Always Nature

I enjoy a variety of subjects for my photography. But I always come back around to nature, especially birds. A wonderful photographer we knew, who passed away a few years ago, often kidded us that when it came to photography, we were “for the birds”.

Wet, cold weather delayed our Christmas Day walk to a Boxing Day/St. Stephen’s Day walk. We went to a local park, discovered they cleared the back hiking loop, and meandered along the path occasionally stepping just off-trail to avoid the large mud puddles from two days of rain. The birds appreciated the break in the weather too. We heard and saw them, in front of us, overhead, and of course usually hid in the foliage allowing us only the occasional glimpse of movement before flying away.

The Pine Warbler, above, went from tree to bush to tree. I followed with my feet and the zoom lens, staying far enough away as to avoid disturbing his hunt for food. At times like that I remember the old days of film. The many near misses to get the above photograph meant money spent at that time.

The Red-bellied woodpecker inched up the snag ahead of me. I shot just as I saw the head, and several other shots including ones of the other two joining in on the snag. Viewing all of them later, I still like the first one, with the head just peeking up and the catch light in the eye.

We often tell people that with nature photography, even if none of the shots taken end up something to keep, at least you enjoyed a walk outside!