Someday I'll get shots like this as soon as our wild Roadrunners get used to me!
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Howdy folks and greetings from the Great Plains of North Texas!
This is my post for the #featheredfriday challenge which is now hosted by the lovely and gracius @melinda010100.
We have lots of birds here in redneck country but they normally don't cooperate by coming up close to the house and my cheap camera has a zoom range of about 20 feet so I don't get alot of decent shots. lol.
I did get lucky this week though because a pair of Cardinals came up close to the house and so did our Road Runners, yay! I took these through the screen though so they aren't the sharpest.
The female Cardinal almost blended with the yard, I didn't even see her at first.
Like most species the male is much more colorful:
And here they are together:
I finally caught our Roadrunners together. It's dang near impossible to do because although the couple always work as a team, they're usually about 20 to 50 feet apart. So this is a rare shot but it's about 50 ft away so it's not real clear.
Here they are closer to the house:
These guys are great because they patrol all around our house eating insects, scorpions, small lizards. They're extremely quick. In fact, they're one of the few animals quick enough to attack and kill rattlesnakes.
Thanks guys and thanks for hosting this challenge Melinda, see you soon!
-jonboy
Texas
God bless you all!
Well Lord Janton, I'm impressed! Didn't realise you could use your hands other than for drinking redneck beer but these are pretty good considering you were most likely drunk when you took them!
I see as well your SP has grown substantially and so has your rep so you must be doing something right! (please don't say you paid for bbs, pleeeeeease!)
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lol! what is a bbs? robots? hey that's the only way I've gotten to where I am or else I'd be stuck at 60 or 61.
If you can't make it on talent you have to buy it! and I want my account to grow. Unfortunately I haven't been
able to buy very much. so yes, my rep score if fake to a large degree. lol.
As far as the pictures I think Mrs. J took them while I was on the back porch drinking Redneck Beer!
Actually I had a beer in my left hand and a gun in my right!
There's nothing wrong with being stuck at 60 or 61 if you have earned that reputation through upvotes and support from the steem community though?
With the philosophy of "I will just buy my rep" then suddenly everyone can get to 70 with no problem and the rep system means nothing. That's basically what you're saying haha! There are other ways of getting your account to grow but it should be a long term thing, not a quick fix solution. With "Facebookcoin" on the horizon things need to improve around here, that's for sure.
"I had a beer in my left hand and a gun in my right" - Lord Janton, 27th May, 2019.
👆 #murica 🤣🤣🤣
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haha! yes sir, that's exactly what I'm saying about the rep score and many others are saying the same thing. It's kinda meaningless already. Being stuck at 60 or 61 is fine. I agree.
What do you think facebookcoin is going to do to steem?
Did you see that post I resteemed today about the steemit killer MEOS? Now that might be something to watch!
Hey Lord Janton, it's a shame about the rep score as that was one of the things that drew me in to steem. The community upvoting people's content that they like and you know that person is going to produce high quality content. Still trying to get over it but I know I've earned my rep so I'm happy with it.
I think steem needs to create a USP for itself vs the likes of Facebook and Twitter that is a real "Wow" as "get paid for your content" is not the way forward. All the development of dapps is great but really there needs to be something more, why should people create content on steem? Sense of community? Is it for Bloggers? What's it actually do? Niche or general? There needs to be a CEO meeting to drive it forward by real business people in my opinion who can use the skills of developers to drive this ship where it needs to be.
I checked out your resteem from Quillfire right? I can't say I disagree with what he is saying but I left my comment on there. In short, I don't think MEOS will kill steem, how will it? Whaleshares, Trybe, narrative and various other social media platforms exist but here we are still. Facebookcoin will probably have more chance of doing damage simply because of the size of its user base (billions vs tens of thousands). It will depend really on how FB intend to use cryptocurrency. I don't know if it will be for content creators, e.g. one heart/like = a fbcoin or something. I suspect it will be rolled out to only the biggest accounts on there first but I haven't read the articles about it to understand fully.
Either way, I ain't going back to fb, hate the platform. I get more engagement out of being on steem so why would I then want to make the effort somewhere else?
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Howdy today sir nickyhavey! I agree of course, about the rep score. I'm trying to build my account up, that's why I'm using ocdb occasionally, to build my sp, not boost my rep score, that just happens to come with it.
Yes I think Steemit will keep trucking along no matter what MEOS does. Sense of community and bloggers is what I think will keep people here. They're getting ready to get communities started and the advertising is making them money, they reduced the cost of running steemit from 220K per month to about 10K and that's even dropping so it's looking much more like a sustainable business model.
I doubt if facebook will pull any steemians away, I don't know of any steemians who don't hate facebook!
Those roadrunners are such amazing birds! I love the shot of the two cardinals together. They mate for life and stay together year round. Thank you so much for posting this to #featheredfriday!
howdy and thanks for the opportunity Melinda! The photos weren't the best but since they were taken through a screen I thought they were decent enough to post. The cardinals were so fun to watch, it's wonderful to know that they were a couple, a committed couple too! lol.
