Wet owl

                                                                                                                                                             Photo by Dale Sutton / Rex Features

Well now, if owls had waterproof feathers they'd be ducks, wouldn't they?   This damp little 

owl was recently photographed after getting caught in the rain, in West Sussex, England.

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BarrytheBirder

Intrepid Great Blue Heron

Photos by BarrytheBirder

With temperatures hovering just above the freezing mark all day Thursday and a forecast of 2 to 4 cms. of snow overnight, one had to admire this Great Blue Heron's early arrival on the breeding grounds.   It was foraging along a newly-relocated stretch of the Holland Marsh canal, adjacent to Pump House Road.   The physical conditions of the canal environment, after the onslaught of total re-construction, seem barren and unwelcoming but this skilled fisherman was catching fish at the rate of one every minute.   The fish were not big...maybe 10 to 15 cms. on average, but this heron would be quickly filled at the pace he was keeping.   Nearby, where the canal runs parallel to Canal Road, a single Trumpeter Swan (see below), tagged but wild, was taking a time-out from its journey to points farther north.

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BarrytheBirder

Sandhill Cranes by Dave Kemp

Photos by Dave Kemp

These five photos are from a series of shots taken by my new acquaintance from British Columbia, Dave Kemp.   The photos show a Sandhill Crane coming in for a landing in a river delta marsh, south-west of Vancouver.   I'd never seen views like these of a Sandhill before and their effect on me almost left me speechless.   The shot above could be described variously as amazing, grotesque, spectacular, otherworldly, etc, etc.   Keep in mind, the wingspan of this bird is 6 to 7'.

Dave's bird photos are excellent but he does not limit himself to just avian subjects.   Go to his website to see his other photographic subject matter.   His newest website can be found at www.pictureperfect.nu/gallery.


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BarrytheBirder

I'd like to come back...

At the risk of appearing like some old fart with early-onset dementia, I am back  once again writing my BarrytheBirder blog.   Bear with me folks, as I try to figure out exactly what I'm trying to do here.   This time around, I am going to write this blog on a regular basis, but not on a fixed schedule.   Sometimes, it might appear daily, or every two or three days, or maybe as infrequently as once a week.   The fact is I love producing my birding blog but I can't seem to find the time to do it on a daily basis, as I did previously.   But enough of the pathetic preamble and let's get right to it.

Red Kites over Britain

   Photo by Ben Hall / Rex Features

A kettle of Red Kites circles over mid-Wales in this moody photograph by Ben Hall.   The species has been saved from extinction, in Britain, by one of the world's longest-running protection programs.   Red Kites can once again be seen throughout England, Scotland and Wales.   And a grand sight they are with their distinctive and colourful markings, as seen below.

Photo by M.X.Danish

Photo by Mike Warburton

Long live the Red Kite

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder