Hello everyone!

I hope you all have been doing well this past year! I know I have kind of neglected /c/birding a little bit, but I am still here (somewhat, at any rate).

I have updated the rules a bit to make them a bit clearer and also because I have noticed that some people have (probably unknowingly) posted AI-generated content, so I have added a rule that explicitly prohibits the posting of such content. Please review the new rules and feel free to suggest something if you feel like I have missed something or worded something badly! :-)

I will also be adding another mod soon that I feel like should help keep /c/birding a bit more tidy in the future as I don't really actively use Lemmy anymore. It's someone I know who's mostly active on Mastodon but he'll create an account on Lemmy and help with moderation here.

If you have any other questions, feel free to comment! I'll be monitoring this account a bit more closely again for the foreseeable future (at least until I've added the new mod).

First time using a multi flash setup at night, quite stressful to get the amount of fill right, lots of wasted shots.

Taken with my XT-50 & Tamron 150-500mm

North Texas, US April 2025 First time I have seen ducks in a tree!

Rather overcast this morning, for all we're told we're about to have a massive heatwave... anyway, always happy to see a Nuthatch in Prospect Park, UK, even if they like the shade. Ring-necked Parakeets are escapes/introductions that have managed to survive and thrive in the wild in parts of the UK - but are seen as destructive & noisy.

Canon R5MkII + RF200-800

Never seen one of these guys on the tower before. Let alone a nest. I wasn't up there long. Don't think I disturbed them too much. One of them eventually sat on the nest till I climbed down.

Random finds today, when i didn't have my big lens, multiple house martin nests, grey wagtails, pond dippers, skylarks, kestrels, buzzards, always my luck

Took on my xt50 & fuji 50-140mm

Great Lakes region, USA. June 2026.

I've seen a ton of great egrets this year. I love watching Ardea hunt. One of the coolest genus of bird IMO.

Talking about these guys in another post, so here they are.

Tons of very game Meadow Pipets at Souter Lighthouse.

Taken with my xt50 & Tamron 150-500mm

From https://ebird.org/species/partan1

He hopped down from the tree, spread his wings and plopped down. Here's a Cardinal from the other day doing the same:

Goobers.

Large group of cormorants with young, managed to spot this one feeding its young, its got right in there for sure!

Taken on my xt50 and Tamron 150-500mm

"Don't look at my eggs! Look at me! I've got a broken wing!"

European Jay, Prospect Park, Reading, UK

Canon R5 MkII + RF200-800

And I'm not kidding about shooting from the hip. I was sitting on a bench having a coffee break, and this bird hoped onto the branch maybe 3 yards away. Jays are shy birds at the best of times, and there was no way this one would tolerate bringing the camera to the eye that close. So I left it at 200mm, pointed it as best I might with as little movement as possible and snapped blind. So, in the circumstances, even if the twig in front of the Jay was the point of focus, I'm pleased with the result!

The Jay then flew a little further into the trees - so I got in theory a better shot, at full focal length, but alas in the shade:

Finally got a lot closer to a Northern Lapwing so I could capture its iridescent wings.

Taken on my xt50 and Tamron 150-500mm

Shot these two photos of white storks on a whim in late April, which is roughly when white storks are the most numerous here in central Poland. They like to create their nests on electrical poles in small towns or in the outskirts of small cities - most poles have special platforms on them so that the nests won't interfere with the power lines.

Shot with a Nikon Z30; left: 50mm ISO 800 1/500s; right: 50mm ISO 800 1/1000s - makes me wish I had a better lens because these photos are just about the extent of my 16-50mm's abilities.

I have no idea why the Seiurus aurocapilla is an "ovenbird." It doesn't look like an oven. It doesn't go in the oven, especially if you think you're going to get anything out of it for your trouble. Truly, it is a mystery.

Love this guy. And please ignore my neighbor's ridiculous car. :p

Seems very late but this Great Crested Grieve was still sitting on eggs today. They had chosen a spot right next to some black cap gulls so cant have been the quietest spot

Taken with my XT50 & Tamron 150-500mm