06/17/12 Blues

I went for another hike at Rockwood Park today.  At a clearing in the path near "The Oak Tree" I saw this bluebird.

While driving, I spotted this Indigo Bunting.  I parked the car and shot out the window.  

06/16/12 Male House Sparrow

I think I mentioned before that the male house sparrows don't seem to use the perch, they fly right to the feeder.  Today, I finally got one on the perch but his position caused me to have to do a lot of photoshop work.  (More on that later)

I also moved the position of the feeder and perch.  Instead of facing north as I shoot, I am now facing east.  In the afternoon this position gets full sun.  I think the light is much better in this one than in my previous post of the female house sparrow.

Below is the original image.  I need to find a way to keep them away from light stand.  Maybe some leaves will do the trick.

06/09/12 Princeton Wildlife Refuge

I jumped on my motorcycle and headed to Princeton, IA with my camera.  The Iowa Audubon site lists the Princeton Wildlife Refuge as a spot for bird watching.  Princeton is a very small town so I didn't bring any specific directions to the wildlife refuge.  After cruising the river road to a dead end in each direction and not finding it, I was temporarily lost.  Thanks to modern technology I found directions on my phone and discovered that it's actually north of Princeton about half way to Folletts, IA down a road called 280th Street.

It turns out 280th street is a dirt road.  Not gravel, just dirt.  Did I mention I was on my motorcycle?  It looked smooth and fairly well packed so I headed down 280th street.  It didn't take long to realize it wasn't well packed and was more like sand than dirt.  Less than half way down the road I almost lost the bike and decided I should turn around.  The Princeton Wildlife Refuge will have to wait.

I'll bring four wheels next time.

06/09/12 Female House Sparrow

I spent 30 minutes in my blind this morning and the only thing that landed on my perch was this female house sparrow.  The male's don't seem to use the perch.  They fly directly to the hanging feeder.

06/02/12 Eastern Kingbird / Dickcissel

I'm four months out from my ACL surgery and my knee is feeling good.  I'm one month out from developing sciatica and it is now tolerable so I've started to run again.  I am trying to alternate running one day and walking the next.  Today was a walking day and I decided to go to the park and hike a trail. I saw this bird which I didn't recognize and snapped a couple shots.  I had some trouble identifying it but thanks to Facebook and my uncle, Charlie I now know it's an Eastern Kingbird. (Rockwood State Park, Morrison, IL)

This is a Dickcissel.  It flew away before I could try to get any closer.  I may try to bring my blind out there some time.

06/01/12 Female or Juvenile Cardinal?

I spent about an hour in the blind tonight and got this shot of a cardinal.  I'm not sure if this is a female or a juvenile.  I like the pose but unfortunately the eye is not tack sharp on this one. (My backyard, Morrison, IL)

Here is another case where I'm not sure if this is a female or a juvenile.  I'm 99% sure it is a house finch though.  I would say this is as close to portfolio worthy as I have come so far.  I just wish it was a prettier bird, like a cardinal or even a male house finch.  I would also be happier if the tail didn't intersect the perch which is why I giving myself a year to get ten images... so I can be that picky.

I normally prefer a natural perch but I thought the arch of the shepherd's hook made for a nice composition.

I was about to go inside when these two house finch's showed up.  It was pretty cool to see the male feeding the baby even though it happened right next to the duct tape mess.  I could try photo-shopping it out but I would be missing the baby's tail.  Another option would be cropping really tight but this was shot at 1/125 of a second and the overall sharpness isn't good enough to handle that tight of a crop.  I have already cropped down to about 60% of the original image.