Thursday, April 05, 2012

Birdwatchers

Cardinal

See that bird in the picture above? While I was watching him, he was watching me. Like a hawk.

House Finch

I'm refilling the feeders more frequently than ever before, trying to lure these beauties  close enough to take wonderful photos of them. But they're cautious, these birds. Oh, I hear their raucous, back-yard parties, and I can watch them through my window, but the instant I step outside with my camera, they're up and away in bright-feathered flashes.

Dove

The best way I've found to see the birds is to park my own self in a chair near the feeders. I see plenty of them that way. I see them swoop toward the cache of sunflower seeds, only to reverse course when they spot me sitting there, partially hidden by the privacy fence. They go to the trees and the rooftops then, where they sit and wait. And watch me. They cock their little heads from side to side to get a better look, and I know that if they had tiny wristwatches, they'd be checking them, wondering how much longer it would be before I go back inside where I belong.

Sparrow

So, I don't get sharp, clear, images of beautiful birds. Instead I get slightly fuzzy photos like the ones I'm posting here today, shot with a zoom lens and a bird-loving heart that yearns daily for a close-up.

3 comments:

  1. I gave up feeding birds because of all the weeds caused by the birdseed. But I miss the birds.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Holly, you're right about the weeds. Last year, though, I got an actual sunflower.

    ReplyDelete
  3. If they're hungry enough, they'll come closer. When I used to feed the birds in the winter, they'd ignore me. I couldn't feed the birds this past winter because Daisy loves to chase birds and I didn't think it was fair to the birds or the neighbors to encourage that. Maybe this coming winter she'll have settled down. I love watching the birds, like you do.

    ReplyDelete

Your comments might be the very best thing about blogging. I love it when you care enough to share your thoughts here, so go ahead and say what's on your mind.