So, Karen has finally figured out a way to get me to walk around the neighborhood with her on the weekend mornings.  She started telling me about all the birds, squirrels, and other critters she has been seeing.  So today, I got up and “exercised” with her and took my camera along.  I didn’t see a lot of critters, but for sure I saw more than if I had stayed in bed with my eyes closed.

The first one I got a shot of was one of the local Mockingbirds.  These guys seem awful camera shy.  Every time I get close to them in the back yard, they fly away.  And if ever two of them get close to each other, look out because feathers are going to fly.  This one figured he was safe since he was in the tree, but I still got him.  Of course, as soon as I took the shot I realized I should have brought my flash along as well.  Being in the shadows of the tree branches, he was a tad underexposed.  Thankfully, I have Adobe Lightroom which can help out in just such an occasion.  I made minor touch ups of exposure and cropping today to bring out the subjects (in the interest of full disclosure).

We continued around the block and finally came to a stream.  Okay, it is more of a ditch really.  It runs from our neighborhood and according to the maps, it finds its way all the way to Lake Lewisville.  It is the last area of wilderness in my neighborhood that hasn’t been gobbled up by houses…yet.  It’s not a very big patch of land, but there is still some wildlife on it amongst the scrub brushes.  I hear rumors of a coyote that lives around here but I haven’t seen him yet.

While taking a breather on the bridge, I got a few shots of this little House Finch eating some seeds from the plant (or weed) it was perched on.

And then as we turn to the other side of the road, we find something new to add to my growing collection of bird photographs; my first shots of a Killdeer.

There was also an American Robin in the water catching bugs, but he was so underexposed the pictures weren’t worth saving. 

So, was it worth it?  Absolutely!  Not only did I get to spend time with Karen, but I got shots of the elusive Mockingbird, the cute little House Finch, and the Killdeer.  And we made it back home before the temperature started climbing into the triple digits!  I’ll be glad with autumn gets here.