. Now I’m staying indoors for the afternoon; I think it just might get hot out there again today.