Charlie and the Nature Factory [Warning: Stunningly Beautiful Large Photo Images]

parumpdragon

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Are you worried my son isn't the only one who might get smacked? :tongue

That reminds me, I should have him take the rest of the barbed wire out to the dumpster before someone trips over it.

Thank you. :D

Hahaha!!!
 

AbielleRose

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The saga of the weird wildlife in my apartment courtyard continues. Today I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye and looked out my patio door to see this guy. After posting a pic on Facebook and asking friends if they had any idea what he was we determined he's an American Bittern.

DSCF2917.jpg


DSCF2910.jpg
 

L. Y.

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Wow! Great photos! :)
 

night-flyer

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amazing shots, Abby! I don't think I've ever seen a bird that looked like that before. It's neck feathers look more like fur. Crazy lookin' beast. :D
 

AbielleRose

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Honestly, when I first saw it I thought it was a deranged turkey, lol. They're natives up in Manitoba, Canada just north of here so he probably wandered down for migration and got a little lost.
 

heyjude

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Aw, he's a cutie! I like the way he's looking up like "Should have taken that left turn at Albuquerque..."
 

AbielleRose

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I Googled him and found out that they look up when they think they've been spotted. Their normal habitat is marshlands and bogs so they pretend they're reeds by doing that. I thought he was injured at first or trying to figure out how to get out of my courtyard (my apartment building is U shaped).

I also learned that they're a protected species and its rare to catch a glimpse of them.
 

Fenika

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Yeah, they do look very funny raising their heads outside the marshes :) Nice pics!

My turkey friends are back. They were hanging out by the chciken run again, preening and snacking on the seed I put on the ground earlier.
 

LadyV

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The saga of the weird wildlife in my apartment courtyard continues. Today I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye and looked out my patio door to see this guy. After posting a pic on Facebook and asking friends if they had any idea what he was we determined he's an American Bittern.

DSCF2917.jpg


DSCF2910.jpg
That is awesome! It's always special to see a rare bird. Last summer we spotted a scarlet tanager in our backyard. They're not rare per se, but they don't frequent city neighborhoods. They prefer highly wooded areas. Not sure what he was doing around here, but it was a very cool sighting.
 

parumpdragon

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~Came home from breakfast out, to find the tortoise sitting in the middle of the dining room.

Hybernation hasn't quite set in yet I guess :D *grins*
 

parumpdragon

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Okay - a Tidbit sighting. Apparently the little guy is doing well/getting fat :D

Mother just had to pick him up and let him have the last rays of sunshine before the sun vanished behind the horizon.

ATid1.png
 
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swachski

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PD, you should hold a ruler up to him every once in a while, so we can see how much he's grown... :)

Abie, those bittern photos are SO cool!
 

parumpdragon

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I know, it was such a cute moment -- but I don't know it's he'd hold still for the ruler :/
 

Silver King

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SK, those are so pretty. I like the last one particularly.

And as for markets, I saw local contests at Uni and around the area with prizes of $25 and up. That was years ago. I did sell an accident photo for about that (no one was seriously hurt, but it involved a cement truck and another large vehicle)

I haven't spent much time studying markets, but my first impression is that the better ones are very difficult to crack, much like the better paying writing venues. And the good markets are few and far between and appear to be shrinking all the time...

I carved my pumpkin tonight...

I don't know which I like better, the pictures themselves or your work with the pumpkin they represent. They're both so creative and well executed that it's hard to decide. :)

The saga of the weird wildlife in my apartment courtyard continues. Today I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye and looked out my patio door to see this guy. After posting a pic on Facebook and asking friends if they had any idea what he was we determined he's an American Bittern.

He's huge compared to the smaller least bitterns I sometimes see, which are less than half that size. You were fortunate to have one visit you out in the open, as they are elusive and more than a challenge to capture in their own environment.

For future reference, AR, please try to resize your images before sharing them so that they appear within a normal post window. This helps to keep thread pages, and their posts, lined up properly without having to scroll to the right to see the entire message.

Thank you. :)

Okay - a Tidbit sighting. Apparently the little guy is doing well/getting fat :D

That's the best picture of him yet! He's much more handsome than the other photos revealed.

(Please note what I mentioned above to AR regarding image sizes. Thanks.)
 

Haggis

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BTW, should anyone have problems resizing their pics, they are welcome to pm me and I'll see if I can help them out. I can't speak for the fish, but I expect he'd be happy to help out too.
 

benbradley

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I googled tidbit and clicked images, and the closest thing to looking like that was in the fifth image, in which ...
 

parumpdragon

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That's the best picture of him yet! He's much more handsome than the other photos revealed.

(Please note what I mentioned above to AR regarding image sizes. Thanks.)

Thanks!

Sorry about the size, I fixed it [I hope].

BTW, should anyone have problems resizing their pics, they are welcome to pm me and I'll see if I can help them out. I can't speak for the fish, but I expect he'd be happy to help out too.

I forgot ~ I feel like an idiot. :/

I googled tidbit and clicked images, and the closest thing to looking like that was in the fifth image, in which ...

and?
Oh, that's the one where the lizard is in the bird's mouth isn't it :(
 

L. Y.

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Okay - a Tidbit sighting. Apparently the little guy is doing well/getting fat :D

Mother just had to pick him up and let him have the last rays of sunshine before the sun vanished behind the horizon.
Great photo of Tidbit!
 

Cricket18

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Great photos, everyone!

I was thinking how these animals could inspire a great children's book: Charlie, Fred, Tidbit....

They could band together, sort of like the Island of Misfit Toys, and embark on some adventure together.

Or not. :D
 

Silver King

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BTW, should anyone have problems resizing their pics, they are welcome to pm me and I'll see if I can help them out. I can't speak for the fish, but I expect he'd be happy to help out too.

Yes, he would. :)

I googled tidbit and clicked images, and the closest thing to looking like that was in the fifth image, in which ...

Eeek!

Sorry about the size, I fixed it [I hope].
It's fine now, thank you.
 

heyjude

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Tidbit! Yay!

Great photos, everyone!

I was thinking how these animals could inspire a great children's book: Charlie, Fred, Tidbit....

They could band together, sort of like the Island of Misfit Toys, and embark on some adventure together.

Or not. :D

I love this idea. :)
 

rhymegirl

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And yes that is our tree in front of our house. On the power lines.