Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Good Day Sunshine & other Musings

The first two pictures are to show you the glorious sunshine I get in my back yard every morning between 7-7:30am. I use this time to look out the window with my camera as my son gets ready for school. The glorious light guarantees a sharp picture which is a welcome contrast to last month when most of my backyard stayed somewhat cloudy all day. I am savoring while I can because we will be setting the clock an hour ahead this weekend and when the sunshine hits my yard this perfectly each morning, I will be at work. Sigh, I guess I will have to wait another month or so for the days to continue to get longer to take advantage of it.
The picture below was at about 6:00pm this evening. I was in the Target parking lot when suddenly I could see a lot of bird activity up in the trees. I watched them for a while and decided they had to be starlings given the size of the flock. I got out of my car to enter the store when suddenly I could hear the sound of robins coming from the sky. I looked up and watched them join the flock. I went over to the trees as much as I could and found out they were all robins!!! This is only one tree that you see. There were two other trees as packed as this. My guess is there were approx. 200 robins in the Target parking lot! Perhaps they are some of the migrants moving north? I go to this Target store every Wednesday and have never seen them before. It was very interesting.

I saw a glimpse of one of the falcons today which was a huge relief. I had not seen them since last Thursday and I was getting very concerned given the last snow fall we had. Every time I went outside I would go to all of their favorite places and not see them. I would pass by the security guards, the parking lot attendants, etc and they would all nod their heads no and hunch their shoulders when I looked at them with inquisitive eyes. They too were concerned because I was concerned. :oP. I know one should never get too attached to wild life but I can't help it with this pair. They are so special to me that I think of them often and hope they are doing okay. What I think may be going on is they are in the middle of building their nest and are not around as much. I am hoping I can get some photos tomorrow as the maintenance man told me I could go on the floor where they perch for some up close photos.

Finally, I have an admission to make........I am addicted to my camera. I love the sound it makes when I turn it on the the slight buzzing noise I hear when I zoom and unzoom my lens. I have not had much of an opportunity for photo taking the past couple of days and it has made me cranky. Birding is my addiction, but the camera is my method of delivery. Kind of like a shot of scotch for the drinker and a cigarette for the smoker. I can be totally stressed out and all I have to do is find something to photograph and all of the stress melts away as I place all of my focus on the perfect picture. I get a slight spiritual buzz from it that is hard to explain. I will be quitting smoking on April 1st so am anticipating I will be substituting that addiction to my camera addiction even more. Woo Hoo for migrating birds and flowers that should start appearing around that time. More things for me to photograph! ;o)


22 comments:

Shelley said...

I love how that titmouse and finch are bathed in the sunlight in your first photo - beautiful!! And how about all those Robins you saw?? I think they're headed my way.... LOL!

Anonymous said...

Love your pics tonight and I can't get over all those robins! Our city is getting a new Target that will open Sunday. You think those robins are headed here????? ha

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Great pictures, Kim... I know what you mean about the sun.. It has to be in the perfect place in order to get the best pictures of our birdies.

You can be addicted to your camera--and guess what????? You won't gain weight or hurt your health!!!! Congrats on being willing to quit smoking. That is a very good thing!!! Proud of you.
Hugs,
Betsy

Kelly said...

...cute titmouse and finch...morning sun is always so nice! 200 robins must have been a sight to see. There is definitely a lot of robin action at my house, but I've never seen a flock that large. Good luck on quitting. If anything can help you, the birds and your camera can, you camera addict, you! :-)

Anonymous said...

With cigarettes being so expensive, as I've heard (non-smoker), you can buy more bird food and make even more birds happy :) What kind of camera do you have?

Kim said...

Shelley, love your new photo!! I bet the robins are headed your way I can just feel it.

Mildred, I bet quite a few will make it to your Target too. Especially if there are crab apple trees. HA!

Yup Betsy, that's the way I look at it to. The camera gadgets help keep my hands busy too and when you quit smoking you need to do someting with your hands. Was thinking of taking up knitting too but not as patient as Ruthie. ;o)

Kelly, right the minute I posted my post I went to comment on your blog and was so happy to see a robin post. I do thing these are the spring migrating robins, seriously I do.

