Another Break in the Clouds

If you’ve followed this blog for long, you surely realize I spend most of my time birding at Theler Wetlands and Port Orchard, and, while I’ll have to admit to enjoying be spoiled by longer trips to Malheur, Bear River, and the Sacramento National Wildlife refuges, I still love walking these areas even if I see the same birds year after year. Tiring of them would be like tiring of the sun, which is not to say that I don’t realize many of these shots are redundant, and probably not as good as shots I’ve previously posted.

I’ll have to admit that I’m more tempted to Photoshop pictures of common birds than I am unique shots in an attempt to get readers to see them in a new light. Since I can’t emulate the Red-Wing Blackbirds’s

16Rdwng

song in prose, in made sense to me to contrast him with his drab background by manipulating the background.

This Golden-Crowned Sparrow

FramdGoldCrowned

didn’t need much to make him appear as close as he actually was.

It was easy to make this Great Blue Heron

16GBH

stand out from his background since he walked ridiculously close to me while stalking his prey, blurring the background on my telephoto lens.

I can’t say the same for this shot of a female Bufflehead

FmalBflheadLaunch

launching herself as I crossed the bridge. A grey bird taking off from a grey pond demanded dramatic intervention with textured backgrounds which will have to suffice until I can finish setting up my den to do encaustic. Strangely enough, this drab little shot became my favorite shot of the day.