For the Birds

I've never been much of a bird watcher but I do enjoy the challenge of photographing birds. Capturing birds from a distance as they fly past on their way to the horizon is relatively easy but getting a good close-up shot or a picture of a bird in action is a little more challenging than just pointing the camera and triggering the shutter, at least for me. Birds tend to flit about unpredictably, especially if some fool with a camera gets too close, and they don't much like people, animals, or other birds. Other than that it's pretty simple. 

In Panama there were birds everywhere. It was pretty easy to get bird pictures because of the sheer numbers. However, getting good bird pictures can be the tricky part. Now, these guys up top were easy. Babies hummingbirds about the size of english peas are easy and they don't move fast. Angry mama hummingbirds, on the other hand, move at the speed of light. Much too fast to catch a picture of one attacking the photographer. 

On the opposite end of the size spectrum were pelicans. These are very stately birds that don't fly so much as cruise. Mere flying seems a bit undignified for such a bird. 

I took a couple of quick photos of this bird when I realized there was no bird. Looking back through the photos I discovered I'd gotten this shot just as the bird was taking off from the banana tree it was sitting in. At that moment, my desire to pull in the perfect bird photo was born. To date it's still a desire. 

Every morning this little fellow would dutifully light upon his perch and herald the arrival of the sun over the Pacific Ocean...

and within moments this group would start forming up and begin flying out in wave after wave. I began calling them "The Coffee Klatch." No idea why, it just popped into my head and wouldn't leave. 

Closer to home I've noticed that Arkansas has an abundance of robins. This one liked to hang out on the roof glaring at all the other robins and acting bad. 

At least until the day a mockingbird ran him off. 

Now this looks like a fight ready to happen. It's fake, though. I used two photos of the same bird and used Photoshop to put them on the same fence with one looking smug and the other looking miffed. Cool effect, although I probably shouldn't make fun of robins. They do have a tough go of it.

Like this poor fellow. Up too late, carousing in the bars and associating with loose company, he staggers home to whatever awaits the good-time-charlies of this world. 

You can find more of my bird photos here. 

Stay tuned and keep those cards and letters coming.