Animal Photos – Page 6

Paddle feet / lobbed toes of an American coot

Macro Monday: the feet of the American coot

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Today I’m taking part in the Macro Monday photo challenge. If you like what you see, I encourage you to subscribe so you can enjoy the new photos I post a few times a week.

At first sight, the American coot looks like a duck. It’s shaped like a duck, including its head and bill. It spends a lot of time on the water, and it hangs around other ducks. But the American coot is actually a hen, and the dead giveaway is the absence of webbed feet.

Now, if you ask me, this bird looks nothing like a hen, even with non-webbed feet. I’ll let you take a closer look at the feet of the American coot. Technically, they have “lobbed toes”, which allow them to not only swim but also walk well on uneven ground.

To me, the American coot looks like it has paddle feet so it can be good at swimming and walking. Can you imagine if your toes were shaped like this?

Close-up of the lobbed toes of an American coot

February 23, 2014February 6, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal Photos, Bird photosTags: American coot duck, American coot hen, American coot is a hen, black duck with flat toes, black duck with white head, lobbed toes of the American coot, Macro Monday, Macro Monday photo challenge, nature photography, paddle feet of the American coot 6 Comments

WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Threes

Today I’m participating in the WordPress weekly photo challenge and this week’s theme is “threes”. Remember you can click on each photo for a larger view.

If you like what you see, feel free to subscribe and receive nature photography updates a few times a week.

I’m not sure how many ring-tailed lemurs are actually piled up together for a nap in this time, but I can count three full-length ring tails (and a very small part of a fourth one on the left).

Wordpress Weekly Photo Challenge: Three ring tailed lemurs sleeping together — WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Three ring tailed lemurs sleeping together

I photographed this wood duck swimming on a pond because I liked the wavy reflections in the water, in this case the reflections of the trunks of three palm trees.

Wood duck swimming on pond with the reflections of three palm trees

How about these three wood ducks, who seemed very hungry for bird seeds?

Finally these two baby lions (brother and sister) were cuddling with a stuffed blue monkey at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park on the weekend morning we visited.

February 21, 2014February 6, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal Photos, Water photosTags: baby lions, nature photography, photos of wood ducks, ring tailed lemurs, san diego zoo safari park, water reflections, wavy reflections in water, wood duck in water, wood duck swimming in pond, wood ducks, Wordpress weekly photo challenge, Wordpress Weekly Photo Challenge: Threes 17 Comments

Macro Monday: bees on lavender flowers

Today I’m taking part in the Macro Monday photo challenge. If you like what you see, I encourage you to subscribe so you can enjoy the new photos I post a few times a week.

Earlier today I got the chance to photograph very busy bees on large lavender blooms. With our recent (ridiculously) warm weather, we’re starting to see flowers blooming here and there. The bees are loving it and keeping busy collecting nectar and flying from flower to flower. I couldn’t resist taking a few pictures of these bees on lavender flowers when I walked out. A lot of them came out blurry but a few of them are nice enough to share here. Enjoy!

Bee collecting nectar on a lavender bloom

February 16, 2014February 6, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal Photos, Bloom Photos, Flower Photos, Plant PhotosTags: bees collecting nectar on lavender, bees on lavender blooms, bees on lavender flowers, close-up of bees on lavender, Macro Monday, nature photography, photos of bees, photos of blooms, photos of flowers 14 Comments

My first photos of an osprey bird

San Diego County and its various habitats hosts thousands of bird species, including a large number of birds who migrate here for the winter. I’ve heard we have ospreys here, also known as sea hawks or fish hawks. I’ve even seen some a few times, but never close enough to photograph.

This past weekend, I was lucky enough to spot one on top of a dead tree trunk. It was standing over a pond, turning its head left and right, possibly looking for fish to go catch. It was on a small island in the middle of the pond, so I couldn’t get very close. My camera has a 20x optical zoom, and it was challenging to get sharp pictures without a tripod, but I managed to get a few good ones. I have a Canon Powershot SX280 HS and I have to say Canon makes the best point and shoot cameras, with the option to access manual mode.

You can click on each photo for a larger view. If you like what you see, I encourage you to subscribe so you can enjoy the new photos I post a few times a week.

Osprey - fish hawk - sea hawk — Osprey – fish hawk – sea hawk

February 12, 2014February 6, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal Photos, Bird photosTags: fish eating bird, fish hawk, nature photography, osprey bird, osprey hawk, osprey on tree branch, osprey sitting in tree, photos of birds, photos of hawks, sea hawk 6 Comments

White egret with water ripples and reflections in the water

A Word A Week Challenge – Undulate

Today I’m participating in the A Word A Week Challenge. This week’s theme is “undulate (wavey/ripple)”. I encourage you to click on each photo to see a larger view. If you like what you see, please subscribe to this blog to receive updates of the new photos I post, usually 3 to 5 times a week.

Of course water ripples are the first thing that came to mind when I saw the word undulate. But I wanted to share this photo of pine tree bark first, because it undulates in its own special way.

A Word A Week Challenge – Undulate - pine tree bark — A Word A Week Challenge – Undulate – pine tree bark

Most of my photos showing water ripples happen to have another subject in the frame, like this great egret.

The water ripples around this duck, along with the shadows on the lily pads, are very interesting too.

Brown mallard female duck swimming in a pond

Some ripples can be small and others can actually be big waves about to break in the Pacific ocean.

On this last picture, I photographed the water because I love the reflections and the ripples in the water. The four ducks and the light breeze happen to be the creators of those ripples.