Cam, the biggest reason why I am quitting is the cost. I want to have more of my money, not throw it away for my own early death. It is a FujiFilm Finepix S2000HD. Kind of kicking myself now for not buying a Cannon as they have lenses that are easier to find than for Fuji. It takes pretty good photos so it will do for now.

Marvin said...

Great use of light in your photos. I prefer evening light, but that's because I'm a night owl and always sleep through the great morning sunlight.

We have robins all winter, but I have seen groups from farther south migrating through during the past week. I will sent them your direction. :-)

Leedra said...

Love that sunshine, hope it is in East Tennessee on Thursday. I plan a day of photographing.

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Helen said...

Your pictures are great, You sure are going to miss that sunshine for a while but it won't last to long then you can start back to you window watching. I hope your falcons show up soon. That sure was a lot of Robins. Helen

Chris said...

Hi,
A very nice post indeed with nice pictures... And it looks like the robins are almost ready to move somewhere, gathering for their big trip... A bit like the snow bunting here... Spring is coming!!!
You got a very good light from your windows!

Kim said...

Hi Marvin! I follow you on Twitter so thank you for your visit. Thank you for sending the robins my way. It made the dreaded chore of shopping more bearable. ;o)

Leedra, I hope you get some of that sunshine today for your photos. It is amazing how much better pictures come out in the sun.

Madco, I am guessing I will get that sunshine back in the morning in a month or so. I am going to stalk the falcons today in between projects at work. I want full bodied closeups this week so bad! HA

Chris, I never thought of that. Perhaps those were robins headed up north and used the parking lot as a place to roost for the night. It was crazy because more and more of them would just keep coming. Lovely to see.

Jayne said...

WOW! I've never seen a flock of Robins like that! A camera addiction is pretty healthy. ;c)

ShySongbird said...

Hi Kallen,

What an interesting post. I see you put your clocks forward a lot earlier there, we change ours at the end of this month.

I was amazed to see the flock of Robins it must be lovely to witness. The European Robin is a very solitary bird so we do not see that happen here.

I think the camera can be addictive, as can blogging! Good luck with giving up smoking, you never know it may help your allergies.

All good wishes from the UK.

troutbirder said...

Kallen - You've got attitude. And its contagious. I love it. The sun is up, its clear and I'm gonna go get my camera.

Unknown said...

Less than a month ago, you had a post describing how frustrated you were about spending a weekend that provided no good sightings.
This week you are in a Target parking lot and come across robins.
It's funny how things work sometimes.

Good luck with the quitting. The Nicorette Lozenges have helped me.

Mary said...

Great shots! Love all the nests in the tree and strangly enough I posted a similar photo, but they are bigger nests. I too, am addicted to my camera and find it relieves stress to go take photos of something...anything!

Rich said...

Clocks change this weekend - I forgot.
Quitting smoking is the way to go. My sisters smoked and quit. They feel so much better since quitting.

Addicted to cameras - the same could probably be said of me.

Anonymous said...

I'm with you Kim, if I go out and don't bring home the shot, I'm impossible. There is nothing like the feel of you favorite camera in you hand and the sweet sound of the shutter releasing knowing that you're bring home the prize. Yeah, life's good when you're in the field.

It has been fun watching your pictures improve over the months. Keep it up!

Anonymous said...

What a great idea, get a healthy addiction! And you're so good at photos to begin with; go for it!

Anonymous said...

I hear you on that one..I always have a camera with me now..you are getting some great photos too...

Heather said...

The Goldfinch and Titmouse in that first photo are really cute! Good luck with quitting smoking - we're all here for you. As to the camera addiction, I understand. I'm getting ready to buy another camera, this time a point and shoot (hoping that the smaller size will make it easier for me to take to more places). Sometimes when I'm having a stressful day, just the THOUGHT of going out with my camera helps to calm me down. Bring on spring, bring on the pictures!

Dawn Fine said...

Kallen,
I think you have a great addiction..and you should not quit...
keep taking those photos...
and good luck kicking the smokes.

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