You want a blue balloon? Here: http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=17832016&size=md Dan Matyola http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/danieljmatyola
On Sun, Aug 10, 2014 at 6:04 AM, Chris Mitchell <[email protected]> wrote: > Disappointing, Dan. From the title I was expecting to see a blue > balloon of some description. > > Interesting story though. > > Chris > > On 9 August 2014 06:57, Daniel J. Matyola <[email protected]> wrote: >> The bluebird of happiness flew up my, ah, nose. <G> >> >> For decades, I had kept a number of bird feeders in our back yard, as >> many as eight at a time. For much of that time, I recorded my >> visitors under a program run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. I >> really enjoyed watching the birds enjoying my feeders. >> >> In recent years, however, the deer and squirrels attracted by the bird >> feeders have become a bigger and bigger problem. We also had >> occasional visits by racoons and black bear, which were very >> destructive, not to mention dangerous. >> >> Three years ago we got a new puppy, and we have been trying very hard >> to train him to stay in our yard, so he could tun free, at least in >> that acre or so. The deer and other critters attracted by the bird >> feeders became a major nuisance, so very reluctantly I decided to give >> them up. >> >> The lack of bird feeders the last couple of years has greatly reduced >> the number of deer and squirrels in our yard, and made it a lot easier >> for our Malamute to enjoy playing in the yard. There has been a >> surprising side effect, however; there are a lot more birds nesting >> in our yard than before. I suspect that the more aggressive birds >> attracted by the bird feeders, like blue jays, cardinals, starlings, >> grackles and crows, had been intimidating smaller birds and >> discouraging them from nesting in our yard. Last year we had two bird >> houses that were occupied with small birds. This year, we had five >> occupied bird houses, plus a nest in a tree and one on one of the >> floodlights on my house. Better yet, for the first time in decades, >> we have bluebirds nesting in two of our bird houses. >> >> One of the bluebird houses is on the edge of the woods, and I see the >> birds infrequently. The other is close to the house, however, and we >> see them several times a day, often when we are at the pool or in the >> hot tub, which is quite close to the house. >> >> I have, of course, been trying to capture some images of the >> bluebirds, with little success. They are quite shy, and disappear as >> soon as they see my camera. (How do they know what I'm up to?) Even >> when I manage to sneak up on them, they are so quick in and out of the >> house that there have been very few opportunities. >> >> This weekend, I decided to give it yet another try. I set the tripod >> up on the deck, but they saw me and kept hidden. After an hour of no >> sightings since I brought out the camera and tripod, I gave up. As I >> was putting my gear away, I had an idea: They don't seem to mind us >> when we are in the hot tub, so why don't I try hiding behind the hot >> tub, resting the camera on the cover? I knelt behind the hot tub and >> set up the camera. after a few minutes, the female flew out of the >> house, and back in a few minutes later, but she was too quick. >> Besides, I couldn't get in a position to focus properly through the >> view finder or even the LCD. I pre-focused on the surface of the bird >> house, and waited, with my finger on the shutter release and the >> camera set on multiple images. >> >> After about 20 minutes, my back was aching, but suddenly the male put >> in an appearance. I fired off several rapid-fire shots, and then >> tried to follow him when he rested in a tree and then on the top of >> the dog run. >> >> I wasn't able to get a good sharp image of the male, so I plan to try >> again this weekend. This is the best I have been able to manage so >> far: >> >> http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=17830976&size=md >> Comments are appreciated. >> >> Dan Matyola >> http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/danieljmatyola >> >> -- >> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >> [email protected] >> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and >> follow the directions. > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
