In the tree tops

On By Mike and Christy

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We watched this Coopers Hawk move move about from tree to tree ever vigilant for and aware of their potential next meal. Although we did not see the chase we saw the result as squirrel was on this Hawks menu.

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How do you all like the new WP reader format?

46 thoughts on “In the tree tops”

  1. Yum. Squirrel for lunch. We were watching out the back window as the birds and a squirrel rummaged about. Like a streak of lightning, a Cooper darted in from the left and grabbed the squirrel. It sat a few moments and got a good grip with clawed feet. Then, it leaped upward and flew off with the squirrel tail flicking below. So impressive.

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  4. Vicki's avatar Vicki

    lovely photos of the hawk, especially liked the intent stare in the last one.. re the Reader, I do not like that the initial photos are so small, that could put people off of visiting the post and that is rather sad.

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    1. HI Vicki, as a person posting mainly photography I agree that the small photos really don’t draw in someone to look at a post. It may work for post featuring writing but does not do justice to photography based posts.

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    2. Thanks Belinda, The new reader is problematic for photographers it seems. This current post for example presents only the bottom 1/3 of a hawk. Such a presentation doesn’t really seem to draw in readers at all. Did you change the formatting (size) of your photos to make them show better in the new reader?

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    1. Thanks Victor, glad you took the time to look at the photos. The new reader format only presented the bottom 1/3 of a hawk. Not exactly a view to draw someone into looking at the work. I guess we need to suggest changes to wordpress in some way.

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          3. This is what I have posted:
            The new Reader has some severe consequences for photographers and other artists who have worked hard and are showcasing their work. The cropped format (portrait or landscape) is one problem; a second is miniscule thumbnails (try to see the detail in a landscape, or street scene at such a size or even distinguish between them). Magazines on line and in print have understood this for a long time, but magazines also get to choose their content, art and photography. The Reader is a forum for people to advertise their work quite the reverse from a magazine. Be it prose, poetry, painting, photography or news people choose what to post, its format and content, they work hard at that and Reader discards all of it when it comes to photography. Moving on to other improvements, as a photographer I might not like the “gallery format” maybe it does not suit my story line – does it even show my photos in order? And why would anyone want to visit my blog or view my post when most of it is there in Reader for him or her to see? How and why is it that Reader choses from my posts what to advertise at the bottom of my post, what if I am doing a series of posts and the posts chosen by the algorithm have nothing to do with that series. Why not have different formats for “Tag pages” where art/photography is the subject? We all work hard on our content and to have these changes imposed on us hurts. Many of us like WordPress for the community. Reader is a key function in that and having someone decide for us how our work and efforts will be reformatted does not help the community.

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    2. HI and thanks, yes this coopers hawk was doing their part in controlling our runaway squirrel population. We just need many more and perhaps a few owls. I agree that the new format does not show the photos as well and as a photographer that concerns me. Hope you have a great weekend.

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  11. Hawks are so beautiful. Thanks for just including the little squirrel arm as opposed to the full visual. I’m okay with the reader. I just hit visit site, which takes me where I want. Otherwise there are a million clicks, which I don’t have patience for.

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  12. Your Coopers looks nothing like our Coopers. Wonderful crisp captures.

    I was just thinking that the new WP Reader is pretty cool! It splays out multiple photos on the desktop, but things still look the same on the smartphone. No prob. I’d come check out your posts no matter, Mike. Cheers!

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    2. Hey, Mike, did you notice that there is now a ‘zoom’ feature for one-photo posts? That is, if you roll the mouse over the center-cropped image, it will display the full size? Just noticed it today. Cheers!

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    1. Hi Jnana, thanks for the feedback as we really appreciate it. We also sometime see coopers at our feeders waiting and sometimes getting a meal. Usually a pigeon. We can always tell when they are present as sometimes the action at the feeder abruptly stops and no birds are to be seen. Hope you are having a great weekend and thanks again for the feedback.

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  14. Beautiful photos. I love to see hawks, but there is so much housing construction and the consequential infrastructure where I live, they are losing habitat, so I see fewer and fewer hawks. I open all posts and have no problem with the Reader, although I sympathize with bloggers who are unhappy with the way their photos and art are affected.

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    1. Hi Robin and thanks for the feedback. The number of birds of prey where we live is on the decline due to development as well. This has left us with a squirrel population that is beyond big. Glad this guy was doing his part to reduce it a bit. Thanks for opening the posts and your feedback. My beef that someone unfamiliar with a blogs content seeing only a slice of an image would not likely be attracted to and then open a post. Have a wonderful weekend.

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  15. Gorgeous chest feathers on this hawk.
    The new Reader seems slow to me. Rarely do I venture into the other offerings, but I think I see that others click through on the places my random posts turn up. It might increase traffic, who knows?

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  16. Vanmarmot's Travels's avatar Boots on the Trail

    We have a female Cooper’s Hawk who hunts – very intently – in our backyard, which is festooned with bird feeders. A veritable hawk smorgasbord.! A truly beautiful creature who seems to have a weakness for goldfinch snacks…

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