today from the bog! a few pics

[jonny_redhorse]

A good day all in all!...got to meet Mike Lentz and his friend Scott!...we started the day at the feeders on Blue Spruce Road in Meadowlands..just non stop grosbeaks both pine and evening,common redpolls and a few hoary's, gray jays downy's and hairy's chickadee's of course and even sighted 1 black backed on a deer kill on hwy #133...no owls to speak of....a great day all in all! ...Mike sure got some sweet images of the grosbeaks in their native habitat!...we'll be seeing em soon!..here's a few images from today.

Mike rarin to get started!

Mike and Scott doin their thing!

closeup of the female pine grosbeak!...just beautiful birds!(notice the "filoplumes" on the back of the birds neck!(the 2 lone hairs)...scientists have only now figured out the purpose of these fine neck feathers!)

and mr.grosbeak!

"The Pair"

and an eagle I came upon on the way back to Hibbing

and of course the everpresent deer!

[buzzsaw]

Jonny, it was great to meet you finally! Your a super easy guy to hang out with and I appreciate your company. We will have to do it again soon! Nice shots!

[Steve Foss]

Glad you guys got good stuff. Looks like you have a nice day in good company, and that's a worthwhile outing by anyone's standards.

Nice shots, Jonny.

When will we see the rest, buzzy?

[buzzsaw]

their coming.... I had a little bit longer ride home.

[Steve Foss]

You mean to tell me you weren't downloading your cards to a laptop on the way home?

[finnbay]

Sounds like a great day. Always a good time to get together with people interested in similar interests. Great shots, jonny! Anxious to see more!

[buzzsaw]

 Originally Posted By: stfcatfish

You mean to tell me you weren't downloading your cards to a laptop on the way home?

Nope, I was trying to nap, but my friend Scott wasn't about to let me do that. I'm PP'ing some shots right now actually.

[jonny_redhorse]

And we even had the pleasure of meeting the reknowned birders, Stan Tekela and the "Bird Chick"...Sharon (something) ...plus a bus load of there followers...yes...busload!

[buzzsaw]

Yes you did Jonny! In two weekends ol' Stan gets to ride in my bus down to the Iowa Eagle/Canvasback Duck hot spot. He's a good dude.

[jonny_redhorse]

I think I saw Stan a couple weeks ago on a PBS half hour wildlife special(or was it the news?) up here...think it was in Duluth northshore somewhere...as far as eagles go...the one's as you see here (today) are usually sitting for hours on end,not much in the "BIF" images.... ...this lone eagle today was about 200' away.wasn't scared by my presence abit!......even turned around and "mooned me"

[Dbl]

Nice work jonny, inspite of those two jokers you had to put up with for the day

[buzzsaw]

 Originally Posted By: Dbl

Nice work jonny, inspite of those two jokers you had to put up with for the day

Isn't that the truth!

[Jim Almquist]

Good looking shots Jonny . You must be getting the Digiscope dialed in pretty good so now what are those 2 hairs for ?

[mmeyer]

Great shots Jonny. Sounds like a fun day for everyone!

Thanks for sharing

[jonny_redhorse]

I'm getting better at it JM...a little more then I thought it'd be for sure!...requires some"dead on" focusing techniques by hand manually and some images come out"quite" clear,others a tat off......just take plenty of images and filter out the bad ones is thee answer I guess ...digiscoping has never been intended to replace the "high end" cannons ,nikons etc...those are usually going to be tack clear images and digiscoping simply cannot compete in that respect...it does give one a slight edge on a super far away shot but not going to be crystal clear image but certainly a good,acceptible image,I'm happy with it ..............now what are "filoplumes" for on a songbird?...yes all songbirds have em! ,Here's an explanation I found of filoplumes on birds that may answer your question:

"In my book review of The Songs of Insects, I enthused over the fantastic photography of Wil Hershberger. Browsing through his HSOforum, I found a page where he notes the presence of two small filoplumes on the napes of songbirds he'd photographed. Filoplumes are specialized feathers, long and hairlike, that are most numerous at the base of wing feathers. Special sensory cells at the base of filoplumes transmit information on the position and movement of wing feathers during flight. According to the Manual of Ornithology: Avian Structure and Function, many passerines also have filoplumes sticking out of their crown and nape, "perhaps warning the bird when wind disrupts the smooth outer surface of the plumage."

I found this incredibly intriguing, and when I had the time, I looked for these plumes on the birds I banded this spring. Sure enough, there they were! I was able to find them on a variety of species, both male and female, and could even see them on some older head shots I had taken during previous fall banding seasons."