Our backyard is just buzzing with birds, many of them in pairs, suggesting they may be nesting nearby. Some of them you'd expect; others are unusual here. It all makes the view out our back windows constantly fascinating, and early in the morning, quite noisy!
The Goldfinch are the most consistent visitors, sitting on the feeder all day and stuffing themselves with sunflower seed.
Up until a few weeks ago the Juncos were steady visitors, but they have now left for the boreal forest further north to nest. The Mourning dove is still around, but is very secretive now.
We have a pair of Song Sparrows nesting nearby. They are heavily striped with a dark chest spot where stripes coalesce, and two dark cheek patches.
There's a Cipping sparrow someplace nearby; its call a steady trill.
We have a pair of Blue Jays that visit regularly, hunting for sunflower seeds under the feeders. It's always nice to see their bright colours.
And every now and then a Downy Woodpecker will fly in for a snack - one of the few birds that likes the niger seed.
The most unusual birds (to me) is a pair of Purple Finch, the male washed with bright pink colour, and the female heavily striped dull brown.
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You can see the limitations of an iPhone camera here very easily, especially in the badly blurred 2nd and 3rd photos above. If you zoom fully to get the photo, you can't crop the photo further without blurring it. At the moment I'm very disappointed in my photography. I need to seriously reconsider my whole approach to photography including my cameras.
I love drawing birds to the yard...
ReplyDelete...on the downside, it also draws mice ... one of which woke us in the middle of the night gnawing on something under the bureau.
Not nice!
All colours and the feeders, they know where a good meal can be found.Is there a wheelchair mount, that has a flexible arm, and use a remote cord? You would still need to be able to adjust the settings unless you shot in P or a constant mode, maybe the arm would adjust up or down for that. A smaller lighter camera, on this system, would that work?
ReplyDeleteThey are still good pictures showing the beauty of Nature.
ReplyDeleteUsing part of a Monopod mounted to your Wheelchair might help to hold the weight of the Camera while leaving the Swivel Lock on the Panhead would allow you to turn it without moving the Chair.
Be Safe and Enjoy nature out your back window.
It's about time.
I like the goldfinches.
ReplyDeleteI might also recommend installing a trailcam in the vicinity of the feeders.
I am wondering about what Nancy J and Rick have said as well. Must be a way to adapt some kind of unobstructive mount to your chair which can hold a DSLR camera and appropriate lenses. When I Googled 'camera mount for wheelchair photography' there seemed to be a number of mounts available. As you know photography is a great hobby so you don't want to miss out on that.
ReplyDeletegood that bird watching is very busy at your place right now.
ReplyDeleteGood variety of birds to watch in your yard.
ReplyDeleteMy phone doesn't do so great on the zoom either. I've had to make do though because I've never gotten another camera once mine died.
They may be a little blurry, but they do give a good idea of the bird life in your neighborhood. There are some good tips in the previous comments to get you ahead in your photography. Thanks for what you have shown here, I enjoyed all of them. :-)
ReplyDeleteI miss feeding the birds, but am not going to feed a big flock of starlings. So I enjoy seeing yours.
ReplyDeleteIt's wonderful you have such a variety of birds right outside your window! Yes, tough to get good bird shots with a camera phone. I've seen small clip-on telephoto lenses for the iphone. Might be worth a try.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely display of birds you have and you know their names. I'm not very good at that unless they are the regular ones. Robins, redwing blackbirds (which we have scads of) gold and other finches, the odd blue jays, and up here brown birds (which I had to Google a year or so ago). Your pictures are still nice and your readers have good suggestions for using your camera.
ReplyDeleteWe have had all of those through the winter. Many are not gone and nesting elsewhere or flying north to spend the warmer months. Did see my first hummingbird yesterday.
ReplyDeleteyou should not be disappointed!!! as i scrolled along, i was smiling at all the birds that are visiting you, and that you get to see them, how wonderful is that. the quality of the pictures does not matter!!!
ReplyDeleteall of these birds visit me as well!!
That's a good variety of birds to watch in your garden.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
Backyard bird watching is fun.
ReplyDeleteThe juncos are all gone here now and you must have them up there. We changed things on our deck so I have not had the suet up for a while.
ReplyDelete