Friday, January 13, 2012

Ouch!


This little fellow presented an opportunity for such a closeup with my camera because he was a bit stunned by a hawk that had spotted him. He flew into one of our windows trying to escape and landed on the deck.  The day was very warm, so we did not try to pick him up and shelter him.  We were waiting patiently for a rebound.  The hawk had flown on and this little bird was safe, and after about 10 minutes he flew away into the trees.


This photo above is the same bird taken just a little earlier before the attack.  This is a red house finch and not native to the East Coast where I live.  His ancestors were introduced from the west coast of the United States through a release of just a few on Long Island, New York, by some bird sellers that could not get them sold back in the 1940s.  As a species they have done very well, as they can be seen almost anywhere.  Cornell says there may be up to 1.4 billion birds of this species in North America!  The male is the brightly colored one and some are more red or yellow than others depending on what they eat.  I have seen some that are far more stunning than this one.



The female red house finch above is not so fancy in color as her mate.  They usually come to the water bowl at the same time.  They love seeds and clean me out each winter.


14 comments:

  1. wow...that first pic is incredible...what colors...ack on the stunning...they used to hit my moms picture window all the time...

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  2. I have these at my feeders and wondered what they were....I am not too bird smart..
    So have not eat from a finch feeder?

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  3. I, like Brian, love the first pic! Awesome
    Hugs
    SueAnn

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  4. Oooooooh, poor little birdie, but goodness girl, what a magnificent shot you captured, it's utterly stunning - it belongs in a magazine. Do you sell your photography? I'm certain it would prove very lucrative!

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  5. What a fabulous photograph! We had, for years, finches that ate us out of house and home, and then some kind of infection came through and wiped them out in the area. They seem to be coming back now. Glad this one recovered from his trauma.

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  6. Wonderful images, the first one real stunner.

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  7. Such clarity! I have a bird feeder outside my window and often see finches there. Someday I will have a good camera, too!

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  8. He's so incredibly cute, and what gorgeous colours! :)

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  9. Beautiful photo of the stunned little bird. We had house finches for a few years but they seem to have moved on since we took down one of our trees for remodel last year. I miss them.

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  10. What beautiful photos! How do you capture these birds? You must have one awesome lens.

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  11. Those are lovely photos of lovely birds Tabor - Dave

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  12. Oh what a beauty. I'm so glad he wasn't seriously hurt and that you were able to capture such fine images.. before and after.

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  13. They come to our feeders too, Tabor, and the color of the males in winter is a cheerful thing.

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  14. My goodness that is a stunning picture! And what a pretty bird, with those wonderful colours.

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