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Yawns, Legs and a Tail

Posted: Jan 29 3:47 pm
by MDB8
A few images from finalizing some November photos.

First up a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper in the fog at Reifel. I could barely see the bird in the fog, but it did behave differently than the nearby Shorebirds, enabling tracking it easier. Also I think it sensed it was being watched, but couldn't see the watchers very well. Luckily, there is a "defogger" in Photoshop. After defogging the images I noticed that it was yawning in some shots. Then a few days later, I photographed a Long-billed Dowitcher at Burnaby Lake yawning. A trend? A contest?

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Then, at a later date at Boundary Bay early on a cold morning, I came across a Flock of Birders with big lenses watching Barn Owls. As I had never photographed Barn Owls flying before, I joined the Flock. I managed a few OK photos, but because of the low light level (prior to sunrise), I had to push the images to ISO 4000. Shortly, after taking some reasonable quality images I wandered off to find different birds. When I returned later, the sun was high enough to strike the ground and lit up a female Barn Owl just as she flew off with a evening snack prior to retiring. Nice tail.

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While I had been away I spotted a Peregrine zipping by over the reeds and grabbed a couple of photos. Later, on the PC, I realized that it had also snagged a meal. Unlike the Owl's "evening" snack, this was a morning "breakfast".

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Most of the photos on my Flickr page are labelled as "small". My definition of "small" has been slowly increasing. Recently a move to a 28" 4k monitor caused me to increase the size of my "small" photos. This forum is not sized for 4k monitors and makes my "small" photos even smaller. Sometimes, I post (to Flickr) a relatively large image, (still labelled as "small" as I downsized it) if the lighting and subject justify a larger image. E.g., the Wood Duck on my recent upload to Flickr. So larger versions are generally available on Flickr.

Re: Yawns, Legs and a Tail

Posted: Jan 29 4:20 pm
by jewill
Your birds look like they really enjoying their yawns. I hope they got a good stretch in there too for the “complete” experience :D.
That might make a good topic for others to post pictures...yawning and/or sleeping birds? Just a suggestion.
Awesome Barn Owl shots on Flickr. I have yet to get one in flight.
Thanks for sharing.

Re: Yawns, Legs and a Tail

Posted: Feb 05 10:04 am
by nealdoan
Nice series.

Re: Yawns, Legs and a Tail

Posted: Feb 05 6:40 pm
by ogopogo
googled "why do birds yawn?" lots of interesting info. thermoregulatory behaviour seems to be #1.