Blog

Thursday, 13 December 2012

Nice Birds photos

Some cool Birds images:

Flying Free
Birds

Image by szeke
This flamingo is proud to fly freely. I love how his head is up. Photo taken in the Laguna Hedionda in the Bolivian Altiplano.

The James's Flamingo (Phoenicopterus jamesi), also known as the Puna Flamingo, is a South American flamingo, named for Harry Berkeley James. It breeds on the high Andean plateaus of Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina. It is related to the Andean Flamingo, and the two are often placed in the genus Phoenicoparrus.

It is a small and delicate flamingo, approximately 3 feet in height. Its plumage is pale pink, with bright carmine streaks around the neck and on the back. When perched a small amount of black can be seen in the wings. There is bright red skin around the eye. The legs are brick-red and the bill is bright yellow with a black tip. Immature birds are greyish.

James's Flamingo is similar to other South American flamingoes, but the Chilean Flamingo is pinker, with a longer bill without yellow, and the Andean Flamingo is larger with more black in the wings and bill, and yellow legs.

White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys; nuttalli) Morro Bay, CA 29j

Image by mikebaird
This image is featured in Wikipedia.

White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys; nuttalli) Morro Bay, CA 29jan2008 - Photo by Mike Baird bairdphotos.com Canon 1D Mark III w/ 300mm f/2.8 lens w/ 2X II TE, on monopod braced against a rail of the pond overlook at the Cloister's City Park.

this is a crop of flickr.com/photos/mikebaird/2229271003/

Expert Greg Smith (slobirdr) says "The detail in your shot shows the more subtle identification characteristics (length of bill, flank color etc.) which brings this bird to the subspecies level - nuttalli."

#abuse 14 July 2012 I objected to the use of my image of this protected bird on a blog www.ehow.com/how_5370356_rid-sparrow-birds.html advocating killing sparrows.
I said:
I object to the unethical use of my image www.flickr.com/photos/mikebaird/2232004154/ of a protected species, the white-crowned sparrow bird, on this
www.ehow.com/how_5370356_rid-sparrow-birds.html
ehow.com page on how to kill sparrows. Your use of an image of a protected species (White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys; nuttalli)) on a page about how to exterminate nuisance sparrows reflects poorly on ehow's brand and does nothing but reduce your credibility.
I would like this photo removed and an apology made.
Michael L. Baird mike {at] mikebaird d o t com

Nice Birds photos

A few nice Birds images I found:

Bronze Parrot Statue behind Tropical Palms
Birds
Image by epSos.de
This bronze parrot statue stands in front of large tropical palms in Punta Brava or Puerto Cruz de Tenerife. This picture was created by my good smelling friend epSos.de and can be used for free, if you link epSos.de as the original author of the image.

This modern art in form of a bronze parrot sculpture is a part of the local tourist attraction named the Loro Park.

The metallic color of this tropical bird statue is shining in dark golden color if the sun kisses the surface of this marvelous bird of metal.

Thank you for sharing this picture with your friends !

Ready for Takeoff
Birds
Image by jDevaun
Hopefully nobody will ask me what kind of bird this is.

I don't know.

In an effort to get an answer myself, I asked a friend of mine if he could help me identify it. Over the phone, he told me to describe it.

So I did:
"It's blue and...grayish, with...hhmmm...burgundy thighs. And a long beak."

*silence*

So we're just going to call it a crane.

UPDATE:
According to Flickr user Sidleydoc, it's a heron.

Osprey on guard.
Birds
Image by JIGGS IMAGES
Spotted this fine fellow on a recent bird watch walk. There were two mature birds and a young one being fed. Unusual for this time of year to see young in the nest. Photo taken at Elanora Wetlands, Elanora QLD.

"He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ringed with the azure world he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
Then like a thunderbolt he falls.

Alfred Lord Tennyson.

Grand Canyon

Check out these Canyons images:

Grand Canyon
Canyons
Image by Moyan_Brenn
Grand Canyon after the sunset with fog

Follow me on TWITTER to get updated when I will post new free pictures on Flickr!

