Some Jay glory

Winter is gone. In actual fact it never did quite arrive and Spring just waltzed in. But this seems to have completely confused all my precious flora and fauna. The blue jays for one were around all winter and now they are here in flocks. 

The best way to lure Jays - peanuts!

 

I usually wait with much anticipation in early May for the beautiful blue creatures, but they got here a few weeks ago. Or, like I said, probably never left. I wonder what this means for them? Anyhow, this little post is not so much a musing of their plight but more of my efforts to take pictures of them in all their glory. 

The picture that started it all, I am going to be working on this for a while

It is a work in progress, and I am scouring the website for any information their might be in my efforts to photograph them in flight. 

Eerie landing shots - I kind of like the effect of the contrasting shades

This must be accomplished with my limited paraphernalia as I simply refuse to spend money on anything other than essentials right now. If you must know it is more out of need than a matter of principle. 

My personal favourite

I am also for once quite grateful for technological advancement, and digital cameras in particular. I snapped nearly 198 shots, that with a film camera would have cost me an arm and a leg, perhaps even my head in the current climes! Not to mention I will not be posting this for at least another month.

Just look at the form, the colours...

I love birds, fuzzy sleepy heads, angry faces and all, but I do believe they are most beautiful doing what we admire them most for, flying. Perhaps we will all look our best if we were doing what we are all meant to be doing. Pity it isn't as simple for us humans to figure out with the slightly more evolved brains.

Speaking of hummingbirds

If there is one thing I would like to do before I die (actually there is plenty I would like to do before I die) it would be to take a national geographic quality picture of a hummingbird. I won't do much with it, perhaps post it on a blog, if blogs exist until then and frame and hang it up for myself. Sometimes you just do things because you want to do it...no need for rhyme or reason.

This is one of my early efforts to photograph the smallest bird ever to flit around this beautiful planet. Squint a little and tilt your head slightly to the left and you should see the bird. I will try and work on it more this Summer so you won't have to squint or work out your left from right.

Cedar Waxwings

It is always fantastic to spot a bird you've never seen in the wild before. I am getting rather good at spotting new species of birds, if I may say so myself. Here's proof of the flock of cedar waxwings we saw over the weekend. 

My first ever picture of a cedar waxwing

 The pictures are misleading, it did take a 300mm zoom and some editing to see them as clearly.

They were quite restless, there was a fair bit of human traffic where we were so they kept flitting about. I never quite got a look at the red tips older birds have on the wings. I have to assume that they were all young.

Tad windy there!

I also managed a few shots of their so called amazing aeronautic capabilities. If I could I would have sat their all afternoon watching these beautiful creatures. 

Just look at the pattern on their tails!

 

Soaring weekend

The weekend we put the clocks forward is always tiring, at least since the Offspring arrived. We also pushed our luck with him a bit trying to get a few things done which ended in a scream fest, but all in all it turned out to be a half decent weekend.

To be honest I have to force myself to remember what we did because everything is overshadowed by the fabulous pictures (by my standards/capabilities) I got of my feathred friends. Looks like I don't have to entirely give up on wildlife photography, I just have to be more realistic and perhaps happy with one grand shot for a season.

Sunday morning, lounging in the backyard with my little monkey eating 'snack' and sipping tea we spotted a red-tailed hawk. Not easy to photograph and not with an excited little boy at my feet. This was the end result, not as sharp, but you can identify it. We need to take care of these guys because according to my bird book they have thinning egg shells, a sign that we have too much pesticides in this area. I will stick to my garlic and vinegar in our yard this summer

I did meet yet another fabulous bird, will post as soon as I get the chance to go through hundred odd pictures to pick the best ones!

Spring Garden 2011

This was my garden last year, I should say my Spring Garden. I was totally taken my surprise at the lovely salmon (shame I can't find a more floral hue to speak of) tulips. I just put them in the soil after a planter I had bought had gone its merry way. I had forgotten all about them. I also cannot take credit for how all the colours played out. Last Summer we messed with the flower bed a bit with planting annuals etc., so I am not sure how things will turn out this Spring. The tulips are already beginning to work their way out. So here's hoping they put on a show for us again.

The interesting thing about my garden is that it receives varied amount of light and therefore heat (I presume). Notice how things are different from one end of the flower bed to the other? The tulips in the far left of the picture are yet to blossom. The good thing about it is that I have some colour, almost all of the time. If things are so different in one tiny flower bed, how different it must be in this big big world?

Blue

I love Blue, just all shades of blue. Since I am pressed for time to play with words, I figured I would share with you some recent pictures of this handsome bird.

This is the most I have seen of these fellas in the autumn. A feeder is a great way to meet them while they are in transit. Sadly they have sent my smaller visitors flying. Blue jays are very territorial.

Salix discolor (The pussy willow)

I love trees and I may have said that on more than one occasion here. But the fact is I do and I can't understand people who cannot stop and admire a beautiful tree. If you listen real careful you will also hear them speak to you. Trust me, you just have to shut up and stop snickering at names like pussy willow, and then you will hear them. And you will learn that there is more substance to what they have to say than all the humans you know. 

