Snowy Weekend

Rainy Day on the Lake

It's been drizzly into showers and back and forth. A day off is still a day off and not to be wasted. Besides, rainy days have their own special look and feel.

















Even the regulars look a little different.

Titmouse in Flight

I particularly enjoy working these birds in flight photos and I'm tooling up for quality and consistency. A solid tripod and head came in this week and now I'm looking into controlling the camera via my laptop. Gotta love the toys!

Heaven Bound

Cold and windy today.
Promises of warmth and sun tomorrow.
I worked through the window.

I worked hard with birds today. Used my better lens, even if it's not quite as long. It's faster and the extra light helped me focus. Very rewarding as I refine existing birds and pick up new species. Cardinal, Nuthatch, and a very cool Woodpecker making appearances in the coming week.

Adobe products are awesome. I am studying and practicing and having a terribly huge amount of fun.

Oh, the new look? Ya, I've wished for a blackened background for some time but simply didn't have the nerve. I think I like it.

By now, we are quite familiar with the Tufted Titmouse. They really are little angels around here, very sweet and friendly. More on them as I continue work with flight and motion.

Repeat Performance

Yesterday I mentioned the feeding behavior of the Titmouse. Today we can see him intent on pecking the meat out of his aptly held sunflower seed.

Best wishes to all for a Very Merry Christmas!

Tufted Titmouse

The Tufted Titmouse, Parus bicolor, is a year round regular here. Although not so bold as the chickadees, these birds will stay close as I fill the feeders, ready to swoop in as soon as I back off a few feet.

The Titmouse is a sociable bird, banding up with chickadees, nuthatches, and downy woodpeckers. The whole gang usually feeds together here, sometimes with cardinals and doves joining in.

Prior to 1940, the titmouse was found only as far north as New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Nowadays they can be found as far north as Maine. Explanations for their expansion range from global warming, abandoned farms turning to forests, and increased winter bird feeding.

The original Nuncketest mission was limited to flora but I'm learning that the ecological picture encompasses the fauna as well. It will be cool to tie the local plants as food sources for the furred and feathered. Besides, all this snow is making it tough collecting specimens and my birds are flying right up to my windows. Go with the flow!

The Titmouse has a consistent behavior of picking out one sunflower seed from the feeder and flying up into the branches of the crabapple tree. It places the seed between its feet and pecks it open for the meat inside. Then it's right back for another, and another.