Weekly Photo 20/52 for 2013: Little Bird

Today’s weekly photo post continues the urban wildlife theme. We have a variety of birds that visit our back yard. Humming birds, some little yellow songbirds, a pair of hawks and we can hear an owl nearby at night.

I’m not sure exactly what type this little guy is, but I think he may be a junco? The ones we have love sitting on things that poke up. Like the chairs, the sprinkler heads, the head for the half-barrel fountain. Sometimes they sit in nearby trees or on the roof lines. But this little guy was happily sitting on one of the patio chairs when the dog decided he was invading HER space and told him off in no uncertain terms.

Settings: Sony A33-SLT • 1/500 • ƒ/5.6 • ISO 1000 • 300 mm

2012 Photo Challenge: Week 10

This is the tenth week of our 365 Photo Challenge. Hard to believe it’s been 70 days already!

Sorry for the seemingly repeats of the nearly, but not quite full moon. Can you tell I didn’t take any photos during those days and needed something — Anything! — before I went to bed? At least I got ’em. Oh, but look! I don’t always favor that top right quadrant for the moon.

I also remembered to take my camera along today when we picked up my husband from the airport and had lunch at Seaport Village. So there’s at least something other than the moon and the many flowers around my house. I had a hard time picking between the kites, sailboats, various birds, the silver robotic statue guy and the crab on the rocks at the water level that we saw today. It’s been a while since I’ve been down there on a Saturday, forgot about all the street performers who come out on the weekends.

What you see below are links to my flickr set for the photos I’m posting for this challenge. Click on any photo below to go to flickr and then you can navigate through the set with the “Previous” and “Next” arrows at the top.

Sun: Mar 4 26, 2012		Mon: Mar 5, 2012
Tue: Mar 6, 2012	Wed: Mar 7, 2012	Thu: Mar 8, 2012
Fri: Mar 9, 2012		Sat: Mar 10, 2012

Thursday Thirteen: Owls

13 Owls My Daughter Likes

DD is crazy about owls. For nine years she has collected owls: stuffed owls, puppets, ceramic, carved stone, ones made of gourds, rings, necklaces, any kind really. She is a walking encyclopedia of owl specific knowledge. She loves explaining how you can tell male and female Snowy owls apart, especially if someone refers to her first owl as a “he”.

Her favorites are Snowy Owls because when she was two, DH brought her back one from Seattle. Snowy has been just about everywhere DD has been: school, camping, the doctor’s, the Zoo and several other places. She’s a well-traveled little owl. Unfortunately, she looks it too. Her beak has been replaced, her wing resewn on, and she survived major neck surgery when her head popped off at one point.

BTW: IE 7 sucks and may completely undo my careful formatting. Firefox is much better for you anyway. =P Go get it. Now. Kthxbye.

	1. Barn Owl – these guys have white heart-shaped facial disks. Soren from the Guardians of Ga’Hoole series is a barn owl.
2. Boreal Owl
	3. Burrowing Owl – You probably recognize these owls from the movie and book, “Hoot” written by Carl Hiaasen. They are different from other owls, because of living above the ground in trees or cacti, they will take over abandoned fox dens or holes in the ground to live in.
4. Elf Owl – These cute little guys live in catci in the desert.
	5. Great Grey Owl – the mothers are VERY protective of their chicks.
6. Great Horned Owl
	7. Northern Hawk Owl
8. Northern Sawhet Owl
	9. Pygmy Owl – these little guys weigh around 3 ounces and are between 2 and 4 inches tall.
10. Short-eared Owl
	11. Spotted Owl
12. Spotted Wood Owl
	13. Snowy Owl – You can tell this is a female because she has spots. Male Snowy Owls are pure white. The chicks start out grey and as they get older they gain more white feathers.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

1 gdaybloke	2 Lilibeth	3 Allison
4 Susan Helene Gottfried	5 Carol	6 Di
7 sobeit	8 SandyCarlson	9 Stephanie Secrest
10 Talk About My Favorite Authors	11 Ava Rose Johnson	12

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!