Tag: Photography

Back Yard Birds

by Michael

This evening I spent time in my back yard, honing my skills with my new lens and catching some of the local wildlife.  In my case, “the local wildlife” just happens to be “common birds.”  But, as I learned recently, just because these birds are common in my back yard, they are not necessarily common in everyone’s back yard, so I share what I have with you.

First is one of my favorites; the Blue Jay.  I think this is one of the prettiest birds God created, even if their attitude doesn’t match their looks.  But I’m learning that they really are the quintessential bully.  They make a lot of noise, but when it comes right down to it, they are afraid of their own shadow.  Take this shot for instance.  I have to be quick to catch a good shot of these guys because they either fly away quickly, or turn their back on me.  At least, with its back turned, I got a great shot of the details of its feathers.  Very pretty bird.

Probably the most numerous birds I have are the doves.  I have a whole flock of them that come every evening to pick up the seeds that the other birds knock out of the feeders.  They are great, but they too get flustered easily.  It is funny to watch them because around 6pm, they will start lining up on the fence.  And then, almost as if on cue, they all descend to the ground together and begin eating.  These two on the fence looked like they were discussing why the guy on the porch kept pointing the big clicky thing at them.  🙂

And last but not least, are my House Finches.  I have several of these in my back yard as well.  They are not as numerous as the Doves, but they are close.  They aren’t quite as skittish as the other birds, and they don’t seem to mind the flash of the camera.  Their coloring lends to some very pretty pictures too.

So, that’s my birds from this evening.  There was one out-of-the-ordinary thing that happened this evening.  At one point, all the birds in the yard, at one time, took off in a mass exodus from the area.  I hadn’t heard any noises or anything, and I couldn’t figure out what had happened.  Then, about that time, a Hawk flew through my back yard, right at eye level with me.  I was shocked!  It was beautiful.  And then I thought… “I have a camera right in front of me!” but it was too late.  Doh!  Maybe it will return and land long enough for me to get a picture some day.  But until then, I’ll just have to wait and practice.

Morning Walk

by Mike

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).

Mockingbird

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.

House Finch

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.

Killdeer

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

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.

Near Disaster!

by Mike

Today when I got home, my nephew Gerry tells me that the baby birds are out of the nest and on the ground.  He also tells me that the momma bird was feeding them on the ground!  Shocked, because I know they are only 3 days old and haven’t grown enough to fly, we rush outside to rescue them.  Sure enough, the babies are on the ground near the trunk of the tree, but the parents are no where to be seen.  Having just read last night that it is safe to put the babies back in the nest, I decided that would be my course of action.

One by one I pick up the little critters, and by little I mean very tiny.  These little guys didn’t come close to filling the palm of my hand.  Since the nest is up higher than I am tall, I had to reach up into the tree and gently place the birdies in the nest, one by one.  And they thank me by pooping on my hands! (Thanks guys!)

Once I have them back in the nest, I move back to the porch and wait.  And wait.  And wait.  I’m starting to fear that the parents have abandoned them, when finally, one of them flies straight to the trunk of the tree, and begins looking around.  Great, now it doesn’t know where the children are.  But I wait.  Slowly the head cocks to one side as if listening, and then up on the lowest branch.  Stop, listen, jump, next branch.  Finally, it arrives at the nest and a happy reunion takes place!  The parent starts pushing them back down in the nest as they keep squirming around like they are trying to get out. 

Back in the Nest!

Finally, everyone is settled down and the family is reunited.  Once they are calm, the parent begins making the round to gather food and bringing it back.

Dinner!

Yes sir, nothing like a big ol’ helpin’ of worms to get the young ones growing.  Maybe the diet is when they are ready to leave home at only two weeks old.  Like most kids, they probably feel they can do better themselves so off they go.  Before the evening is out, the other parent shows up and the tag-team feeding begins anew.  Once again, the entire family is present and accounted for.

Mmmmm, Worms!

Worm after worm, these guys are getting fed well.  No wonder their little bodies were so round and plump!  I now know that there are three babies in the nest, because I put them back in, but when being fed, I was always only seeing two heads popping up.  It wasn’t until closer to the end of the evening that I finally saw all three of them sticking their heads up at once.

The Three Amigos

Now I can sleep well tonight knowing that the babies are back in their nest and safe from any ground predators.  It’s back over to mom and dad now to take care of them.  Hopefully they have learned their lesson about getting too close to the edge!