I went back and forth and back and forth on upgrading from my Canon PowerShot S410 with 3X optical zoom. The main thing I wanted was lots more zoom for taking bird and other nauture photos. The Canon PowerShot S410 also has a 10X digital zoom but at this magnification my pictures looked fuzzy. Should I get another point and shoot but with lots more zoom or should I upgrade to a DSLR with a telephoto lens?
Recently I posted about the Gray Catbird and their mimicking ability with a video from Cornell Lab of Ornithology comparing their sounds with the bird they’re mimicking. Apparently they mimic to attract a mate. Well let me tell you, my backyard is like a mall full of teenagers on a Friday night right now! Check out this video I took…
Doesn’t that sound crazy?! Except for some crows in the background that is all them! I think it sounds fascinating although I might feel differently if I was trying to sleeping in and that was going on outside my window!
Proud Parents (mama in front)
Back in March I posted about House Finches and how they were building a nest over our garage… Continue reading
Gray Catbird
Introducing the latest visitor to our backyard: the Gray Catbird. I think they are here to stay, for as while, as there are several of them and they seem to be busying nest building. They are thrashers like the Mocking bird and have brought along lots of interesting songs as well as their own unique cat like sound. As you can see they are mostly a dark-ish gray with a long beak and a black cap. They also have a patch of brown under their tail.
While pumping gas I heard a commotion above and looked up to discover a whole society of European starlings. There were about 10 I could see perched on the pipes and whipping in and out of girders where they have made their homes.
We are on spring vacation from school this week and the weather couldn’t be better! The kids went to the beach on Monday with their cousin (while I worked) and yesterday we we all took a field trip to the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary which has walking trails and some natural history exhibits.
We had a great time except for getting the heebie-jeebies Continue reading
