Let Patience Prevail

It was foggy and drizzly all day. From the moment I awoke until night fall. Job number one of the day was to catch the blasted cat Papaya. Sure enough when I went out into the backyard there she was sitting right on top of the bird feeder. Either she is really smart or the birds are very dumb. I have seen no signs to date that she has been successful in catching a bird. After dropping her inside I restocked the bird feeders and went back inside to work on my book. I would work for awhile and then take a break by photographing from the back bedroom window blind. I didn't get many bird pictures because the Western Gray Squirrels took over. What I was patiently waiting for is the Mountain Quail. They showed up yesterday and were all over the feeders. They did show up today only they stayed on the ground and didn't go up onto the feeder. Tomorrow is another day! I did get one really nice image of a Spotted Towhee. That's a Rufous Sided Towhee for all of the old timers out there or people with older birding books. God's precious love to all, chris Camera Equipment Used- Canon 7D, Canon 100-400, Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod with a 3055 Ballhead. Camera Settings- AV mode, ISO 800, F5.6, Shutter Speed Varied.

A Shy One

Some birds are just harder to photograph than others. In the forested area where I live there is one bird that I'm lucky to get to photograph whenever I get the chance. It's not because it is rare either.In fact I see hem all of the time.They are actually pretty common. The bird in question is a Spotted Towhee. They used to be called the Rufous Sided Towhee but then they changed the name. I hate it when they do that. In any case they are hard to photograph well because they are a ground dwelling bird for the most part. Towhees prefer the underbrush and are rather shy and reclusive. They have to be lured from the ground up high enough onto a perch to be photographed because they normally love to stay down low. Yesterday morning I set up some perches that had ramps between them to encourage the ground dwelling birds to come up to a more comfortable level (for me anyway) to be photographed. This one Rufous er I mean Spotted Towhee obliged several times and this one was my favorite set of images from the morning.The thing I love about these Towhees is the intense red eyes!They are just so cool. Thank you for dropping in for a look today. Please leave your comments below. I love to hear from readers. God bless, chris