Funny Headed Sparrow

One of the funny things about this sparrow was all of the different directions in which it was moving its head for quite a few of the pictures that I took. It was all over the place! The image posted here was one of my favorites, where the tuft of feathers on top of the head is standing up, giving the bird something of a mohawk look. 

Nuthatch, Seed in Beak, Ready for Take-Off

The White-Breasted Nuthatch does not spend long on our deck when it lands to pick up a seed. Unless you are sitting there with your camera in position, ready to take the picture, this bird will land, pick up its seed, and take off again -- all before you have the chance even to set up. This particular shot caught the nuthatch within a few movements of taking off. Immediately after this picture, the bird squatted low and then dove off the side of the deck.

Crab Apple Blossoms

The crab apple tree really is one of my favorite parts of the property where I live, at least, for that week in May (this year, closer to three days) when the flowers are out in full color. Someday, I would like to have a whole row of these trees lining both sides of some kind of walkway, with a park bench along the way. (I know, it would be a lot of effort to go to for three days in May, but still... I think it would be kind of cool.)

Female Bluebird on a Rusty Clothesline

I realize that the title here is not exactly the most attractive one that I've ever come up with, yet... it's a fairly accurate description of what I have pictured here. I would really have liked to have been able to title this one, "Bald Eagle Snatching Salmon out of the Rapids, While Evading Grizzly Bear", but that just wasn't going on in my backyard.

Mourning Dove on a Wire

I'm actually not sure what kind of wire this Mourning Dove is perched upon (telephone? electrical?), but you can tell that there's quite a bit of magnification going on here to be able to see the twists in the wire. It was actually quite windy when this picture was taken (which is probably something of the reason why the leaves are blurry on the side), and while the dove perched on the wire, it did manage to preen itself.

(Experimental) Light Post

A while back, I had posted about an article that I had read in a photography magazine, one in which the author talked about intentionally taking pictures out of focus. Since I was having some trouble with the shutter speed on my Sony NEX-6 yesterday (it may have just been dark, who knows?), I decided to try something different and make a few 'out of focus' pictures. Looking through the lens, there were quite a few of these interesting 'bokeh' sights to be seen, looking at the seen coming through the green leaves. I settled on the light post for today's blog post, as it seemed that the most recognizable to someone who might come along and wonder: What is he taking pictures of today?

Waning Crab Apple Flower Blossoms

It did not take long for the crab apple flower blossoms to fade and fall from the tree this year. They don't usually last long, but I don't think it helped that we got hit by a succession of rain showers. I did, however, have a couple of days in which I was able to take lots of pictures. I will probably intersperse them from time to time when nothing else of interest crosses my camera, or when we run into more of those 'rainy days'.