I think a camera is the ideal invention and here is why.

1. It’s a great excuse to get outside.
2. It’s a great way to occupy time.
3. It’s a great way to eliminate excess cash.

And after you have snapped off about a 100 or so images…

1. It’s a great way to get you back inside.
2. It’s a great time to bond with your computer as you wait for your images to download.
3. It’s the perfect way to fill up your hard drive.

And after you reviewed your priceless images…

1. It’s a great reminder that you have so much to learn.

But what the heck… what else was I going to do?!?

Some pics from yesterday which will probably be the last nice day for a while.

A fresh snowfall overnight put a beautiful blanket of snow over everything including the bird feeders. I filled them last night knowing that with the snowfall the deer would most likely not visit them and clean them out and that the birds would appreciate having them filled since by morning the snowfall would hide the usual spillage they collect off the ground.

And my reward for this extra effort was another morning visit from Mr. Cardinal. Actually, I heard him and his mate singing while I brushed the snow off my truck. There is nothing quite like a calm winter morning crispness with a cardinal singing.

I was even more delighted when I came home for lunch and found that he was there again visiting the feeder. And this time there was plenty of light and opportunity. I did get some very decent shots of him. In fact I suspect he might have been posing for me. It’s difficult to describe how bright red these birds are. Only with a quality print does their color actually show through. On a computer screen it is only a fair approximation.

I still need to get a shot of his mate… but I’m sure with time that too will happen.

I don’t often think about things all that much. At least not when it comes to the birds. But lately they have been more active and there have been more of them. How can I tell? I use the only gauge I have, my camera.

Here is my normal morning routine. I wake up, walk towards the counter to start the coffee, on my way I glance out the window towards the feeder. I start the coffee and on my way to the bathroom glance towards the feeder. I get out of the bathroom and on my walk towards the bedroom I glance at the feeder. Do you get the picture or should I say did I get the picture?!? I glance at the feeder whenever I pass the window that it sits outside of. And if there is something out there I reach or more like scramble for my camera!

I’ve been feeding birds in my backyard ever since last summer. I guess I never realized how great a photo op a bird feeder was until I sat on my girlfriends couch one summer morning and watched all the birds and chipmunks and squirrels visit her feeder that was outside of her window. It was way too easy to get pics and close up ones at that. So I eventually realized that I could do the same thing and I stuck a couple of feeders in my backyard.

I don’t know how many pics I have captured of creatures in my backyard since then, but I know it probably rivals everything else combined. But it has given me easy access to a dynamic subject that changes when I least expect it. And change it does. From the expected birds, squirrels and chipmunks during the day to deer, rabbits and sometimes skunks at night. I always glance out my window whenever I walk past it no matter what time of day of night. There will be something out there, the question is what.

So with the additional light that comes with the end of winter comes the increased activity in my backyard. Here are some of the sights I captured recently.

The beauty of winter comes to life when the sun shines. A walk around Fumee Lake in the winter is always an eye opening experience.