I’m really not sure why I didn’t get a post together yesterday. No good excuse really. For whatever reason, I’ve woke up motivated to work on my blog this rainy day.

Since I purchased a new bridge camera right before our vacation, I have been trying to practice with it during the week.  Still have a long ways to go before I master our new camera.

I’ll be linking this post up to Five on Friday, hosted by the F.A.S.T. blog.  Also, since I have some bird photos, once again, I’ll be linking to I’d Rather B Birdin’ again.

ONE: The Birds

One of the main reasons I purchased this camera was my frustration with the zoom on my old camera.  Now, I can take a bit better photos of those birds I love to watch.

There’s a story behind this photo of a Carolina Wren.  Shouldn’t there be a story behind every photo though?

I was looking out our backdoor and noticed a hummingbird chasing a small group of birds. I grabbed my camera and ran. Too slow.  The show was over by the time I got out there. However, I did hear the wren where he’d taken refuge in the front yard and managed to capture his photo before getting the bird equivalent of the one-fingered salute: Birds can be so uncooperative sometimes!

Even the sparrows are in on the whole “I’m not going to pose for your picture, crazy camera lady!” thing:

TWO: Butterflies and Moths

This little guy was on the side of the garage one day when we arrived home from an outing.

Later to my delight, two Tiger Swallow Tail Butterflies were flitting about right by the front porch when I walked out there to pet our little cat. Beautiful butterflies that fly constantly near the tip tops of our trees.

One landed on one of our Boxwood bushes!  So I hurried inside for the camera… Apparently, there is a conspiracy against the crazy camera lady between the butterfly and birds as he wouldn’t open his beautiful wings until he flitted away much too swiftly and high in the sky for a decent photo.

THREE: Evening Walk

My youngest son and I went for an evening walk around the block and I, of course, brought my camera. 

Four: Sunset Practice

I actually have a sunset photo I took on my phone last Friday night that I prefer to this.  I was lamenting to my husband that the best sunrise/sunset views around here always seem to be from the highway. Not an ideal or safe location for a photo!

This one is from our walk around the block:

Five: My Very First Attempt At A Sun flare!

I honestly didn’t even know this was a thing until a few months ago.  Still need lots of practice with this and quite possibly a camera with capabilities beyond my bridge camera.  ******

Are you a photographer?  Any advice? I’d be especially interested in how to gain the cooperation of the birds and butterflies!

Last Sunday morning, I awoke to the call of “pretty bird, pretty bird, pretty bird!”  At least that’s what it sounded like to me as the local cardinal sang.  It seemed very loud but then, my morning person husband had left the back door open.

This fellow usually hangs out quite high in the trees making a photo of him let alone a decent photo of him with my current camera just about impossible.  I got lucky though!  Most my attempted shots look more like this:  He really is a pretty bird though isn’t he?  While sometimes, I’ll spot him & his lady friend in the front yard, they mostly stick to the backyard.  I did capture (on film) another neighborhood couple in the front yard though:  These doves nest in a nearby yard.

I also spotted the following camera elusive birds (well, not the grackles or robins) in or near or front yard this week:

• The tiny titmouse family making lots of noise to steer away a nosy grackle.
• More grackles including a family teaching their younger bird and feeding it.  (I can’t decide if my grackles are neighborhood guardians or a neighborhood gang)
• The robin debating a nest in our maple tree
• A flash of something small and yellow which may have been a goldfinch
• A Chimney swift finally flowing low enough for me to use my bird app and id it
• A turkey vulture soaring high and making shadows on the ground
• A couple of pigeons (not on our street) as I was driving home from work one day

They aren’t always in our backyard and usually much like the singing cardinal, they like to hang out high in our trees but earlier this week I heard their somewhat (to me) bizarre and prehistoric sounding calls.  Since they were low enough in the trees, I grabbed my camera.

The woodpeckers were working hard on this day!

First I spotted a pair of downy woodpeckers, who were not in the mood to be chased by the people paparazzi so these blurry blobs were the best I could get of them: The red-bellied woodpecker proved to be a bit more of a cooperative subject:   Finally, this Northern flicker was the most cooperative bird of all. I used to see these woodpeckers a bit more often after rainy days but haven’t in some time:

Also spotted in our backyard but not photographed:

• An English sparrow chattering at me before flying off to a different backyard
• A nuthatch happily hanging out in a tree without a titmouse family chasing him
• The pesky bluejay who simply refuses to be captured on camera
• The robins and grackles who run the neighborhood

Once again, I’m joining in with the weekly link-up over at I’d Rather B Birdin’ and since I missed Five on Friday yesterday, I’m letting this post do double duty and joining in that link-up hosted by the F.A.S.T. blog as well.

What birds did you notice this week?