plantladylin said:Since it's June 1st and I don't yet see a new thread for the month, I thought I'd begin one.
I suspected Carolina Wrens were building a dummy nest in an old birdhouse sitting on the brick window ledge in the backyard. I hadn't seen them around in about a month but when I had the dogs out earlier, I was moving some shepherds hooks with feeders and one of the Wrens flew from that area, up to the fence and a couple of seconds later another flew in with nesting material. They were going back and forth, taking turns and then at one point one stayed in there while the other brought more nesting material and passed it inside to the other. It still may end up being a dummy nest but I'm going to keep watch. Here's the series of shots I took while standing about 10 feet away. They watched me but didn't seem too concerned about me being in close proximity.
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A Tufted Titmouse also stopped at a feeder for a treat while I was out there:
plantladylin said:Thanks y'all.
Cal, what a great slide show ... I love that pond and the pretty Mallards!
I was able to get fairly close to that old birdhouse with the Wrens and when I uploaded my photos, I laughed out loud at the expression on that birds face as it was coming out of the entrance and spotted me. For the Tufted Titmouse shot, I was at the other end of the yard and zoomed in. They are quick little things but don't seem too bothered as long as I'm not close by.
EscondidoCal said: Maybe I asked already, but what camera are you using? Super images. Amazing resolution from the other end of the yard (~50ft?).
plantladylin said:Good work, Lin! You're a natural nature photographer.
Cal, Thank you! My camera is a Canon PowerShot SX60HS. Yes, for the Tufted Titmouse shot, I was probably 50 or so feet away but it's just luck for me when pictures turn out clearly; all I do is zoom in and click the button.![]()
I know nothing about cameras; I have to leave it on the automatic setting because when I start fiddling with things, I end up screwing up all the settings and then can't seem to figure out how to get it back to where I want it ... and then I have to wait for my husband to take the time to reset it to auto for me.
joannakat said:Oh, Robert! I can almost hear that swallow singing!
EscondidoCal said:Good work, Lin! You're a natural nature photographer.Great camera, too. Most of the time I shoot on "auto", too, though I may under- or over-expose, depending on the situation.
I spend more time on lighting, angle, composition, & "juxtaposition" (e.g cliftoncat =).
plantladylin said:You really do have a good photographic eye & technique, regardless of the camera.
Cal, thanks for your kind words. I do wish that I'd studied and learned more about photography and cameras when I was young! I don't usually remember to think about lighting, angle, composition, etc. before I snap the shot so I never really know what they're going to look like until I download them to my laptop for viewing. I get a lot of over-exposed and under-exposed photos and I do try to darken or lighten them with the edit option on my computer but even that sometimes doesn't help much and I trash many, many more pic's than I save ... but I still enjoy taking pictures of the birds, squirrels, bugs, blooms and my dogs, when I can get them to sit still long enough.![]()