Swoop and grab

It took weeks, but the blue jays have finally discovered the peanut feeder. What appears to be a family of three has been visiting.

It's been hard to get pictures of them, though. They seem to be masters of the "swoop and grab" move. Finally I had my camera on the tripod when one landed in the burning bush and worked his way over to the feeder.

"Wow, look at all those peanuts! I really could use a snack."

"Okay, almost there. Boy, is my tummy rumbling for a peanut!"

Swoop... grab... "Bye bye!"

Now instead of waking up to the loud but melodious song of the house wren, we hear the raucous "jay jay jay" call in our backyard.

Oh well, can't win 'em all. :)

Almost Independent

I spent some time watching our resident house wren feed its baby last week.

Look closely. You can just barely see that open mouth inside the house.

The baby was getting brave, poking its head out into the world.

The next day... gone! Independence!

Canon 7D Mark II with a Canon 75-300mm zoom lens. All at 300 mm on a tripod. Cropped and auto-corrected.

Independence Day

Independence is scary!

This recently fledged young robin got onto our front porch railing and was afraid to move. I walk past it several times, carefully, and put up the sign so the girls wouldn't scare it when they came home from school.

The next day it was gone. Bye bye, birdie!

Scanned from the prehistoric times before digital cameras. Taken with my old Nikkormat FT-2 with Nikon 55mm lens.