226th Birthday of John James Audubon

Several months back a good friend and amazing photographer, Francine http://www.redbubble.com/people/digitallystill, started mentoring me on my journey into photography. From basics of camera settings to post processing tips, she has been reviewing my work, sending me articles and been a wonderful cheerleader :) The reason I am writing about her is because Francine is a birder. She takes all kinds of amazing pictures but her passion is photographing birds and she is really, really good at it. She shoots with a Canon and has a 300mm lens with a teleconverter to give her somewhere between a 400mm - 480mm lens. That is a birders lens. I have a 200mm zoom lens. I do not have a bird lens and didn't consider myself a birder but yesterday the birds disagreed. All of the sudden I find myself sneaking up on birds, snapping them then running off to ID them. Am I a birder in the making???

In honor of John James Audubon's 226th birthday, the birds were partying in our yard yesterday. Every time I turned around I saw a new bird. They were singing and enjoying our feeders. Now with that said, I will post pics of some of the birds, but please remember I don't have a bird lens so these pictures are mostly just for ID'ing the birds, not for composition and clarity :)

A Bluejay wondering when the feeder will automatically get refilled

American Golden Finch

Female and Male Evening Grosbeaks! I spotted them due to their unusual sound which is said to sounds a bit like a sleigh bell ringing.

The back of the male Evening Grosbeak

This little guy looks like a regular sparrow but is really red and quite a bit darker. It is a Fox Sparrow.

Friendly Neighbourhood Chickadee

Tree Swallow

Mourning Dove, one of four that live here.

Snow Geese on Frank Kenny. I just happened to have my camera with me when we were travelling home from ballet. Was I ever glad!!!!

Snow Geese Bedding down for the night

My favourite shot of the day. Snow Geese at Sunset.

Other birds we saw here today (and everyday) that I didn't post pictures of are the Dark Eyed Jucos, Starlings, Robins, Grackles, Song Sparrows, Kildeere, Red Winged Blackbirds, and Crows. Oh and on Sunday I saw an American Kestrel on a hydro line. The picture is way to blurry to post but it was the first time I have ever spotted one.

So thank you birds for celebrating Mr. Audubon in a way I could really appreciate. Come back to our yard anytime!