The Changing Seasons, January 2023 It hasn’t been a great month for photography. Without snow or flowers, this is as dull a time of year as the valley ever gets. I’m not sorry the snow has mostly been missing, except for… Read More ›
#Birds
feathered friends
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WOODPECKERS
Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers look very much alike. When you see one without seeing the other, it can be very difficult to know which one you are looking at. We get both types at the feeder. Yesterday, I got one… Read More ›
SKETCHBOOK: TWO BIRDS
Just to see if I could still do it, I draw a couple of birds: a nuthatch and a baby House Finch. It turns out I can still draw. My hand doesn’t appreciate it, but if I don’t press too… Read More ›
RETURN OF THE DOVES
Despite our carefully choosing feeders too small for doves or which require perching which doves find very difficult, they showed up en masse today. Not that they’ve ever been gone. They were gone from the feeders, not from the area…. Read More ›
BIRDS IN THE BUSH WITH SNOW
When it snows, you can see how many dozens of birds live in the forsythia hedge in the backyard. I couldn’t get sharp pictures. This was one of the times when the autofocus couldn’t figure out where to focus. Between… Read More ›
WINTER BIRDS IN RAIN & SNOW
When I got up and went out to feed the birds, it was pouring — and warm. Less than an hour later, the temperature dropped and a pretty heavy snow was falling. Tomorrow it’s supposed to snow and rain in… Read More ›
A FEW MORE BIRDS
We got a new 40-pound bag of birdseed, so I was able to fill the feeders this morning. They watch me and know when the feeders are full. If I take too long, they get restless and fly past me,… Read More ›
THE CROWD BY THE FEEDER
After all my gratitude at the lack of snow this winter, of course it snowed this morning. We only got a few inches — maybe three? But not far away, they got half a foot and the week’s not over… Read More ›
BLOGGING INSIGHTS: FIX OR BREAK?
Blogging Insights 3.0 — 1 “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” vs “Break the mold”: which of these do you believe, pertains to your blog? I think both things could be true, but neither currently is. I remember when… Read More ›
MID JANUARY BIRDS
The Carolina Wren is typically the earliest arriving “spring” bird. I almost never saw them, but I would hear their songs — louder than any bird so small should be able to sing — in early March. This year, it… Read More ›
WHEN NEWS WASN’T ALWAYS DEPRESSING
There was a time — and I can remember it — when reading, watching, or listening to news was not depressing. It could be upsetting. It was often exciting. Now, it’s usually depressing mixed with horrifying, demoralizing, and terrifying. Twice… Read More ›
FUN AND FEATHERS
CFFC: Feathers Birds of many feathers always flock together as long as there are seeds in the feeder, but some birds flock together because they love flocking.
WE HAVE STARLIGHT IN US BUT MAYBE NOT ENOUGH
My long birding lens is a 100-300mm whose lowest f stop is f-4. There is no faster lens this long. This IS the faster lens. The other was f-4.8. If you don’t take pictures and use lenses, you probably have… Read More ›
THE EYES HAVE IT
CFFC: Eyes
WHAT MORE CAN I DO?
Looking at the world we live in isn’t a warm and fuzzy experience lately. There is so much wrong and what is wrong has been going wrong for ages. It didn’t start (contrary to all opinions to the contrary) with… Read More ›
HEY WHAT’S HAPPENING?
My nemesis, Charter-Spectrum has decided we need to return the ancient dead modem we had. The only problem? The technician took it when he left. Why they want it is baffling. It’s more than a dozen years old and it… Read More ›
SERENDIPITY: SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 