It’s officially 2021! I’m sure we are all glad to put 2020 behind us. I’ve started my first day of 2021 doing – you guessed it – a neighbourhood walk. Things aren’t going to change that quickly. lol
Rosehip Star
I’ve been noticing that although it’s the season of brown (the snow has melted away since Christmas), there is a little bit of red thrown in as well. The last of the rosehips are still hanging around, waiting to be eaten by a passing bird or some other little creature. This particular one grabbed my attention because of its star shape.
Sumac
There is also an abundance of red sumac flowers. They are slowly turning to brown, but until then the majority are still red.
Cooper’s Hawk
I’ve decided that I must take a longer lens with me next time. I have spotted this Cooper’s hawk at least 4 times this past year. I first saw him under a tree, and I stopped and got a quick shot, but when I tried to get a little closer, he flew to the other side of the creek. Luckily, that was where I was heading next. I startled him when found him on the other side, and he flew to this tree. I was able to get a clear shot, but I had to crop this photo so you could see him. You might not be able to see it, but in his right claw, he has his lunch with him.
It was a great way to start the new year. And it goes to show you that even though you’ve been to a place many times, you can still find something new to photograph.
Wishing you all the best for 2021! Stay safe and be happy.
Nigel along with the Brampton Photo Group invited me on one of their outings in the hopes of capturing the snowy owl up in the Holland Marsh area. The area is known for wintering snowy owls but I had yet to check the area out so I jumped at the chance to join the group.
As we drove in to the area we spotted a beautiful red-tailed hawk hanging out in a tree. Unluckily for me he was too far for my lens to get a great shot of him (or her) but that always seems to be the case for birds. Maybe when I’m rich and famous I can purchase a much longer lens.
Red-Tailied Hawk
After driving around and seeing some more hawks (these were much further out and flying) we finally spotted a snowy owl. And of course he was just out of reach for a great photo.
Snowy Owl
It’s times like these that I say “stick with landscapes Sue they are much easier to capture”.
Ramshackled
Course that’s not really true. You can get a great shot of a bird it just takes loads of patience and time. We were limited on time and I think some people were limited on patience but hey that’s okay. We all have those days. It’s what you make of it that counts.
One of the toughest things to do is find inspiration from a scene that you had hoped would give you something good. When Nigel picked me up today and suggested we check out the hawks around the airport I was pretty psyched to try out some bird photography. Once out there I realized this would be a lot more challenging than I thought. Finding a hawk was the first goal. It took awhile but we did finally spot one pair in the distance.
Hawk overhead
Patience is definitely a virtue when it comes to birds. The two hawks we spotted were hunting so they were up and down quite a bit. I think one may have caught something but it was so far out of range of the 500mm lens it just wasn’t worth snapping the shot. (I still did because I was apparently feeling hopeful for some reason – yes some of us, even though we know its not going to be a good photo, still take the shot anyway).
Soaring
Not the successful kind of day I had hoped for but that happens from time to time. The point is even if you don’t get spectacular shots its all about getting out there and being in the moment. Getting out and shooting regardless of the results helps us all become better photographers at the end of the day.
