……. Shhhhhh! Don’t
tell anyone, but I have a secret to confess.
Somewhere, somehow – almost against my will …. I have become a Bird
Watcher!!
No, no – you don’t understand!
Not a bird watcher ...
... but a Bird Watcher
…. (cap “B”, cap “W”!!!)
I have morphed into one of those women of an indeterminate age wandering
through the woods with a walking stick, a pair of binoculars and (most
shamefully) a pocketful of sunflower seeds with which to hand-feed the
chickadees!
I actually set my alarm so I
can make it over to the Riverwood Conservancy in time to meet the rest of the
bird watching group at 8:30 a.m.!
…… two things I have learned about photographing birds -
(a)
they are not keen to sit still and have their portraits taken. The smaller the bird, the more frantic and
manic; and
(b) no matter how dead and bare the tree, if there is just one twig
somewhere on that dead, bare tree, every bird manages to roost just far enough
behind that twig, making it impossible to get a clear “face” shot (sort of like
what a celebrity on a prerp walk does with his attorney’s jacket!)
That said – my score for November ….
... if you can't see it's tail, you can tell a red tail hawk by the placement of the stripes of brown feathers on it's chest - a red tail hawk, the brown feather stripe forms a "necklace" on the chest .....
.... whereas the brown feather stripes on the Cooper's hawk run right up under his chin!
As an added bonus ….. my October “catch” – turkey
vultures!!!! It was foggy and overcast
this particular morning, so the photos are a little dark. There were easily 12 – 18 vultures perched in
the top of the tree, waiting for either the mist to clear or for something to
die ……
….. on come on! I fed
you and said nice things about you …… show a little respect!!!!!!
