Tag Archives: Quail

Photos of my favorite backyard characters

Posted on by
50

I have always enjoyed my quail and I’m looking forward to seeing babies. Certainly some of our quail are having babies? In the past, I’ve found nests in planters. As soon as I see quail families, I’ll post photos.

My favorite bird of all. Red is so striking.

Mrs. Is pretty cute, too! Isn’t it something how the males in nature have all the bright colors?

Red shares the spotlight with a quail. There’s always one quail who keeps watch for predators. He’ll be up higher and alone and start squawking if he senses danger.

Then there’s this guy. There are three chipmunks who hang out together. One looks like a parent with two babies.

What are your favorite characters in your backyard?

Here’s a PS I wasn’t expecting. I saw a foot and ankle surgeon about a painful left foot I’ve been dealing with for years. Finally, I decided to inquire about surgery. In the meantime, during our stay in the cabin on the lake last weekend, I fell and twisted my right ankle last Friday. I asked the surgeon (since she’s a foot and ankle specialist) if she could check it out for me while I was there for my left foot. Big surprise. I fractured my fibula and have been walking on it for five days! Yesterday was especially painful and swollen. No wonder. They are trying to get me into surgery ASAP. If you miss hearing from me for a few days, that’s why. I may have to wait for insurance approval and scheduling, but the sooner the better.

Red and the Mrs.

Posted on by
46

I was thrilled to catch the lovebirds, Red and Mrs., spending time with each other yesterday morning. They appear quite cozy together, but I have a tough time trying to get their photo. I can take their photos separately, but even though they are spending more and more time together, as soon as I raise the camera they fly off out of sight.

Yesterday, my settings made the photo too dark. I have a habit of picking up my camera first thing in the morning, without noticing how I left the settings the day before. But with a little lightening and brightening, the photo looked better.

Now that Spring is in the air, I hope to see some little Reds along with baby quail. On the Next Door app for my area, people are posting videos of baby quail already. They are so adorable the way they follow in a line behind mom and dad.

I’ve noticed quail always come in pairs and like Cardinals, they mate for life. I wonder how common that is in bird land?

Two photos of Red and Mrs. — not together — but not far apart:

What do you notice in your area that tells you Spring is in the air?

My Final Revised Final

Posted on by
31

Photography class is officially over. I turned in my revised final this week along with my report on an out of context photo from the photographer’s original intent. If you missed my first attempt, I posted it HERE.

One of the instructions for creating a story out of pictures was to have an element of surprise. The bully bird attacked the chipmunk, which was a surprise, but the photo didn’t translate — it was just a bunch of feathers. I think the chipmunk hanging by his toes to get a drink from the pool was a bit of a surprise.

Whew! Time to sit in the backyard and enjoy my wildlife without holding a heavy camera. Instead I’ll take a book with me and relax!

What did you think my revised edition of the final with new photos?

Do the photos look in sharper focus that the one I posted Monday?

Happy Friday! What plans do you have for this weekend?

A picture is worth a thousand words

Posted on by
46

My final project is due next Sunday for my photography class. I need to tell a story in six to 10 photos. Above is photo one and I’ll let you have a look at the final project that wasn’t.

I spent most of a week working on it. Then I got my prior week’s assignment graded with comments. That was the assignment about composition and aesthetics. I thought I had done really well. The instructor liked my work, but offered one suggestion:

“Change the ISO to 200 or 400 and use a faster shutter speed.”

He said he could detect movement in my photos. The photos I had worked on all week to tell a story for my final project are all shot at the same ISO and shutter speed as last week’s assignment — which he said I should change. I could have said, “Hey, I’m done” and turned in the final project as is. But then I would be ignoring the instructor’s advice, which doesn’t seem smart. He wants me to get better and offered a solid tip on how to do so. He was very encouraging and said he saw improvement in my work.

I’m starting over and took a bunch of photos today with the suggested settings. And darn, if the guy isn’t correct. My new photos are sharper. Thankfully, he gave us an extra week to complete this assignment along with a research report, which will be posted online tomorrow.

Here’s the story I’m not turning in — without words:

Are you able to follow my storyline through pictures without words?

Would you feel discouraged to start over after completing a project — or view it as a new opportunity and why?

Birds and More

Posted on by
41

This chipmunk was part of last week’s photo assignment. The photo is an example of Point of View. It turns out my sunken pool bar is good for more than bird photography. I like the perspective of being eye to eye with the critters.

