Afternoon
This winter has been pretty mild so far; of course last year was
the same until the 2nd to last day of the year...I headed over to Mt. Auburn to
see what was happening. This time of year always feels so dormant; I
guess that’s the point of Winter. Still, one never knows what they’re going to
see when they come out to bird watching anywhere from late March to mid-June,
and then again from mid-August to even mid-October. Plus the
times in between always contain a few surprises. In the Winter you hope for irruptive species
coming down to avoid a harsh northern Canada winter, but that’s usually hit or
miss. I wish I could see more Evening
Grosbeaks, Siskins, Crossbills, and other winter exotica. For today I settled for a House Finch and a
Titmouse; the winter species that hang around in New England always remind me
of Vikings for some reason, waiting out a barren winter.
This probably concludes my 2011 birding adventures. I never really stopped watching them; I always
saw them around. I still remember late
August of 2008 though when I finally decided to search the internet for places
around here that I could actively go out watching them again. I picked up like I had been doing it daily
without a break at all. I’ve got
mountains of pictures from before 2011; most of them with a point & shoot
camera though that doesn’t really do them justice. Getting an SLR & then a 55-250mm lens
really helped me immensely. I still
carry my binoculars with me and prefer to use them; but when it comes to
identifying/freezing a moment in time, obviously nothing beats the camera. It’s helped me take my identification skills
up a notch. So now on to 2012. I’m thinking I’ve outgrown the XTi I’ve been
using and will probably snag a T2i or T3i this coming year; we’ll see. On to 2012!
