Staredown

I really wanted to get some shots of the Bushtits working on their nest but they were just to fast and too furtive.  So I settled for the shots I could get and landed on this as my favorite.  This is the female, identifiable by her yellow eyes (the male's eyes are dark).  And doesn't she look grumpy?  In Extra is a shot of her getting ready to enter her elaborate hanging nest with a bit of vegetation - not a great image technically but fun nevertheless.  And it really shows the size and structure of the nest.  Keeping in mind that this is an extremely small bird - about 3 inches/7-8 cm in length.  Fairly closely related to Europe's Long Tailed Tit.

It has been hard keeping Dad off his feet and we finally broke down and took a drive to a nearby wildlife refuge where we could look out over a wetlands from the parking log.  It was a reasonable compromise.  He says his left ankle (the worse of the two) is feeling a little better and I am hoping that if he takes it easy for a few more days he will be on the mend.  And from our vantage point in the parking lot we were able to get some eye-level looks at a Harrier and a bunch of Cackling Geese flying past, so that was nice.  I will put a shot of the Harrier in Extra although I have to say it is definitely not my finest work and is nowhere near as sharp as I would have wanted.  Should have had a faster shutter speed.

I'm headed back to NJ tomorrow morning - this time on a non-stop flight which will be much easier and only about 5 1/2 hours.  I've enjoyed the brief visit with my parents but am looking forward to being home.

Cheers
Debbi