I’ve been getting more and more used to handling the smaller camera, and it’s been a good time to do so with the slower, quieter breeding season. Compared to the Canon camera and lens, the Sony images feel crisp and flat, but I sometimes think it’s the Sony and not me getting better focusing on a bird in flight, maybe easier than getting it to focus on a bird sitting still.

Having said that, here’s a Red-winged Blackbird sitting still. Red-wingeds were ubiquitous in early July, but I strain to see or hear one lately.

Osprey seemed more prevalent earlier too.

Here’s a White-tailed Deer doe I saw behind foliage.

Indigo Buntings have been pretty consistent declaring their territories.

On July 4, somehow the camera focused on the bird and the twigs in front of it.

I saw a well-perched Indigo Bunting that day too.

Then, on July 7, I had a male Red-winged Blackbird in flight, and a female in the mulberry. As I mentioned earlier, I haven’t seen hardly any Red-winged Blackbirds the last week or two. I’m sure they’re still around, but just when it seems like you can ignore them, they vanish. I am sure we are about to see them in large mixed flocks of foraging blackbirds soon.

I was pleased to see an Eastern Comma butterfly. But only just one.

That day several Northern Flickers were hanging out around one well-used dead nesting tree.

A Chipmunk seemed curious.

Northern Rough-winged Swallows gave me several opportunities to track their flights.

The bird striking a reflective pose below is a female Brown-headed Cowbird. I can only imagine what is going through her mind as other species raise her offspring.

The Blue-gray Gnatcatchers are quiet now and hardly discernible, but I found one that day.

And for a moment, I spotted a juvenile Warbling Vireo. As more and more juvenile birds emerge and start exploring their world, things will get more exciting for us humans observing them too.

Standing on the bridge near Harlem, I have often been able to spot a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird perched high on a bare branch overlooking the stream. This is a very tiny bird that is so far away I usually only grab a photo as a momentary record of my sighting, but I was impressed that the camera managed to pick up the color on his throat.

The Green Heron below is the same one at the top of the post.

Today it rained all morning and we are promised more precipitation this afternoon with a possibility of thunderstorms. So I have no good excuses to not at least try finishing this post. It’s also been a good day for doing laundry, eliminating some clutter, and I might cook something while it’s cooler in the kitchen and I consider where to go looking for birds tomorrow.