More around the house

I spent some time on the dock again Saturday.  A lot of old friends showed up.  But, while I was taking a shot of a Great Blue at the end of the lake, I caught sight of a Wood Duck!  They are fairly common, but I've never seen one before, and they are pretty striking.  They were too far away, even for the fancy camera.  This is the best I could do:

While I was gawking at the wood ducks, I noticed a massive bird headed my way.  Some how I managed to snap a couple of photos.

I shall call him "Tank"

Bald Eagle flying over Springwoods Lake

Check out this Cormorant flying over the lake.  What I love about this picture is the green eye!

And what I love about this one is the way the light from the water plays on the underside of the Great Blue's wings:

A Hooded Merganser showed up.  He was by himself and very focused on breakfast.  I tried and tried to get a shot of him diving, but each time ended up with a picture of just a splash, or , at best, the tip of a tail.  I watched him for a little while and noticed that he was swimming around with his crest up, and each time about half a second before he would dive, he lowered his crest slightly.  So, by watching for this sign, I was able to get several shots of him diving.  Rather than this GIF, I could post a video, but I think this is more fun!

Enough of the waterfowl.  I can only get so close to them.  For the first time, I had a go at photographing some of my "backyard birds".  Some of these I'm sharing because I like the pictures, some I'm sharing because they show off the camera.  All of these were taken from at least several feet away.

I love how well camouflaged this little Song Sparrow is in the pine straw (that my yard guys rake into piles against the fence every time and never actually pick up!). This shot was taken from maybe 15-20 feet.

This Brown Thrasher (10-15 ft) is another one that is well camouflaged for his pile of leaves.  I don't really see the point of it though, considering all the noise he was making rooting around! 

 The Dark-Eyed ("Slate-Colored") Juncos are the biggest fans of my bird feeder, or at least the seed on the ground.  They are too cute.

Now, this picture cracked me up like no other!  This little Junco could not be more round, but here he is, birdseed stuffed in his mouth, standing his ground!  I love it!  One of my all-time favorite pictures!

Finally, here are a couple of shots of a Black-Capped Chickadee.  This is the only bird that has figured out how to use my squirrel-proof bird feeder.  Incidentally, I caught a squirrel on it yesterday, but I think he was having a pretty hard time of things.

All-in-all, I think I'm going to have lots of fun (and bore lots of people) with the new Canon.