Come on, let me see you shake your tail feathers

If you're hanging around in the water all day, sometimes it feels good to just get out and giver your feathers a good body shake.
--steve buser

NewOrleans, Duck, feathersPowered by ScribeFire.

Shadowing stranger -- Yellow-crowned Night Heron

A young Yellow-Crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax violaceus) stops to check me out, as I wandered up on his dark shadowing nook of the lagoon in City Park, New Orleans. I think he was more after the shade than trying to find good eats.
--steve buser

Yellow-Crowned Night Heron, birds, New Orleans, City Park

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Finally, I get a break

Are the babies finally asleep? Thank goodness!

This lady Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis ) peeks over the edge of the house done at her nest in the bushes. If they really are sleeping, she may get a rest from the duty of finding and transporting food back to the little ones.
--steve buser

Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, birds, Lousiana

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Mississippi Kite with no strings

This Mississippi Kite ( Ictinia mississippiensi)was perched about as high as you can get and still be on a tree. We were at my daughter's house in Baton Rouge watching him. He looked around for a good while before he decided he would have a better time in the air. He took off and climbed rapidly to a altitude I couldn't photography him. Then he proceed to put on an aerial display of diving and climbing. Soon he and his mate were off soaring through the neighborhood in search of something good to eat.
--steve buser

Misssissippi Kite, Ictinia mississippiensi, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

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Cardinal question -- you looking at me?

Who are you looking at?

This Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) tries to figure out what that funny-looking big ol' glass eye is looking at him for. My son, Aaron took this shot a couple weekends ago. He was testing out my camera while I was in playing with the grandkids. Seems to me he has a pretty good eye.
--steve buser

Cardinal,

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Time to get a bigger nest

I was wondering why this Great Egret kept picking at her side. It wasn't till I got back home and looked at the picture that I figured it out. She had a stick in her side. I guess I should do some schtick about that, but I have lived before n crowded quarters like that -- with all the children under feet (literally).
--steve buser

Great Egret, Audubon Park, NEw Orleans, Louisiana, birdsPowered by ScribeFire.

Lying low, up high

Maybe some of us are just better at concealment that others.

But, one would expect something as small and feathery as a Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) to be an expert at the craft. Then again, maybe not. After all, their whole life is about getting attention.

This fellow was hanging out on the electric line in my brother Gary's backyard in Baton Rouge where we stayed this weekend. He would land and start singing his imitation of about 15 or so different bird songs from other species(However he sang them about twice as as loud as those he was mocking would sing).

Then, he would fly up about as 5 feet, as conspicuous as he could be and then fluttering slowly back to the wire about 10 feet further down the line. This would go on for about a half an hour, before he would fly up to the top a a huge oak He had an appointed round on specific branches that he would move through-- singing on each one.

But this one time, he suddenly got silent and crouched down. I don't know what he saw, but I was thinking "It serves you right you big show off.

--steve buser

Mocking bird, Mimus polyglottos, birds, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
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Dad's nest time

Dad gets a little time with the new chick in the nest while mom goes on the food run. This was a shot right out of our window this time last year. We watched the mom with her to new little chicks. The other one did not survive until this shot. I am sorry to say, this chick didn't make it either. It's a cruel world out there.

--steve buser

Mounring Dove, chicks, nest birds

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Wayside flyby

This pelican was flying by us as we crossed the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. It was kind of a fly-by feathering

This is a SkyWatch Friday Post. Go and check out more Skywatch images at the Skywatch Site!
--steve buser

Lake Pontchartrain, Causeway, brown pelican, sky

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Cardinal rule of fine dining

If you were a beautiful Cardinal would you feast on worms and insects?   I think not.   You'd probably do like this fellow and has tasty, succulent morsels of sun-baked baby elm buds.  The birds are apparently into fine-dining at the Mandeville Nature Center  (across the lake from New Orleans).

--steve buser

Cardinals, Cardinalis cardinalis, eating, Mandeville, birds, nature center, Louisiana

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Pileated Woodpecker

Clueless. That's me.

I didn't know what the fuss was all about -- the Pileated Woodpecker.

