Mothra
Terri Webster Schrandt

Sunday Stills: On the #Wing

This week’s Sunday Stills photography challenge focuses on wings. Any set of wings will do, whether they belong to birds or insects, are man-made, or…

Birds On the Wing

“Be as a bird perched on a frail branch that she feels bending beneath her, still she sings away all the same, knowing she has wings.” — Victor Hugo

Several feeders in my backyard allow me to see a wonderful variety of birds up close. I have to celebrate this new-to-me bird: a Red Crossbill, a member of the finch family.

Male Red Crossbill Finch
Male Red Crossbill Finch

If you look closely, crossbills literally have a crossed bill. I had taken several photos and kept seeing what looked like a stick in its beak. Nope, upon closer inspection, the “stick” is the crossed end of their beaks! The female of this mated pair has pale yellow coloring.

Female Crossbill
Fuzzy Female Crossbill

“A fascinating finch of coniferous woodlands, the Red Crossbill forages on nutritious seeds in pine, hemlock, Douglas-fir, and spruce cones. Their specialized bills allow them to break into unopened cones, giving them an advantage over other finch species.” Source/All About Birds

Mated Pair of Red Crossbill FinchesFeeding Red Crossbill
Comparing crossbills at the feeder

Funny Finches

Aside from these beautiful Crossbill finches, our other finches are not short of antics when it comes to hanging around the feeders. These finches simply ignore me once the food is refreshed!

Bird Tails
A Pair of Finch Tails
Pastel yellow goldfinchcontorted goldfinch
Goldfinches at the feeder and garden

Dirty looks abound when too many flock to the feeder!

three birds at feeder
Finch Foodfest
Finches at the Feeder
Two pairs of finches

The Western Phoebes must have migrated onward, but not before this one snacked on an unlucky winged moth.

Western Phoebe
Western Phoebe’s winged lunch

Do Hummingbirds Have Wings?

I ask because it’s darn near impossible to capture them in flight. Mostly, their wings are implied!

“The hummingbird competes with the stillness of the air.”– Chogyam Trungpa

Hummingbird ready to feed
Hummer!
Sierra hummingbird
Sierra hummingbird

Once in a while, I manage to capture a wing or four. Sorry for the noisy image.

Pair of Hummingbirds in flight
Pair of Hummingbirds
vivid hummingbird
Wing Preening

Public Art Wings

“Art is the set of wings to carry you out of your own entanglement.” – Joseph Campbell

Spokane, Washington, has a very healthy public art life. We don’t visit the downtown area that often, but once in a while, I get lucky. This first image was taken at a freeway entrance.

Public Art Hummingbirds
A Pair of Street Wings
Totem Pole

I caught this very tall totem pole a few years ago when I visited Spokane before we moved here.

My six foot Eagle and Bear Totem

This must have inspired me back then when I took the opportunity to buy a 6-foot wooden totem two years ago and paint it in the native tradition of the Pacific Northwest Indian Tribes.

Wings of the Six-Legged Kind

“Butterflies are self-propelled flowers.” – Robert A. Heinlein

Our backyard is also home to many winged insects. The Western Phoebes and Swallows LOVE our area for its insects (see above). The insects are attracted to flowers and wildflowers.

western tiger swallowtail
Western tiger swallowtail
Brown Skipper Moth
Brown Skipper Moth

Dotted blue butterflies are about the size of a thumbnail.

Dotted Blue ButterflyDotted Blue Butterflies
Comparing Dotted Blue Butterflies

*** In case you’re wondering, a hummingbird moth is the featured image. ***

sunflower swatch

Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders

The Sunday Stills weekly-themed photo challenge is easy to join. You have all week to share and link your post. Please use your own original images, whether new or from your archives.

  • Remember to title your blog post a little differently than mine.
  • Please create a new post for the theme or link a recent one.
  • Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
  • Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
  • Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post.
  • I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.

Sharing this week for Cee’s FOTD, Johnbo’s Cellpic Sunday and Lens-Artists: Pairs

“Wings are not only for birds; they are also for minds. Human potential stops at some point somewhere beyond infinity.” ~ Toller Cranston

pink flower with bee

I can’t wait to see how you interpret this week’s theme! Creativity is encouraged, so please share your own photographs (old or new), poems, original short stories, and music inspired by the theme. Join me next week as we explore the theme “AFLOAT.”

