Scarlet

It's been a relatively good day - I have taken about 700 pics with the Z8 including almost 400 this morning of swallows and martins in flight.  And you might be wondering why I didn't post one of them.  Because I inadvertently deleted them all from my card before they saved to my Mac.  Don't even ask how I did this.  There is actually a bit of a glitch with LRC and the Z8 and this adds an extra step at import until Adobe catches up.  Well, I won't make this mistake again!  However, I was thrilled with the way the camera's AF performed following those very fast, erratic birds.  I still need to work on my panning skills, but the camera is up to the task and the eye detection is fabulous.

After deleting all my BIF shots, I figured I'd try to find something in the yard to shoot.  And while I was looking around, I happened to see this gorgeous Scarlet Tanager male fly into the shadbush to grab a berry.  He wasn't there more than a few seconds, but it was enough to grab a couple of shots.  These beautiful birds breed in our area but are strictly fruit and insect eaters so they never visit feeders.  And I only very rarely get a glimpse of one in the yard, so this was a nice treat.  And a good addition to my yardbirds list.

I am currently watching a brood of what looks to be 5 tufted titmice being fed by two haggard looking parents.  They are beyond cute and I am going to try to get some shots tomorrow.  This morning there were 5 blue jay fledglings being fed while Hubs and I had breakfast on the deck - loud things, but also very cute.  And I can't even guess how many downy woodpecker youngsters are around right now. 

So, all in all, a good day.  Tomorrow is projected to be rainy, but I will still try to get out for a while.  Jax will be at day care, so I will have an uninterrupted day.  

I think I will have another square (or two) of that delicious dark with ginger today.

xo
Debbi