12/27/2022
Four days off over Christmas, and I was formulating plans. Then, someone brought Covid home. Luckily, my symptoms were pretty mild. In the end, it did not matter much. The weather was terrible. The cold could have been dealt with. The constant high winds, on the other hand, could not. By Monday, I was feeling better and the weather had calmed down. It was still cold and very gray, but the wind was manageable. According to forecasts, it was also supposed to snow. That did not happen. No surprise.
It did factor into my overall decision, though. I had two options in mind, and I could really only do one or the other. The first option was to head to Eagle Creek and photograph birds in the falling snow. I was not sure how may opportunities I would get this year, and it seemed like a good chance. The second option was to drive south and photograph Short-eared Owl. They are one of my favorite birds, and the weather was perfect. Many cold days and high winds overnight the previous days should have them hungry and eager to get out and hunt. So, what did I do?
Well, I went to Eagle Creek. It is hard to say I had regrets. The place was practically empty, and I had a bit of alone time. I saw some good birds, and a nice stranger also directed me to where he had seen an owl. My highlight was probably the Rusty Blackbird. I was attempting to focus on a Fox Sparrow, waiting for it to hop into the open. Then I got distracted, as I always do, by a blackbird. I was sure I wanted a Fox Sparrow shot more than a Red-winged Blackbird shot and attempted to re-focus on the sparrow. It suddenly popped into my head that Red-winged Blackbirds do not have pale eyes. Attention focused back to the blackbird! It was nice to pose for a few shots before jumping into the seed pile. So, the day was not a total loss.
I had a new camera body that I had bought to replace my travel camera, and this was first trial run with it. Not bad, but I think the colors look a bit off. Hopefully, LightRoom gets a better color profile sometime soon. Let me know what you think.
Thanks for reading,
Mike
I love that fox sparrow!
Isn't it great when you go with your gut and end up with a Rusty?!