Hawtch-Hawtcher Bird Watcher

I am becoming the Crazy Bird Lady.

But I don’t have the photographic skills to back up that claim.

I spend a lot of the mornings when the kids are independently studying, lurking around the windows with the book and binoculars close by. Five years ago I wouldn’t have known a Cardinal from a Robin’s underside, but now it’s my personal goal to spot and identify every single one–resident or migratory. When someone else in the family points one out that I haven’t yet noticed, there is a pang of resentment (get away from my window).

Paul got into photography when he was younger, and has always had his eye on the latest and greatest middle-0f-the-road equipment. I admit that I have always complained about the expense and pointlesness of it all…until one day when I commented to Paul that it would be great if you could put binoculars on a camera, and he looked at me kind of weird and educated me about zoom lenses. A great big zoom lens started looking really good to me as I tried to get a closer shot of a house wren nesting in a tree cavity, to no avail. And, we’re taking our first little family vacation this summer, to Glacier National Park…so the bird-watching opportunities will be varied.

So, great big zoom lens it is. All for the sake of some twittery little animals that wake us up in the spring with their infernal yammering and peck each of my tomatoes exactly twice…(sigh)…I pitched in for half the lens with my allowance, and I’m learning the basics of picture-taking. The one he bought has “VR” built in, which basically means it steadies my hands. (I’m sure the other blogger will fill the reader in with the technical jargon, at some later date.) Paul’s probably wondering if he can con me into pitching in for a flash, but maybe he realizes that I don’t really need a flash for most bird shots. Anyway, I’m looking forward to posting some (hopefully) good pictures of birds, kids, etc. that I couldn’t previously capture. Stay tuned.

– Hawtch-Hawtcher