Hermit Thrush Looking into the Grass (Dry Brush Filter)

Here is another angle on yesterday's bird, the hermit thrush, as it makes its way through the grass, perhaps looking for bugs. Thanks for stopping by!

Hermit Thrush in the Grass (Dry Brush Filter)

Somehow, "the grass" doesn't seem to be the kind of place where you would expect to find a hermit thrush. "Hermit Thrush in a lonely cottage out in the marsh" - maybe. It's a pretty little bird, and I enjoyed the opportunity to take pictures of it. Thanks for stopping by!

Robin at the Base of a Tree (Dry Brush Filter)

Following yesterday's post of the robin at the base of a birch tree, today's post features a robin at the base of another tree. The moss (or whatever is growing on this tree) adds a little bit of color to the image, although, it's mostly yellow/green - already present in the grass, and orange - already present in the robin). The robin looks to me like it's got a little bit of an attitude as it's standing here, posing by the tree. Thanks for stopping by!

Robin at the Base of a Birch Tree (Dry Brush Filter)

Here are two edits on an image of a robin at the base of a birch tree. The second image was processed for HDR in Photomatix, the first was not, giving the second image a certain vibrancy that seems to be missing from the first edit. (The slight difference in content is also due to the use of a straightening tool in Paintshop, which made it a little bit more difficult for me to get the exact same image twice.) Thanks for stopping by!

Male House Finch on an Evergreen Branch

While I was shooting the image that I posted yesterday (the female house finch), I also happened to catch the male (with his distinguished red head) nearby. (Actually, it was so dark that it was hard to tell that the bird's head was red. It was only when I was able to zoom in on the image on my camera that I realized that the head was red and that it was a male house finch.) Thanks for stopping by!

House Finch in an Evergreen (Dry Brush Filter)

I had the pleasure of happening to see a few house finches earlier this week. I really liked the way that this little bird stood out in contrast here against the green color of the branches of the evergreen tree. Thanks for stopping by!

Chipping Sparrow Stops for a Visit (Dry Brush Filter)

I think that this is my first Chipping Sparrow of the year. (At least, it's been a while since I've seen my last Chipping Sparrow here on my deck.) He didn't stay too long, and this was just about the best shot that I was able to get of him. I'm sure there will be more opportunities throughout the summer. Thanks for stopping by!

Pair of Flickers on a Tree (Dry Brush Filter)

Here are a couple more pictures of the Northern Flickers that visited my yard several days ago. These birds must travel in pairs, as they stayed really close to each other the whole while that they were in my yard. 

In this second picture, something happened that my camera switched from ISO-100 to ISO-400. I don't think that I hit the wheel on my NEX-7; my next best guess is that something happened when I switched to video mode and that, maybe after I was done taking videos and resumed taking still pictures, something had gotten reset. So, I had to do a little bit of clean-up work to try to get rid of the some of the noise in the picture below. Thanks for stopping by!

Northern Flickers in the Branches

The other day, the little forest in my yard was graced by a visit from a pair of Northern Flickers. I don't recall having seen this bird before, so it was a new experience for me to observe them. Below are two versions of one of my images: I added a vignette to the first image, and the second shows what the image looked like without the vignette. Thanks for stopping by!

Cat Looking through My Window (Dry Brush Filter)

Of course, one must come up to the window and check out the guy with the camera...

Cat in Profile (Dry Brush Filter)

Lately it's been fun to watch the cats come and stalk the squirrels in my yard. (They never actually come close to catching the squirrels, but it's fun to watch them. My fear is that they will go for the birds, which they will probably have a better chance of catching.) Here was one of the neighborhood cats, hanging out in my yard. Thanks for stopping by!

Junco Sitting in the Grass (Dry Brush Filter)

This was a slate-colored dark-eyed junco that my camera happened to catch while the bird was sitting in the grass. I don't think that the others that I have been seeing have been quite so dark, so it proved an interesting variety to see in my bird watching. Thanks for stopping by!

Junco Spreading its Wings (Dry Brush Filter)

This is one of my favorite junco images. I posted two versions that were processed differently below, once with the HDR and once without:

While I like both versions, I like the HDR better because of the way that the image "pops"; I like better the way that the details stand out in the HDR version.

Thanks for looking at my pictures!

Colorful Junco (Dry Brush Filter)

I hadn't much thought of the junco as a 'colorful' bird until this photo, processed for HDR in Photomatix. (Granted, the HDR process can sometimes have a way of bringing out colors that are otherwise less than pronounced. The greens and yellows here have a somewhat unnatural glow to them...) The dark head of the bird has a blue tint; the brown of the back is quite pronounced and contrasts against the blue. I also like the tip of the wing feathers, with the black and brownish orange color. Thanks for stopping by!

Junco in the Leaves (Dry Brush Filter)

Here is another junco image. The bird was pecking around in the grass, most likely looking for bugs to eat. The leaves from this past fall add some color variety (green and brown, other than just green) to the background of the image. Thanks for stopping by!

