Scattered

My mind has been so scattered lately. The root of it all (I suspect) is something that starts with an M and ends with a PAUSE. I've been forgetting about my favorite memes, so I hope it's not too late to enter them. I read a book called Still Alice recently, recommended by Lisa at Two Bears Farm. It's a fictional account of a 52-year-old with early onset Alzheimer's. While I loved the book, every little instance of forgetfulness makes me paranoid that I have the disease.

What was I saying? SEE?! Oh yeah, the memes. Here are some bird shots taken in my yard and at a nearby park.

Red-bellied woodpecker

Downy woodpecker baby being fed

My first sighting of the Eastern kingbird. Not the best shot, but at least I have a new bird to add to my list.

Loggerhead shrike aka butcher bird

Eurasian collared dove
These birds inhabiting North America are the result of a pet store robbery in the
Bahamas in the 1970s where several escaped. The store owner then released
the rest of the flock—another 50 or so. More interesting facts here.

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As usual, I will be laying low for the weekend. My new computer policy, in addition to quitting Facebook, is to only blog during the week. While I don't post every day, I do still visit my favorite blogs each week day morning (and sometimes evenings). Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Edited to add two more memes I forgot about:

She Who Carries Camera: Garden Party!

Skywatch Friday
Eagle's nest in February

Loggerhead Shrike

Beyond excited to see my very first loggerhead shrike! I started to ignore this little bird thinking it was a chickadee or a sparrow, but when I enlarged it on the computer I realized how wrong I was. It pays to trust your instincts, people. I googled "gray bird with black mask" and VOILA! Known as the "Butcher Bird", they impale their prey on thorns because their talons aren't strong enough to get the job done.

This was my first sighting on 12/30/12. As you can see, he was very far away, so even through the viewfinder, I couldn't quite tell what I had.

I returned to the lakes today and my persistence paid off.

I stalked Zorro from one end of the lake to the other.

I think he's ready to gouge my eyes out. Or something.

Bertha and I are learning to co-exist. When she is paired with the 100-400mm lens, adequate light is a necessity, so I've accepted that if there isn't enough light, to wait. Also, I am now using back-button focusing instead of using the shutter button to focus. Enabling the back button next to the AF point button allows me to lock focus. In other words you don't have to keep pressing and refocusing if something enters the picture that might interfere with the initial focus. There is a good blog post here, which explains it much better! This is particularly helpful for sports and nature photographers. That one little change has made photography a little easier for me. 

Linking with

Camera Critters