Fontenelle Forest - September 1

The Fontenelle Forest Wetlands looked different today.  Summer is turning into fall.  Birds are beginning to flock.  The backgrounds of some of my photos are turning into shades of yellow and orange.  Birds are more difficult to identify as the youngsters mix with the older birds.  Sunrise is arriving later every day.

A Ruby-throated Humming bird visits a flowering Bull Thistle in search of nectar.

A sparrow searches for another bug.

A Raccoon  searches for food along the back of the pond.

A young Cardinal  is learning to live on his own.

A Red-winged blackbird watches from a Maximilian Sunflower plant.

A couple of young Red-winged Black Birds enjoy a September morning.

Snow Birds

I photographed some birds on my deck today.

   White-breasted Nuthatch

European Starling

House Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

The groups of birds that visited the feeder scattered as soon as I appeared.  I tried a number of different approaches.  I started with a 600mm lens and moved to a 400mm lens.  I tried natural light and tried a flash fill (on camera  and radio controlled through a window).  I was outside for some and shooting through the window for others.

I discovered that fill flash from inside my home didn't bother them much but fill flash from the outside chased them away every time. Even the sound of my camera bothered them outside.

When I have another opportunity,  I plan to set up a blind on the deck.  I think I can sneak into it out of the birds field of view from my screened in porch.  My ultimate goal is to photograph the birds so that they appear to be somewhere other than by my feeders.