Bitmoji Birding

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147 comments

  1. Your photos are a treat to see, Terri. I liked the quote by Viktor Hugo that you shared.
    I don’t think I’ve seen a Crossbill before. Such an array of colors on them.
    You managed to catch the hummingbirds wings and speed of fluttering.

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  5. Hey doll!! Thank you so much for coming by my blog to say hi and to comment on my recent photography post. I am so glad to be back to looking at the world through a camera lens. I just notice the beauty so much more observantly when I am taking pictures and looking for prompts.

    Glad to see your images of wings. They are lovely. And the sliding graphics are very cool. I would love to try to add those to my blog. They are such a nice way to see two images of the same theme. Love the hummingbird shots. Aren’t they so photogenic if a bit elusive and quick to capture!!

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    • Hi Leslie! How nice to hear from you. Thank you so much. I hope we both can visit each other’s posts more often. I can’t believe I’ve been hosting Sunday Stills for 6 years. Please hop in when you can, my friend!

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  6. […] Winged God at the 19th-century Kuthodaw Pagoda in Mandalay, Myanmar.A winged statue riding a chariot on the roof of a building in Antwerp, Belgium. Inspired by this black-winged dragonfly in Laos and the Laos silverwork I put together a necklace with iridescent green pearls and a dragon-fly pendant.The condor, one of the many amazing birds of Argentina, seen here stretching its wings at the zoo in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Black domed roof with winged creature on top of a building in Valladolid, Spain.A Canada Goose directing the choir in Vancouver, Canada. Monarch butterfly in a mossy forest near Morelia, Mexico. Door handles in the form of the golden wings of an eagle in Mexico City.When I gave Stylar.ai (now Dzine) the prompt: ‘learning to walk again’ AI gave me wings.This rooster boat in Sendai is one of the many fantastical ferries to the seaside village of Matsushima, Japan. Bright feathers of some parrot-like bird.Local hummingbird into my red trumpet flowers.More of Terri’s Sunday Stills Challenge: Wings. […]

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  15. Terri,

    We finally got a good internet connection and I can chime in. I don’t have the patience to be a good bird photographer, but I did catch the picture below of a flock of Roseate Spoonbills and cranes staring down an alligator in the South Carolina marsh. They seemed rather nonplussed by the creature. I love the Finch lunch pic. Joe

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  22. Butterflies are self-propelled flowers! That’ll stick with me and I’ll think of you with every butterfly. We do get quite a few butterflies here which are fun to capture not seeing many hummingbirds just yet. They’re eating for the house to be built so I can get a couple feeders out there somewhere not in the wind tunnel. But you captured those super sonic wings. Fun finch feeding photos as well. I especially liked the attitude look.

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  25. Your photography of birds is always amazing, Terri. And I love how some of the garden birds you have are so different from the ones we have in the UK. I’ve been tempted to put out a bird feeder, but we’ve so many squirrels in the neighbourhood that they’d swamp us, and the arch-enemies of the squirrels in our house are Toby and Austin. Can you imagine the constant barking and wanting to go out and tackle them?

    I love the totem pole. We don’t have them in the UK (at least not that I have seen), but one in the garden may well keep the squirrels away.

    My Wordless Wednesday post tomorrow falls precisely into this week’s theme, and that was without me knowing what this week’s theme is.

    Have a good week.

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    • Thank you, Hugh! I’m glad this week’s theme aligned with your WW post. We went back to the furniture store in Idaho last week and they were selling the same totem pole (unpainted) for twice as much as I paid for mine.

      I chuckled when I read your would-be war with squirrels. We had squirrels galore in the trees surrounding our home in Sacramento. Brodie lost his mind every day chasing them. I’ve seen him chase birds in flight–he’s kinda crazy, LOL!

      Looking forward to your wings tomorrow 🙂

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      • It looks like the cost-of-living crisis has hit the totem pole world, Terri. I’m not surprised, given that I can’t think of anything that hasn’t been affected by the crisis.

        I’ve witnessed many dogs chasing birds in flight. It’s a little like Austin looking up to the highest branch of a very tall tree, seeing a squirrel on the branch, and then barking while running around in circles. He takes no notice of me telling him that what he is doing is pointless and a waste of energy.

