Subject: [Tweeters] Long Weekend
Date: Jul 2 22:02:28 2007
From: carenp - carenp at totalise.co.uk


lucky for me, i read tweeters, as the start of the weekend dealt with a
message sent a few weeks ago by jim owens regarding a white american robin
located on mercer island... thankfully, i also filed it away, hoping (1) it
would still be around, (2) be photographable, and (3) i would actually find
it when i found some of that copious free time people tell me they have...

as luck would have it, i didn't find him on saturday, but i enlisted the
help of fellow tweeters marc hoffman and tina blade in the search on
sunday...

as luck would have it, the bird not only exists, but he's a celebrity, even
among those who wouldn't know a rubber duck from a mallard... apparently,
this is his third year in residence. the only drawback: where he likes to
hang out is quite dark, even on bright days (as sunday was)... my photo,
which does little but ID him, used an ISO (ASA) setting of 3200, and a
shutterspeed of 1/25 second. most any photographer will tell you it's tough
to get a handheld shot in that range, and while it isn't "bad", i need to go
back when he's not deep in the junk under a thick canopy... :)

we also saw a lot of "they're always there", but it was fun regardless...
highlights, besides our mostly-white friend: a beautiful yellow-orange-red
house finch, and black-headed grosbeaks at the ever-popular tubbs aviary and
retention pond, a few distant shots at a lazuli bunting, a
wonderfully-camoflauged song sparrow chick, winter wrens and spotted towhees
in abundance at pioneer park, my first swainson's thrush photo (some birds
need to learn to be easier targets for us hard-working photographers), a
nosy raccoon and my neighbourhood pileated woodpecker in the park gallery
woods...

photos of most of the above (perhaps even all?) are available on the park
gallery website under "photos of the month"... and, don't forget the july
desktop calendar photo, steller's jay juvenile after a bath...

enjoy!

00 caren
http://www.parkgallery.org
george davis creek, north fork