Then this past weekend I was out at the Mandeville Nature Center.  I was actually heading back in to my car when I caught a glimpse of a bird coming in across the lake like a one of those jumbo fireworks rockets.  Except I could make out it was a bird and had a black and white and red look to it.

He kept his kamikaze speed up as he approached thewoods -- he obviously knew where he was going and had done this many times before.  He took and s-curve route through the trees and pull out of his  dive with one of the multi-G climbs at the end, right up to the middle of a huge dead, limbless tree.  I had just made it back to the trail, about 60 feet from the tree, when he started scouting out food.   He was as large as a crow.  He quickly scaled the tree and then scamper to another.

This was his territory marking tree (I learned later) -- he started hitting it and making quite a racket on this tree-drum -- his way of saying "this is my yard -- stay away."

His beautiful red head is the most attractive thing about him.

I think he and I will meet up again.  Hopefully he'll hang around a little longer.

--steve buser

Dryocopus pileatus, woodpecker, pileater, Mandeville, Mandeville Nature Center

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Lucky duck

This lucky Mandeville young lady at the pond was keeping an eye me and I guess was thinking that I couldn't see her if she hid her nose. Go figure.

---steve buser

duck, feathers, Mandeville, Louisiana

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The trees are alive with the sounds of birds

We were in Mandeville again today, checking on Linda's parents.   When we woke up, we decided to take the dog on a walk down to the lakefront.   We weren't even out of the driveway when I notice that the trees seemed to be on fire with the sounds of singing birds -- dozens of them on every block.   On the trip I sighted more than a dozen cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis), maybe more.  At the lakefront were the normal gulls and an occasional egret.  Some coots were floating down near the harbor.  

On the way back to her parents house, more of the same, including this Cardinal who let me shoot about a dozen shots until I got focused in and all the settings right.

--steve buser

Duck ponder

This friendly duck, probably a Scaup, was hanging by the side of the pond at the hospital in Mandeville,the other day. He was courteous enough to let me in close enough for this shot (with a zoom lens, though).

--steve buser

Full-featherd love

True love on the banks of the pond at Fairview Regional Medical Center in Mandeville, Louisiana.

Even as I edge closer for better and better shots, these ducks seemed not to really care. They looked over time to time to see if I was bringing food, but it I wasn't, well then they had no use for me.

Love, apparently, is blind.

--steve buser

ducks, Mandeville, Louisiana

Feather Up

We were in our normal Sunday before Mardi Gras place on Magazine Street, yesterday for the Toth Parade.  This year, though, they changed where the parades lined up,so three different parades rolled passed us including Toth and Mid City.

This guy, Wild Man, makes a short appearance at the corner by us every year and then disappears back into the crowd. From the looks of his costumes, he must belongto one of the Mardi Gras Indian Krewes.

--steve buser

Lakeset wings

Calm. Darkening. Enlightening. Peaceful. Sharing.
Two ladies enjoy the setting sun and the playful seagulls.

Soul searching.
Brooding.
Musing.
Reflection.

The sun does it too.
The New Orleans Lakefront.

--steve buser

This is a SkyWatch Friday Post. Go and check out more Skywatch images at the Skywatch Site!

Sunset, birds, seagulls, reflection, Lake Pontchartrain

Fair feathered friend

We had stopped in at a McDonald's for a potty break and a snack. I stayed behind at the car to feed, water and watch our puppy. This bird was one of many that were flying out of the nearby bushes to land on the tree and take a look around. After a while they would fly back to the cover of the bushes and another would come out for scouting duty. Anybody have any idea what kind of bird he is?

--steve buser

birds, feathers,

Coot scooting

This American Coot didn't seemed to be as frightened of me as the others ducks as he non-nonchalantly passed by. Maybe in his eye I wasn't as ugly as his fellow swimmers thought. Audubon Park lagoon.

--steve buser

American Coot, duck, New Orleans, Louisiana, Audubon Park

Latch key chicks

Three baby egrets  (actually I think there are four in the bundle of feathers, but you can only see three faces) waitfor mom and dad to get home with the groceries for today.  The shot is at the rookery -- Oschner Island -- at Audubon Park in New Orleans.

--steve buser

Egrets, chicks, babies, New Orleans, Louisiana, Audubon Park, birds