Friday, April 25, 2008

Here We Go Again

Yesterday I spent some time photographing my backyard beauties - again! I never tire of it.Robins are hard for me for some reason - this one actually came out with some feather detail.

And this is my perfect little model - here in the "bird tree..."

And this one in the rododendron...

The little house finch sat for an unusually long time while I clicked away........

Then she turned the other way, and I saw why she was so still; she has a pretty severe-looking case of house finch eye disease in her left eye. She's a sick little bird - so sad.

We went out to Shenandoah Nat Park in the afternoon - still not much avian activity out there. We did get our obligatory towhees, and had a wonderful walk in the mountains and dinner at the lodge. A great trip, but will be even greater when the warblers get there!

9 comments:

Stacey Olson said...

Helen They are just beautiful, and I never tire of them either. So sorry to hear of another with house finch eye disease. I have been watching for it here, but as of yet haven't seen any.. thanks for sharing( I photographed a loggerhead shrike last night. I was so happy, and I EVEN identified it correctly, I'm usually not good with LBB(little brown birds)) thanks

Sandpiper (Lin) said...

I'm glad you never tire of taking pictures of them because your pictures are always wonderful. That does look like a bad case of the finch disease. Poor little bird. So far, mine are all okay. Great picture of the towhee. I don't see them that often here anymore.

Mike said...

Your backyard seems to be in an ideal location, with great back gorunds and beautiful subjects.

The Birdlady said...

Stacey - as always, thanks. I've never seen a shrike...I might be afraid to photograph one - it might impale me on my tripod! lol

Barb - All the towhees in the world must be out in Shenandoah...You'll just have to come back down..

Lin - I feel so bad for the sick birds - I was feeling relieved; no sightings of HFED in over 2 weeks.

Mike - it's a great location - never boring, always changing. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

I just found your blog from Abraham Lincoln's place. What a wonderful site you have. The birds are all so crisp and clear. Very impressive! I couldn't tell your location and I was interested because some of the little birds looked familiar.

kjpweb said...

Gorgeous images, Helen. Your backyard is a goldmine!
Cheers, Klaus

Jotter Jan said...

Great bird photos!!! I'm envious of your lovely pink Dogwood to photograph birds in!!! Loved the elusive Towhee...it's hard to get a shot of that shy bird.

The Birdlady said...

burningbunny - Thank you - glad you came by. I'm in Virginia - just outside Washington DC

Klaus - Thank you. Your work is so stunning, I'm really flattered that you like mine.

JJ - I LOVE that tree! And it's in the perfect spot for me to use it as my "studio"
Re the towhee - you'll have to come up to Shenandoah - We always say it should be renamed Towhee National Park! lol

joyh82 said...

You talk awesome pictures! Beautiful birds in your yard too.