Spring is here

Woke up this morning to the sounds of spring, Red-winged blackbirds singing in the cattails. In a few days the robins will begin their song and we'll be on our way. I'm still editing my Uruguay photos and identifying and captioning the wildlife (mostly birds). A partial list of birds I saw down there:

Crested caracara, Chimango caracara, Cinereous harrier, American Kestrel, Burrowing owl, Roadside hawk, Great blue heron, Cattle egret, Roseate spoonbill, Black-necked swan, Black-necked stilt, Southern Screamer, Southern lapwing, Skimmer, Wood stork, Fulvous whistling duck, Giant wood rail, Rufous hornero, Black and white monjita, Great kiskadee, Monk parakeet, Black-faced ibis, Turkey vulture, Jabiru, Greater rhea, and some others.

Birds are hard to spot in Uruguay since there are few forested areas. Plus, the birds tend to be high in the trees, small, and inconspicuous. To photograph them effectively, long focal lengths are needed (500mm or greater). A person could spend their entire time in Uruguay stalking and photographing birds. There are between 250 and 400 species of birds found there, many of them non-migratory.

The book is a new one I picked up yesterday. It's by Lee Varis and is about digitally retouching faces and bodies, with some lighting and workflow tossed in.