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Posted

I got to see a real live Snowy Owl in the wild on Saturday!!! Got photos too :D

6 photos in the spoiler:

Spoiler

This owl has been hanging out on an Amish man's farm in rural Ohio for several weeks now. The farmer has been very welcoming to anyone who wants to come see it, and the owl doesn't seem to care either that lots of people have been coming to gawk at him/her.

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He was so relaxed that he spent most of our visit (my mom and me) preening on top of this silo while we watched from our car scarcely 50 feet away.

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It was such a magical experience! :wub:

 

Posted
Just now, Sunbird said:

I got to see a real live Snowy Owl in the wild on Saturday!!! Got photos too :D

6 photos in the spoiler:

  Hide contents

This owl has been hanging out on an Amish man's farm in rural Ohio for several weeks now. The farmer has been very welcoming to anyone who wants to come see it, and the owl doesn't seem to care either that lots of people have been coming to gawk at him/her.

5a41a855d5bf1_IMG_6035_Snowy_Owl_Lighten_Crop.thumb.jpg.aa372772ab6b673e6997b2cabc182f5c.jpg

5a41a85c580fc_IMG_6104_Snowy_Owl_Crop_Lighten.thumb.jpg.6c838dd72e09e438f9a0c6d3abcecff9.jpg

He was so relaxed that he spent most of our visit (my mom and me) preening on top of this silo while we watched from our car scarcely 50 feet away.

5a41a8623c403_IMG_6107_Snowy_Owl_Crop_Lighten.thumb.jpg.05290c6fb0b98d8251b0fa6c0f3dbd2a.jpg

5a41a867f1ae9_IMG_6116_Snowy_Owl_Crop_Lighten.thumb.jpg.d3789ab8c4d170de348c23d19ec23523.jpg

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5a41a8751738d_IMG_6130_Snowy_Owl_Crop_Lighten.thumb.jpg.8fb7f1a05d28519bb894c1bfbcb024e1.jpg

It was such a magical experience! :wub:

 

SNOW BIRBS

Posted
12 hours ago, Steeldancer said:

I'M GOING TO BE AN UNCLE AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH 

 Congrats!! I can speak from experience and say that your niece/ nephew will at times be your best friend and at other times will be a handful. Enjoy them!

Posted (edited)

I got in the final grades of my college career. 4 A's and an A-. Final GPA 3.783. Goodbye college, graduation here I come.

Edited by Nathrangking
Posted

After 6 years in the Navy I was finally promoted to MA2 today(E-5). Getting E-5 is the loose equivalent of being promoted to a manager in the civilian world. Super excited to finally hit the rank and get a few more responsibilities. Also as a MA2(Navy Police) it means I can be a Patrol Supervisor for my shift now which is awesome because it means I can finally get off the beat.  

Posted
3 hours ago, Steeldancer said:

I worked up the courage to give my phone number to that girl at work yesterday. I was probably awkward as heck, but she texted me so that's good

Ah... To be young again.. Good luck, Flash!

Posted
On 12/30/2017 at 11:40 AM, Steeldancer said:

I worked up the courage to give my phone number to that girl at work yesterday. I was probably awkward as heck, but she texted me so that's good

Dating is usually awkward, so I'd say you're doing well. *thumbs up*

And my good news for today is more like good news for the past two weeks... I've been on vacation with my parents. We decided to take a road trip to Alabama to escape the hideous, bitter cold that is Ohio right now, and mostly succeeded. It's still been abnormally cold for the South, but heckin better than the subzero Fahrenheit lows in Ohio. Ugh!

We've visited several wildlife refuges and bird hotspots and found lots of cool stuff! First place we stopped was a place called Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge in northern Alabama. Behind the visitor center is a big marsh/lake combo where thousands of birds had congregated: Sandhill Cranes and a few different types of ducks and geese. They make quite a racket, especially the cranes! I got some nice photos of birds, though not of the cranes.

Various ducks (4 photos):

Spoiler

Gadwalls. These guys and American Wigeons (next photo) made up the vast majority of the ducks behind the visitor center.

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American Wigeons. These used to be called "Bald-pates" because of the male's bright white forehead.

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Northern Shoveler (male).

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Northern Pintail (male). They're called Pintails because the male has a feather in the center of his tail that's extra long and pointy, like a pin. (It's most easily seen in flight.)

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Two kinds of geese (2 photos):

Spoiler

Greater White-fronted Geese, a species I had never seen before. :) Two funny things about the name: 1) There is no Lesser White-fronted Goose. 2) The white on the geese's butts is much more noticeable than the white on the front of their faces, especially from a distance.