One of their courtship rituals during breeding season is that he feeds her. That may be what is happening in the photo with both of them together
oh how cool! Those dang birds can be romantic!
I love watching them when they bring their young to the feeder for the first time. They leave their fledglings sitting on a tree branch and they come down to the feeder and get a seed and take it back to them and then they do that repeatedly until the young ones finally get it and come down to the feeder and get a seed for themselves.
wow, that would be so interesting to watch! Your backyard has some interesting stuff going on! lol. With the squirrels and chipmonks and birds..educational as well as entertaining.
It is interesting to watch nature happen right in my own back yard!
Roadrunner, they are awesome birds!
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Howdy sir ernstboe! I agree and thank you for reading and commenting! What country are you from?
I'm from Sweden where we don't have birds like roadrunners. Over squirrel can be awesome when they get use too us.
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Howdy back ernstboe! Sweden is such a wonderful country from everything I've seen and heard but I've never been there. Are you in a city or out in the country? yes, the Roadrunners like a more desert type of climate.
I live in Gothenburg, Swedens second largest city ( around 1 million people ).
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Howdy again sir ernstboe! whoa..I don't get along well with cities, I'm a country boy at heart but the cities offer amazing sights and food. How far is it for you to go for your nature photography?
By bicycle, I got 5min to the closest park, 15 min to farmland/forest and 30 min to the cost of the Kattegat sea.
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Nice to see the roadrunners! I have never seen one in person.
Thanks for sharing that!
Howdy sir karbon! yes, they are such wonderful birds and we're very thankful that they call our property home. You won't find those guys up North!
Lovely birds! I have never seen them in real. And they eat scorpions, so small and so brave! :)
Howdy zirochka! yes, these birds are only found in North America but have you seen the Roadrunner cartoons? They are very fast runners like in those shows. lol.
Haha, no, I haven't seen the cartoon, but I googled, it looks funny :))
oh ok, good job zirochka! It is a very funny cartoon.
Hooray for roadrunners! I think you did a pretty good job with those shots considering the lack of zoom on your camera! And cardinals! I wish we had them up here.
Howdy goat-girlz! oh I thought cardinals were everywhere. wow. Yes they are brilliant to have around, I really enjoyed watching them and of course the crazy Roadrunners are fun to watch everyday too!
Very nice capture! Very red on the head!
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Thank you sir kaminchan, I got lucky and those are great birds indeed!
Very very nice picture, I really like it.
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Howdy there sheikshahin! thanks, I got lucky. lol.
Amazing birds...lol...At first I thought that first pic was yours and I was getting all gushy, then...
Seriously though, these are much better pics of them than last year, bro.
howdy sir mepatriot! do you guys have alot of great birds at your place? I'm sure you do but they may not be close to the house. You got those big hawks, eagles and owls I think. And crows of course!
We don't see the eagles here much. They seem to prefer being near rivers and ponds, and there aren't any real close to us here. But hawks and crows...loads. We have a family of killdeer that claims our lawn every summer too...kind of like mini roadrunners, as they run around more than they fly. Right now I'm fighting the good fight to keep the barn swallows out of our woodshed/garage, where they love to nest and POOP on everything all summer, if I'm not diligent.
howdy sir mepatriot! oh yeah, swallows...how do you do that, just destroy any nest they try to build?
We used to have killdeer in Kansas all the time, well I'm sure they're still there, I'm just not!
I have to pull down the manual overhead door every time I want to go in and out for the next month or so. Pain in the neck.'
Oh, right...yea...the Killdeer are cute little buggers.
I didn't know they can kill rattlesnakes!
I have always wanted to see one up close since the old cartoon days!
haha! yes sir, and they run super fast too, just like in the cartoons! Yes you can go to youtube and find videos of them killing rattlesnakes, those big beaks are deadly.
That's wild. I heard that peacocks are deadly to cobras and other snakes!
Howdy today sir rossfletcher! really! I didn't know that but I think it's great, a good reason to have some around!
I don thtink I have ever seen a road runner so am so pleased to see them in this post
Howdy JJ! yes, they are awesome birds and so interesting to watch. Many people have never seen them because they only live in the Southwest, I think as far as Arkansas to the East. they like a warmer climate normally. Ous are much larger than the normal size, ours are like the size of a small chicken.
I was wondering how big they were as I am one who has never seen them so really enjoyed this post
howdy today JJ! Yes most people haven't since they're only in the SouthWest but ours are Texas sized ones!
I'll probably see ya tomorrow for the League, good luck!
Well they so say everything is bigger there ;)
I think I will have dropped down the league a bit this week I haven't been as active or I don't think I have been :)
haha! laughing at both points, in Texas it's very true that many things are bigger, especially egos! And the League is funny because you have no idea until he posts it, maybe everyone else had an off week too. lol.
LOl thats a good point I have been surprised before LOL
Howdy Jonboy. Congratulations on capturing the cardinals and the road runners. Maybe if you put a bird feed out there, you will have more birds visiting.
