Spring is very slowly coming to our neck of the woods. The snow is getting patchy and the lake is beginning to thaw around the edges. I saw a bufflehead in the small patch of open water near the bridge this morning and there have been Canada Geese in the same spot over the past week or so.
The other morning at breakfast we noticed two mourning doves “interacting” atop the large rock just off the deck. I made some photos from inside the house but, as one might expect, the quality though two layers of glass is not great.
Over the past few days we have noticed juncos on the ground by the feeder and robins in the yard. There were also purple finches at the feeder; coming and going among all year round residents.
On Sunday, I spent some time practicing with “Big Bertha” (i.e. the 600 mm f/4 lens) again. I set up a downed pine branch as a perch about a foot from the feeder and a chair roughly twenty feet away (Bertha”s close focus distance is about 6 meters). By the time I got the camera set up on the tripod the birds were already using the perch and I was good to go.
Here are the results:
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- White-breasted Nuthatch
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- White-breasted Nuthatch
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- Red-breasted Nuthatch
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- Chickadee
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- Tufted Titmouse (the Don King version)
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- Purple Finch (female)
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- Purple Finch (male)
