Saved by some dirty dishes. A few days ago, it was a really nice day. I felt I should go out but somehow couldn’t find the motivation. So, I stayed home and felt that somehow, I’d wasted the day. Sometime in the afternoon I noticed that there were a few dishes in the sink, so I went over to wash them.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed some movement in the garden. It turned out to be a groundhog.

Of course, I took some pictures. From this experience I learned three things:

1. Groundhogs have great hearing. So as not to disturb it I took the pictures through a window. The groundhog was a long way away, but every time I pressed the shutter it lifted its head up.
2. Groundhogs are much faster than you’d think. When it eventually noticed me, it took off like a bat out of hell.
3. Groundhogs like to eat dandelions (see first picture).

Taken with a Sony RX10 IV

I came across these two dogs during one of my walks. I don’t think they liked me.

The first one was the most aggressive, barking almost continuously.

The second one was more tentative. I think he felt that he had to support his friend, but his heart wasn’t really in it. He’d probably have been happier playing catch.

There was also a third dog, but he didn’t want to be associated with the other two and immediately took off inside the house, preventing me from taking a picture.

Taken with a Sony RX10 IV

I think it’s an American Robin. It’s a nice bird, but not a cute as its European cousin. I noticed it while sitting/reading on my balcony. It was in a nearby tree.

Some interesting facts about the American Robin:

• An American Robin can produce three successful broods in one year. On average, though, only 40 percent of nests successfully produce young. Only 25 percent of those fledged young survive to November. From that point on, about half of the robins alive in any year will make it to the next. Despite the fact that a lucky robin can live to be 14 years old, the entire population turns over on average every six years.
• Although robins are considered harbingers of spring, many American Robins spend the whole winter in their breeding range. But because they spend more time roosting in trees and less time in your yard, you’re much less likely to see them. The number of robins present in the northern parts of the range varies each year with the local conditions.
• Robins eat a lot of fruit in fall and winter. When they eat honeysuckle berries exclusively, they sometimes become intoxicated.
• Robin roosts can be huge, sometimes including a quarter-million birds during winter. In summer, females sleep at their nests and males gather at roosts. As young robins become independent, they join the males. Female adults go to the roosts only after they have finished nesting.
• Robins eat different types of food depending on the time of day: more earthworms in the morning and more fruit later in the day. Because the robin forages largely on lawns, it is vulnerable to pesticide poisoning and can be an important indicator of chemical pollution.
• The oldest recorded American Robin was 13 years and 11 months old.

Taken with a Sony RX10 IV

In the preceding post (See: A failed photograph) I wrote about the sad story of me trying to take a photography of a duck frolicking in the Hudson River – and dismally failing.

But I can be very stubborn, so I quickly returned to the scene of the crime with a different camera with a longer lens. Regrettably there were no frolicking ducks, but there were some very active seagulls. They seemed to be diving for something edible and frequently fighting with each other over the spoils.

I’m much happier with these photographs than I was with the failed duck photos. I guess persistence does indeed have it’s rewards.

Taken with a Sony RX10 IV

While walking down by the River Hudson the other day I had a great opportunity to get a picture of a Mallard splashing around in the river.

Unfortunately, I completely messed it up. Why?

1. Wrong camera. I didn’t expect to be taking pictures of birds, and my camera didn’t have a long enough lens.
2. I couldn’t get close enough to the bird. So, I had to crop a lot. I might have gotten away with it with my 33megapixel Sony A7IV, but I didn’t have it with me. The Sony RX100 VII that I did have with me had only 20megapixels.
3. In my rush to try to get the shot I forgot that the background (the river) was much lighter than the subject (the bird) and did not adjust the exposure accordingly. Consequently, the bird was badly underexposed.

Still, you live and learn. The river’s not going anywhere, neither are the ducks and hopefully I’ll still be around for a while longer. So, if keep going down to the river (hopefully with a better birding camera) the opportunity will probably come around again.

Taken with a Sony RX100 VII