BirdingGirl

Armed with my new Dynex tripod I made a special trip to Four Ponds over Thanksgiving to try and get some decent Bufflehead pictures once and for all. My mom and Steve joined me. We left poor Marsy (our black lab) at home since we didn't want her to scare the birds away. Even with all of these things in my favor--tripod, no dog, known Buffleheads on a small pond-- I still cannot get a decent picture. We went directly to the pond that borders County Rd. since we saw the ducks there on our way to the Barlow's Landing Rd. parking lot. I quietly moved ahead and crouched down to set up my tripod. I went with the 60" lightweight one since I thought it would be best for carrying while birding. I figured I could easily kneel down and still aim the camera up whatever bird I was trying to get. Well, that's easier said than done when you're trying to shoot ducks in a pond surrounded by bushes. That, and the fact that they're easily spooked. Wonder why.... I was able to fin...

I continue to get great tips from my friend Chris Walsh. He said he spotted 8 common Eiders at the Spit in Mashpee a few weeks ago (in addition to the Short Eared Owl he and his wife Chelsea's dog Jackson flushed out), and he also shared a story of a hawk sighting near the bird feeder in his yard. Here is his story unedited: I woke up last week to the sound of a vocal bird outside my window. Most of the time, even while half-asleep, I'm continually monitoring the common bird sounds I hear, but this call got me out of bed because it was a loud scream and because I had no idea what it could be. This immature Cooper's Hawk sat outside long enough for me to snap a few pictures through the bathroom window. I think this one turned out the best. I was thankful to get the opportunity to take a long and studied look at the bird. It's a resident of the neighborhood that I've glimpsed several times over the past couple of months. It flew through the yard again today, presumabl...