Monday, November 26, 2007

Birding in the rain...


...Makes for crappy photos.
I knew it was dumb. I knew that it was supposed to rain all day. But I had the morning alone, and before I began my chores at home, I went for a quick drive.
IMG_9017
Crappy photo of a red-shouldered hawk.


Common sense doesn't make for good birding sometimes. Now, don't get me wrong. I am not suggesting bungee-jumping to get a shot of eagles or anything. But even though it was raining,
a lot, I went walking. And I am glad I did:

IMG_9029
Super-crappy, but you can tell that's a pileated woodpecker. I have seen them flying away from me in woods and while driving, but I got lucky today by getting a picture! What got me to notice was the double knocking...like it was about to tell a joke.

Other birding excursions lately have included walking around in the dark at Armleder Park, where 2 short-eared owls have been reported. For two nights, I walked around and waited for the dusk sparrow chorus, watching the light fade until I couldn't see my car in the parking lot. It was raining then, too. The darker it got, the more likely that the owls would be out. And of course, the darker it got, the less likely I would be able to see any owls. Did I see any? Nope. Since short-eared owls are more diurnal than our resident owls, I thought I would get lucky. Oh, well.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think they turned out alright! Love the woodpecker shot!

Dave Dorsey said...

A bad day of birding is still better than a bad day at work. :)

Mary said...

Dave is right!

Your photos are good, anyway. I'd love to see a pileated woodpecker any day!

Anonymous said...

There is no such thing as a crappy picture of a pileated woodpecker or a red-shouldered hawk. Sometimes, the shots taken in bad weather are much more natural and interesting than the ones that look like paintings.

Keep'em coming!

dguzman said...

I love those pileateds!