Have you ever caught a bird basking in the sun? They tend to let loose like no one is watching. Feathers spread, bills wide open, wings and tails stretched out… Today’s post will be a short, comical one showing some birds who I caught looking their silliest.
Many birds find my feeder polls to be a nice spot to get some sun.
Blue Jay
Downy Woodpecker
Common Grackle
Others are really attracted to my shed, especially the roof.
Eastern Phoebe
Dark-eyed Junco – notice the wing shadow
The branches on my feeders are also out in the open and a perfect spot to get some rays.
American Goldfinch
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
My local creek residents find places to sun bath after taking a dip in the water.
Gray Catbird
Belted Kingfisher
Last December, I bird-sat my friend’s Kookaburra. I put him near the front window on a very sunny day and even he enjoyed the sun for some time.
During Christmas, I had the pleasure of bird-sitting a friend’s Kookaburra, Hinckley, while they were out of town. Aside from being a very cool bird to have in the house, he gave me some pretty good photo ops. For the most part, the days were dark and overcast, but when it was sunny out, Hinckley enjoyed sunning from the cat tower.
Hinckley, The Kookaburra
His eyes fascinated me, so I tried for some macro shots using my 17-40mm lens with a 20mm extension tube attached and took photos from up close. It was tough to get his eyes – who wants a lens in their face anyway? So while I tried for the perfect shot, I took some feather detail photos.
Nape Detail
Tail Coverts Detail
Feather Detail
Forehead Detail
Until finally, he stayed still long enough for some eye close-ups. This one is my favorite:
Eye Detail
By the way, Hinckley liked to try to eat everything, including my lens cap – and his favorite perch? My scope’s tripod head.
