Being Patient

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I am ambivalent about Ruby-crowned Kinglets. I love them because they're such beautiful little birds with big personalities. But I also find them frustrating because they are so hard to photograph: They seem to be in a state of perpetual motion hopping from branch to branch and twig to twig.

Now that a male Ruby-crowned is a frequent visitor to the feeders outside our living-room window, I have been hoping to get a really good photo showing him and his ruby-colored crest.

Of course, he hasn't made it easy for me.

For one thing, he often hovers under the suet feeder rather than perching on it.


Or he perches partly in the sun and partly in the shade.


Or he poses nicely but with his crest hidden.


However, everything came together on Tuesday and I finally got a couple of the shots I wanted.




I've always admired the photos of wildlife that you see in magazines and books. Now I'm beginning to appreciate how much patience must be involved in getting those kinds of pictures.