Lemons Into Lemonade

Today didn't start very well. Early this morning I went out to the ranch in the Little Lake Valley Valley to do some bird photography at the water feature I had built. Sometime during the night a deer or several of them decided they wanted some water just like the birds. Now deer aren't nearly as light as birds so in the process of trying to get a drink they broke one of the saw horses and the whole thing came crashing down. I arrived to find a mess. It took me about an hour to rebuild it. I didn't have enough water with me to refill it so it ended up being a little low. This was problem was compounded by the fact that it was now leaking water. The birds didn't seem to notice. They were just happy to have a place to come and eat and have a drink. There were Jays, Sparrows and Goldfinches coming in close to non stop to get drinks and bathe. At one point there were three birds bathing at the same time. It ended up being a fantastic day for photography. Now I just need to find some time to go out and rebuild it so it won't leak. All images created with a Canon EOS 7D and a Canon 100-400 IS lens. Camera settings used- AV mode,ISO 800,F5.6,shutter speed varied. A Manfotto 055XB tripod and a Bogen 3055 ballhead was used to support the camera. If you are interested in learning how to build a water feature to create images like these please check out my new book Secrets of Backyard Bird Photography which includes the plans to build both large and small water features to photograph birds. http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Backyard-Photography-Chris-Hansen/dp/1937538559 God's precious light and love to all, chris