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Ross's Goose is the smaller white one in the center, with more Greater White-fronted Geese in the rest of the frame. (The Ross's Goose was a new bird for my mom, who is also an avid birdwatcher. :D)

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Wheeler is a pretty big place, and we wandered around a bit on trails in the woods near the visitor center. Here are some photo highlights from our hiking. :)

Eastern Bluebird and Northern Cardinals (3 photos):

Spoiler

Male Bluebird sitting on a nest box. I've missed these cute little guys while I've been living in Utah!

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Male Cardinal. I've missed these too!

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Female Cardinal. She's not as vibrant as the male, but I think she's still quite pretty.

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A woodpecker with a funny name, the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (2 photos):

Spoiler

We found this one eating berries off a bush along one of the trails.

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The first Sapsucker was a female; her throat was brown, not red. This next one is a male because of his red throat. And if you look carefully, you can see a little row of holes he's just drilled in the tree trunk to drink the sap. (That's where the name comes from :P)

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Tune in later this week for more vacation photos, this time from Alabama's Gulf Coast. :D

Posted
Just now, A Budgie said:

@Sunbird those are some top-quality birds!

Thanks! Here are some more birds for y'all to enjoy :D Photos in this post were taken on Dauphin Island, which is a little ways off Alabama's southern coast in the Gulf of Mexico.

Two types of sandpipers, including the kind the Pixar short "Piper" was based on (2 photos):

Spoiler

A pair of Sanderlings, a type of shorebird featured in the Pixar short film "Piper." They are very small, about the same length as an American Robin.

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The brown bird in front is a Least Sandpiper, with a guest appearance by the Sanderlings again in the back. The Least Sandpiper is only about 6 inches (15 cm) long from head to tail!

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Seagulls and an odd sea bird called a skimmer (2 photos):

Spoiler

Most of the birds on this pier are Laughing Gulls, but the mostly-black one with the orange feet and bill in the rough center is called a Black Skimmer. They're quite odd. You might not be able to tell in this photo, but the lower part of the bill is longer than the top part. The strange bill shape allows the bird to skim the surface of the water as it flies and scoop up small fish with little effort.

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Laughing Gull. In breeding season, these guys have all-black heads and bright red bills, but this is what the adults look like during the winter. (And yes, they do sound like they're laughing at you :lol:)

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Two types of terns (2 photos):

Spoiler

Most of the terns we saw in Alabama were Royal Terns, like this guy. Watching them hunt is really fun--they make spectacular plunging dives into the water to catch little fish, which they then eat while flying.

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Forster's Tern. He's a little smaller than a Royal Tern, which is about the same size as the Laughing Gulls in previous photos.

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Pelicans (2 photos):

Spoiler

There are two types of pelicans native to North America: Brown Pelicans, like the ones in these photos, and White Pelicans. Brown Pelicans stick almost exclusively to the coasts, but White Pelicans can be found much farther inland as long as there's water.

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Red-breasted Mergansers, a type of duck (2 photos):

Spoiler

Although there were plenty of Red-breasted Mergansers around, none of them wanted to cooperate for pictures, so all my photos of them are pretty distant. :P This one's a male.

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And a female:

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Northern Mockingbird being ridiculously photogenic (2 photos):

Spoiler

This guy (or gal, they both look the same) let me get quite close before flying off.

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These birds are so full of attitude, and it shows!

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Tune in later (probably won't get to it until next week) for scenery photos from Dauphin Island. :D

Posted

School got cancelled because of the nasty cold storm that hit the east coast, and my parents have gone to Canada for the weekend- in other words, UNSUPERVISED FOR A DAY. And they removed my Wi-Fi limits for the weekend- which means Youtube binge. 

Posted (edited)

I'm in a strange city where I don't really know anyone, it's cold, I have just a small room ...

but it's for exciting reasons (internship starts soon!) and I have Oathbringer, my laptop, and my crochet with me, so I feel hype!

Edited by Penumbra
Posted

As promised, scenery photos from Dauphin Island off Alabama's southern coast (its only coast, in fact :P)!

5 photos under each spoiler:

Spoiler

Plant called a Saw Palmetto. I'm not sure whether the name comes from sharp edges on the leaves, or the fact that it's shaped vaguely like a buzz-saw.

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Walking trail in a bird sanctuary I explored with my parents:

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Small wildflowers growing along the path in the bird sanctuary:

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Two different compositions of the same area near Dauphin Island's ferry, taken as the sun was setting.

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Spoiler

Sky at the Dauphin Island ferry during sunset:

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Beach/shore scenery during sunset by the ferry:

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Posted

WHO DAT!!!!!!

man that was such a nerve wracking game. I’m shaking so hard still. I just want a 2nd Super Bowl win under Sean and Drew before they depart the team/sport.

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