Macro Monday

..and More Back Yard Birds

We've been fortunate to have a good supply of woodpeckers in our yard over the last few years including regular visits from Pileated and even a visit from the Red-headed Woodpecker. The Downy Woodpecker is also a regular at our suet feeder and deserves some recognition for being a part of our birding lives.

Downy Woodpecker:

More Back Yard Birds

Interestingly enough, I realized the other day that I really didn't have a decent shot of a Black-capped Chickadee. These birds are always in our yard and at the feeders. They are dependable that way and I appreciate that. :)

Black-capped Chickadee:

Back Yard Birds

It was such a nice day out today compared to the recent weather we have had I decided to just sit in the backyard and take a few shots of the birds in my yard and on my feeders. I had the "usuals" that visit my feeders which are Downy's, Chickadees, and Nuthatches. I was kind of hoping to see the Pileated since I could hear him not to far away but he decided not to show today so I'll have try again another day.

White-breasted Nuthatch:

Macro Monday

Sitting and Landing Swans

I still find it hard to believe that the cold water and ice doesn't bother the birds. They seemed quite content even though we were all freezing!

Macro Monday

I've been working more on my macro photography so I thought I would start doing a Macro Monday shot. Here's the first one! :)

White Sea Shell:

Flight of the Swans

Here's one more flight shot:

Swans in Flight

There were a lot of opportunities to shoot pictures of the swans in flight, and I was somewhat successful. Swans make for good practice on shooting birds in flight mainly because they are big enough to make focusing on them easy and are slow enough that you can keep up with them as the pass in front of you. I think birds in flight is going to be an area of focus for me this year, although, given the opportunity to photograph a sitting bird I'm pretty sure I'll take the photo. :)

Swans in the Mist

Due to the cold, there was a bit of mist/steam coming off of the water which made for a very pretty seen, but it also made for a bit of trouble when taking shots. Sometimes the mist was thick enough where it somewhat obscured the birds. Either way it was still pretty cool to see.

Sleepy Swans

Did I mention that it was about 0 degrees when we went and that there was a pretty good breeze which made it quite chilly to be holding my camera? My first battery didn't last very long, so it was nice to have a second battery which was a gift from my wife for Christmas.

Monticello Swans

Hey All,

I hope that the holidays treated you all well and that you've had a chance to spend time with family and friends. I certainly did!
I started out the new year of birding (the first birding I've done in a while as many of you know) by going up to Monticello, MN to see the Trumpeter Swans with my parents. It's quite a spectacle, with a phenomenal amount of birds, mainly Mallards, Canada Geese, and of course Trumpeter Swans. We also saw a some Common Goldeneye, although they were at quite a distance.
Here are a couple shots of the swans to start with. I'll be posting a few more over the coming days.