I'm used to seeing chickadees, purple finches, house finches, starlings, grackles, and robins. Occasionally, a cardinal will make an appearance in our back yard, at the bird bath. Mourning doves are seen atop neighbour's houses, softly cooing.
Once, and only once, I spied cedar waxwings alight on a tree across from our community mailbox as I pulled up on my way home. Luckily, I had my camera in the passenger seat as readied to get out of my car.
This week, DW received a package at our doorstep and she was very excited. She had ordered a squirrel-proof bird feeder and was anxious to put it in our back yard. A quick trip to Costco netted her a massive back of bird seeds.
Later that day, as I was wrapping up my work day in my basement office, DW came down to chat with me, all the while looking out the small window that looks into our back yard. Mid-sentence, as we were discussing dinner plans, she turned and ran for the stairs. I looked out the window and saw two goldfinches at the feeder.
Although goldfinches are common in the Ottawa area and I have seen some in the fields that line the transitway that runs near our neighbourhood, I have never seen one in our back yard. And now we had two.
Both of my D-SLRs were on a table next to my desk. I grabbed my Nikon D7200, which had my 70-300mm lens, and followed DW.
Slowly and carefully, I opened our back door. DW came up behind me with her mirrorless camera in hand, her telephoto lens attached. With both birds still at the feeder, we slowly crept to our patio table.
One of the birds, not trusting our good intentions, took off. The other, cautious, constantly watching us, remained. As soon as we sat at the table, he resumed eating.
DW's camera was in silent mode: the mirror in my camera was much louder, by far, but didn't seem to faze this hungry bird. Though, he did look straight at us with every bite.
DW also set up a hummingbird feeder. Stay tuned.
Happy Friday!
No comments:
Post a Comment