Bill Stedman

@steddybirds

Retired weekly newspaper editor who now dabbles in bird/nature photography. Urge everyone to support local and independent journalism. We need a strong free press more than ever!

1406 Siguiendo1235 Seguidores1861 Publicaciones

Bluesky

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Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jul 14

Ospreys like to enjoy their #MomentsOfMajesty when not catching fish. #BirdOfTheDay #birds #ospreys #birdphotography #nature #raptors #bluesky #ECK 🪶

An Osprey poses proudly on the top of a dead tree, facing front right with its white head and yellow eyes looking at the camera.

Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jul 14

Poised for takeoff, this eastern bluebird needs perfect timing to make it to the #BirdOfTheDay theme. #PerfectPoise #birds #bluebirds #backyardbirds #birdphotography #ECK 🪶

Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jul 13

Sorry to be late to the party @alan678.bsky.social and @robcrank68.bsky.social but here’s a cardinal butt for #ButtShotts today! #BirdOfTheDay #birds #cardinals #backyardbirds #birdphotography #ECK 🪶

A male northern cardinal amongst branches faces away from the camera and fans out its tail to reveal its backside.

Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jul 13

Goodnight from the strait of Haida Gwaii off the coast of British Columbia! #Stunday #seascape #clouds #sunsets #scapes #westcoastkin #ECK

The sun is seen through clouds over the land, reflecting on the water in foreground, about two hours before setting in Canada near the US border. Photo taken from a cruise ship.

Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jul 12

Come on, don’t take my picture! I’m wet and not looking my best! #BirdOfTheDay #BestSideEye #birds #backyardbirds #cardinals #birdphotography #ECK 🪶

A male northern cardinal hunkers down a bit on a wet branch facing right but giving a side eye to the camera. There is a small vertical branch in front of him.

Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jul 11

Alan’s alt theme of #FunnyFaces is a tough one, but how about this bluebird who looks like he’s growing an old-timey mustache? #BirdOfTheDay #birds #bluebirds #backyardbirds #birdphotography #ECK 😂

Closeup of a male eastern bluebird looking right into the camera!

Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jul 11

A Cooper’s hawk perched high is looking down to see if there’s anything good to eat. #UpAndDown #BirdOfTheDay #birds #raptors #hawks #birdphotography ECK 🪶

A Cooper’s hawk perches atop a high pole facing front right but with its head tilted slightly left and looking down. It has brown spots on its white breast, and a yellow beak and talons.

Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jul 10

I don’t know if #gulls technically perch, but this is a #Rocky scene for @alan678.bsky.social! #BirdOfTheDay #birds #shoreline #shorebirds #ECK 🪶

A juvenile herring gull stands on a rock looking at the camera with a wave breaking behind at the left.

Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jul 10

Hey, are you saying I’m being a #Contortionist for the #BirdOfTheDay theme? I’m just preening my tail feathers! #birds #wildturkeys #birdphotography #backyardbirds #ECK 🪶

A brown female wild turkey, facing right on the grass, stretches her neck all the way back to the left to preen her tail feathers.

A brown female wild turkey, facing right on the grass, pulls her neck from preening her tail feathers to look to see who’s taking her picture.

Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jul 9

It’s #BathTime for this grey catbird in the shallows of a stream. #BirdOfTheDay #birds #catbirds #birdphotography #ECK 🪶

Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jul 9

Cracking these sunflower seeds isn’t easy, even for experienced #finches. #BirdOfTheDay #birds #housefinches #backyardbirds #birdphotography #ECK 🪶

A house finch perches on a feeder pole facing right with his head tilted and a sunflower seeds sticking out of the left side of his beak.

A house finch perches on a feeder pole facing right with a broken sunflower seed shell hanging down out of his beak.

Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jul 7

You don’t often get this much drama from turtles! The one on left had to go back in shortly after getting on!

Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jul 7

It’s a staredown on #turtletuesday with the one on the right the eventual winner! #turtles #nature #photography #ECK

Two painted turtles face each other on a large aquatic plant root sticking out of a pond at the Massachusetts Audubon Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuary in Norfolk MA. The more aggressive turtle on right has his neco sticking way out.

Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jul 7

A sanderling casts its sudsy #Reflections along the surf’s edge on a beach in South Dartmouth MA. #BirdOfTheDay #birds #shorebirds #birdphotography #beach #nature #ECK 🪶

Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jul 7

When it comes to #Orange we can go bold with a Baltimore oriole, or more subtle with a mute swan. #BirdOfTheDay #birds #orioles #swans #birdphotography #nature #ECK 🪶

A male Baltimore oriole perches on a pine branch facing front right to show his bright orange breast, underbelly and tail feathers. He has a black head and black on his wings.

Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jul 6

Young ospreys sitting in their nest play #TheWaitingGame with one parent as they look for the other parent to return with a fish. Photo taken with long lens after very slowly sneaking close enough in a kayak. #BirdOfTheDay #birds #ospreys #birdphotography #conservation #audubon #raptors #ECK 🪶

Three young ospreys in the Massachusetts Audubon Allen’s Pond Wildlife Sanctuary in Dartmouth MA wait in the nest with one parent, patiently waiting for the other parent to return with a fish. The parent sits on the perch at right. The nest is built on a manmade platform in an area that was one of the first to bring back ospreys after DDT nearly killed them all off on the east coast in the 1960s and 70s before “Silent Spring” woke everyone up to the dangers of pesticides.

Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jul 6

This #Cutie has places to go! It barely stopped for a photo! #BirdOfTheDay #birds #plovers #shorebirds #birdphotography #conservation #ECK 🪶

A piping plover chick stands in the sand looking right. Its white and gray fluffy feathers help camouflage it from predators as it walks in the open on its long legs and big feet. There’s a random beach plant at left. Photo taken with long lens at Audubon protected breeding area in South Dartmouth MA.

