A male cardinal “hiding” behind dead cholla branches:
A pair of cactus wrens on the block feeder:
A house finch looking at the camera:
Finally, a white-tailed antelope ground squirrel foraging:
Click on the images to enlarge.
Photography
House Sparrows
During the morning walk, I saw several small birds flitting about up where the feeders are located in back of the house and RV drive. I took a photo of one of them perched on a rosemary shrub back there and another photo of three up in the denuded mesquite tree where some of the feeders hang.
I looked at the photos after downloading them and saw that the birds were House Sparrows (Passer domesticus). There are usually many of these birds present around the feeders most of the time during the day unless there is a predator about.
More about the House Sparrow at All About Birds:
House Sparrows aren’t related to other North American sparrows, and they’re differently shaped. House Sparrows are chunkier, fuller in the chest, with a larger, rounded head, shorter tail, and stouter bill than most American sparrows.
Male House Sparrows are brightly colored birds with gray heads, white cheeks, a black bib, and rufous neck – although in cities you may see some that are dull and grubby. Females are a plain buffy-brown overall with dingy gray-brown underparts. Their backs are noticeably striped with buff, black, and brown.
Clickable photos below . . .
Camera – Canon EOS Rebel SL3 with EF-55-250 lens at 250mm. (P)rogram Automatic camera mode, autofocus. Images cropped and resized. Click to enlarge.
Backyard Critters Eating
Several times a week, kitchen scraps are tossed into the little wash area behind our retaining wall out back. Rather than sending the scraps to the landfill, we figure the desert critters will benefit from them more.
An Antelope Squirrel snacking on a cashew:
A Desert Cottontail Rabbit snacking on the heel from a loaf of bread:
Of course, there are other critters in that area including Quail, Thrashers, Cardinals, etc. all too camera shy for me to get a good photo this time. Click on images to enlarge.
Panoramic Images
Panoramic Image of Our House
Earlier this month, I retired my venerable Canon Powershot A710IS Camera and started using my newer Kodak PIXPRO FZ152 Camera. The older camera had roughly 18 years on it and after it got retired, I started using the newer camera. The newer camera, it turns out, had more features that I didn’t know about because I used it so seldom. Lo and behold, there is a “panoramic image” mode.
To make panoramic images using the FZ152, one must select the proper mode and shooting left to right (other direction optional) snap three or four images as you move the camera. There is a “ghost” image of the preceding image that helps the user to align the camera. When done, select the “SET” button and the camera begins to “stitch” the images into a single elongated image — a panoramic image.
I am still learning how to use the panoramic image mode, although some of the image results from following the procedure have been disappointing, with visible disconnects in the continuity of the image. I thought I was using the proper procedure and got the result seen below:
Discontinuity example
As you can see, the right half of the panned image jumps from a place in the middle of the house to repeating (in a distorted fashion) the same image segment going to the right. The image is not useful except to demonstrate the problem.
I guess I am spoiled by having had a really good Canon Utility in the past that would render panoramas from several images with very good results, even with marginally acceptable images. Unfortunately, that utility stopped being supported and did not work with later versions of Windows subsequent to about seven years ago or so.
I will keep trying to get panoramas with the Kodak Camera in the future, but I may opt for a Photoshop ($$$) utility to do the things I used to do with ease and for free with the Canon App.
George Washington’s Birthday
Flying the flags over the house on Washington’s Birthday. Click to enlarge.
Bird Feeders
This morning, I went up on the little hill behind the RV Drive to replenish the various birdseed feeders we have up there. The feeders attract birds and other wildlife to the small area of natural, unimproved desert. We enjoy seeing the varieties of critters that come around.
Whilst on the hill after the replenishments, I took photos of our feeders with the Camera Phone*. These are listed below along with the photos.
First up is the “Pagoda;” it hangs in the mesquite tree up on the hill:
Next, is the “Rotunda” which also hangs in the mesquite with an elongated “S” hook on one of the branches:
Our biggest bird feeder is the “Bird Church” hanging in the same tree from a short “S” hook:
The Nyjer Seed Feeders hang from a double crook toward the front (house side) of the hill:
Finally, the Seed Wheel, the Block and the Bell feeders are on another crook a bit further back from the house”
Click on any image to enlarge.
*The phone camera is a Samsung S23.