The pussy willow in mid-March

The Salix discolor or more commonly known as the American pussy willow is in my neighbours backyard and I mean to take pictures of this tree every Spring but never get around to it. When you see signs of buds on this tree you know it is warming up and we will not be stuck in the deep freeze for long. I am not sure if it is the new camera or the fact that I have had little to do in the last few months than I usually do, but I got out and took some pictures.

A few weeks later I wanted to get some close up shots of the blossoms and was pleasantly surprised by the bees who were busy at work. 

 I must say I am quite pleased with the pictures for a first attempt at bugs, not to mention the sore neck.

And it seems there is more to this tree than I thought. According to Wikipedia the pussy willow is used in cultural and religious festivities that are common around this time of year. I think I like this tree even more now.

And so the garden grows...

The first blooms of the season

It looks like the squirrels didn't devour all my crocus and grape hyacinth bulbs. They are pushing through the soil and mulch. But what seems to be a bit of a pain is this constant show of snow. Fortunately the ground seems to have warmed up enough that the snow doesn't accumulate. But after the dismal Winter I am starting to feel a bit concerned that we might have a chilly Summer too. It is really important the my garden does well this year. Things are not as great as they were when I was thankful for everything in life and the one thing that does cheer me up is the show of colour in the backyard.

Hubby was let go from his job with very little notice three weeks ago. We are creeping up to four weeks now and needless to say we are both getting a little concerned. While life has certainly not been a bed of roses, or crocuses for that matter, it is a little unsettling as we assess spending and make adjustments. This experience is teaching us a few things. But most of all it has taught me that people are not all who they seem to be. I am learning that a reassessment of the people in my life is in order!

But this has not stopped me from digging the mulch out to allow my bulbs to get out of the deep cold. Neither have I put my camera away. Today I took out my old pal Nikon F50's lens and tried a few pictures with the new Nikon D7000. I don't need a new macro lens. I love my old lens on the new guy. They work well together. Also, you can't always trust the 'correct exposure' reading you get on the new guy. You have to shoot and learn.

auto exposure                    manual exposure

We're almost there

Spring is almost here folks! I am not basing this on calendars, the groundhog or the weather person. My most reliable source, the American Robin, arrived two days ago. At first I thought it might be the random one that had come back, but I have seen them two days in a row and now I hear them singing.

American Robin

I made a few lame attempt at using my new 300mm to record the arrival of the first of my migratory feathered friends. I might have to lift weights to steady the arm if I want to keep using this lens!

Resident Mrs Cardinal 

Colour and light

I have been spending some time with my new friend Mr Nikon D7000. He's okay for the most part. Although I think we need to invest in a couple more lenses (uh oh!). I played around with a bunch of tulips to explore how I can work with natural light on this camera, especially shooting against the light, something I love to do.

It is so different from a SLR. I find that I really can't use natural light the way I used to with my old friend Mr Nikon F50. Maybe it's me. I probably have to get to know my new friend better. Anyways, here's the consequence of a few stolen moments we spent together with the beautiful red tulips.

Icicles on the cake

It has been a long, miserable winter. At least for me. The whole family has been ill with one thing or another since October, the heating has had to be turned on much earlier (and it runs continuously), and now we have icicles!

Icicles on the porch!!!

They are beautiful. I have always found them marveled at them and snapped my share of pictures and enjoyed watching the play of light (on the odd occasion you see icicles when the sun is out) on them, etc. But now they are hanging off my porch, and suddenly they look like killer weapons rather than beautifully frozen water.

I just Googled (like we do with everything these days) why this happens and apparently the roof needs to be insulated and vented properly. We were told by the house inspector we needed more insulation, but we thought we had enough venting. I am beginning to wonder if the unwelcome tenants in the attic are clogging things up. In addition to that our neighbour, who we really have no problems with whatsoever, never cleans his gutter (that might considered a problem). While Hubby has graciously cleaned it in the past, I think we have had enough and it looks like the gutters have got clogged up after the Fall clean up. One of us must attempt a diplomatic chat with the chap. It is so much easier to casually mention it over a beer in the Summer. Winters make everything so much more difficult.

Sand cherry bush directly below the eaves trough

The first big step...

I don't consider myself much of a photographer, but I have played with cameras since I was, perhaps ten-years old. My first BIG purchase was an Nikon SLR. The decision to go Nikon when the world swore by Canon was because it was all I could afford back then. I still have my trusty old friend. Never giving him up! 

Just recently I gave into Hubby's desire to buy a DSLR. We got ourselves a Nikon D7000. I made an informed decision to go with Nikon this time. For what I want to do with a camera I prefer a Nikon. Sometimes I think Canon just is way overrated and they do have way more advertisements than Nikon. I must say I kind of like my new friend, mostly because I can take pictures and delete and not have to pay for processing. But for someone who has used an SLR extensively, I have to say it will take more than one digital camera to accomplish what my old pal could do, single handedly!!

One of my first attempts with the new friend.