Junco in the Grass (Dry Brush Filter)

I don't know what exactly it is about the junco, but they are one of my favorite birds. It's not an extremely colorful bird; maybe it has more to do with the time of year when I see them. When the juncos start to arrive, spring is usually not far behind. Thanks for stopping by!

Robin in the Recovering Grass (Dry Brush Filter)

The grass in our area is still recovering from winter. Here is a robin is making its way through the grass, probably looking for bugs (or worms?) to eat. Happy tax day, and thanks for stopping by!

Backyard Pileated Woodpecker

Looking out the window a few days ago, I saw a rather large shadow flying through my backyard. It turned out to be a pileated woodpecker! The bird stayed in one place for a long time, and (of course) eventually moved around to the back of the tree (and out of sight). I did, however, manage to take a few pictures of it while it was still within my line of sight. (I suppose the fact that woodpeckers seem to like the trees in my yard is not something that bodes well for the trees....) Thanks for stopping by!

Robin in the Branches (Dry Brush Filter)

As you can see below, the original image file was a little dark. I used the HDR processing in Photomatix to bring the robin out of the shadows, and then I applied the Dry Brush filter in Photoshop and cropped the image in Paintshop Pro. I like the haiku-feeling that the branches behind the robin give to this image; (I think that) the branches add something poetic to this image. Thanks for stopping by!

River through the Dead Grass and Trees (Dry Brush Filter)

If you've spent any time here at my blog, you know that I like to take pictures of trees and water. You also know that I've had a thing, recently, for pictures of the golden brown grass. (Partly, the golden brown grass is in ample supply. Partly, I like the color.) The tree here is situated beside a small river, and the golden brown grass is all around. The version above was rendered with Photomatix for HDR; the version below did not utilize Photomatix. Thanks for stopping by!

Robin in the Grass (Dry Brush Filter)

The arrival of the Robin Redbreast adds the bird's beautiful deep reddish brown color to an otherwise drab landscape (still recovering from winter).

Dreary Trees in a Swampy Landscape (Dry Brush Filter)

Actually, I'm not quite sure how "dreary" these trees are, but that was the best descriptive word I could come up with as I looked at this landscape. If this were the Halloween time of the year, the overhanging white branches in the foreground, together with the dark trees beneath, might look a little bit eery. As I took the picture, I was mostly interested in the lines and all of the tangled directions in which the branches were going. Thanks for stopping by!

White-breasted Nuthatch Eyeing up Birdseed (Dry Brush Filter)

This White-breasted Nuthatch (a familiar visitor to my deck) was eyeing up the sunflower seeds that we threw out for the birds (and, apparently, also for the squirrels.) The nuthatches have been frequent visitors and seem to stay in the area year round. (This picture was taken within the past week.) Thanks for stopping by!

Chickadee Preening (Dry Brush Filter)

Eventually, this chickadee settled down and started preening its feathers, which was kind of cool to see.

Chickadee in the Branches (Dry Brush Filter)

I liked the way that this chickadee was "hiding" in the branches. (Actually, the bird was quite active, and catching it holding still long enough in one spot in order to take a picture was quite a trick.) Thanks for stopping by!

Downy Woodpecker (Dry Brush Filter)

Finding the name for this Downy Woodpecker was fairly easy on Google; I simply searched "mn black white woodpecker," and pictures of this bird appeared right at the top of the search results. The woodpecker here pictured was in my backyard looking for bugs in the lawn.

Duck on a Tree (Dry Brush Filter)

A pair of ducks stopped in my yard a few days ago. This was probably the best picture of the bunch, as it was one of the few that I shot through the branches that managed to get a clear (and somewhat colorful) image. Thanks for stopping by!

Cat Face

Once again, I found myself face-to-face with a local cat that was wandering in the neighborhood. Again, it's that time of year...

(Color) Geese on the Ice (Dry Brush Filter)

Here is another shot from the same session as yesterday in which I posted photos of the geese that were on a frozen pond at a park in town. I had been moving towards them but stopped when they started moving away. I was pleased with the images that I had, and so I gave them their space. Thanks for stopping by!

BW Canada Goose (x2) on the Ice (Dry Brush Filter)

Here is another of the Canada Goose (Canada Geese? Canada Gooses?) that I encountered, not too long ago, on the pond at a local park. (Yes, there is still ice on the pond, but with the warm weather that we've been having, I'm sure that it will soon be melted.) The two versions above are the unfiltered image, and the dry brush filtered (which I liked better). Thanks for stopping by!

Dark-Eyed Junco on my Deck (Dry Brush Filter)

Today's picture is the same picture twice: First, it's the dark-eyed junco without the dry brush filter, and second is the dark-eyed junco with the dry brush filter. It's cool to be able to see the little feather hairs on the picture, but I also like the way that the dry brush filter makes the picture look like a painting. Thanks for stopping by!