**** COPYRIGHT AND CC INFORMATION ****

If you like and want to use my photos you can do it for free BUT first
you HAVE to read and respect my rules and policy reported in my profile page
Thanks

Canyon and moonshadow
Canyons
Image by kern.justin
The South Rim
I spent a week on the south rim of the incomparable Grand Canyon. I did a little hiking, a little photography and enjoyed myself immensely. The place was cold and snowy and spectacular and I came away with a number of images I look forward to sharing with you. My trip overlapped with a waxing moon that set around 10 PM in the evening the first day and progressed to a 4 AM moonset by the time I left. I took full advantage of what clear nights there were to bundle up, look north and hang my camera over the edge of the world to bring back from that Arizona night a few glimpses into an abyss lit by the glancing rays of January moonlight.
Moonshadows are very, very deep and dark. There is little to no refracted airlight and far less reflected light from the ground to penetrate these shadows and one is left with the impression that there is no light whatsoever coming from the spaces untouched by direct moonlight. Opening up these shadows in a photograph, therefore, requires a bit of concerted effort. Here is a view of the Bright Angel fault stretching toward the Colorado riverbed and then past to the snowbound north rim. The Bright Angel trail starts just a little west of this position, and, were you to follow it down in moonlight, you'd pass the three mile rest house, descend Jacob's ladder to the portion of trail you can make out along the fault line in the bottom of the photograph below. From there, you'd be drawn in by the beacon of Indian Gardens campground, spitting yellow tungsten fire from the depths of moonshadow. Follow the trail a bit further, out of shadow and to Plateau Point overlooking the final plunge of the Colorado through the strange and ancient Vishnu Schist and back into the depths of moonshadow. If you look almost directly above the point of that plateau, you can see the pinprick of light coming from the Grand Canyon Lodge on the north rim, hunkered down for the season in gargantuan snowfalls.
The decision to visit during the winter months was a great one - although it was bitter cold at night and the trails were packed with snow and ice, the views were only enhanced by the snow, which gathered onto every shelf and accented the canyon's stratigraphy. The winter solstice wasn't far behind and the sun never crept very high in the southern sky. This meant great light on the north rim at all times during the day, especially during sunrise and sunset (the subject of a future post). Moonlight is just reflected sunlight, and therefore the physical phenomena determining their color are the same. That is to say, since the moon was setting over the south rim, the light from that moon was yellow, then orange, then deep red, enhancing the warm earth tones of the canyon's rock in the same way as the setting sun. I stood alone one night on a lookout called Hopi Point and captured a view of the abyss looking north east as the moon was lower in the sky. Out here the skies were pitch and one could see as much with the naked eye as he might see during the brightest part of the day. As the shadows gathered and lengthened, I exposed to capture moonlight on the face of the Vishnu Schist, revealing its strange and primordial textures. Next time, I plan on hiking down to that rock and having a closer look to see what a few billion years does to something as tough as stone.
Here you can see the partially illuminated moon beginning to set over one of the stone finger outcroppings of the south rim. I climbed just a little bit down the beginning of the bright angel trail to get this angle on Jupiter and the moon beginning to pass behind the shadow of the earth. Just to the north of this scene a small cloud began to form and, within a few minutes, had been tortuously stretched by gale-force upper-atmosphere winds into tendrils. By the time I packed up and left, the fingers from this cloud had stretched clear across the sky and blocked out what chance I had of further night photography. Back to the warm confines of the built environment and goodbye for a bit to the Grand Canyon.

Nice Amusement Parks photos

A few nice Amusement Parks images I found:

Beirut Amusement Park
Amusement Parks
Image by tbloomq

Amusement Park Wedding Pictures
Amusement Parks
Image by Avangard Photography

Nice Sky photos

Check out these Sky images:

Black sky moon
Sky
Image by Fabio Marini
shot of the moon in a black sky
with Sigma lens 28-300

Night Sky in Mesa Verde CO
Sky
Image by Michael McDonough
The night sky was amazing out there. I hiked up the ISO, put it on a 30 second over exposure and finally pointed the camera straight up and shot... Pretty neat result I think.

Sky Painting
Sky
Image by Storm Crypt
On Explore/Flickr Top 500, Mar 5, 2009
__________________________________________________________________

Sometimes, clouds receding after a quick thunderstorm show various colors as it reopened the skies for the late afternoon sun...

