Goldfinch

Suddenly, and without warning, I don't seem to have much to blog. Apart from the occasional informational item, I have been reduced to silence for the past week or so. I can't seem to even muster a comment on most blogs. I have been keeping up with you, however. Since I have nothing to say, I am pleased to have this photo to post.

The Boy and The Butterfly are visiting this weekend, saying their goodbyes to this house. We, ourselves, only have one more weekend before we make the long cross-province move.

Yesterday morning, The Boy looked out the kitchen and saw this goldfinch in the side border. We all scurried to the window and looked. At first, I didn't bother to get my camera because I have found that birds usually don't stay put for long. After a minute or so, however, he was still there. So, I found my camera, changed to the telephoto lens, and was still able to take about a dozen pictures through the window pane before he flew off. This was the best photo, but I still had to crop it, brighten it, and warm it up a bit in Photoshop.

When we are biking, there is one section where we often see goldfinches. They often seem to escort us, but they are really trying to fly off and are surprised when that we are able to keep up with them. At that point, they speed up or veer off, but it's fun to travel with them (as it were) for a while. They seem to fly in short, looping bursts that I quite enjoy watching.

There is something very satisfying about being touched by nature, even in these small ways, like seeing three young hawks practising their soaring close to ground level in the wetlands the other day. There is another spot where we see a blue heron almost every time we cycle by, and we usually shout a cheery greeting. We always have Cuppa's camera at hand, but the 3x optical zoom doesn't really give us a good shot, and I am a little loathe to pedal about the countryside with my SLR and telephoto lens in tow.