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

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Lady MacBeth said:

Thanks Lady V. This may sound like a stupid question, but what is the difference between a pigeon and a dove? I always thought of them as the same thing.

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Not entirely sure. Typically doves are smaller than pigeons, but that's not always the case. According to wikipedia, the names are used interchangeably.

Here in central AZ the pigeons (also known to me as flying rats) are considerably bigger than the doves. They come in assorted colors. Our doves are gray and have white edges on their wings.

MM

Lady MacBeth said:

Thanks Lady V. This may sound like a stupid question, but what is the difference between a pigeon and a dove? I always thought of them as the same thing.

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A pigeon is a kind of dove, and is also called a rock dove.

I've seen them nest in the woods; they're not just city birds, they're only really well adapted there.

Look at the size of Asian ring-necked doves, which some call turtledoves. They are sometimes larger than rock doves/pigeons. Mourning doves are the ones we usually think of as doves, IMO -- they're pretty small. They're also not very bright and will try to nest in the most precarious places.

I didn't see many hummingbirds last year, most likely because I was late hanging up the feeders. This year I wanted to get a head start, so I did it in March. There was probably an overnight freeze, but this "water" is about 1/4 dissolved sugar, so no doubt it freezes at a temp well below pure water.

About a week ago I cleaned the kitchen windows (a challenge because they were PAINTED shut by a previous resident) so I could get a nice, clean view of the back yard when "they" come back.

Today I happened to glance out, and what I saw made me immediately pull out my smartphone and take a pic. <smarty-pants clickbait sentence>



You can see the big red feeder, and maybe the two smaller red feeders in this pic. There's something at the big feeder!



It's a hummingbird!!!1!

Okay, this is a blowup pic using an older smartphone's built-in camera, so it's quite a bit grainy.

I took six pics before it flew away, here's one of it actually feeding:



I still want to get a Real Camera, but there's too much other stuff I need to do with my time and money, but at least I can afford to keep these birds in sugar water.

cute~!

Cool. We have a hummingbird feeder I've been meaning to put up. We don't get a lot around here, but they do occur.

Can't get enough pics of hummingbirds. They are so cool.

I know this thread is primarily for nature photos (which you all have provided many amazing ones of... Silver King would be so proud) but I just watched this short clip and wanted to share it. It hurts my soul to know that this eden was drowned in man's greed and stupidity..

http://video.nationalgeographic.com...bers-arizonas-glen-canyon?source=relatedvideo

It's spring, Jim, but not as we know it - today's view from the desk here in Newfoundland. Sea ice breaking up offshore and coming in to the bay. And if you look closely, you'll see the 1st berg of the season framed in the mouth of the bay itself.

Saw a familiar face at the water pan, not sure if its the cat from Feb ... but still cool

Aaaaw! Pretty kitty.

MM

So put paint cans up on the pillars round the house to discourage doves from nesting.

Turns out a mommy quail nested in one of the cans and had 8 babies! She could not get them out so had to climb up on a ladder, get the can, and carefully lay it on its side under a bush where she could come rescue the little ones.
-SO CUTE!

We have quails in our back yard. We rarely see them closer than about 50 yards away. The babies are so cute. My Mom described the really little ones as looking like walnuts with legs.

MM
glad you were able to rescue them

I've barely seen a hummingbird since my last pic. I checked my plastic measuring cups and found I'd accidentally been using the one a size smaller in the past month, so the stuff is like 5 to 1 water/sugar mix instead of the 4 to 1 that I read about years ago on Teh Internet that has always worked, so I reloaded the feeders and put another one out, with water that's probably saturated with sugar. We'll see if they come back...

Well don't do too much sugar, you can make hummingbirds sick if it's too saturated. (Though I see them all the time getting the 'syrup' stuff out of the bottom of mine - maybe they like a sugar high?)

It's been a while but I went to the botanical gardens today and came back with some lovely photos.




Gray catbird



No idea what this flower is, but I really like it.



American robin who decided to go for a dip.



My favorite picture of the day. Taken with my phone of all things.

The robin has the expression of "Do you Mind? I'm trying to bathe here."

Lovely Photos, LadyV. (I think I see the catbird's relatives around my place all the time. Or at least my cats do. )

Gilroy Cullen said:

The robin has the expression of "Do you Mind? I'm trying to bathe here."

Lovely Photos, LadyV. (I think I see the catbird's relatives around my place all the time. Or at least my cats do. )

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Robins always look pissed off.

Catbirds are related to mockingbirds and thrashers, so depending on where you (drawing a blank at the moment) then it's entirely possible. For the past three years, my neighborhood was overrun by mockingbirds. This year, we don't have even one. I miss hearing their crazy songs.

Incredible pics LadyV! Four stars all 'round!
Jack-Gorgeous! Period.

parumpdragon said:

Well don't do too much sugar, you can make hummingbirds sick if it's too saturated. (Though I see them all the time getting the 'syrup' stuff out of the bottom of mine - maybe they like a sugar high?)

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But I finally SAW one this morning!

I've always done the 4 to 1 water-to-sugar ratio that I read about online years ago (so it MUST be right...), and that's already pretty close to saturated. Maybe I'll read up some more on it.

LadyV said:

It's been a while but I went to the botanical gardens today ...

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That's cheating!

benbradley said:

That's cheating!

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Oh pfftt!!!

xD aw. I don't think it's cheating, LadyV!