Hobnobbing with the chickadees
The chickadees in my neighborhood park are well-acquainted with my habit of carrying sunflower seeds in the pocket of my jacket, a fact that brings them flying when they see me tramping down the trail. Yesterday I actually had one land on my hat, but usually they just light on a tree branch or bush nearby, hoping that I have brought them a treat.
Today I had a different kind of chickadee experience. It seems that chickadees are attracted by the song of the Carolina wren. A photographer friend told me she had seen the wrens recently in the area around the evergreen trees, so I headed down that trail. Not seeing any, I got out my phone, opened the iBird app, and played the Carolina wren song. I hoped to see a wren appear among the evergreens, but what appeared instead were, you guessed it, chickadees, and they posed quite willingly on the branches of the evergreen trees.
Unfortunately, as the sun was shining brilliantly (a novelty for March here on the south shore of Lake Erie) and the chickadees had perched on the dark evergreen trees, the camera metered for the dark green trees and completely blew out the white feathers on the chickadees, a fact I didn’t realize it until I saw the pictures on my computer. So today I am sharing with you this picture, one of only two that were salvageable from the 10 or so that I shot today. Lesson learned…and shared with my “blog buddies.”
Until next time…
Carolyn aka Skip
The rear of a deer
Several whitetail deer crossed the trail in front of me. As I watched, this one leaped off the trail and into the woods. Their grace and beauty make these animals a joy to watch. A very large herd of whitetails lives in our neighborhood park, which is fine so long as they stay in the park. However, they don’t! Every night, and sometimes during the day, they migrate from the park into the surrounding neighborhoods. There they feast on flowers, bulbs, flowering trees, and, under cover of darkness, the seed I put in our bird feeders for the chickadees, nuthatches, and other songbirds. The deer are also a hazard on the highways. It’s too bad they can’t comprehend boundaries. On the other hand, it’s too bad that people have taken over so much of their habitat with housing subdivisions, shopping malls, six-lane highways and the like.It’s an ongoing problem with no good solution.
That’s all for tonight!
See you soon.
Carolyn aka Skip
An uninvited dinner guest
I have been playing around with creating diptychs and other collages, so today, after I “developed” my pictures in Lightroom, I chose three related images that I think tell a story. Can you follow the storyline? Hint: Start in the upper left corner.
Here’s the sequence:
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Sparrow was ready to tuck into his favorite meal: black oil sunflower seeds.
The uninvited guest, a tufted titmouse, flew in, thinking the sparrow should share, but the sparrow told him to clear out pronto!
The titmouse knew when he wasn’t welcome, so he flew away.
I just came across this app for creating collages recently, and it has been a lot of fun. Hope you enjoyed “reading” the story as much as I enjoyed “creating” it.
That’s it for today!
Carolyn aka Skip
Dancing Duck
Wondering what was sitting on top of the duck nest in the middle of the bog, I walked a little closer, and this is what I saw, a lady mallard. At first she just seemed to be taking a siesta, but as I watched, she stirred, stood up, stretched, and performed a little dance routine. From the expression on her face, she must have been pretty satisfied with herself! Here’s a little slideshow of Momma Mallard in action:
Thanks for stopping by today.
Carolyn aka Skip
Great horned owl
A great horned owl is sitting on a nest in the park where I usually take my photowalks. Last week it was pointed out to me, but the owl was not in sight, although others had seen it. Today I took a few pictures of the nest, came home, and brought them up on my computer screen, and I could see the little tufts on the top of her head. Can you see them?
According to the bird app on my computer, the owl lays one to five dull white eggs in an abandoned nest made by hawks or crows, which this nest is. She will incubate the eggs for 28-35 days, and it is mostly the female who does the hard work of sitting on the eggs until they hatch. If all goes well, we could see at least one nestling in four weeks or so.
I find that exciting, and I will keep you updated.
Carolyn aka Skip
Look what the sun brought out!
It’s amazing the difference a little sunshine will make after what seems like weeks of overcast skies. The sunny skies brought lots of walkers to the trails in the park and lots of birds too. The red-bellied woodpecker is usually too shy to come within range of my camera lens, but today I captured three pictures of him. Isn’t he a beauty? (Maybe it’s a she. I will have to look that up.)
Bonanza!
On my photowalk this afternoon, the first “almost sunny” afternoon we have had in a long time, I headed down the trail with some sunflower seeds in my pocket. Passing a bench, I sprinkled a handful of seeds, hoping to attract a few birds for a photo opp. Some chickadees and titmice flew in, grabbed seeds, and flew away, so I sat on the end of the bench and waited for more birds to arrive. Instead of the flutter of wings, I heard footsteps. Looking up, this is what I witnessed over the next few minutes…
Earlier today I read some tips on this photography website explaining how to create a diptych that will tell a story. Since I had recently purchased an app called My Frames, that helps me create diptychs and collages, I thought I would give it a try. I’m fairly satisfied with the results, but I’m wondering what you think. Can you “read” the story these pictures are meant to tell? I could almost “hear” the doe thinking, “Oh, wow, sunflower seeds. I want some NOW,” as she headed for the bench and reached out with her long tongue. What do you see? Hear?
It was a fun experiment. I think I will have to upload the diptych and enter the challenge. I have never done anything like that before, but there’s always a first time. Becoming a better photographer certainly requires experimenting with new techniques, learning how to tell stories through pictures, and challenging yourself. It also makes my photowalks a lot more fun!
See you soon!
Carolyn aka Skip
