Favorite bird photos from the first 200K page views

This is the second of three posts in which I'm including my favorite photos from Me and My Dog's first 200,000 blog post page views. The first was "animals," which I have to admit is my all-time favorite post.  I just love some of the animal photos I've snapped.

In this post I'm including my favorite "bird" photos, in no particular order.  Before I finished this post, I thought the birds weren't as fun as the animals, but when I was done, after reliving these experiences, I realized these birds are beautiful, and I was really excited when I caught them on "film." I have enjoyed remembering them and where I was when I snapped their photos.

 First the hummers:

 Remember this rakish looking guy?  He's the "masked hummer,"  my favorite hummingbird so far.  This was taken at Quail Hill, one of the campgrounds in the Imperial Dam LTVA in California.

 This hummer was also at Quail Hill.  I liked the way the red on his head and wings matched the feeder. (When I first saw the photo, I thought the red was a reflection from the feeder.)

This hummer was at La Posa LTVA in Quartzsite, AZ.  I liked the way his wings were up and outstretched in this photo

Next, my favorites - the water birds at Santee Lakes RV Park in Santee, CA. I took hundreds of photos of these birds, and Santee Lakes definitely had the most beautiful birds I've seen since I've been full-timing.

This Great Blue Heron was beautiful.  He swooped down and landed right in front of my parked car.

And then he took off over the lake.

Great Egret - these are just beautiful birds.  I think the feathers on these birds are unusual, they just waft in the breeze as they walk along.

This is the same bird, taking off and flying over the lake. I felt very fortunate to have seen this beautiful bird, especially in flight.

This is my all-time favorite bird so far.  A Snowy Egret. He reminds me of an ET with skinny black legs and big bright yellow feet.  I loved watching the Snowy Egrets.

 This Wood Duck at Santee Lakes is one of the most interesting I've seen as far as his coloring and how the colors are displayed over his body.

Remember the dripping water faucet at Lake Pleasant Regional Park in AZ?  It was so far from The Palms, I couldn't reach it with my hose and still be hooked up to the electric post.  But that gave the birds and squirrels free reign over the dripping water. I spent lots of time looking out my kitchen window watching their antics. If you look closely, you'll see another bird with it's beak at the dripping faucet.

I saw this Cedar Waxwing at Villanueva State Park in NM.  I loved his tail feathers.

It's fun to see "bird trees," and this flock of Yellow Headed Blackbirds flew overhead and landed in this tree right in front of us at Storrie Lake State Park, NM.

 I also love "birds on a wire" shots, and this is the best one I've been able to get - it was at Quail Hill.

 I took this shot from the parking lot of Casino Arizona, where were were dry camping, waiting for our solar installation appointment.  I call him my Tuxedo Bird.

Blackheaded Grossbeak at McPhee Campground in Delores, CO.  Big, thick beaks and beautiful colors.

This is a female Gampel's Quail - they were all over Quartzsite and fun to watch.  I had seed out for them, so they came around often along with the squirrels and bunnies.

And this guy, of course, is a Roadrunner.  This photo was the winner of  Mello Mike's First Annual Roadrunner Photo Contest.  These birds are really fun to watch, they run along, stop, raise their tails, look around, and then run on along the sand.

This is a Great Blue Heron flying low over Bluewater lake.

Magpie - Isn't it beautiful?  This bird was snapped at Rockcreek RV Park a Twin Falls County Park in ID.

These two double crested cormorants were often perched on this wire when I drove into and out of Quail Hill,  Imperial Dam LTVA, CA for shopping trips.  I finally got a good photo of them. (Thank you Judy and Hazel for the correct name for these birds.)

 I caught this beautiful Blackbird in flight at McPhee Campground in CO.

Turkey Vulture (or Buzzard) catching the breezes at Bluewater Lake State Park, NM. These are not pretty birds, but they are beautiful in flight.

And last, but certainly not least - remember this bird?  We were at Utah Lake State Park in Provo, UT.  Katie and I were taking a walk along the edge of the lake and saw this bird in distress. There was no one around to help, and I wasn't sure what to do, but I knew I couldn't walk away and leave him. I went into the water as close to him as I could get, and could hear him breathing. I finally pulled him in closer using the fishing line, got two rocks and sawed the line as close to him as I could get without freaking him out. It finally broke off and he flew away. I later talked to the Ranger at the Visitor's Center, and he said the bird would probably make it. The hooks tend to dissolve in their bodies.  That was pretty exciting and I sure felt good when he flew away.

American Coot, hooked with a fishing hook and line. Hopefully he survived.

And that's it for now - as it turned out, I had lots more favorite bird photos than I realized.  I guess I DO like my bird photos as much as the animal photos.

The third and final blog post with my favorite photos during the first 200,000 page views will be "other" shots:  campsites, landscapes, sunsets, etc.  Those will be fun to search through. 

Thank you for remembering with me - I hope you enjoyed this walk down my avian memory lane.

WELCOME to two new followers:
Vantramps, who have a '97 Roadtrek.  Their latest blog talks about their new chickens - I loved having egg laying hens, and really enjoyed that post.  Also the post about the mares and new foals.  Great photos, too.  Welcome, Vantramps, we are happy to have you following along with us!

Welcome also to Cactusneedle, who has a blog about her Creations.  Lots of quilting going on!  I've put together some quilts in the past and it's a lot of work, but I'll enjoy checking out her blog to see what's new.  Her interests include needlework, sewing, quilting, reading, cowboy reenacting, and genealogy  Welcome aboard, Cactusneedle!

From me and Katie, have a great Thursday, everyone!  :)