Friday, September 7, 2012

Preening Time

I am link up with Green Day  and Camera Critters  and NF Winged 
and Id-rather-b-birdin
These are some shots from last week's visit to Bombay Hook. We saw lots of birds and I managed to capture of lot of birds preening. LOL, I think they spend more time preening than I do.




Above my preening birds are ducks, black-necked stilts, stilt and egret, great blue heron and great egrets.

Preening is an essential part of a bird's daily routine. They are more like humans than I thought. The bird uses their beak to remove any debris, move feathers that are out of place and distribute a special oil that is secreted from a gland at the base of the birds tail. The oil helps to keep the birds feathers healthy and shiny. Kind of like the conditioner I use on my hair? I am just glad the birds do not use makeup, I have seen some scary scenes of some girls putting on mascara while driving down the highway in the morning. I think there are some chicks that need more time preening at home.


Two Great Blue herons preening.


Black necked Stilts preening.


These two are not preening but I liked this shot. When I took the shot I only saw the red-eared slider turtle, after I downloading my photos I saw the cute frog next to the turtle.

I hope you enjoyed my post and critters photos.
To see more beautiful photos and cute critters please visit Fiona's Green Day   and Misty Dawn's  Camera Critters and NF Winged and I'd-rather-b-birdin.
Thanks to the all of the host of these fun memes Fiona the host of Green Day and Misty Dawn the host of Camera Critters and Monica of NF Winged. Anni of I'd Rather-B-Birding asked me to link up. Thanks Anni.  Thank you for stopping by to see my post and for leaving all the nice comments. I appreciate the visits. I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.

60 comments:

  1. i'd never make it as a bird - i'm a 'no muss; no fuss' kinda gal. :)

    love the turtle and frog in the duckweed.

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  2. Eileen, I like these photos. And I'm so surprised to see the stork-like birds in that dead tree! I didn't think those kind of birds went up into trees. I love that picture. Thanks for sharing.

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  3. Wonderful critters! I love finding a surprise when I download (like your frog)....I just learned the term preening from another blog -- somehow I'd never heard people use that word, although I have seen the behavior. Lovely pictures every one.

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  4. Then I see so many ladies in the wild.

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  5. Que lindas.Adoro ver!!beijos,chica

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  6. you are right about the preening, and it's not like they look any different afterward!!

    cool turtle shot!!

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  7. All the birds getting spiffy! That frog blends in so well!!

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  8. Super pics Eileen and another lovely post. The egret preening up in the tree was a great catch also.

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  9. It must have been spa day at Bombay Hook. I was just watching a couple of my cats grooming and I see similarities like the cleaning of the toes. I love your shot of the egrets in the tree.

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  10. Those are wonderful nature photos...love them.

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  11. Great job on these. Love that frog peeking out at the turtle!

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  12. Just lovely...and cute! xoxo Bshell

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  13. More preening than I do too . . . I had to enlarge the photo to find the frog. Great shot . . . that eye is watching you!

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  14. Great pictures / collages - really like it with herons.
    Wish you a good weekend :)
    Hanne Bente

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  15. Good day Eileen!Love those beautiful photos!!Amazing nature!Have a nice weekend!Thank you for your visit my dear!
    Dimi..

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  16. It can´t be helped, I love the stilts. :) I was out for a tour with the car yesterday, I did not even see a single mallard. Don´t think that happened before. :( I spotted one raptor far away and á lot of crows. That´s all :(

    Would you consider joining NF Winged? I would very much want it to survive the winter.

    nfmemes.blogspot.com

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  17. A great post indeed Eileen!
    Thanks a lot for your kind visit and nice comment on my blog:)

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  18. Jeder Tag beginnt mit Sonnenschein, lassen wir sie in uns´re Herzen rein...

    Lieben Gruß
    CL

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  19. I love watching birds preen! Lovely selection of photos!

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  20. I had totally missed the frog too until you told us about it...had to go back and look again! Great shot! I love all those preening shots too. Have a great weekend!

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  21. Wonderful photos Eileen, quite a variety of birds there - and a cute turtle too. Enjoy the weekend :)

    dan

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  22. hahahaaa!!!! now that's a lot of preening!!
    me- i don't preen much...shower, dry, jeans & T...no make-up...
    in fact...it takes sam longer to get ready than it does me!ha!

    BUT these are great preening shots...and you know i LOVE the turtle AND frog picture!! what a terrific shot!! it's funny how we don't notice ALL that was caught on film...til we transfer to computer!!

    happy saturday!

