I’ve been looking through my bird photos, trying to come up with my favorite birds of the last decade. I’m saving that list for another post, but I managed to pick out some favorite photos of birds that didn’t make my top ten list.

These twelve photos were taken in four different countries between 2006 and 2009 (since I haven’t been birding all that long and have only had my (super-zoom point-and-shoot) camera since ‘06).

Can you guess what they are? They all link to Flickr where you can find out, or scroll to the end for a list.

Indian Pond Heron: Kota, India;
American Robin: Great Smoky Mountains National Park USA;
Common Coot chick: Starrevaart, Netherlands;
Black-headed Ibis: Ranthambhore, India;
Blue-winged Teal: Viera Wetlands, Florida USA;
Rufous Treepie: Ranthambhore, India;
Chaffinch: Munster, France;
Red-breasted Nuthatch: Illinois USA;
Great Crested Grebe: Voorschoten, Netherlands;
Red-shouldered Hawk: Viera Wetlands, Florida USA;
Red-vented Bulbul: Jaipur, India;
Tufted Duck: Flevoland, Netherlands.

This video was taken at L’etang de Beaumont in France in August 2008. The lake is in the Loire Valley and one of the best birding spots in the region. We took this video from a hide by the lake. The muskrat is swimming along when it appears to hit something. A moment later a Little Grebe surfaces.

If you click on the video you can watch a hi-res version on YouTube.

This video was taken at L’etang de Beaumont in France in August 2008. The lake is in the Loire Valley and one of the best birding spots in the region. We took this video from a hide by the lake. The Little Grebe looks to be stretching its wings but it did this for several minutes, so maybe it was trying to dry them off? It looked it was pretending to be a sailboat.

If you click on the video you can watch a hi-res version on YouTube.

This is another video I took during our visit to Chateau de Cheverny in France back in August 2008. There were lots of White Wagtails running around the grounds and several were hanging out at a small pond where we also saw a Kingfisher hunting. The Wagtails would fly up a few yards and then seem to divebomb back towards the water, but before hitting the surface they would slow down and land on a wooden structure that was in the water and furiously tail-wag. It was like they were trying to act like the Kingfisher by divebombing into the water.

Besides that strange behavior I also noticed a couple of Wagtails running across a patch of lilypads:

If you click on the video you can watch a hi-res version on YouTube.

Last month we visited the Loire Valley region of France. We stayed in Bourguiel and visited several chateaux, including Cheverny, which is situated on lovely grounds that included a small pond where we saw this Kingfisher hunting for lunch.

If you click on the video you can watch a hi-res version on YouTube.

We saw this Blue Tit looking for seeds during an evening walk in La Petite Pierre, France, in May 2008.

Blue Tits are another common backyard bird here in the Netherlands and they are known as being acrobatic in their antics. They are a lot of fun to watch.

Last month we visited the Loire Valley region of France. We stayed in Bourguiel and visited several chateaux, including Cheverny, which has huge lawns around it. We saw lots of Wagtails there, scooting around looking for food. I took this video of one doing a really great Roadrunner impersonation.

If you click on the video you can watch a hi-res version on YouTube.