In my feeble attempt to get caught up I have arrived at a few of my favorite shots from the Spring Season so far. I captured these images in April when the Ring-necked Ducks had just arrived back in the area. They co-operated quite nicely while having their picture taken. These were just two of four birds on the pond at the time.
On the blog that is. At least if memory serves - at my age it doesn't always.
I noticed the Harlequin ducks close to shore one day and decided I wanted to photograph them if I could get down without them seeing me approach. I managed to hide behind a rock ledge as the tide was still coming and waited to see if they would get closer. They did. I took a few photos and from out of nowhere a flock of Purple Sandpipers flew into view. As I wondered about where they might be headed, the whole flock decided to land on the ledge I was lying on. I couldn't decide what to focus my camera on - the ducks were getting closer and the sandpipers were right in front of me. The light wasn't ideal, it was still mid-afternoon and the tide was still coming, threatening to get me wet. If you know Harlequin ducks you know they like feeding when the surf is high. I made images of both species until I had to retreat to higher ground. The sandpipers had already left the area. February 21.
There weren't many snow days this Winter so when they did happen I usually tried to take some time for photos. Here are some that I took this day including the best shots I was able to get this year of the female Cardinal that was frequenting my feeder. She has disappeared since these were taken. I don't think I need to identify the others but for those not familiar with our native birds they are Black-capped Chickadee, Blue Jay and White-breasted Nuthatch.
I took a lot of shots on this occasion but this photo stood out among them, to me at least, because the last rays of sunlight for the day were brushing the owl's face while the rest of the bird was in shadow. January 31.
