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Charski · #31 07-01-2006, 05:34 PM

Oh PURTY, Teel! Thanks for posting those!

We get those goldfinches - actually two kinds, Lesser and American - but I've surely never seen an egret in my yard! LOL! Maybe I need a pond....

teelbee · #32 07-01-2006, 05:53 PM

Char, I live just about an hour north from you, so we share a lot of the same birds. There's hillside chapparal and some riparian forest behind us; as well as a big creek and marsh area just below, so we get quite a few shore birds as well as the forest birds.

Do you take your bird pictures with a digiscope? I have a heck of a time getting a good focus on the little birds.

Charski · #33 07-01-2006, 06:02 PM

Teel, we have lots of pines and oaks, but no nearby water really, although rarely we see the redwinged blackbirds who favor the marshy El Estero lake that's a couple miles from the house.

Some of those photos were taken with my little Olympus camera, but the better ones were taken with an 80-300 zoom lens on my Canon Digital Rebel SLR. We really love that camera. Most of the shots are hand-held, too; some, I steadied on our brick wall, and there may be one or two that were shot from a tripod, but I don't THINK I posted any of those. That camera is a real beauty and part of the reason we bought it is that I can use my old lenses from my previous Canon SLR. We did buy several new lenses though to take advantage of the through-the-lens metering and so forth.

We bought one of those (expensive) binocams but could never get it to focus properly, so returned it within the 30 day timeframe and got a refund, which we applied towards the (MORE expensive!) DSLR. Money well spent IMHO!

Char

teelbee · #34 07-01-2006, 06:20 PM

Here are some stellar jays that visit most days.

hdyhouse · #35 07-01-2006, 06:35 PM

Char, about 25 years ago we were going to Hawaii for the first time and I decided we needed to take a camera. I replaced my Kodak box camera with my first "real" camera, a 35mm Pentax. I bought a couple of zoom lenses and had a blast framing the picture I wanted with the zoom lens as I was taking pictures. I had several enlarged (sunsets, waterfalls, the Napili coast, etc") and framed for my office. They took up a whole wall in my office. I called it "The Wall of Peace and Tranquility". We are going back to Hawaii next month and I decided it was time to upgrade to the new technology to have something that was easier to carry and with which I could download pictures to my computer. (I am not adverse to new technology, as long as it enhances functionality. However, if the old technology still works fine, then I am hesitant to replace it just because it is old. Maybe that is why I have been married for over 38 years and also have a rotary dial phone at home.) For this trip, after consulting with my son, I bought a Fuji A350 5.2 MP with a 3X optical zoom. I also up-graded the memory to 512 MB. With my new HP media center PC, I think I have the necessary hardware. I am sure I will probably need to buy some software to tinker with the pictures, but I will cross that bridge when I get to it.

heykim · #36 07-01-2006, 07:32 PM

henry... certainly it wouldnt hurt to have pictures of HAWAII here, even WITHOUT the birds

Charski · #37 07-01-2006, 08:13 PM

Henry, can't wait to see some Hawaii pics soon! And of course it's a GREAT idea to take plenty of pics and become as familiar as possible with the new camera BEFORE you go - we'll all be happy to critique your work!

Most cameras come with some pretty decent photo-editing software, check and see what yours came with. Some websites like Shutterfly and Picturetrail offer limited editing capabilities too if you upload pix to their sites, and it's all free.

OK Kim, so where are YOUR pics, huh???

Char

heykim · #38 07-01-2006, 10:02 PM

heck char.. i usually have them plastered all over my journal *L*
wouldnt want to dup them eh? *L*

heykim · #39 07-01-2006, 10:10 PM

the best i can do..
the wild bird over YELLOWSTONE lake a couple weeks ago...
i cannot believe i got shots of it! *L*
i am the queen of BLUR!

Charski · #40 07-01-2006, 10:12 PM

AW-RIGHT!!!

Now what KIND of bird is it, hmmmm?

heykim · #41 07-01-2006, 11:10 PM

not to mention... the beauty of yellowstone lake.... simply gorgeous!

heykim · #42 07-01-2006, 11:13 PM

i believe it was a flippin eagle!
at least thats what it appeared to be to ME.. looked like all the eagles i saw in alaska...

and then it was gone..

could it be any prettier there? and people think that OLD FAITHFUL is the ONLY thing to see in yellowstone park...

Charski · #43 07-02-2006, 12:02 AM

Those are some amazing pics. What a beautiful spot. I've never been there - might have to put it on the "road trip" list!

We have some friends who moved to Montana a couple years back - and then some more moved up there and bought a bed & breakfast - so I'm thinkin' headin' up that way would be a GOOD plan, one of these fine days!

Char

QueenMama · #44 07-02-2006, 12:35 AM

We learned an interesting fact about spotting what kind of big birds are flying when we took a short cruise, the Vanishing Texas River Cruise on Lake Buchanan. We were told that you look at the wings. If they look kinda like and upside down U, they are water birds, like gulls. If they fly with their wings straight out, they are birds of prey, like eagles. If they fly with their wings out, but appear to teeter back and forth, they are carrion birds, like buzzards. If you take the cruise in November through January you are likely to see American Bald Eagles, which come to nest in this area every winter.

heykim · #45 07-22-2006, 03:24 AM

speakin of road trips char...
im on a uh... PLANE road trip... the inside passage of alaska...
here are a couple of chatty birds taken up valuable PARK BENCH space... i took this today..
seems they had alot to talk about tho... so i didnt disturb them *L*

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Yard Birds - got wild bird pics?