Learning the ropes

First of all, thank you for all the love on my 4000th blip yesterday!  A little unexpected, but deeply appreciated.

I was hoping to get a shot of the male cardinal feeding one of the youngsters today but it looks like they are becoming fairly independent now. This one (a fledgling female) was working her way up the branch to where a feeder hung.  She was tentative and awkward but eventually made it ... only to be booted off her perch by a blue jay.  I really like this shot because I don't think I've ever seen the underwing of a young cardinal.

I have been forcing myself to use my monopod since I got back from Texas and I admit that it is helping me to get sharper images.  There's a bit of a learning curve, of course, but I find the mono to be easier than a tripod.  It's more maneuverable and I can still be pretty nimble with it.  I took this shot on it, sitting in my hide on the deck.  Then I put the macro kit on it and stalked some insects in the garden.  I narrowly missed getting a shot of one of the illusive foxes - it was too fast to melt into the woods, alas.

Jax has been very mellow today and was content to lay on his bed on the deck while I stalked insects in the garden or sat in my hide.  The only challenge came when a chipmunk ran across the deck and Jax's prey drive kicked in.  Luckily the chippie was much faster and had a survival instinct that trumped Jax's prey instinct. I know he's eventually going to catch something and I dread it.  He's very hit or miss when it comes to the "drop it" command.  Well, we'll see.

I haven't ventured into the chocolate yet but I'm kind of thinking something dark with mint...

xo
Debbi