Confession For The Birds

I have two confessions I want to make today. The first one is that even though I have pictures of a few birds that I find much more exciting than these pictures of robins that I'm showing you today, I really like these pictures of the robins because they're some of my best. The second confession comes further down the post.

This robin above is one of my favorites not because I consider it to be the most beautiful that I've had, but because of the detail it shows. I have never been able to show you this much detail in a photo of a robin before. You can zoom right in and see individual feathers on this bird.

One reason for this is because when I was on the trail I suddenly looked up at a branch just above me to see this robin perched there. It was only five feet away from me. Somehow I had walked up on it without it noticing me. I guess I'm geting better at being quiet than I thought.

This is one of the many other shots I got of this robin as he stayed perched there oblivious to me presence. Honestly, it didn't take him long to realize I was there. Maybe he knew all along, but just didn't mind. I did notice that he subtly turned his back to me while I was getting my pictures. A sure sign that he had detected me.

I tried to move to a better angle for the sunlight, but it didn't work out well. Even though he stayed where he was, the sun just wasn't cooperating. I couldn't get a better angle than this. I guess these were just the pictures I was meant to have. I really like robins because they do let me get very close to them.

From close to far. The robin in this picture wasn't close up like the first one. As a matter of fact, it was very high up in a tree that I wasn't standing very close to anyway. All I could see with my eyes was a flash of red. I thought maybe I had a cardinal, but the other birds that had flown with this one were definitely robins. The camera proved this was too.

Now, why do you suppose I've been getting such good results out of my camera lately? I'll explain below.

The picture tells the tale. I got a new camera! As you can see, it's a Canon PowerShot SX20 IS with a 20x zoom. I researched for a very long time, and bought the very best point and shoot camera there was. The previous version of this camera is the same, except this one is a little higher in megapixels and it shoots high definition video. I don't use the hi-def, but you might notice my video quality has also improved.

By comparison, my old camera is a Canon PowerShot A590 IS with a 4x zoom. It's a very good camera, especially for a beginner, but I wanted to move on to the next step. My new one seems to focus right in on any animal I aim at. And I don't have too many problems with blurry shots like I was having before. I'm very happy with this camera.

Okay. Meanwhile over at Nature Center Magazine today, Emma is featuring another Nature Site Of The Week. She always features the best of nature on the internet, so go take a look at what Emma has to say about this newest site she focuses on. Who knows? One of these times she might find your site, and decide to write about it. She also takes recommendations if you know of a site that should be featured.