That's in the plans for sure sir Vincent, especially a humming bird feeder because those things are super cool. Do you have any on your balcony? Or do they just come to you naturally because they're attracted to your kind nature?
What do you mean in the plans? Do it now!
I don't have a luxury of a balcony. And the birds didn't come to me. So I can't have a very kind nature. :-)
Howdy sir Vincent! oh I understand..so if you don't have a balcony then the birds can't come see you, that's what the problem is!
Love to see your Featheredfriday post. I know roadrunners are fast but what i did not know is they can attack rattlesnake.
Hi janton, your road runners are worth their weight in gold. What excellent visitors to come calling.
Howdy angiemitchell! yes Ma'am we feel very blessed that they call our property home, they're amazing!
Howdy nelinoeva! good to see you and sorry for the late reply, I've been doing alot of work outside this summer so I'm way behind on steemit. But yes, they are fantastic birds and those snakes don't stand a chance if the Roadrunner wants them! Thanks so much for commenting!
Beautiful post, a great catch, great shots, wild birds are difficult to photograph and this is a good job, doesn't matter if is not the professional looking photo , it conveys the atmosphere of the place and connected with the story is great ... and these birds are absolutely fabulous and exotic from my point of view, nothing similar lives here
Howdy sir borjan! Yes sir, I've heard that the Roadrunners only live in North America but I haven't researched it to confirm that fact but I think it's probably true. Thanks so much for your encouraging words!
Howdy Sir @janton, I saved the first picture if you don't mind.
We have many birds in Africa and even though it's hot, sadly no road runners. A first for me to see one here.
Do you guys have any 2 liter plastic cool drink bottles?
If you do, I will show you how to make bird feeders!
Blessings!
Howdy sir papilloncharity! don't mind at all. Yes I think they are only in North America. Just the Southwest U.S. and Mexico.
We don't have any 2 liter bottles but we could get some but we aren't interested in setting up feeders at this point but those are in the plans for later when we get patios and decks finished.
These guys are HARD to photograph, good job! Not bad for a Texas Bigfoot, LOL! They are impressive little abimals, greased lightning in feathers.
Be Blessed!
:)>yes sir, they're hard to photograph because they stand real still but only for a few seconds at a time and then take off! I just got lucky.
hey smithlabs I showed a couple of old buffalo rifles in my post yesterday, just wandering if you had any in your collection, I think those are Sharps but I haven't really looked into those old rifles so I'm not very familiar with them.
I have seen them, and they are blazing fast! It is amazing that a Texas Bigfoot could get this picture. :)
I looked at the picture, Interesting.
The guy that is preparing to shoot has a muzzle loader with a percussion style ignition.
The second man has what was supposed to be a sharps, but the proportions of the falling block mechanism are all wrong.The secondary problem is that this Man seems to be muzzle loading the breech loading Sharps. He does have the breech mechanism open, So he could be cleaning the sharps.
I have done some repair work on a Sharps here, so I am very familiar with that firearm. Incidentally, I have one very similar to the one being shot, if you make it up here, we can take that one to the Range!
:)>sir smithlabs! is that rifle you have a 50 caliber? That was the typical one they used for buffalo hunting?
My percussion rifle is in 45 Cal, but I have several in 50 Cal too.
The sharps was a 45-70 (45 Cal 70 grains of powder). When I hunt with this 45, I use 110 grain of powder.
:)>sounds kind of obsolete but I guess it fits your personality! lol.
It is a fine weapon, very accurate. Hits HARD, and when it is black powder season, that is what you need! I have a newer design that is even more accurate that I hunt with now, but I still trust that rifle!
These are my third tier assets for SHTF. I can make black powder, and keep these rifles running, long term.
:)>All I have is a couple of pigeons , a magpie and a few crows
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oh that's kinda pitiful sir blanchy, lol. maybe you should put out some feeders and attact more varieties.
Now that would make a good video or photo series: road runners killing a rattler! It sounds like they're nice to have around.
Up here, we were hoping something would take a liking ot the chipmunk population, but they must be bitter. Not even the owls seem able to keep them in check.
lol..you guys are overran with chipmunks? They can really destroy yards and things if I remember correctly.
I've seen a video on youtube of a Roadrunner killing a rattlesnake, I should have put the link on the post.
What a cute couple the cardinals make. Love seeing the roadrunners.
Howdy again redheadpei! I know, those cardinals are amazing. I haven't even seen them since that day so maybe they were passing through. The Roadrunners are here though, they're awesome for sure, I love those guys.
Wow !!!! they are all great !!!! it is a pity that we do not meet these birds. I would be interested to take a closer look at them. I never cease to admire that a bird can kill a snake !!!!
Howdy again tali72! yes they are amazing. They use those large beaks to peck the snake in the head.
How many redneck beers did you have before you took those photos sir janton come on you can do better then that get the gun out of your hands and concentrate on that camera...lol :)
lol! Hey I thought those were pretty decent considering the redneck beers' influence! lol.
You held your finger on the shutter way to long while drinking your redneck beer and you let way to much sunlight in ..lol :)