There have been some brawls at the buffet lately. I don’t ordinarily tolerate fighting in my establishment – but if pine siskins are doing the fighting, it’s about as dangerous as kittens boxing. I decided to let it play out – birds should be able to work out their differences in a civilized manner, but tempers can get the best of just about any bird when fillet is on the line…
Make way for the boss of the sock!
I’m coming for your perch!
Flying in under the radar…
Don’t even think about taking my perch!
I’ll never give up this perch!
I’m taking that perch!
The air war is ongoing at the buffet…
Fast food…
My best impression of a cartoon bird flying…
Look out below!!
This perch is mine!!
Back off – no seeds for you!
I’m coming for you…and you sunflower seeds!
Hopefully a quick trip to the store for more fillet will reestablish the peace at the Stone House – maybe not…
the eff stop 
This was greatt to read
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I didn’t realize until now (I just checked) that the Pine Siskin is the most common finch in Washington state. The social pictures around the feeder are great! When I was feeding birds in our backyard, it used to always crack me up when big birds like western jays or flickers would come along and try to feed along with the little chickadees but the feeder goes flying because they’re too heavy for it so they flutter around trying to snatch a snack in midair. You must see your share of that, I imagine…..
I do see the jays especially try to land where they don’t fit. Some large woodpeckers try to hang on those suet cages – it makes for some tumbling.
I tried to comment when I first saw these, had to try another browser. These are such incredible photos!!! I love the last one especially
Thanks so much – that last one is my favorite too.
Great photos as usual. The lens is working out really well.
I thought I may pick your brains today. Have you ever done copying of old photos?
I have about 10,000 to copy (as part of the split). After receiving the first batch back from local photo lab I was rather disappointed. I also worked out that it would end up costing about $10,000. I thought I would look into doing it myself. I thought about buying a good quality scanner (perhaps an Epson V700). However, a photographer friend of mine suggested that it may be worthwhile to invest in a DSLR and photograph some of the photos as that produces a better result. Have you ever done this? If so, can you recommend the type of camera and lens best at that sort of work. Also, do you know anything about scanners to recommend a good scanner? Thanks
I just did a family photo project a couple of years ago after my father’s passing. Shooting with a camera is very tough IMO – I use a flat bed scanner – mine is just a Canon Pixma. The key to good results is to upscale the images. Photographs are different than photos printed in a magazine – they are not made of dots. This allows you to magnify them without getting a pixelated look. Print resolution is 300 dots per inch – so I scan all my family photos at 1200 – this means I can make a good print at 4X the original size. I use Photoshop to convert them to 300 DPI at the larger size and to adjust exposure.
Photographing them is a challenge because of the surface of the photo it could be glossy so you have to worry about glare, it could be a textured matte that has highlights – for me nothing beats a scanner and it doesn’t need to be an expensive one. Epson and Canon both make great ones. Photoshop is a bit more expensive but you may have something else that will do the trick. I have them all on an external hard drive so that I have room and don’t affect the performance of my computer. To be safe I burned a set of DVDs with everything on it once I finished. A lot of the images in my memoir blog came out of this process.
Thanks for all these great points. It is hard getting an unbiased opinion from someone who has done it and has the photographic skills as well. I think i will go with a good scanner and see how I go. Some scanners come with some photoshop features in the scanner, although i guess it is hard to tell what ‘features’ they actually mean until you purchase and try!
One more question, what does photoshop do ahead of a simple editing programme such as Picasso or iPhoto?
Thanks for helping.
The one thing they won’t do is convert the size – I don’t know that it’s crucial unless you are wanting to print them without scaling them. I use iPhoto for some simple things and it would do basic things pretty well. If the photos are very old you can make much more specific changes in Photoshop or PS Elements. If the photos are in pretty good shape those simpler programs should be fine. I would scan at higher resolution though – scanning that many photos it makes sense to do it the best way possible. I have never used the internal corrections in a scanner – so I’m not sure how those would work.
Thanks again for your advice. You should start a photo advice blog. You explain things in simple terms!
LOL – I try. I loved getting all my photos done and organized. I used iPhoto’s faces feature and now it can identify my great grandparent’s faces.
