Gull
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This bird captures that look that many of the gulls I see have – mean, narrow eyed, like some nasty manager in a big box store, but I digress.
Cormorant
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Cormorants tend be far out on the water when sunning themselves, or flying faster than I can capture them. At 500mm it is still a stretch to get a shot like this, but the Nikon 200-500 5.6 is a brilliant lens.
Colour Again
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It’s choice to work in colour or black and white. This Downy Woodpecker has bright white feathers and sometimes depending on the background, better in colour than black and white.
Not Everything is Black and White
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This photograph was complete happenstance. A relatively large bird, the green heron was moving fast and stopped for just an instant so I could get this portrait with its wonderful colour.
Attitude
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I find it amusing when some small and relatively harmless animal just tries to stare me down.
Learning to be a Duck
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This is one of about fifteen shots of the same ducks, they swam past and I kept shooting until they lined up just perfectly and I got the shot I was after.
Imagination
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I think that certain things and some people have the power to spark our imaginations. I believe photography can be a tool to that end (captioned or not).
A Contorted Glance
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The nuthatch is looking for handouts of food and probably does not appreciate the circus skills it exhibits so well.
A Backward Glance
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The expression of “eyes in the back of your head” comes to mind when animals pretend not to notice you.
Spotted
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Many birds find perches on the top of shrubs and trees. The chickadee can do the same on smaller flora and look just as noble.
Crooning
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I wouldn’t mind doing some singing myself though I suspect it would be no more appreciated than in the case of this goose.
Standing the Watch
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As the female widgeon sleeps the male stands guard.
Sailing a Silver Sea
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This is is the first of a week of avian photography. While many of these would make wonderful colour shots, I think there is more personality in the black and whites.
Noted
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I was at a considerable distance, across the widest part of a lake when I saw this bird. It was not long before my movement caught its eye and I was seen and then ignored as irrelevant to its hunt for fish.
Mourning Dove
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I’m sure its not the camera that has her attention, but the photographer anxious to get a good shot.
Female Black-crowned Night Heron
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She looks a bit mean spirited, perhaps eyeing her next victim/lunch.
Goldfinch
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Goldfinches can be quite friendly and let you get quite close or rather you notice them when you are close. In this case, I had to backup a bit to get the shot.
Wood Duck
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You sometimes see female wood ducks alone, usually they are young and wary, but just offshore. They make for wonderful subjects especially when they seem to be interested in you.
Mallard
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A curious mallard is always a welcome surprise. It happens most often when they are alone and not in large packs of birds. It’s the flocks that disperse quickly to deeper water when people approach.
Downy Woodpecker
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Downies cling to trees as they hunt insects. However, they are seldom so preoccupied that they do not check out what is going on around them.
Cardinal
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In black and white this Cardinal looks positively prehistoric. It’s really an old bird moulting.
Aware
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Chickadees are small, fast and vulnerable birds. I have see at least one challenge a much larger owl, so I can add brave to the above. But they play close to the line. Where I live a large number of people like to feed them out of their hands. This forces the bird to consider the risk before flying in, their speed and maneuverability helps, what they cannot do is evaluate the nature of what they are being fed.
Wary
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All animals have predators and all to some degree have defences. When it comes to birds, their attention to what is going on around them is quite acute. Trying to figure out what catches their eye and puts their radar on alert is not always easy.
Great Blue Heron
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I doubt that in colour the dead trees would play as much of a role in this photograph and the ducks might be a distraction. You get to think more about these sorts of things in black and white than you do in colour. It may be what I like best about black and white, it makes you think.
