092.365 (I'll Fly Away)

(Sunday, January 31, 2010) My mother was lamenting yesterday that I hadn’t taken many bird photos this winter. This exposure of a Black-capped Chickadee flying away from the feeder is dedicated to her.

060.365 (Bird Feeders)

Took this photo about twenty minutes after I received my first order of 600 film from PolaPremium. I was excited to discover that the camera actually worked. Now, to get a feel for the brightness control...

Arrival of the Hummingbird

I noticed a hummingbird zipping around the yard a couple days ago. So yesterday, I dug out the feeders, cleaned them, whipped up a batch of nectar, and hung one up. When I got home from work this afternoon, I saw two males and a female vying for the feeder.

Goldfinches on a Sunny Afternoon

The goldfinches seem to have finished molting into their brilliant breeding plumage. As I was watching a handful of finches at the feeder yesterday afternoon, I really noticed just how green everything has gotten as of late. It became even more obvious when the goldfinches would dart to one of the nearby shrubs to continue eating. Ah, springtime.

Photo Friday: Wildlife

It’s been awhile since I submitted anything for Photo Friday, but when I saw that the theme for the week was “wildlife”, I couldn’t resist. I happened upon this dark-eyed junco as I was stalking a wood thrush a couple weeks ago.

Siskin

This Pine Siskin allowed me to get within inches of it at the feeder the other day.

An Encounter with Royalty

I feel so honored to have been invited to join this blog. I am looking forward to sharing some of my photographic pursuits and to improving my skills as I do so. Here goes my first contribution.

While visiting family in Idaho last spring, I was inspired by my sister to get into birding. Living along a black bear visiting route, I thought it best to wait until winter had settled in before I put up any feeders. So, about a month ago I finally hung a new window feeder on the sliding door of my sun room. It took a couple weeks, but the first Black-capped Chickadees finally discovered it. It didn’t take me long to discover that I could get some close shots of my feathered visitors. This is one of my favorite shots so far. I have titled it, His Royal Highness Black-capped Chickadee VIII, King of Feeder.