thanks sailorsmom

Ron

Day # 9 - Date : Sunday, October 22, 2017

This is the bird that I intended to use yesterday before the Cardinal made his unannounced arrival. This is usually the last Sparrow that is a migrant to leave my area. In fact, it appears today that I only have one, possibly two left at my feeding stations. But I also appear to have one Song Sparrow still hanging on, which is a bit of a surprise. But maybe not that much of a surprise as I had a White-throated spend all of last winter with us. So, anything is possible. Once these two Sparrows leave I won't see another one til next spring, unless we get any of the American Tree Sparrows to stop by during their late migration. Sometimes thats a yes, sometimes a no. I had at least 2 families of Chippers in my yard this year (they do breed here) but both these birds are adults. The juveniles do not have all the colors the adults have even at this late time of the year. My families appeared to have raised at least 4 or 5 young which is a pretty good sign. The first two pics were from today just before the rain moved in, the third was taken yesterday when I had much better light.
Hope you enjoy my pics.

LittleRed (Ron)

Canon T6i, Canon 300mm prime, 1/2000, f4, auto ISO @ 160, dist 30'


Canon T6i, Canon 300mm prime, 1/2000, f4.5, auto ISO @ 200, dist 30'


Canon T6i, Canon 300mm prime, 1/200, f5.6, auto ISO @ 200, dist 25'

Day # 8 - Date : Saturday, October 21, 2017

This bird was an unplanned addition to this series. I intended on getting some pics of a Chipping Sparrow for today but this fine fella showed up unannounced. My wife was cleaning up some of her flower garden when she spied this gentleman hiding up in the spruce trees. She called to me its location and since I was already sitting on my deck with my bad leg up and my camera beside me I was able to get a copla quick shots off before he moved on. These birds are not one of my regulars, but not total strangers either. In fact we had a pair with us for most of the month of June this year. But this type of bird is fairly uncommon in our area. We live north of the usual range of the Cardinal being mid-Michigan. In fact up to about 5 years ago one never saw one in our area. But like a lot of other birds due to the changing climate they have been slowly moving north. But that is not disappointing to us northern birders. So, instead of a lowly Sparrow I give you one of the most striking birds around. If possible I will get a few pics for youse of the Chipper after church tomorrow.

LittleRed (Ron)

Canon T6i, Canon 300mm prime, 1/1000, f4.5, auto ISO @ 640

Thanks one shot for the hint on how to get rid of the remains of the wire in my picture. In order to keep some of the larger birds such as Pigeons and Grackles from getting all the seed I cage some of my feeding stations so that only the smaller birds can get in. By doing so I also make it difficult to get a clean shot. As for your suggestion I guess all I can say is I "would if I could". However the PP program (editor) I use is not capable of doing anything that fancy. The program I currently use is one I obtained free with one of my first digital camera (Olympus 3mp) which only allows you to do very minor corrections such as crop and sharpen. So I believe that what you have advised me to do is not possible at this time. Regardless, thanks for the advice and also for looking at my pics, tis appreciated.

Ron

Thanks Jerry for the kind words. Always a treat to hear from you.

Ron

Thanks Leicaflex for the thumbs up, is appreciated.

Ron

Thanks Corky for looking in at my pics, tis appreciated.

Ron

Thanks for the kind words, appreciated.

Ron

Day # 7 - Date : Friday, October 20, 2017

Tis one of my most favourite yard birds, this sweet singing little brown bird. Am down to only 2 hanger-ons right now, that from a high of about 8 this summer of both adults and fledglings. Shortly they will also be turning themselves south and departing for the warmer temps. They are one of the first sparrows to arrive in the spring and one of the last to leave in the fall. It is a real treat to the ears to sit on the deck in early summer and listen to these fellas fill the air with their beautiful songs. I know youse down south have your Mockingbirds and Thrashers to produce natures music but up north where I live we only basically have this one. Once in a while we get a Brown Thrasher but not too often, so we tend to depend on the Song Sparrow for his magical voice. This may be changing in the future as your singers are gradually moving north due to the changes in the weather patterns. The Mockingbirds are being seen in mid Michigan and just this year a Thrasher took up residence at Whitefish Point Bird Observatory on the south shore of Lake Superior. Quite a few of the southern birds have been moving northerly as the world warms up. (heck, we even had an CaraCara (known as a Mexican Eagle) spend most of the summer in the area). Like Dylan said in his song, "The Times Are A-Changing"!!!
Hope you enjoy me pics as much as I did taking them.

Ron

PS - I realize the last pic has been pushed a mite, but what the heck, it ain't that bad :-)

T6i, Canon 300mm, 1/1000, f4, auto ISO @ 125


T6i, Canon 300mm, 1/1000, f4, auto ISO @ 160


T6i, Canon 300mm, 1/1000, f4, auto ISO @ 160


T6i, Canon 300mm, 1/1000, f4.5, auto ISO @ 1250

Thanks kpmac for looking in, tis appreciated.

Ron

Thanks Bultaco for the kind comment on my pics. The lens I have is the G2 model. It is quite a good lens, but I am finding it to be a bit heavy for hand holding for this old man. But the pics seem to come out quite sharp (even though is does show a bit of softness at the 600mm max, which can be easily corrected in PP). Even though it has a greater reach it still doesn't have the sharpness I get from my 300mm prime. But, it is a very good lens and I would recommend it to any one looking for a reasonably priced tele.

Ron

Thanks Jerry for the kind words, appreciated.

Ron

Thanks Isa for looking in, tis appreciated.

Ron

Leicaflex for the thumbs up, they are appreciated.

Ron

Thanks for looking in dmc, tis appreciated. The trick to have them pose for you is to overload the feeding station making some of the birds sit and wait their turn. Thats when you can catch a few pretty good shots.
As for flash, I never use it. I prefer to catch the birds in their natural state i.e. color etc. I find a flash sometimes causes a color change which I don't really want. Means that I probably will miss a few shots (probably some good ones too) but I prefer that method. So far it has worked out quite well for me

Ron