A piping plover chick walks to the left with its left foot raised off the pebbly sand. Its white and gray fluffy feathers help camouflage it from predators as it walks in the open on its long legs and big feet. Photo taken with long lens at Audubon protected breeding area in South Dartmouth MA.

Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jul 5

Red sky at night, a #Stunday delight. #sunset #cloudscape #photography #weather #clouds #redsky #ECK

Cloud puffs reflect the red sunset above the tree line.

Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jul 5

This herring gull is no doubt humming #Ebony&Ivory as it soars over the beach. #BirdOfTheDay #birds #gulls #shorebirds #bluesky #birdphotography #ECK 🪶

A white herring gull flies against a blue sky from lower right to upper left with outstretched wings that are tipped in black. Its bill is yellow at the and its feet are tucked back under its tail.

Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jul 4

I take one little peek outside and the paparazzi is there waiting to catch me! #peekaboo #BirdOfTheDay #swallows #birdphotography #nesting #ECK 🪶

A barn swallow pokes its head out of the hole in its nesting box, looking left. The box is shaped and colored like a white and gray birch tree trunk, but with a brown square roof. The swallow is iridescent blue from its beak across the top of its head, while its chin and breast are white.

Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jul 4

Celebrating its independence, here’s an eastern bluebird fledgling for #SmallBirdSaturday on July 4th. #birds #bluebirds #backyardbirds #birdphotography #borb #ECK 🪶

A young gray and white eastern bluebird hangs on to a branch facing the camera with its big back left eye looking slightly up. It’s all fluffed up on a hot day. There is a branch coming up diagonally in front of it with a leaf at right.

Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jul 4

When it’s really hot outside, some #WildMotion in the stream can cool you off, as this gray catbird will attest. #BirdOfTheDay #birds #catbirds #backyardbirds #birdphotography #heatwave #ECK 🪶

A gray catbird stands in the shallows of a stream, facing right and splashing wildly. Its black-capped head is turned so its beak is facing the camera, but it is blurred by water. Its wings and tail are straight up, also blurred by motion and water. There are droplets of water all around, especially behind it.

Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jul 2

A female goldfinch is caught in #QuietReflection for @alan6789.bsky.social and today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme. #birds #backyardbirds #birdphotography #finches #ECK 🪶

A female goldfinch perches in a rhododendron bush facing right. Its breast is a darkish yellow, while its wings have black with white stripes. It has a pink beak.

Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jul 1

Sorry to have missed #TitmouseTuesday but this tufted titmouse said he’d bend over backwards to get into #BirdOfTheDay with Rob’s alt theme of #Paridae today. #birds #titmouse #backyardbirds #birdphotography #ECK 🪶

A grey and white tufted titmouse is perched on a branch facing left, but has its head twisted back to crack open a sunflower seed it’s holding with its feet. You can see its right eye and its black beak open.

Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jul 1

This white ibis says it certainly qualifies for #RedBeakFeetEyes even if its beak is only half red. #BirdOfTheDay #birds #ibis #nature #floridabirds #birdphotography #ECK 🪶

A white ibis shows off its red legs and feet and its half-red beak and face as it stands facing right in a mangrove stand in Bonita Springs FL.

Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jun 30

#TongueOutTuesday is a gain for this red-bellied woodpecker, but a loss for the hummingbirds! #birds

Closeup of a red-bellied woodpecker sticking its tongue into a hole in a red hummingbird feeder to get some sugar water.

Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jun 30

Per @alan678.bsky.social today’s alt theme is #LivingLandscapes — so here’s a seaside saltmarsh where the two egrets and the osprey aren’t the star players. #BirdOfTheDay #birds #waders #nature #scapes #ECK 🪶

View across a saltmarsh from the birdwatching platform at Ocean View Farm in South Dartmouth MA. In the middle of the green marsh grass are two white egrets between channels of water. There is an evergreen at the edge of the marsh on the right. At the top, above large shrubs and some small trees, an osprey flies away over the open waters of Buzzards Bay.

Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jun 30

In #TheArtOfSurvival a bluebird fledgling makes sure it gets ahead of its sibling to grab the mealworm dad is calmly carrying in his beak. #BirdOfTheDay #birds #bluebirds #backyardbirds #birdphotography #ECK 🪶

A grey and blue fledgling bluebird, at right, lunges forward with beak wide open at its blue and orange father, perched on a branch, to try to be first to the mealworm thatdad is carrying to feed both of his offspring.

Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jun 29

Some of my favorites, from shoreline to woods, taken in June include a northern #mockingbird singing atop a dune, a baby piping #plover trying to hide, a Baltimore #oriole clinging to a branch and a red-bellied #woodpecker on a tree trunk. #BestOfJune26 #BirdOfTheDay #birds #birdphotography #ECK 🪶

A baby piping plover in center looks toward the camera on the sand in dune grass. It shows off its long left leg with large foot. Photo taken from a distance with telephoto lens in Dartmouth MA.

A young Baltimore oriole clings both feet to a stick on a branch, facing the camera and looking to the right. Its orange breast stands out.

A red-bellied woodpecker clings vertically to a pine tree trunk while facing left. It has a red cap on its head and back wings with white spots.

Bill Stedman@steddybirds· Jun 28

This young tufted titmouse is in a bit of a precarious situation as it tries to get the hang of using a bird feeder. #LifeInTheBalance #BirdOfTheDay #birds #titmouse #backyardbirds #birdphotography #ECK 🪶