Suave Seventeen

You know how some days it's pretty easy to get your shot?  Well, today was NOT one of those days - I had to really work at it, hunkered in the hide, waiting, waiting, waiting...  Even the cardinals weren't cooperating.  So, when a small charm of House Finches showed up, I was practically cheering.  They are easy birds to photograph - no sharp contrasts so the camera likes them.  Add an overcast day, and you are almost guaranteed of a few "keepers".  Now, that said, I would have preferred not to have those branches in the way.  But I'm just not in the mood to faff today. Besides, while I don't like the branches, I do like the big old sunflower seed he has in his beak.

So, species # 17 is the common House Finch, a gregarious little bird that moves around within its range.  It is found in most of the continental US and Mexico.  Since they do move around a lot, I don't always have them in the yard; probably on average 4 or 5 days out of 7.   I'll post the female when I get around to it since she looks very drab in comparison to the brightly hued male.

Hubs and I ran some errands today (a day off for him) and went out for lunch together (after the gym).  Temps hovering in the high 30's so not much snow melt today.  It's really quite messy out there.

Tomorrow I will be gone from around 6:30 in the morning until 9:30 or so at night.  I'm taking a road trip with two birder friends down to the NJ shore in search of Harlequin Ducks, purple sandpipers, Eiders, long-tailed ducks and short-eared owls.  And along the way, I know we'll see loads of other birds since part of our day will be led by another friend who is a long-time Audubon Naturalist.  I enjoy going out with birders because I always learn so many things.  The flip side is that, as a photographer, I'd always like to spend far longer photographing the subjects whereas birders tend to want to get on to the next bird.  But since I know that I'll need to take my shots quickly, I'll set my expectations accordingly.  What is fairly certain is that I will not be posting my Saturday blip until Sunday morning as a back-blip.  

Stay tuned to this space...and have a fab weekend!

xo
Debbi