Nothing. And all things. I’m surprised that after almost six months of daily observation and photographing the backyard wild, it remains so new, and I still enjoy it to such a degree.
Actually, this moon, this is pretty new and exciting. It was late afternoon, the temperature falling as the sun set bathed the tree tops in light, the moon sat high on the other side. I am inordinately pleased by this image here. The fact that I can see the craters to such a degree is impressive to me, given the tools I’m using.
The birds were out in their usual numbers. So were the duck couple. This image here absolutely makes my mouth water. This is what I see and what I have previously failed to capture – this iridescent, glittery, fantastic green. And it’s silly, but I am impressed that these beautiful creatures are just walking around outside. It seemed like they would be pea-cocking it around, swollen with pride at their brilliant plumes, but no. Here they are, placidly swimming up the waterway.
Every time I go outside thinking I’ve seen all there is to see I encounter some new thing. I’ve never seen a snakebird so completely rotate its head and neck. This creature is bent in half almost upside down!
Now, the snowy egret: this is one of my favorite birds. I do enjoy all the white plumed birds that hang around: egrets, herons, ibises, storks, but I think this one is spectacularly elegant. I took dozens of images as it hunted this morning, and these in motion ones are very pleasant to me.
How smart are birds? They’re not meant to be smart, right? Bird brains? But they seem to adapt themselves to environmental changes in such a way that it seems debate must be happening. At any event, I try to always take pictures of birds eyes. I may be misguided, but there always seems an intelligence there. The following three images of an eastern phoebe, eastern bluebird, and a snakebird’s eyes each seem contemplative. Additionally, they hunt so specifically and carefully, and are so aware of my presence, it seems to me, that it is hard not to think there is much going on beneath the surface.
While enjoying the growing moonlight and falling sun, I caught a swift movement off to my left. It turns out that the green heron has now made that its stomping ground. I’ll have to do a screen grab from my video. Yet with all this variety in the birding population what would be new is seeing an alligator park itself on the lawn. Until it warms up, I will have to keep making do with the fresh looking young ibis, my old companion the tri-colored heron and the gorgeous foliage in the backyard.
- Aperture: ƒ/8
- Camera: Canon PowerShot SX510 HS
- Focal length: 84.515mm
- ISO: 800
- Shutter speed: 1/800s