Friday Bird Blogging: Watch This Space

I notice that South Knox Bubba doesn't have a bird pic up yet today. I'm hereby challenging myself to go out, nab a bird pic, and get it posted before bubba has his up.

It's good to have goals.

UPDATE: I should have known better than to doubt Bubba. He posted a beautiful picture at 9:13 AM. Still, I did manage to get some good exercise and interesting photos.

Here they are for your amusement.

I figured my best bet for getting some bird pics would be the "lake" in Prospect Park. When I arrived, I found that the majority of Prospect Lake was iced over, and most of the birds were gathered near the few remaining patches of unfrozen water. I was using Jessamy's small Sony digital, so my zoom capability was severely limited. Getting a good shot was going to be difficult. One of these days I'll have to get one of those fancy digital SLRs, but as Donald Rumsfeld might say, you go photo blogging with the camera you have, not with the camera you want.

Thank heaven, for little gulls...

There were easily 500 gulls congregating on the ice. Unfortunately, very few of the shots I took were clear enough to be interesting.  The shot above is a bit blurry as well, but I liked the looks of the cracks in the ice.

Here's something you don't see every day - swan's legs.  This particular swan was crossing from one open patch of water to another. It seemed to me that this move was precipitated by the arrival of several Canada Geese. The ducks apparently didn't want to be around the geese either, and they joined the swans in moving to goose-less territory. This is pure conjecture, but I've found geese to be very aggressive about defending "their" territory. Maybe the other birds figured it was easier to move than to try to get along. Either that, or they didn't appreciate the fowl language.

Here are the offending geese. I apologize for the poor focus, but I was constrained by the limitations of my mobility, the camera, and the fact it was so cold I could barely press the shutter. It also seemed to me that the shutter was slower than normal. I wonder if the temperature had an effect?

I was also on the lookout for songbirds and raptors, both of which are notoriously difficult to photograph. There were several rushy areas near the water that were ideal for smaller birds. I spotted a female downy woodpecker, but she was impossible to photograph. There was also a juvenile mourning dove nearby, but she took flight before I could get close enough for a good shot.

Finally, I snapped a picture of a robin. Can you find it in the picture below?

If you decide to brave the cold and visit Prospect Park this winter, the Brooklyn Bird Club has some nice birding tours on their website.

Comments

[skb]

Nice pics. That looks like a great place to get bird pics. Are there herons and egrets and big water birds like that up there in the summer?

P.S. On the DSLR, be warned: the cameras are the razors. The lenses are the blades. And they are expensive blades and you will be addicted and, sort of like a boat, you can never have one big enough.