It is amazing.
I haven’t done much yet, but the kids say that it is a lot easier than the old manual way with print photos.
This is adorable. I can almost hear them saying those words. I love the air war. There was definitely an emotional exchange going on! 🙂
They get pretty intense fighting for perch position😄
And you captured it beautifully, Lorri! Amazing! 🙂
Stunning. My favorite, “this perch is mine.” 🙂
They are sooooo territorial!
They must be fabulous to watch. Do they stay clear or threaten you when you fill the feeders?
They are. The retreat to the walnut tree while I refill, but the are back at the feeder before I am off my stepstool.
🙂 I posted bird pics today, inspired by you…
Very cool – I checked them out. So many types of characters 🙂
🙂 I’m very pleased with what I’ve been able to spot–now that you’ve got me paying attention.
I went through the same thing once I started shooting birds last year – I had no idea of the variety in my own yard.
If the weather is nice this weekend, I’m thinking of taking Flower Child deeper into the park, to see what/who we can find. 🙂
Adventure awaits! 🙂
🙂
crazy cool! love that last shot!
That one was my favorite. You just can plan for that 🙂
No you cannot! Well actually….I think that you can! 😉
🙂
Fantastic shots, Lorri.
You’ve captured the action so well I almost feel as though I’m watching with you. Looks like its sunny over in your woods. Does this mean Spring is there permanently?
Thanks Vicky, these were fun, all but one shot in the course of about 10 minutes. It is rainy today and there is a frost warning again. It’s a mixed bag, but I’m ok with it as long as there is no more snow.
These are so cool. I find myself always excited to see new blog posts from you. My favourite picture is the last one, but they are all so amazing 🙂
Tat last one is my favorite too. Thanks so much!
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It’s amazing how you catch them flight!
I lie in wait – a bird stalker, I am 🙂
Reblogged this on Filestlopper's Blog and commented:
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I love these and now it makes me want to put my flying sparrow animation up (if I haven’t already).
Birds have such distinctive personalities. 🙂
I don’t thinkI have seen your sparrow animation. I do love all their personalities, sometimes it is the smallest and the most common that surprise me the most with their antics.
Yes. 🙂 And have you noticed how ‘big’ the voices are of the littlest birds. My husband was telling me how much a tiny wren was yelling in a tree in our front garden the other day.
Post with the animation – and some other stuff – is up in my blog now.
Very nice!!!
Thanks for visiting the buffet 🙂
Love seeing all your birds !
Thank you!
I’ve been watching my birds fight over the suet, so I can relate. 🙂 They are also busy building nests, so they have cleaned out my flower pots of old weeds and stuff. It’s fun to watch! Your pics are outstanding as usual.
Thanks Jackie – I enjoy their battles, so I’m not complaining in the least.
My garden is now overflowing with bird feeders and I can’t wait to get some shots of flying birds! Love your shots!
Thanks – the patio is my happy place. I love to watch them. What kinds of birds do you get?
a pretty good assortment actually– chicadees, sparrows, finches, woodpeckers and nuthatches. I also see cardinals and tufted titmouses from the window, they seem to be shy when i’m out. I just put up an oriole and hummingbird feeder so fingers crossed!
So far no orioles here, but the hummers have arrived!!
Beautiful shots!
Thank you!
Just going to say… WOW!
Thank you Bjorn!
That new lens is serving you well. Just assuming that’s the one you used for the amazing shots.
Yes – for all but the first one. These guys fly so fast, I was surprised to get so many in focus without closing down the aperture.
Brilliant “in flight” shots!
Thanks Hook – they move so fast, you just gotta click and hope you get something.
You definitely did!
Wonderful photos, I can only imagine what the soundtrack was like while you were photographing the air show.
Thanks Allan. There was a lot of chatter during the air show – these are vocal little suckers.
I LOVE that last photo! The grackles are still backyard bullies running my other birds off – but saw the orchard oriole this morning and had to fill the hummingbird feeder again – so not too bad all in all- Enjoy this gorgeous day! K
Thanks Kathleen – I still haven’t seen an oriole, but I do have hummers. Those siskins were cracking me up yesterday – they chatter before they feed. It’s like a chorus.