Yukon River

A few nice Rivers images I found:

Yukon River
Rivers
Image by Anthony DeLorenzo
Sun setting on one of our last rides on the Yukon River trail

River Itchen - Winchester
Rivers
Image by neilalderney123
A willow hangs over the River Itchen , near Winchester.
Taken against the Sun, just for a challenge :)
View this one on black
View my stream LARGE on DARKR it is worth it.
If you want prints of my work see my Profile

Cool Rainbows images

A few nice Rainbows images I found:

Elephant Rainbow 2
Rainbows
Image by AlexGroundwater
Rainbow Nation

Rainbow
Rainbows
Image by Captain Chaos
A rainbow inside the Grand Canyon.

See it on black.

Rotated, cropped and level adjusted version of this photo.

C.A.F.E. discussion.

If you're wondering why I posted this in the Post 9/11 project group: it was taken on september 11 2002, exactly one year after the attacks. It seemed somehow appropriate.

Fly to this location in Google Earth.

This photo is featured on the German Meteorological Society's 2007 calendar and in the Beautiful Universe 2009 special of Sky and Telescope magazine!

Rainbow & Frank HT 2009
Rainbows
Image by Whiskeygonebad
Rainbow Ham clouds HT Radio Frank WB2BXO

Amusement Park Wedding Pictures

A few nice Amusement Parks images I found:

Amusement Park Wedding Pictures
Amusement Parks
Image by Avangard Photography

Skyscrapers

A few nice Skyscrapers images I found:

Skyscrapers

Image by robonline

skyscrapers' peak

Image by J . YANG

SkyScraper Malls
Skyscrapers
Image by SpirosK photography

Cool Airfields images

Check out these Airfields images:

March Air Reserve Base Airfield Traffic Control - Tower/Base Ops Project
Airfields
Image by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District
MARCH ARB, Calif. -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District joined community leaders Dec. 8 to break ground for the new March Air Reserve Base's nearly 16,000 sq. foot airfield traffic control tower and base operations facility.

"Over the last 20 years or so, we've invested several hundred million into the March Air Reserve Base, to make this the premiere Air Reserve base in the United States," said Rep. Ken Calvert. "We're going to continue to make sure that they have the resources [they need] to operate."

The new .5 million project is designed to meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Silver standard and replaces the current tower and airfield operations facility built in 1958. LEED is how the U.S. Green Building Council rates a project for its design and achievement in categories like sustainability, water efficiency, energy conservation and design innovation.

"I think one of the most important aspects for me, for the design, is that it is highly sustainable," said David Van Dorpe, the District deputy engineer for programs and project management. "What this design is doing is providing something that is sustainable and ensures the future success of the base."

Van Dorpe also spoke about the 50-year relationship that the District has enjoyed with the base and looks forward to a bright future together.

"This tower marks yet another step in the evolution of this base," Calvert said. "This is an excellent example, as I look at the various uniforms here, of joint operations. Everyone that walks on this base [this tower will serve everyone] in the future."

Cool Canyons images

Some cool Canyons images:

Grand Canyon
Canyons
Image by Moyan_Brenn
Grand Canyon during the sunrise....Just a little and golden wall in front of it. The area you see is the north east (north rim)...this terrace is in the middle of the road from yaki point to desert view

Follow me on TWITTER to get updated when I will post new free pictures on Flickr!

**** COPYRIGHT AND CC INFORMATION ****

If you like and want to use my photos you can do it for free BUT first
you HAVE to read and respect my rules and policy reported in my profile page
Thanks

Canyon G2
Canyons
Image by FlashingKalou
Grand Canyon - Arizona - USA
août 2007

Sunset near Avgorou, Cyprus 18/07/2009

Check out these Sunsets images:

Sunset near Avgorou, Cyprus 18/07/2009
Sunsets
Image by George M. Groutas
Sunset near Avgorou, Cyprus 18/07/2009

Sunset 26/08/2009
Sunsets
Image by George M. Groutas
Sunset 26/08/2009

Cool Winter images

Some cool Winter images:

Winters Grip
Winter
Image by nailbender
Please View 'Winters Last Stand' On Black

www.duncanmckinnonphoto.com
duncanmckinnonphoto.posterous.com/

winter sundog
Winter
Image by myyorgda
first time I encounter such a bright sundog : it could easily stand for the winter sun itself !
here it is deliberately under-exposed so that the irisation on icy-cloud can be clearly seen.

Winter in Fischerhude
Winter
Image by fihu
Winter im Alten Dorf