Random Picture Thread

Saw my first Barnacle Goose yesterday. A new life bird. They breed (maybe -- see below) in Greenland, Svalbards, and Novaya Zemlya, wintering in western and northern Europe. Each year a few make a wrong turn when migrating south and come to the US.

This is why they are called a Barnacle Goose.

Barnacle goose - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnacle_goose

 

Was that in New England . . ?

 

The birds are herons I think. The light was bad and they might be egrets. It is Gulf coastal central Florida.

 

Yes -- mixed in with hundreds of Canada Geese (which they look similar to, so are hard to pick out).

For those interested in birding I can recommend the ebirding website, which is sponsored by the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology. They collect bird sightings from all over the world, though I suspect they get the most participation from US birders. They have a subsection of their website devoted to rare bird sightings. You can either look at the website directly, or you can subscribe and get real-time email alerts, filtered for your area if desired.

Here are part of the sightings from the rare bird webpage that I've just copied. As you can see, Barnacle Geese have recently been seen in Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Massachusetts.
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That would be my guess too. If white, they could be Great Egrets; if dark blue-gray, they could be Great Blue Herons.

 

If white, they would be cattle egrets, of the heron family. Native to Africa, they introduced themselves onto to the American Landscape during the last century. They were too small to be the great ones.

Cattle egret - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_egret

 

The great ones abound around here. I even videoed one yesterday but could not get the mp4 to upload though only 7 seconds in length.

 

Here's an . . . Snowy Egret 39 ---> Drawings ---> Specs​

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‘‘ Snowy Egret aka Sharpie 39 E

L.O.A. : 39' 6"
L.W.L. : 32'
BEAM : 10’ 10”
DRAFT : 1' 9" / 6' 1"
DISPLACEMENT : 10,500 lbs.
BALLAST : 3,500 lbs. (in outside Keel Box)
TYPE : Shoal-bodied Centerboard Schooner based on Commodore Ralph Munroe's EGRET.
RIG : Gaff- or Junk-rigged Schooner
SAIL AREA : 516 square feet
POWER : Inboard Diesel auxiliary
ACCOMMODATIONS : Three in settee berths and quarter berth
USE : Seaworthy liveaboard cruising boat.
CONSTRUCTION : Cold-molded Plywood/Epoxy - or - Aluminum Composite.
Masts : hollow Douglas fir.
Booms & Gaffs : solid D. fir ’’​

Snowy Egret​

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‘‘ Adults are typically 61 cm (24 in) long and weigh 375 g (0.827 lb) They have a slim black bill and long black legs with yellow feet. The area of the upper bill, in front of the eyes, is yellow but turns red during the breeding season, when the adults also gain recurved plumes on the back, making for a "shaggy" effect. The juvenile looks similar to the adult, but the base of the bill is paler, and a green or yellow line runs down the back of the legs. ’’​

 

You may be correct. Hard to tell the size from your photo. If not Great Egrets (wingspan 52 to 67 in), then certainly not Great Blue Herons (wingspan 66–79 in). If smaller, in addition to cattle egrets (37" wingspan), they could be snowy egrets (wingspan 41") or little blue herons (wingspan 40").

 

Was checking out a yard, and saw some ‘yards’ passing by when looking through the publicly accessible pics posted as related to the place . . .

↓ Mar 4, 2017 00:07​

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↓ Mar 4, 2017 02:03​

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P.S. - Please see the note in my next post about this.

 

I've checked out about the above pics . . !​

It looks like they're just some random cash pics grabbed from the web, and posted as being related to this spot . . .

The check of the - Mar 4, 2017 00:07 - pic.​

The check of the - Mar 4, 2017 02:03 - pic.​

 

SY Askoy II - the sailing yacht of - Jacques Brel ^{English link}

↓ SY Askoy II - Documentary - (video language = French)



↓ SY Askoy II - SY Askoy II ^{Dutch link}







↓ The history of the SY Askoy II - (video most in English text + songs in French)



↓ Save SY Askoy II ^{in English + French + Dutch}

Jacques Brel - on - SY Askoy II




↕ rebuild = going on

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Saw in the boat listings an interior come by that would make me feel cozy inside . . ​

The ad says; it's an all teak lapstrake copper riveted 1953 built lifeboat, which was converted to a sailboat in the 80's, and she got her interior in that time . . . ​

Link - / - spare Link​

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A thing of beauty.