We have quite a few white breasted nuthatches that visit our yard and our feeder, but they usually don’t stay still long enough for me to photograph them. I got lucky the other day, though, when I walked outside with my camera and realized I had forgotten to fill the bird feeder that morning. Immediately after filling the feeder, I stepped back a few feet and a nuthatch descended from the upper branches of the tree and stopped not far from where I was standing, and held its classic downward pose long enough for me to get this shot. I am sure it was just waiting for me to leave.
It was a beautiful day – blue skies, comfortable temperatures – so I decided to head out to one of our local parks to catch some of the beautiful scenery and enjoy the weather. The light was just right and made for some interesting, abstract-looking photos of the lily pads on one of the ponds.
There was also a Great Blue Heron that dropped in to do some fishing, and despite the fact that a large group of kids from the nearby school descended on the area, the heron seemed indifferent to all the noise. In fact, it let me get close enough for some nice photos. (While the heron looks large an imposing when viewed from the side, it looks rather spindly and delicate when viewed face on.)
We had a pair of immature Cooper’s Hawks stop by in our back yard yesterday. One of the pair flew off before I could get outside with the camera, but the other hung around and posed for a few photos – with a watchful eye.
The weather has been hot and sunny, so we made a trip to Chagrin Falls to see the falls, and of course get some ice cream at the ice cream shop right next to, and above, the falls. Here is a short and very calming video of the falls.