Greetings on and all,

The short Birder version: 
Big Island WA 1 Eagle at the Compost containment pond tree line
Killdeer: 4 Turkeys at the Pine Grove
Dickcissels at corner of Clark and Larue Decliff

Nothing as special as an Ibis.


Now I bring you a glimpse of  Birding as a Photographer:

One of the things that I have learned is to ALWAYS take your camera with you. You will never know what you may come across.   I learned that all to well yesterday. :-)

Today I made a quick trip to Marion (with my camera) and took the loooong way back just to see what I could find. 

Herr Rd held an Eagle at the dead tree snag that is part of the tree line that butts up against the Compost Facility's containment pond.

I then shot on over to Killdeer to try and beat the rain that was looming closer, and look for some prarie birds like Bobolinks and Dickcissels.

I was heading down TH 71 and got to THE Cedar Tree.  I look into the bean field and I was face to face with a Female Turkey not 20 yards away...now I have been trying for two years to get a good photo of a Turkey...One of the first pics that I took of a bird was a Turkey...If I had been a hunter I would have missed big time.  I was over at Blendon woods and the Turkey was so close that the lens couldn't focus in on it.  I have had several other attempts all with less than acceptable results.

Today for a photographer was the perfect day.  The clouds and moisture in the atmosphere made everything green, the sun's light was just enough to light the scene...It was a sight to behold...at 20 miles an hour.  I got another twenty feet or so before it sunk in that a Female Turkey was in the perfect spot and I was going the wrong way. A quiet turn around down at the pine grove parking lot and I was pointing the right way...but was she still there?  YES!  She was.  I pulled out my camera and slowly placed it on my widow, turned off the car and glided slowly to a stop. I fired of a couple of quick document shots. Then she turned and looked at me, The sun peeked out just enough to make her head glow.  Another couple of clicks and the sun was gone for the day. I "chimped" (if you need a definition go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimping) a few of the shots to make sure that they were at least nice. I liked the shots so I looked up to see if something more would develop...Unless you consider seeing four Turkey butts running away from you a development....well nothing developed. :-)  So I continued on.

The rest of the trip back to Larue was uneventful.  Until I got within a mile of my house.  I was at the Corner of Clark and Larue Decliff when I saw a sparrow looking bird that was too far away for a visual or picture.  I Immediately thought it was another Song Sparrow or Field Sparrow or Grasshopper Sparrow.  (That's all that I have seen around that area recently)  But then it called out.  I got home and pulled up all of my sparrow calls and struck out.  The only thing that I hadn't tried sparrow like was a Dickcissel.  I pulled it up and sure enough it was a Dickcissel....life bird yet?  Nope.  Even though I had visual contact, I haven't got a good picture of it yet. :-)

Well that was my day the short and long of it...Oh and Jenny the Turkey, well A wild female Turkey is officially off my list: http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s226/sjlarue/Birds/JennyTurkey.jpg  Hopefully a Dickcissel and a Bobolink will be close behind.

Happy Birding and God Bless

Steve Jones
(a.k.a. sjlarue)
Blog: http://sjlarueslenses.blogspot.com/ 

Genesis 1.20

And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky."

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