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  43. Wings is the perfect theme for your fabulous photos and quotes, Terri. Tiny hummingbirds visit our feeder frequently. They look like a lump on a branch and then they all of a sudden they fly to the feeder. It’s such a joy to watch them.

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  47. Lovely photos of winged creatures. I never heard of a bird that has a crossed beak. Thanks for sharing!
    Your totem pole is awesome! I am so glad you shared it with us.
    I shall have some wings for my Tidbits tomorrow.
    Enjoy your weekend my friend!

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  53. Oh, you got some wonderful photos of birds and you get quite a variety of finches! I mostly see the house finch at my place; and I don’t think I’ve seen a crossbill but maybe I should pay more attention. The goldfinches are gorgeous! That brilliant yellow! (I love the hummers, too!) I saw hundreds of birds on our trip to Long Beach this week, so it’s a perfect time to share them. On the Wing at Willapa Bay – Cats and Trails and Garden Tales

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  60. That is interesting about the actual crossing of this bird’s bill Terri. At first I wondered how they are able to eat properly. I follow Michigan Duck Rescue and Sanctuary, a local rescue group primarily for ducks, but they also take in wounded geese and swans. Some of the rescues are ducks that have been attacked by a snapping turtle and are missing a part of their bill. I feel so sorry for them, but Matt and his wife get veterinary help for them and they are welcome to live out their lives at their sanctuary (pond and barn) safe from predators. But, just like these wounded waterfowl who eventually adapt to their disability, I was glad to read that the Crossbills are able to enjoy pine cones with their unusual beak.

    I have been seeing a lot of Goldfinches lately as the thistles mature. Soon the sunflowers will arrive and the Goldfinches will be in their glory.

    I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a hummingbird preen – yikes if it pokes the wrong way.

    I finally saw some Swallowtail butterflies this past week … first time this year.

    Here is my ‘Wings” post about my Mama and Baby Robin and the nest in the middle of the barbed wire.

    Baby and the barbed wire!

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    • Right? those crossbills are so unusual looking–like I wrote, I thought they were finches that had a stick in its beak.
      My mom used to rescue wild and domestic ducks, years ago and there were a couple that had lost part of its bill. Hooray for goldfinch and sunflower season. This is the second year I put out the two finch feeders and food, and they are characters! My volunteer sunflowers are popping up and starting to bloom. Thanks for sharing the baby robin story 🙂

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      • I don’t think I’ve known anyone who had a finch feeder out, just the throwaway nyjer seed socks. You have a successful feeding station Terri.

        Most of Matt’s waterfowl rescues are Pekin ducks, once people no longer want them after Easter. He welcomes them all and there are some horror stories with duck predators, mostly snapping turtles.

        Sunflowers just make you feel good – they are feel good flowers. Goldfinch love them. You are welcome … that baby captured my heart, even if him/her and Mama didn’t particularly like me. 🙂

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  62. Wow, you really have covered the world of wings – who knew there were so many different types out there? And since I have really only started truly looking at birds during COVID, it fun to see so many different types. Your pairings are quite fun; I hope you had fun creating them!

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  65. You’ve got some lovely photos. I particularly like the hummingbird ones. I am a fan of bigger birds. Pelicans summer in our province and I particularly like this capture.

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  68. Another great post and photo prompt. Anything winged is right up my alley. Hope you’re enjoying your summer. It’s crazy hot here right now, but we’re keeping busy and staying indoors in A/C.

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    • Thank you, Ingrid! “Wings” entered my brain and I didn’t just wanted the prompt to be about birds, although there is nothing wrong with that! 😀

      Summer is going great although this heat spell is breaking records. I’m still so grateful that we endured a hot, smoky summer in 2020, so that we were motivated to add a heat pump/AC to our new home. A LOT of folks don’t have AC here.

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  71. Terri, I love bird and butterfly photography! Thanks for your gorgeous images. I enjoy seeing birds we don’t see here in Georgia. I enjoyed the images of the finches which are different from the ones we see here. Your hummingbird images are fantastic. I haven’t been able to capture any of our ruby throated hummingbirds this year. As soon as I get ready to take their picture they take off.

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  79. Truly some beautiful bird portraits. I’ve thought of putting out feeders in the summer, but with us being gone all winter, I’d feel sorry that I might make the birds dependent upon the food when they need it most.

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