What a gorgeous day, to start the new year. The sun was shining brightly in a cloudless sky. It was quite cold and windy this morning, but who cares? I have something in common with the birds. We worship the sun.
It was nice to see the White-Breasted Nuthatch in the yard this morning. Also present were a multitude of House Sparrows, House Finches and American Goldfinches, with a female Northern Cardinal as a bonus.
So this is a brief post with some pictures from this morning and a couple from Christmas Eve. I have an embarrassing confession to make. I have been shooting with manual focus for so long, due in large part to trying to take pictures of warblers in trees, that I realized on my last trip I had no idea how to set up the camera for autofocus. Here I have all this fancy equipment with no idea how to use it. Duh. So it’s been on my list for the last several months to get on board with autofocus, to the point where it was really becoming a Big Deal in my mind. I needed peace and some uninterrupted time to sit down and figure this thing out.
Luckily there are enough videos and whatnot on the Internet. I finally sat down this morning at the dining room table with both cameras I’ve been using and realized that I was not that far off from using autofocus in the first place, it was just a matter of getting used to the buttons on the camera and what I was trying to do. Then I went out into the backyard with both cameras and started shooting. It took a bit of getting used to, but I really needed to do this! It fought me once when I tried to focus on a squirrel behind some branches, but that wasn’t worth worrying about. So now I can go to San Blas confident that I will get many more pictures in focus!
Here’s a Hairy Woodpecker that’s been coming to the yard the past week. Or at least I’ve been around enough to see him. There’s a female too, so I can only assume they are a pair. This picture was taken through the window last week.
I am getting mentally and physically ready for my next trip, trying to lessen the last-minute panic that always seems to accompany final preparations. Having the extra days off has been a big help.
Starling Splash Party 
House Sparrow Splash
Female House Finch 
It was windy! 
Squirrel with a little snow 
This is probably my last post until after I come back. It’s still hard for me to believe I’m going but Sunday morning isn’t that far away. Best wishes to all for the New Year. We need something to look forward to!
Love all of these photos..I miss the little birds.we live in Laughlin Nevada and have different birds including Anna’s Hummers..24/7. But I love my Nuthatches…had them in Colorado..Thanks for sharing..Blessings to you as 2020 starts..Happy New Yearr.
Thanks so much, Syl. So 24/7 Anna’s Hummers sounds like heaven to me. I am happy to see any birds brighten up the dreariness of a midwestern winter. Best wishes to you for a glorious 2020. 🙂
Wonderful gallery of visiting feathered friends, Lisa! Happy New Year to you, have an awesome, safe trip!
Thanks, Donna! And Happy New Year! Here’s to amazing…! 🙂
Happy New Year! I see that your avian friends are visiting you from the very first day of the year. That is ideal for a birder! I’ll be traveling to Peru on Feb. 4.
Have a safe trip, Lisa. 🙂
Thanks, H.J.! I am glad we started the year with sunshine so I got to take a few pictures of the yard birds. Looking forward to a whole lot of new birds in Mexico. Hmmm. I would love to go back to Peru. I get chills just thinking about the mountains. 🙂
The autofocus did a wonderful job. Have a good trip.
Thanks. It seems to be a lot easier and I don’t think my eyesight is getting any better so I am looking forward to my next chapter. Happy New Year!
What a lovely gathering of winter birds! The female Cardinal is sweet to see, she does look cold, though! We had two juvenile Bald Eagles show up together perched in a tree here in the Portland area over new year’s, which caused some excitement. They do nest here and numbers have been slowly increasing. So nice to kick off the new year with a birding adventure. Have a wonderful trip and Happy 2020!
Thanks, Joanne! Wonderful about the Bald Eagles, they are really making a comeback. I am at the airport waiting for baggage check to open. Can’t believe this is really happening. Happy New Year!
Love those pics of the White-Breasted Nuthatch, those are fun birds to have around. Ironically there have been several days while we’ve been in AZ that it was colder here than in Chicago.
The desert can be really cold! Alas I have only been to Phoenix, many years ago, in the summer of all things.
The summers are brutal, or so I hear. There were days this winter where Phoenix was colder than Chicago.
So many wonderful bird pics, it’s like 10 posts in one!
Thanks, and greetings!