Birding 101

Ok, today I realised something. I must have played hookie for the first class of birding 101, so I'm making up the assignment.

Class 1 - GO TO WHERE THE BIRDS ARE.

I don't know how I missed that one. Duh. In any case, I found Where the Birds Are today, and now I understand a great many things about birding that I didn't understand yesterday. I had been just walking around listening and watching - but that wasn't getting me very far.


Some of these aren't great, but I left them in for a species account from Where the Birds Are - the chickadees and juncos sure liked to hide in partial shade, which made for terrible looking shade lines across their backs.

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/ph...ee%20small.jpg

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/ph...o1%20small.jpg

And I've been pulling my hair out trying to get close to a cardinal - but Where the Birds Are, there were two pair and a lone male fighting it out for territory. More than enough modeling action to go around.

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/ph...l%201small.jpg

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/ph...02%20small.jpg

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/ph...03%20small.jpg

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/ph...04%20small.jpg

Where the Birds Are, the females really like to pose.

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/ph...e%201small.jpg

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/ph...02%20small.jpg

and there are at least four species of sparrow Where the Birds Are.

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/ph...03%20small.jpg

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/ph...ow%20small.jpg

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/ph...02%20small.jpg

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/ph...ow%20small.jpg

And Where the Birds Are, there are birds that I can't even put a name on, and NO ONE can expose properly (ID?)

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/ph...rd%20small.jpg

and birds that are easy to ID, but hard to expose.

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/ph...rd%20small.jpg

And some that are easy to ID and easy to expose, and easy to find - all Where the Birds Are.

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/ph...se%20small.jpg

And lest you think that Where the Birds Are is very far from home, in some distant land or foriegn country, you need just look over your shoulder to see just how far you haven't come.

http://www.sushigaijin.com/images/ph...ne%20small.jpg

I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did!! oh yeah, and you DO get sunburned at Where the Birds Are, a nasty side-effect. Don't worry loupey, Where the Birds Are looks like a nice spot for bugs in the summer too...

You have some great shots here Erik, I love your focus on the female cardinal shots... spot on! The birds are usually where their food can be found (that's where I look first)... in thick nasty branches, lol.

LOL! Bug, birds, and coffee nearby - sounds like pure heaven :p

It's never too late to find a good spot. I'm glad that you found it! The kestrels, harriers, sparrows, and RW Blackbirds that I've been shooting lately are all from two fields not 5 miles from where I used to live for 16 years - and I just "found it" about 2 months ago :mad2:

Great looking images, Erik. Looking forward to see more from you from here.

Nice find on the fox sparrow and american tree sparrow! The other bird is a common grackle.