December 23, 2017 – A Snowbird's Life Through the Lens

The Tricolored Heron that spends time on the lake out back every day is a tricky little guy to photograph. He is never still, he flits from place to place, and stays hidden in the weeds most of the time. I think he’s gorgeous.

And the Ibis is present all the time, lots of them actually. I hardly notice them because they are out there so often. Zoe loves to run through the flock of them to make them fly. They are too pretty to be ignored.

But the most exciting thing going on out back is that I think it’s official, we have a nest. Well, the Sandhill cranes do at least. They return to the neighborhood in the afternoon, and you know this because they announce their arrival as only they can. Yesterday they wandered for a while, and then one flew to the nest site and the other one waded over to join him. They rearranged for a bit, and they spent the night. This morning they sounded like a couple of roosters out there, announcing the sunrise. Will we have chicks eventually? First we’ll need eggs, and then it will take a month. Stay tuned…

It wasn’t my wish to see a Northern Mockingbird, but this one flew into my shot so I figured he wanted his picture taken. And I obliged.

No, I had seen bluebirds when I walked the dogs, and ever since I got the 600mm lens I’d been wanting to take more photos of them. They were around the corner from my house, on the electrical wires as they always seem to be. So I got the camera ready with the big lens and extender, and loaded all my equipment into my car. While I was out I thought I’d drive around until I found something photo worthy. Then I opened the garage door and there were the bluebirds, right out front of my house as they frequently are. But I’m not usually all ready with the camera. They always seem to retreat into the trees right across the street from my house, I suspect they nest there. One of them stuck around while I got set up. And peered at me curiously like he was wondering what I was doing. I might go out for the sunset later on, but the cute little bluebird made my day.