25 February 2010

Photo opportunities

As the snow has been so thin on the ground* this year, the scenery offers views that aren't always available in the winter. I stopped to take this picture of pleasing stripes in a ploughed field yesterday.


The camera is a huge help in identifying birds. To my eyes, this bunch of birds were black silhouettes against a grey sky. Later on, looking at the photos I took of them and my invaluable Birds of Ontario book I could see that they are cedar waxwings: the yellow stripe at the end of the tail and the yellow breasts are quite clearly visible to the camera's eye.


This morning we have snow. Usually by the end of February I'd be bored of taking photos of snowy trees. With so little snow this year (and today's is likely to turn to rain) I seized the opportunity of an early walk with the dog in a snow-weighted world.


*Sorry

5 comments:

Esther Montgomery said...

Really like the top photo.

We had an inundation of Redwings about a month ago and tried the same thing - identifying them with a camera. It was a dull light and none of the photos were any good. Fortunately one came near enough for me to remember the details and draw them roughly before I started turning pages in books. It's so easy to get muddled!

Esther

SweetWICK said...

The beauty of the snow makes the cold forgivable!

Northern Beauty Seeker said...

Great photos! I too am finding the camera such a help in identifying birds - with my handy Birds of Alberta book :)

Linda said...

How lucky you were to spot some cedar waxwings. We don't usually see them in the garden till the berries appear on the honeysuckle.

Callie Brady said...

I love that fence. Great photos!