For the assignment, I had to pick three out of severn composition techniques or aesthetics. My three were Point of View, Depth of Field and this one is called Centering. It’s a Century Plant stalk. The professor said centering is one of the most dissed aesthetics, but can be effective.

The House Sparrow photo shows off Depth of Field. I like how the background is out of focus and looks like an impressionistic painting. I had rarely noticed the yellow planter barrel before, but it’s finding it’s place in my photos.

Mr. Curve Billed Thrasher was another example of Depth of Field. I like how he pops out of the photo from the blurry background. He also shows an extreme dislike of my taking his picture.

Photos I took for fun:

Red gets his time in the limelight. But he’s been pretty flighty, even though he yells at me to fill the feeder every morning and afternoon, he doesn’t stick around for a lengthy photo session. The photo below has wispy aloe blossoms in the foreground that look ghosts or accidental lights. The focus was on Red.

However, there are other birds in the yard to photograph:

Gilded Flicker.

House sparrow.

Mrs. Red on the yellow barrel.

This quail reminds me of myself, facing a steep walkway.

My newest objective is to catch birds in flight. With a fast enough shutter speed you can stop their action. But I wasn’t very good at getting the whole Mourning Dove in the picture.

Which photos do you like and what’s your favorite of my three composition techniques?

Perspective

Posted on by
42

I’ve discovered a new place to sit for my bird watching and photography. It gives me a new view or perspective. Notice I’m looking up at the Gila Woodpecker on our fence, rather than taking the photo at eye level.

Here’s another photo I took where I’m almost level with a chipmunk — ground level so to speak.

Our house came with a sunken pool bar. I feel like I’m sitting in a bird blind, like hunters use to take their shots. Armed with my camera, it feels good to sit. Standing, I have a lot more motion taking photos. Sitting helps me get rid of motion blur. It also gives time for birds to get used to me and for me to be patient for some good shots.

My husband glanced out the window and thought I was sitting on a bar stool in the pool! He wondered what the heck I was doing to get a photo of Red.

No, I was comfortably sitting in one of these chairs, across the pool from my Bird Buddy feeder and where the birds come through the fence into our yard.

Isn’t it interesting how a new point of view or perspective changes your outlook?

Here are a couple photos I took this weekend, in my “bird blind.”

I was so excited with this photo that I went online to order a print. This is the first time I felt my photos were worthy enough to be hung on a wall. Next, is my second photo to be framed. Yes, it’s of Red, which I took last week.

Here are more photos taken from my new perspective:

Here’s Mrs. Red. I didn’t get good ones of Red this weekend, but the wife’s turned out well. I may have to get a print of the second Mrs. photo, too.

Here’s a Starling I caught next to a saguaro on the Bird Buddy feeder.

I spent most of my weekend getting the house ready for three guests who will be with us for a week. They are entered in the National Freshwater Spear Fishing competition in a lake nearby. Two of them were here a few weeks ago, scouting the lake for the competition. Our first guest arrived Saturday — after we were asleep — and left for the lake before we got up. What a perfect guest!

What were highlights of your weekend?

What do you think of my new perspective for photography and bird watching?

Class is in session!

Posted on by
42

A Harris Hawk landed on our pergola Monday.

Monday was my first day of photography class that I’m taking through Maricopa County Community College. I was worried over the weekend, because when I clicked on my class schedule there was no time specified for class. I called my daughter and she explained that if no day or time is listed, it’s “asynchronous.” I learned a new word. Since she works as an academic advisor at UC Berkeley, I figured she knows what she’s talking about.

It’s an online class where there are due dates for quizzes and assignments, but you are free to work at your own pace, when you want.

I spent an hour or two reading the syllabus, module one of my class and I went through a tutorial on how to use their online system. I have two quizzes due by the weekend and we’re required to get 100%. Wow, I’m not sure what I signed up for!

Besides my first day of class Monday, a quail flew into our sliding glass door and lost his life. As he was down for the count, a number of carnivore hawks arrived to survey the scene.

I got lots of photography practice as they flew up to the pergola, to a tree, to the fence and rotated around the yard. Eventually, I left the scene and when I came back there was a pile of feathers from the quail on the patio and the carnivores had left.

Seven Harris Hawks on the fence.

This guy was getting close to the poor quail.

Have you taken online classes where you work at your own pace?

What classes have you taken for your own personal enrichment?