Month: July 2010

I’ve been trying to capture a good, or at least a decent, shot of a flycatcher the last three times I’ve gone to Theler Wetlands. But, as sometimes happens, I’ve only managed to see it when it’s overcast or at a considerable distance.

Wednesday I decided to hang around until I could finally capture a good shot of it. And I did manage to catch sight of it again, but, once again, it was during an overcast period and I’m still not happy enough with the picture to post it yet. I’ll get a better picture.

Meanwhile, I found the place I waited a rather “birdy” spot. For instance, I was quite pleased to get a picture of this Downy Woodpecker,

though I was surprised to see it clinging to a metal fence pole. Apparently it was merely using the post to land as it quickly jumped onto the nearby thistle and proceeded to feed on something, either bugs or the thistle itself (reminder to self, find out what Downies do feed on [galls they say, though I’m not quite sure what a gall consists of] ).

I had a very similar experience while waiting for the Virginia Rail to reappear, which it never did. Suddenly this juvenile Red-Breasted Sapsucker landed on the tree right in front of me, so close that my 500mm lens wouldn’t focus until it retreated to the far side of the tree and peered out at me, apparently as curious as I was.

As a confirmed walker, I’ve probably convinced myself that I see more birds by walking than by standing in one place waiting for birds to appear. Obviously that’s not always true. There must be some truth in that saying, “Good Things Come to Those Who Wait.”

I decided to take a Wednesday trip to Theler Wetlands Wednesday with rain in the forecast for Thursday. As it turned out, it was exactly the kind of weather I should have expected before a wet front moved in.

It started out bright and sunshiny, accentuated by this little Goldfinch that greeted me at the pond:

Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for clouds to move in, and by the time I got to the river it was rather overcast. I was greeted by not one, but two Belted Kingfishers, though I didn’t actually “see” the second one until today while sitting in front of my computer:

Unfortunately, by the time a fellow walker spotted this Virginia Rail, it was quite overcast and most of the pictures were underexposed because I had the shutter set on high speed to try to capture shots of the Kingfishers flying up and down the river.

Judging from past experience, though, I’m actually more apt to see the rail when it’s cloudy than when it’s sunny, frustrating though that may be.

I’m not generally fond of “butt” shots, but I was definitely intrigued by the pattern of this bird’s tail feathers.

I have a few more shots from the day that I like, but I think I’ll save them for tomorrow.