They’re baaack….no not the ghosts…the birds! And so is my lens too! HALLELUJAH! The evening the lens arrived I hurried down to the dock…not a bird in sight. All of a sudden I heard a commotion to my left and saw about a half dozen various night herons flying out of the tree next door. Not sure if it was the cause or not but as I glanced upwards I saw it! A Great Bald Eagle. I am fairly confident it is the female from the nesting pair I have been tracking the last two years. I expected their return any time now. By the time I got the lens on it, the eagle was heading west towards the nesting site and clearly out of decent camera range.

While I really enjoyed learning to photograph butterflies and bees I was going a bit “buggy” without my bird lens. Getting a good bumble-bee in flight photo is a lot harder and more challenging than I imagined it would be. I have since been taking hundreds of test photographs with the lens. It seems to be fairly sharp for what it is capable of. There are growing numbers of birds seen on the dock now. I plan to get in the Kayak this week and start chasing them around the river too. In addition to the night herons, there are several mature and immature Little Blue Herons ( the juveniles are born white), Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Hawks, and Tricolored Herons. The pair of Belted Kingfishers (Spunky and her mate Funky) has also returned to the dock area. It is “hotter than the blue blazes” and we are definitely having the “Dog Days” of August. I plan to try and capture some more birds in flight and share them with you. Can’t wait for the Eagles to fly closer too.

Although I am glad my lens is back, the birds I see seem to all have something in common. They are ruffling their feathers when they look at me. They are not upset with me but rather they seem upset about what is going on in the world I think. Although they don’t see the news about the riots, butchering murderers, earthquakes, volcanoes, pestilence (Ebola), the wars and rumors of wars, I think the creatures of God sense what is happening. I am a getting a bit ruffled myself thinking of it. So when it gets like this try to think of the good things we have instead and consider the birds... And be Blessed this week. Harry

Reflections on Broward is now "Mountain Musings"

Ruffled feathers