More Pics From Home

Been busy lately, and also the weather has been crap, so not too much time out with the scope.  Still have not left home with it.  I am hoping to work out the "sweet spot" of the setup, and also pretty up this blog site a bit when some free time comes my way - yeah right.

Junco on a rainy day.

From a sharpness point of view, I think this is my best image yet.

Female Northern Flicker in the rain.  Not the sharpest image but I still like it.

Male Northern Flicker.  Beautiful birds,

until they start drilling holes into your house.

This Week At Home

This week I sought advice and worked to improve the quality of the images using the usual local suspects.  Still have some things to try, but I believe things are improving. 

Soon I hope to take the rig out to other environs.

 Rufous Hummingbird.

 Rufous Hummingbird.

Anna's Hummingbird getting colorful.

Rufous Hummingbird showing off.

Stellar's Jay.

Western Kingbird.  Not a great photo, but the only time I have ever seen one at our house.

More Practice

Yesterday was not so windy, so I could get some practice in on the usual local suspects.  Getting better at focus, still have a ways to go.  Thank god for digital, you throw away MANY images to get a good one.

Acorn Woodpecker.

Acorn Woodpecker x 2.

Anna's Hummingbird (male).

Anna's Hummingbird (male).

House Finch.  Nice action, focus could be better.

House Finch

Second Day

Although it was very windy here today, the birds were out in force.  Managed a few decent shots and learned a bit too.  Hoping image quality will improve when the birds are not being blown all over the place - many were having bad hair days.

Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpecker

Anna's Hummingbird - Bad Hair Day

Allen's or Rufous Hummingbird - Can they even tell the difference?

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Good Ol' American Robin

Western Scrub Jay

Western Scrub Jay

Stellar's Jay

Here We Go

It was my birthday, so I splurged on a Kowa 883 spotting scope, and a Canon S95 point and shoot camera.  Scope arrived on Weds.  I picked up the camera on Thursday.  While I was charging the battery, I looked out the window and saw we had a visitor, a female Merlin (falcon), which I had never seen before at our house.  I stuck the battery in, and without consulting the directions, managed to get the camera attached to the scope and operational.  The Merlin was plenty patient and waited while I took a number of pictures through a horribly dirty window, then moved outside for a better view.  Much to my surprise, I managed what I thought was a pretty nice shot!