Gold Finches

All posts tagged Gold Finches

Wednesday ~ May 11, 2016

Posted by Dave Updegraff on May 11, 2016
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

May-06-2016-5XDD

Happy Wednesday!

I have four images for you today.  This first one is more of a landscape image (with a goose in it) than a wildlife image.  I actually shot this at about 170 mm because I liked the way it looked in the view finder.  I think there are only so many ways you can show a goose but I’ve never presented one in this manner before.

May-06-2016-5XBB

About the only bird I feed at home is the Gold Finch so I can photograph them anytime I want.  But they are usually hanging around a metal feeder as we don’t have many trees in our backyard.  So when I found this little guy in the “wild” I was excited to photograph him.

May-06-2016-5XCC

I think this is a Red-Winged female blackbird.  It is likely I’m wrong but that’s what I’m going with for now.  Anyway she was nice enough to sit and pose for me so I couldn’t pass her up.

May-06-2016-5XAA

Finally a butt shot of another Gold Finch.  I was hoping to find more migratory birds at Green Island but I didn’t have much luck.  It was a worthwhile trip however so no complaints.

I only have a few more images from Green Island so hang in there.  Thanks for stopping by the blog.  Enjoy your day and be careful.

Sunday ~ April 24, 2016

Posted by Dave Updegraff on April 24, 2016
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , , .

April-23-2016

Happy Sunday!

I haven’t shown any backyard birds for some time so I thought I could get by with showing you a few today.  I was sitting on the patio last evening enjoying the weather and an adult beverage and was watching the birds do their thing.  I used to feed all the birds but they turned the patio into a mine field and an everyday chore of cleaning up their poop.  So now I only feed the Gold Finches.  I love their bright color and they don’t seem to come to the patio to use the bathroom.  🙂

April-23-2016-A

I was watching this Robin scoot along the back yard looking for worms and as I watched him with the telephoto lens he would hop a few feet and then turn his head like he is in this image.  I don’t study wildlife but it seemed to me that he must be listening for worms making noise assuming they do in fact make noise as they tunnel through the ground.

April-23-2016-B

Kind of a quasi butt shot but I like the background bokeh the lens produced.  All shots were taken with the Nikon D4 | Sigma 150 – 600 C version lens | ISO 1200 1/1250 sec @ f6.5

That’s all I have for you today.  Thanks for stopping by the blog.  Enjoy your day and be careful.

Wednesday ~ July 01, 2015

Posted by Dave Updegraff on July 1, 2015
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

June-30-2015

Happy Hump Day!

I was sitting on my humble patio last evening contemplating the whys and wherefores of things and decided I should grab a camera and a long lens and capture some images of the little Gold Finches that are now prevalent in our back yard.

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This was not my intent when I wandered onto the patio but they are such a pretty little creature and as their feathers glistened from the sun I reasoned that it was the proper thing to do.

June-30-2015B

There was precious little sun, hence there is a fair amount of noise in these images.  I had to shoot them at ISO 2000, which is kind of high for the D750.  Also I’m not thrilled with the Sigma 150 – 600 mm lens but it was what I had available on short notice.

So that is what I have for you today.  Three images all Gold Finches.  I hope it was worth your time to stop by the blog.  Enjoy your day and be careful.

Monday ~ June 22, 2015

Posted by Dave Updegraff on June 22, 2015
Posted in: Daily Posts. Tagged: , , , .

June-21-2015

Happy Monday!

I have a mixed group of images for you today.

I had a wonderful Father’s Day yesterday.  Started off with a nice brunch at home prepared by Jeanne.  Angie, Ben, Josh, Gabby, Austin, and Mark were all here.  I am so proud of my children and the adults they have become.  🙂

After brunch we went over to the playground for the kids to play and burn off some energy.  I flew the Phantom for about 20 minutes video taping the kids playing on the equipment.  Made a perfect landing and then discovered that I had turned the off camera instead of starting it.  Ugh!

After that Mark and went to Lacoma and played 9 holes of golf on the old front 9.  The golf was pretty bad but the companionship and conversation were just wonderful.  Neither Mark nor I made a par but we had a lot of fun.

The old front 9 of Lacoma is where I learned to play golf and it always brings back a lot of good memories of all the friends I played with over the years.  Jeanne and I used to play every Sunday afternoon (before kids.) 🙂

June-21-2015-A

Ended up the day sitting on the back patio watching and listening to the birds.  We have a lot of Gold Finches in our area and I really like to watch them.  They are such a pretty bird.

It was a pleasant evening and the humidity was low so it made watching the bird very enjoyable.

June-21-2015-B

A sad day for us today.  We have to take our beloved friend Maggie to the vet for her final visit.  We have tried everything to help her and make her last days comfortable.  We wanted the kids to see her one more time.

But now she is starting to suffer and we can’t let that happen so this morning Jeanne and I will take her to the vet and be with her until the end.  She has been a great little friend and we will miss her terribly.

That’s all I have for you today.  Thanks for stopping by the blog.  Be careful.