The 2020 Garden, Landscape, and Other Stuff Thread...

Today, I noticed some defoliation on one of my bell pepper plants. Found TWO fat horn worms on the plant (~2.5" long). In one day, they nearly defoliated the entire plant and it was not a small plant at his point. I see the hummingbird moths buzzing my flowers, so I'm always watching for horn worms.
 
22-rimfire said:
Looks like the 1/1000th second shutter speed froze the wings. Looks good.
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Thank you, yes the 1/1000 works great as long as the sun is shining and when I’m trying to capture the feathers in flight. Any faster and I pretty much lose the color, of course slower just blurs it.

Each year I change it up what I’m focusing on. One year is just the iris on the eyes, last year and this year was the different species flaring out just before landing, sometimes 2 species together, then catching the different migratory ones coming through in the spring with their full breeding colors. Then there’s the birds of prey and the night owls too. I like it and I end up getting some really cool pictures too.

I’m glad you liked the pictures, I’ll be sure to share some more too. I only take them here at the home, it would be too easy just to drive a little ways away to capture other species.
 
Retired UPS Driver Retired UPS Driver Fantastic! I am not good at identifying hawks. Do you know the correct names for them? I have seen a couple bald eagles from my house, a number of red tailed hawks, and the little ones..... sparrow hawk? The little ones bomb my bird feeder from time to time.
 
... Agreed, great images indeed - some backyard too :D

Retired UPS Driver Retired UPS Driver For something I've been curious about, if I may ask about your avatar (you mentioned concentrating on the iris one year) Whose iris is that? :)
 
22-rimfire said:
Retired UPS Driver Retired UPS Driver Fantastic! I am not good at identifying hawks. Do you know the correct names for them? I have seen a couple bald eagles from my house, a number of red tailed hawks, and the little ones..... sparrow hawk? The little ones bomb my bird feeder from time to time.
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The larger ones today are Red Tailed Hawks, the same pair nest about 200 feet away. They have between 1-2 chicks each year that make it, it’s pretty cool to watch them grow, learn to fly and finally hunt on their own before getting the boot.

The smaller one is a Cooper Hawk, they prefer picking off the mice, chipmunks, and mourning doves. The Sharp Shinned Hawk looks almost the same as the Cooper, just a hair larger.

I’ll post some more if you guys are interested to see them, also lots of colorful birds too. Just a little at a time to keep it interesting.
 
taldesta said:
... Agreed, great images indeed - some backyard too :D

Retired UPS Driver Retired UPS Driver For something I've been curious about, if I may ask about your avatar (you mentioned concentrating on the iris one year) Whose iris is that? :)
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Of course you can ask. That’s my big rescue dog from Hurricane Katrina. One day it was so bright sunshine reflecting off the snow and he was looking directly at the morning sun. It really lit him up in a way I had not seen before, so I snapped a few pictures of him. He really has dark golden brown eyes, but I think they reflected the blood capillaries in the sun/snow brightness that morning, and they turned red. Right place at the right time, pure luck to capture it.

You know, you are the first person to ask me about that photo, and I even had it as my cell home screen for a few years too. Had lots of comments, but you are the first to ask, thank you.
 
22-rimfire said:
Retired UPS Driver Retired UPS Driver Fantastic! I am not good at identifying hawks. Do you know the correct names for them? I have seen a couple bald eagles from my house, a number of red tailed hawks, and the little ones..... sparrow hawk? The little ones bomb my bird feeder from time to time.
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I use this free app where once you have it downloaded you simply choose any bird photo you have and enter it into the app. It’s amazingly accurate even when your picture isn’t clear. If you don’t have a picture, you just add the size, color or even the exact day seen and it will give you the best picks for your zip code at that specific time of year.

I have trouble with some of the more rare species that show up here, sometimes for only a few hours during their migration. Especially the ones that will continue all the way up to northern Canada in the tundra or boreal forest regions.

All the small songbirds like Warblers, Vireos, Thrushes, and ever the difference from male to female to juvenile or non breeding. You can even use just the bird song feature of a bird you hear but can’t see.

If you decide to download the app, you can just start out with the different packs that are for just your area, then expand the the region if you happen to border an area. I don’t do the European region, but I will do South and Central America, all of North America, then all of both Southern and Northern Canada. I do occasionally get an oddball rarity that shows up here, especially if a strong springtime storm or tornado comes in the region and carries the birds off their normal migration route.

If you or anybody else is interested, here is the link you can get the app from.

https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/...rd-id-app-can-now-identify-3000-bird-species/

https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/?_...0.1830398741.1597982051-1442532244.1597982051
 
I took this picture earlier this year of a Red Shouldered Hawk but it wasn't in my yard. I don't have many good bird pictures.
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Took pictures of cardinals early this year when there was snow. That was in my yard. Picture of a female cardinal perched on the top of my feeder pole below.
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I haven't made the effort to take hummingbird pictures. I don't have many visiting the feeder or the yard. I generally don't like to take feeder pictures.
 
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A Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

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