The Birds of Guadalupe County-

 

More Guadalupe County Birds, March 2002 Click: Cardinals and Gold Finch

 

 

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Most of the birds in this picture is illuminated by sunshine making for better color both in the little finch and the background foliage.  I am in the process of creating pictures for a Web entitled "Birds of Guadalupe County.  While I suspect most of these pictures will not make my final cut, I am making them available to select contacts to show the product of the new Olympus camera.  The picture appearing above was taken during the last week of December, 2001.
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The following shots were taken with the Olympus C700 digital Camera the first week in February, 2002 at a time when birds and the feeders were in full shade but the background was very bright.  It required considerable editing with Photoshop to get acceptable pictures of the birds.  This made for graininess in the subject and a washed out background.  

All of these pictures with the exceptions of the titmouse picture and the last picture were shot with the entire 10 X optical Zoom and additional 2.7 X digital zoom engaged.   This makes a total of 27 X, the equivalent in 35mm terms of a 1000 mm lens.  The two exceptions used only the 10 X optical zoom, equivalent to 380 mm in 35 mm terms.

 
In its original form the bird subjects were quite dark with detail obscure.  Here extreme correction with Photoshop was necessary making this the grainiest of all.  Note the long curved toe claws well designed for grabbing onto a limb or just about anything.

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Note the bird on the left seems to be about to swallow a seed.  The one on the right had been eating, and the camera caught him/her open mouthed as the shutter snapped.
The bird center and bird right were caught with seeds between their beaks in the process of swallowing! 5

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The left bird stretches its neck to reach a seeds while the right bird prepares a seed for dinner.
In this picture we again get a pretty good view of the large curved toes 7

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Please, I beseech you, don't think for a moment that this little bitd is hurt.  I assure you that it is perfectly healthy, about to land on the perch just above its head.  With its motion stopped by the camera shutter it appears to be in free fall downward.

What bird is this?  I've called it a tit mouse, but now I am not sure.  Perhaps It is a Carolina Chickadee?  in any case it is a most nervous birds.  A  couple of pecks and it's off to the foliage overhead.  But it will be back again after a moment.    This picture was shot with only the 10 X optical Zoom.
I count bits and pieces of five birds here at the feeder.  Sometimes six or seven might be eating at the same time,  But that is a bit crowded and when that many are present one usually runs a couple off,  Sometimes there are 30 or more birds in the surrounding foliage  and ground. While female cardinals routinely land on the feeder roost or tray rim, the larger males generally choose to feed on the ground.  Note the bird on the lower right seems involved with with a rather large seed, possibly a sunflower seed.    9

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The last picture above was taken 12/27/01 through the double glass office window.  The two female cardinals are about 15 feet away from the camera which is an Olympus C-700 Ultra Zoom.  The 10X optical zoom is engaged making the lens the equivalent of.380 mm.  The top bird is in the sun while the lower one was in the shade.  I suppose the these lighting condition contributed to the dark feather color of the shaded bird.  

This picture was shot through the double glass window.  I was surprised it came out this clear.  All of the other pictures were shot through the open window.  The camera was hand held supported with my elbows resting on my desk.  I must get a suitable small tripod for use on top of the desk.

More Guadalupe County Birds Click: Cardinals & Goldfinch

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