I have a fascination with birds. One which I don’t delve into much because once I start going down a rabbit hole I don’t tend to stop. I do, however, love to watch them move and am fascinated by any photographs I can take of them 1. Yesterday was one such moment of fascination.
The weather had broken, giving us a lovely day in the low fifties in the Delaware Valley. I took the opportunity to get Bump out on a walk, and put my adapted Minolta lens on my G7 for the stroll. When we came across some birds who were foraging on the ground I parked Bump’s stroller and began to capture some photos. Many of the birds scattered, but one stood almost still as I brought it into focus. I captured about a half a dozen images 2 before moving on.
While I’m fascinated by birds, I’m not good at identifying many species. So it wasn’t until after I’d gotten a chance to check out the Merlin Bird ID app that I learned it was a Northern Mockingbird 3. My favorite photo of the mockingbird is below.
- And there is a cardinal in the area which has mocked me for about five years. I just cannot get a decent photo of him. ↩
- I would have done more, but I didn’t have my camera on burst mode. The bird was so still I didn’t want to spook it with any sudden movements. ↩
- I’m not surprised that I didn’t recognize the species. The only other experience I’ve had with it was when one used to dive-bomb me on my way to my church office. Apparently, mockingbirds like to defend their nests. ↩
Painfully Hopeful 