For the Birds

Bird pics today.  I'm figuring out how to get doggo to stop long enough for me to get a couple of pictures, now and again.  Believe me, it's not easy.  And I'm having to straighten my horizons again, something I mostly got over back in the olden days (several cameras ago).

But.  We went to Sandy Hook, now that it's local summer, and no fees, and dogs are mostly ok (not on ocean beaches till Sept 15, tho, so we stayed bayside).  First time for bandit.  These are walks I did a lot with his predecessors.

One of his mad dog lunges kind of sprained my left thumb, so it my typing looks shaky, that's probably not got anything to do with anything.  But it's kind of swollen, and sore.  Yes, I put ice on it, and took some advil-substitute little blue pills (tiny sized, for old folk who can't swallow big things anymore).

And actually, my typing is coming out sort of garbled anyhow today, so I'm not doing anything official or work-like or important to people other than myself.  Which was happening before the sprained thumb, so.  Day off was declared early.  Five miles walked was also declared early, but what the heck.

So.  Birds.

Bird up a tree.  Yellow beak, so I think it's a Great Egret.

Next, Turkey Buzzard.  I had a discussion with a couple who said they are from the Netherlands, on holiday, who said they had seen black buzzards, but this one has a sort of red head, so I'm going with Turkey Buzzard.  He wasn't thrilled to be having his pic taken, and so turned his back on me.

This one, I believe, is a Snowy Egret.  Black beak.  I wasn't able to see his or her feet, since it was standing in water.  But the black beaked ones have bright yellow feet.

And finally, the Black Burrower.  This seems to be a very local type, but I see it a lot.

Oh, wait!  You mean that's not a bird???  Hmmm.

He kind of liked the beach, but again refused to go in the water.  I like that. 

And if I can get him a bit better controlled in these escapades, I can get better pics, I hope.  There's room for improvement.  It's also a kind of hazy day, so I can't be credited entirely for the not prime pics, this time.  And, come to think of it, it's hard to get close to the birds with the dog attached to me.  They like to fly away when they perceive the threat, whereas I apparently am not as big a threat, without him.  But still.  It's something we'll be working on, as time goes on.