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  23. The turtle could use a little 'preening' as well ;)

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  24. Dearest Eileen,
    Oh, preening♡♡♡ I love the title and thank you SO much for your sweet lovely pictures of variety of birds. They are really gorgeous, I wish I could see them close in my place☆☆☆
    Sending you lots of love and hugs from Japan, xoxo Miyako*

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  25. LOl @ the Preening. Reminds me of my daughter, she is like a bird :) Gorgeous shots! Love that turtle with the frog. Enjoy your weekend, Eileen.

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  26. Fantastic photos, amazing nature report =D

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  27. And to think they don't need a mirror. :)
    When I was in Jr. High a girl I knew was driving to school putting on makeup. She wrecked her car. She only had cuts and scratches but it could have been worse.
    I wouldn't have seen the frog if you hadn't said anything - love that shot!

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  28. Amazing shots - I had no idea they preened so much - and can even do it standing on branches!

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  29. I loved these photos, Eileen. Have a very nice Saturday!

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  30. They are so cute, like they're getting ready for a date:) I love the black necked stilts! They're really beautiful! In the last picture, with the turtle, I can't figure the frog out. I see his eyes, but I can't get a handle on his body:) All I can tell is that he's HUGE!

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  31. What a collection of preening birds!
    Love the turtle and frog!

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  32. Hi Eileen...Love the Egret's in the dead tree...great feel to it!!
    Yes...some chicks should allow themselves more time for preening at home : }}..because now they need time to be on the cell phone too "Ya sure"!!
    Nice post .have a pleasant weekend!!
    Grace

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  33. Wow!
    Excellent photo.
    A ducks and other water fowl? is lovely!
    I'm sorry that so long I commented on your fantastic blog.
    Regards !!!
    Lucja

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  34. Super pics and very amusing Eileen. You and my Sue could have a preening contest to see who takes the longest to get ready for a trip to the shops. I think Sue would win easy but I stand to be correcetd (as usual).

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  35. Fabulous images Eileen...again, you should link up to the Bird D'Pot's new week of bird photos!!!

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  36. Yeah, you're a genius, fancy not seeing it, it took me a while to see the two of them, maybe I wasn't looking for a frog. Great, the birds busily preening.

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  37. Great shots. All the birds seem to be oblivious to you taking photos of them and are contently preening away.
    I did not see the frog in the last photo until I read what you had written below the photo. I guess I was focused on the turtle that needs to take a hint from the birds.
    Happy Sunday!

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  38. Adore this variety of feathered ones "doing their thing"! Such busy characters! And adore the collage!

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  39. Great photos, Eileen. I am especially drawn to the egrets. Thanks for visiting me Friday!

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  40. Hi Eileen, Great birds! I also love that turtle. That is one visitor I have not yet discovered around the pond at my place. Have a great Sunday tomorrow!

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  41. Love all that preening going on, but I especially like the last photo. What a surprise you must have got when you spotted that frog!

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  42. Love the photo theme. And the turtle's head is great. Great post idea and great shots!

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  43. These are wonderful pix of ducks, stilts, egret and herons, Eileen. I loved the slider turtle photo--didn't see the frog until after I'd read your description. The frog is well camouflaged!

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  44. Hi Eileen. The Shag you saw in my post today is not the common cormorant. It is very similar but it is smaller, has som fancy feathers on it+s skull and it seem to be only at the ocean coast of Europe. And the mediterrainien sea. The one I posted was seen in Scotland.

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  45. A fun post! I agree the young chicks should preen at home and not while driving!

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  46. Funny isn't it what appears sometimes when you look a bit closer at your photos!! Lovely shots Eileen, enjoy your weekend! x

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  47. Birds are fussy about their appearance. Don't you just love finding those unexpected gems in shots?

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  48. Great shots!! Red eared sliders are an invasive species; the result of releasing pet store turtles into the wild. Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  49. Wonderful pictures! I'd have missed the frog if I hadn't read the words! What a capture! Love the turtle...came across the name "slider" (about turtles) only recently, on blogs.

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  50. Nice photos 1 The collage is wonderful .They stand for your camera !Have a nice week
    Olympia

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  51. Great shots! I also liked your description.
    Have a wonderful week!

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  52. Made me smile! These birds are really impressive and your shots are beautiful! Christa

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  53. GOLLY, I have discarded so many nice shots because they were spoiled by preening. Now I wish I had saved them after so enjoying your photos and story!

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  54. A wonderful post.. many thanks for sharing it.. The Stilts are lovely birds to see.

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  55. Tantas aves ...amei ver!
    adoro pássaros!
    abraços!

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  56. curious ... have you ever you ever had to deal with blogger photo storage? what decision did you make? i've been on a camping adventure so i'm just getting back to commenting. hope you are well. take care. big hugs. (:

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  57. A lovely post Eileen which reminded me that I have a few preening shots that I haven't yet posted.

    Have a great week ... FAB.

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