Bird Photo Experiment

Yep, photos of birds again.  In my defense, I was in the mood to post something cheerful and cute about the boys this afternoon. But let's just say that didn't happen, and it was not a particularly cheerful or cute afternoon for myself and one boy in particular who shall remain nameless.

So I will share some bird pics for all three of my (loved and appreciated and treasured) readers.

We have a bird blind set up near the feeder.  And I love to get out there and get really great, close-up shots like this:

That just knocks my socks off every time.  I love, love, love, the clarity and sharpness and detail. Love seeing their feet gripping things, their beaks open, their eyes, the patterns on their wings......

But anyway.  Even fun bird feeder photos get old after a while.  They all start to look the same.  What I really wanted was a more "natural" looking shot of a bird OFF the feeder.  Preferably on a branch rather than on the ground.  So I made this:

It's some dead logs from our brush pile, coated with peanut butter and sprinkled with seeds.  I set it up, took down the real feeder, and waited in the blind.

I was excited to get a shot of TWO chickadees in the same frame, both mostly in focus.  (That is so hard for me to do...get both birds in focus.)

And through the magic of photoshop I am able to zoom in and make the picture tighter and sharper.

Soon after they left, one returned for this shot.  Then they took off and Mr. Titmouse came to the log.  And he ruined everything.

He kept giving me the eye.  He finally reached for a seed and when he heard the shutter snap, he took off, sounding the alarm.

Nobody would come feed after that, and I gave up for the day.  I put the regular feeder back up and within seconds got this:

Mr. Fussy Pants got his way.

I'll get them next time!