4/2/2021 - 4/4/2021
I have not hit rock bottom. It is just where I planned to spend part of my weekend.
The weekend started with a quick trip to the park on Friday morning. It was pretty chilly, and I had an idea. I had finally found a place to take the latest trendy photo. Yep, the bird singing where you can see its breath. The lighting was right. The air was cold. The birds were mostly not cooperative. It was fun and exciting, though. I was happy with how a couple shots turned out.
Friday evening, I headed to Ritchey Woods to try out my new camera lens. Every year, I look at all the beautiful spring ephemerals, and I wish I had a lens to capture them. Well, I finally got a nice macro lens. Like most things, there is so much to learn about taking a good photo. I better learn quick. The flowers will not last long. Buckeye, Harbinger of Spring, Prairie Trillium, Spicebush, and Virginia Spring Beauty were the best I could do this trip.
Saturday morning, I should have got up and chased the rarity up north. I stayed close to home, though. I was really hoping to find some early migrant warblers at the park, but I mostly struck out. I did find a couple Pine Warblers. But I missed out on Yellow-throated Warbler, and I really thought I would find one. The big surprise of the day was the Northern Pintail hanging out in one of ephemeral ponds at the park. He seems enamored with a Mallard hen and spends a lot of time following her around. Golden-crowned Kinglets were plentiful but as difficult as ever. Surprisingly, the Rusty Blackbird flock is still present and as uncooperative as the kinglets. It was nice to get some early morning shots of some Blue-winged Teal, too.
My favorite shot of the day came just a bit after sunrise. It was just cold enough to see your breath, but not nearly as cold as the day before. I love how this shot captures the bird watching its song float off in the air.
Sunday was another morning out birding with my brother. It is always nice to shoot together; even if the birding is slow. It is probably better when the birding is slow. We both have sympathetic ears to complain to! The plan was to find Louisiana Waterthrush. All in all, we heard four birds and were able to track down and photograph two. This is where I planned to hit rock bottom. My favorite creek to look for these birds is a beautiful limestone creek. If you can catch them, the birds will feed in the creek and walk right up to you. I love to lay in the creek bed on one of the rocky areas out of the water and try to catch them at eye level. Well, we pulled up to the creek, and no birds. None. I mean, there was a towhee calling, but that is not what I had my heart set on. We ended up in Yellowwood SF, where we somewhat made up for it.
Next weekend is a little busy and forecast for rain. I am hoping to make it back south, again. We will have to see how things work out.
Thanks for reading,
Mike