Chick magnet

The sunny morning we woke up to today seems to not only have lifted the spirits of most everyone I know, but rejuvenated the birds as well—I think I saw more activity at my feeder this morning than I'd had since last Wednesday. Or maybe they're just as relieved to have made it to Hump Day as the rest of us. In any case, I most definitely am not complaining.

A White-breasted Nuthatch came in while I was standing next to the window:



And I saw some Titmice as well:





But it was the Chickadees that were by far the most frequent visitors to my feeder this morning, so



You've got a little something on your chin there, dude:



I liked the seed that's just about to tip over the rim in this shot:



With this one I was struck by the position of its claws—one is about to grab onto the outer edge of the porch, while the other is much further forward:



The Chickadees also seemed particularly energetic and feisty this morning, chasing each other off of perches and around the feeder more often as I photographed them today than in all the other times I've watched them combined:



A Chickadee keeping a very close eye on the bird that settled on the perch just below it:



At times I wanted to say, "Seriously, there are six perches on the feeder—do you always need to take the one spot that's occupied?"



And the likely answer if they could talk back? "That would be a yes...":



Finally, the kind of fanned-wing shot you know I can't resist sharing:

Red and blue

Hey, whaddya know? More bird photos! I know, I know—try to contain your surprise...

A Red-tailed Hawk I spotted on my way to work this morning:



If I'd been thinking more clearly—or at all—I'd have found a way to photograph it from my car. But the only thing going through my brain was wanting to hurry and get some pictures before it flew away. So I got out, started snapping away, and then realized I should probably get myself on the side of the car that wasn't right next to the road. Naturally, the hawk didn't like that and took off. The photos I got of it departing didn't come out all that great, but I liked how you can see the distinctive color of the tail in this one:



When Yoshi returned from working in the museum gallery this afternoon, he immediately reported that a Blue Heron was once again visiting our pond. It was about the same time as the sighting on Friday, taking the switch from DST into consideration, and equally as overcast, meaning the resulting images are again somewhat dark. But it wasn't any more concerned about my presence today than the bird we saw on Friday was, so I was able to approach close enough to get some decent shots even with the slow shutter speed. Better still, this time around I even remembered to be sure the reflection was entirely in the frame. Most of the time, anyway:



Stalking the water's edge:



Even though the bird's head isn't in focus in this one, I think in this case the blur makes the photo a little more interesting:





I'm pretty sure it managed to catch something, especially when I saw these next two pics. I'm just hoping that's a frog in its throat and not one of the fish we just restocked the pond with...





Some reflection shots I thought came out pretty well:









And one last close-up for the road:

Standing by

My brain is feeling so dead this evening I'm half expecting a priest to show up at my doorstep to perform last rites. So, a quick summation: I got out of work a little early today, and as I already had plans to join Mom and Dad for dinner I decided to just head on over to their place and use the extra time to take some photos.

Kicking things off, a Titmouse getting a drink:



I managed to catch the Titmouse on the right as it was climbing into the mesh feeder:



The two Titmice chowing down:




A Chickadee at the fountain:



And a Red-breasted Nuthatch with a group of Chickadees at the feeders:





As I sat in the blue chair going through the photos I'd taken to that point, Kaylee asked to go out. I took my camera with me, just in case, and somehow ended up standing a couple of yards away from the feeders. The birds kept on coming in despite my presence, giving me a chance to not only photograph them from a bit closer than usual but, because I was facing the house rather than the woods, from a different perspective as well:





I definitely want to try some more photography from the same spot again sometime in the future, as the gray and overcast day we were having once again required me to use a slower shutter speed than I'd have liked. So I had to hope birds like this Hairy Woodpecker would stay still long enough for me to get a few solid shots:



A Red-breasted Nuthatch and a Chickadee both triumphantly hold their seeds aloft:



On this occasion the nuthatch was apparently none too happy to see a Chickadee coming in to join it on the feeder:



Nor was this one:



And a couple of images of the Red-breasted Nuthatch that I thought came out pretty well:





No Kaylee pics today, I'm afraid. I did take a few, but I had the camera on the wrong setting—the resulting images were very... orange. Hopefully I'll be able to make up for it on my next visit to the house.

Fall back

I'd been looking forward to spending the day chilling out as I sat and watched the birds, but apparently they decided to take the day off as well—I think I saw a total of four birds, and this Purple Finch was the only one that stayed on the feeder for more than 10 seconds. So, naturally, it sat with its back to me the entire time:



However, I did manage to get a really nice, detailed shot of the back of its head that seemed worth sharing, as I thought the patterns and textures of the various feathers were rather interesting:



And that does it for today's post. Here's hoping both the birds and I are feeling a bit more energetic tomorrow...

Singing the blues again

It was a fairly long day for me today and I've got a bunch of photos to share, so I'm going to keep this intro short and sweet: whereas yesterday it was a Blue Heron taking center stage, today's blog features some Blue Jays, courtesy of a morning spent enjoying breakfast with Mom and Dad. Usually when I'm around taking photos the jays are sporadic visitors at best, but on this occasion they were on and around the feeders the entire time I was there. Maybe the heron put in a good word for me or something...

A pair of jays sharing the feeder:



I liked this one's pose:



I almost didn't post this one, and then I saw the spray of seeds the outgoing bird's departure sent flying off the left side of the feeder:



There are several shots in today's post that I wish had come out a bit clearer than they did, but it was just overcast enough to prevent me from using the faster shutter speed I normally employ when photographing birds:



A jay with a crop full of seed:



A few more spread-wing shots:







I loved how the Chickadee that's also in this shot looks like it's suspended in midair:



I caught this one coming off the feeder:



More incoming/outgoing traffic:



This one took a sharp turn on its way to the feeder...



...but managed to get things straightened out in time to land:



Fancy meeting you here again:



Another catch of a jay taking off:



Not quite as streamlined a landing as we've seen with the other birds:



Closing things out with the Blue Jays, I liked the slight wing fan I caught on this bird:



And because it's been far too long, a couple of Kaylee shots to close things out. She was even thoughtful enough to get up in the blue chair so I'd be able to stick to my theme for the day: