My bird-photographing efforts have been stymied by more than
just my lack of expensive equipment.
Because you have to see the birds before you can take pictures of
them. And lately, I just haven't been
seeing them.
Now, part of the problem is that I already have decent
pictures of the birds I commonly see in my yard. One only needs so many shots of sparrows,
juncos, chickadees, flickers and woodpeckers--at least in the environs of my
feeders and back yard trees. I even have
several really good captures of
"Big Yellowlegs" and "Little Yellowlegs"--the Coops
and Sharpies who predate at my feeders in fall and winter. So I don't see a whole lot out my kitchen
window anymore that sends me running for the camera.
But even when I go out on photographic "safari," I
just don't seem to spot much in the way of photogenic wildlife. This was particularly frustrating on our last
camping trip. Admittedly, I didn't hit
the trails as much as I might have had I been out by myself (my sister and her
husband were along). But when I did, I
saw...zilch. Nothing. Nada.
But, oh...I did HEAR them. I
heard flickers, and pileated woodpeckers, and gray jays and even the
penny-whistle "toots" of Northern Pygmy Owls--about which I was
totally stoked and totally bummed at the same time...because I knew they were
there and I couldn't SEE them.
On a stop into Finley Wildlife Refuge, I even heard a
conversation between two bobcats, which I assumed to be an adult and a
youngster, by the different timbre and attitude of the two voices. THAT was quite cool...and a little
hair-raising. But I sure would have liked to have seen them as well. No such luck.
So, back at the campground, I adopted a somewhat cheating
strategy. If you can't see them out in
their own habitat, get them to come to yours.
A seed block strategically placed on an unused picnic table seemed to do
the trick... Brought them right out into the open!
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