Pages

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Dizzy Bird Chaser

Whenever I'm hiking on the nature trails, I always try to get some pictures of birds. Most of the time I'm left feeling pretty foolish. I'll spin around in circles making myself dizzy trying to keep up with a bird. I'm not sure why I try so hard. I'm not particularly interested in birds. The only explanation is that they're part of nature, and also a challenge for me.

The bigger birds like ducks and geese have been easy. They're slower, and very sociable. They'll walk right up and pose for you, if you have food. But the smaller perching type birds have always been a problem for me. I come home with about five blurry pictures every time I go hiking. All because I was chasing birds.

This last time I was at Heritage Park I was walking through an area where birds like to gather. I always walk very slowly through there with the hope that I might get lucky. This time the place was swarming with birds. I saw them flying from branch to branch, and tree to tree. I knew this was my best chance so far!

I stopped and watched until I could see something even a little bit clearly. I attempted to get one in flight, but I always have trouble getting the camera ready for that. The trees here were very dense and it was hard to see through the branches. That wouldn't discourage me though. It never does.

Enough of this! As you can see, I got a few photos that turned out okay. They're not the best in the world, but for me they're maybe my best so far. These two pictures aren't the same bird. There were dozens of these birds gathered in these trees. It made it pretty easy for me.

I couldn't really see them that clearly when I was there. Also, as I said before, I'm not much of a birdwatcher, so I couldn't tell what kind of bird they are. So I decided to do a little bit of research, and now I know just what kind of birds they are.

These birds are American Robins. I always knew that robins had a red colored breast, and were otherwise dark, but I didn't know anything else. On the birds in my pictures there are these white rings around the eyes. I found out that is one of the identifying marks of an American Robin. I never knew that. They are also the state bird of my home state of Michigan, which I did know.

So there you have it. That's all the information I'll give about these birds here, but I'm sure anyone can find more by searching the web. I'm just excited about getting the pictures and finding out what kind of birds they are. It was a fun part of one of my everyday adventures. Seeing something different, and accomplishing something new are some of the things that make life good. It may not be much, but little things like this can leave you in a good mood, especially if you do them every day.


Related Posts

8 comments:

  1. I too love birds so when I can catch them in a pose I'm always delighted. Great photos.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Jodapoet. Birds seem to always be around, right up until I want a picture. I never realized it would be so hard to get a picture of one.

    ReplyDelete
  3. great work there. anyway, u have a nice photos you know. i never have a chance to get any of good one except for the one that we already captured using mist nets. so, keep it up as long as u can enjoy nature..:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I never have much luck trying to take photos of birds, apart from seagulls, ducks and pigeons. :-(

    I went on a seven mile hike yesterday and saw a kingfisher. I managed to get a nice photo of the branch where it was sitting, just after it flew off!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi .. Thanks for your review in linkreferral :) ...

    Nice picture you have here ...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks Rose, I really appreciate the encouragement. Some of the things you do are far more amazing than my animal photos, but I'm really glad you like them. :)

    You sound just like me, John. The only difference is that I'll chase birds around like a fool until I either get a photo or fall down dizzy. Seven miles is impressive. Right now I'm only up to about half that.

    Thank you Dav. I've only been reviewing the sites that I really like. Yours is great!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Haha..i have done the same John. I saw stork-billed kingfisher nearby the river when we paddle upper river and i try to get the photo of it but end up with the branch that it perch on.

    It looks really neat with your photo you know. i never have a chance to take birds photo when it perch on the tree branch.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'll have to look for a kingfisher. Maybe they have birds like that here. I don't know much about each animal, until I get a photo. Then I go find out what it is. :)

    ReplyDelete