I spent some time in our front yard yesterday, trying to get photos of Yellow-rumped Warblers and Ruby-crowned Kinglets with my new camera. At first I couldn't get anywhere near them. Then I realized I had the perfect hide available - my car sitting in the driveway. Birds never worry much about cars anyway and our birds are used to our car being out in the driveway. So I spent 30 minutes sitting in the car. It was cold but not as cold as outside, and it let me take photos from just 15 feet away from the elm tree that many of our birds love.
I thought I got some great pictures. But when I loded them on the computer I found that most weren't really sharp. I guess I'm going to have to take more care to hold the camera still when it has the long zoom lens attached.
Some shots of a Yellow-rumped Warbler came out okay ...
and I finally got a shot of a Chipping Sparrow not on a feeder.
Shots of a Ruby-crowned were okay but not really sharp.
Overall, the yard was very busy. Most of our regular visitors were around, plus we had two less common visitors. One was an Orange-crowned Warbler. He didn't get to stay long, though, because a Yellow-rumped chased him away.
Orange-crowned WarblerThe other was a Blue Jay. Not an unusual yardbird, I know, but one that has hardly ever appeared in our yards in the past six months. Unfortunately, this one was a long way from the car and always in deep shade.
These pictures may not be up to your standards, but if I took them, I would consider them prize-winning quality!
ReplyDeleteI've been looking for the Orange-crowned Warbler in my yard, but haven't seen one yet.
Thanks, Birdwoman, but this camera is capable of a lot more than I'm getting out of it. I'll improve, though.
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