COLD DARK ROOM

EllieMay

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Kayaking/Smith Island: Did I mention that we paddled up to and through a Brown Pelican rookery? Not sure how many thousand we saw... from babies to adults to juveniles. It was pretty amazing.

Some pretty cool shots, up close and personal.

View attachment 278070


View attachment 278071

That cool! I’ve always heard that the fisherman follow the pelicans. When you see an area that is heavily populated, they have found all the fish :) I have never gotten to test the theory though [emoji18]
 

EllieMay

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Did you know that US Robins are actually thrushes? The early settlers called them Robins because their red breasts reminded them of the Robins we get in Europe which are smaller and unrelated.
View attachment 278083

It’s still a source of annoyance to many Brits that the Robin singing to Julie Andrews in London in the first Mary Poppins film was an American one! [emoji1]

Lol!!! I never knew that and probably never would have had you not mentioned it. FUN FACTS!!!
 

JoesMum

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Oct 26, 2011
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Kent, South East England
A few more photos from the rescue

Young swifts looking for their next meal
35A516A0-A072-49D7-8E8A-F69745B84959.jpeg

Weight-watchers: The House Martins are lazy and will beg for food and not bother to move while the Swallows will follow you round the aviary. The House Martins are now officially on a diet... they’re allowed one beak full at an hourly feed and no more unless they fly to you to get it!
B9E51205-43EE-47E9-A15C-24EBD65AF2F5.jpeg

And finally a little video showing the contrast between two different finch species. The madness of Goldfinches that have no off switch and the serenity of a Bullfinch politely waiting his turn.

Actually not quite finally... these are grabbed from Google to show what Goldfinches
C2827E72-3B5A-4C92-80B0-18A309A892AD.jpeg
and Bullfinches look like as adults. (Bullfinches are much bigger)
AB8C7E62-767C-4A80-8F43-064EBD5ECE67.jpeg
 

Yvonne G

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Jan 23, 2008
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Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
A few more photos from the rescue

Young swifts looking for their next meal
View attachment 278085

Weight-watchers: The House Martins are lazy and will beg for food and not bother to move while the Swallows will follow you round the aviary. The House Martins are now officially on a diet... they’re allowed one beak full at an hourly feed and no more unless they fly to you to get it!
View attachment 278086

And finally a little video showing the contrast between two different finch species. The madness of Goldfinches that have no off switch and the serenity of a Bullfinch politely waiting his turn.

Actually not quite finally... these are grabbed from Google to show what Goldfinches
View attachment 278087
and Bullfinches look like as adults. (Bullfinches are much bigger)
View attachment 278088
An ugly name for such a pretty bird.
 

DE42

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Apr 8, 2016
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1,697
Did you know that US Robins are actually thrushes? The early settlers called them Robins because their red breasts reminded them of the Robins we get in Europe which are smaller and unrelated.
View attachment 278083

It’s still a source of annoyance to many Brits that the Robin singing to Julie Andrews in London in the first Mary Poppins film was an American one! [emoji1]
That's neat. No I've only heard them called Robins so I did not know.
One of my favorite birds here I think it's called a barn swallow. They are blue and have yellow orange breast kind of like the Robin's do. When I lived with my mom and dad and we had a big pond I would love watching them come down and skim the top of the water.
 

Cathie G

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Lancaster
Kaysking/Smith Island: while we waited on others to get up and go, my room mate and I decided to get out early to enjoy the stillness. Like glass -

View attachment 278056
I love the clouds reflecting in the water. A mirror image.
He can get out of the lovely enclosure you made him?
Where there's a tort there's a way!!:)
Yep! ...especially when you have a monkey living in a tortoise shell.
 

Momof4

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Aug 3, 2011
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San Diego
Hello guys!!
I’m sitting here try to catch up!
It’s been busy here. I’ve been watching my grandson a bit more the past week and had a sick daughter who has pneumonia.
Right now I’m sitting in the waiting room while my husband has spine surgery in his neck.
I’m enjoying all your photos! I haven’t read to much though.
Love you!!
 

JoesMum

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Oct 26, 2011
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That's neat. No I've only heard them called Robins so I did not know.
One of my favorite birds here I think it's called a barn swallow. They are blue and have yellow orange breast kind of like the Robin's do. When I lived with my mom and dad and we had a big pond I would love watching them come down and skim the top of the water.

We have Barn Swallows in the UK too, but we just call them Swallows.

I suspect they’re not native to the US. In 1890, a German immigrant decided to introduce to the USA every species of bird mentioned by Shakespeare.

These days he wouldn’t have got away with it due to the potentially disastrous effect on the native wildlife. Starlings for example are huge problem in the USA and form flocks of millions of birds. In Europe they aren’t a problem with natural predation, etc controlling their numbers.

This is an article about it on the BBC website
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-27055030
 

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