Still having gout issues but it was just too beautiful today to stay inside. So, I put the Nikon D800 on the tripod with the Nikon 200-500 lens, stuck the D3300 with the Nikon 105 Micro in the holster on my belt and limped off the the woods.
If anyone saw me, I know I must have been a sight to behold with the tripod extended and that big lens hanging down as I very slowly limped to the woods. You really didn't have to look close to see that it was a bit painful, but I didn't care. Woods . . .
I got to my little clearing where I have the lake on one side (under the trees), a small creek in front of me and a path going uphill into the deep woods in front of that. Nice spot. I usually just lean back against a big oak tree and before long the birds forget that I am there.
In just a few minutes I heard a Yellow-Billed Cuckoo and then got a quick glimpse of him. He wouldn't cooperate but I did get a shot of him overhead - belly shot. It was not a very good photo, but I posted it below anyway since I rarely see these cool birds.
A cute immature Eastern Phoebe posed for me about thirty feet away. He flicked about the bushes catching insects and didn't give much of a shot for a while, but then he got used to me being there and got out into the open. I took quite a few pictures of him as he would dart out, grab a bug then land back on a branch.
I missed a little warbler that I never could see very well in the brush. I didn't shoot at the Carolina Chickadees playing in the brush or the Mockingbirds. There were also a few crows, but they didn't stay long and then a pair of Cardinals. One of the Summer Tanagers flew past (we have a pair back here) but didn't stay to pose for me.
After about an hour, it was time to head back but I did so shooting all the way - Mimosa buds and flowers, Water Hyacinth blooms (DIE! DIE!) and a few passing shots at odds and ends including a feeding Damselfly.
Here are some of the shots from the day.
Michael is a former biologist and Texas Master Naturalist. Originally from Newsome, Texas (Between Pittsburg and Winnsboro), educated in Dallas & Garland schools, then off to the University of Texas system where he received a degree in biology and worked as a biologist with the University of Texas system. After many years away from nature and biology, he relocated to the banks of Lake O' the Pines where he has been rediscovering the joys of nature. He is somewhat surprised that he has become a birder. Most of his interest in nature was centered around reptiles. Perhaps just like birds evolved from reptiles starting in the late Jurassic, he has begun his own evolution. During his formal education, his interests in biology/nature grew to include community ecology and population studies, all with a binding of evolutionary processes. He liked birds, but they were secondary at best. All at once he finds them fascinating.
Comments