I spotted a Hooded Merganser down on the pond, so I got my camera and crept from the house down to the pond again. But the male and female pair were wise to me, and flew away before I could pull the camera to my face.
So I went over to the creek and sat down till the kinglets got used to me and came close, spazzmatically whizzing in many directions, feeding on overhanging branches.
There were a dozen of these birds at least, buzzing around me with their rapid-fire whistles. I snapped lots of photos, trying to get some in focus, and it wasn’t till I got home that I realized I had found two kinds of birds.
I didn’t get photos of the ducks, but these teeny tiny hyperactive little squeekers were a nice prize instead.
Conscious Engagement 
Adorable… Thank you.
(How are you doing in “lockdown”?)
You are welcome, Brian! I am doing well while isolating. I am like a queen here, locked down in a great big house on a great big property. I have room to roam and it’s easy to stay busy and not get bored. I’ve been getting things done, especially deep cleaning the house, since I have no excuse not to. What are your days like?
Houses and flats the world over are going to be so clean and tidy… 🙂 Here we are waiting for the big tsunami…
Stay safe, you and your family. You have a daughter, right?
Where are you right now? I think we’re waiting for the tsunami in the US too, because too many people aren’t taking it seriously, and are still going out too much. My Tara is well too, thanks for asking. Tara is living in a different city while attending University. We talk on the phone every couple days. School starts today, so that will help us college students have something to focus on.
We’re still in Mexico. We were supposed top go to Colombia for Easter, but that was canned.
It’s a big wave a-coming. Be careful. Glad your daughter is ok. Though surprised that school should open today. Here, as in many countries, all schools and universities are closed at least until end of April. If not more…
I’ve mastered whiling away my time watching the neighborhood birds, Crystal. But I haven’t tried to photograph them. You did a good job of capturing the hyper-busy little fluffs. You’d be amused to know that I bought 40 pounds of sunflower seeds so I could continue to be amused during the lockdown. The heck with hoarding toilet paper. 🙂 Hope all is well with you. –Curt
That’s brilliant! I need to start collecting a list from everyone’s tips that would really work for me, and making my own list of things to do to entertain yourself at home when you’ve been there entirely too long. Buying 40 lbs of bird seed is a great idea for me because with that much I don’t worry about saving some for later. Just by coincidence, I also bought a 40-lb bag of wild bird seed recently. I was at the feed store to get chicken food and the bird seed was on sale so I got that too. Anyway, I’ll bet it’s a lot of fun watching all the critters come to your banquet. Have the squirrels and chipmunks come to taste it as well? Yesterday I saw a Northern Flicker here for the first time, which was wonderful. They are spectacular birds! They came to my yard all the time when I lived in Portland, and finally one visited me out here in the woods, too. Oh, and I saw a Bald Eagle flying just off the deck two weeks ago! Again, it was the first time I had ever seen one here at my place. Bird watching can really be exciting, ha ha. I hope you and your beautiful Peggy are doing well, but of course I know that you are. I can’t imagine a couple of people more resilient and optimistic. ❤
The birds are a delight, even the flicker who insists on pounding on our vents every morning to attract his lady love! Today we saw a pair of mountain quail, a first for here. Usually they are California quail. I’ve started a nature journal to keep track of the wildlife and their coming and going. There are no chipmunks here, which is surprising but the tree squirrels and ground squirrels more than make up for their absence! The grey squirrels were enamored the other day ( a polite word for horny.) There were four of them— around and around the tree trunks the boys chased the girl, and she was having nothing of them. Hope all is well with you Crystal. Stay safe and stay sane. –Curt
You have done well with these
Thank you Derrick! When I was editing my photos it gave me a new respect for you with Nugget. The first few photos of Nugget that I recall were like mine above here. Pretty good, sometimes a little blurry. But after months of studying your subject and spending time with him, your Nugget photos became splendid! I am so jealous of your close-up portraits of the lovely bird.
They are so CUTE!!! I’m always glad when someone photographs them for me so I can see them. I see movements sometimes in the trees but never the actual bird. I also have no patience for it. Good to hear you are keeping busy during this shift of the planet. Mother Nature is really pissed and sent us all to our rooms. Maybe now we will behave but some still haven’t figured it out. Sigh. I like the comment about birdseed instead of TP. 😉 I needed that today.
Marlene, you made me laugh!! Thank you for that. Mother Nature has sent us to our rooms to think about what we did. It’s sad to me that so many people in the US are not yet isolating. Some doctors have said that what they are doing is negating all the good work of those of us who ARE isolating. Thanks a lot people, now I have to continue to stay at home. Well, like I said, I am fortunate in that staying at home for me is interesting and educational and fun. I’m glad I took the time to sit beside the creek and photograph the kinglets so you don’t have to. 🙂 Miss you my friend. I’m so glad we got to see each other right before all this went down. ❤
Easy to stay busy! I can see that! It’s quite a workout to follow these guys around. I love the splash of red and can just hear their song in my mind. Adorable!
A workout for my eyes! They were flittering on all sides of me, so I didn’t need to move, but I was getting whiplash with the camera, while I twisted in every direction trying to get a shot. For some of my last best shots, I aimed the camera and focused on a branch that they kept returning to, and just waited. Every other minute, a kinglet would zoom in, pause for a millisecond, then zoom off. All I had to do was keep my finger on the trigger, and react quickly.
I love Kinglets! And when they flash their crown in warning, it’s both beautiful and comical. Great shots!
Thank you for the compliment on the photos. I certainly can’t match the quality of yours, but I do get excited when something comes through in focus. I would love to see them flash their crowns. What kinds of things upset them? Because they showed me that I certainly wasn’t worth worrying about, ha ha.