A mixed bag

Like yesterday, here is a mixed group of pictures from a recent day.

I got a new lens that zooms from 28mm to 300mm. It's very compact and will be good for trips--very versatile.

Here's a wide angle view from the deck. You'll need to click it larger to tell anything.

New bird for the feeder area! Ruby-crowned kinlet. Isn't he adorable. That's a six inch board he's standing on, so you can see how teeny he is. That trash all over the deck is wind blown seed hulls.

I took a lot of pictues, but he moves so fast--and through the window at dusk, not many came out. I don't know what he was eating, but he was pecking away as fast as a sewing machine!

I meant for the next picture to come up first, but they appeared out of order. The osprey nest is on the way to Botany Bay and is right by the road. Hard to stop and get pictures because of traffic going to Edisto Beach. These are through the windshield.

I was taking pictures of this great egret on the creek when it flew, so I did a burst and got one shot of him not behind a tree.

A white-tailed deer ran by too.

Uh-oh--car went into the marsh on the way home from Botany Bay. There was someone there helping already.

There's the guy who went into the water to help and he was talking to the driver, but I couldn't see the driver, so maybe he was lying down on the seat. The tide was coming in, so they needed to get that car out quickly.

I didn't hang around, but didn't see anything in the paper, so just a routine car in the marsh--happens a lot around here.

This week by the creek

I caught this dove napping on a very cold morning.

He woke up and said, Oops, how embarrassing!

Meanwhile down on the creek a great blue struts his stuff.


A great egret flies in......

.......and settles in to absorb some sunshine.

The hooded mergansers are on the creek every morning, but will be moving north this week. The big duck migrations from here start on the first full moon in February, which is tomorrow. The hoodies are so skittish and so fast. I keep trying to get some decent shots of them, but none are very good. Here's the latest batch of three males, two mature and one immature that dropped by. So long till next year guys!

This shows how far away they really are. I need a bigger lens.

February 2-5 catch-up

Here are some pictures of the February birds on my list. The first two were actually taken in late January, but I've seen them in February too. The rest were all taken from either my computer chair or the deck just outside of this room yesterday.

Hooded merganser male

Great blue heron

Brown pelican zoomed in on

Brown pelican first glimpse so you can see where the creek is. This is at high tide.

Tufted Titmouse

The immature male Baltimore oriole close view

Same bird enjoying orange

Double crested cormorants--one diving

First view of the cormorants--I like the symmetry

Chipping sparrow

Carolina chickadee