September 24th

Monday, September 24th, 2018

With wedding #1 down, Paul and I are spending this week getting the patch ready for opening on Friday.

I was walking the field picking Casperitas and gourds when I heard a bird chirping. This isn’t abnormal, as many birds have nests and take cover  in the patch. However, this bird was following me and was very insistent in its chirping.

I looked up and was pleasantly surprised to see this sweet male Downy Woodpecker. I stood up and watched him for a bit, and he was just as interested in me and I was in him.

The only camera I had with me was my 24-105mm, not ideal for birding. That lens is much better suited for landscapes, not for zooming in on pinpointed subjects. You have to be relatively close to your subject for them to fill the frame.

With wild birds, that’s pretty much always a no-go. They never let me get that close.

However, I got ten feet away from this guy, and he wasn’t concerned. He simply hopped from sunflower stalk to sunflower stalk, continually chirping at me.

It was so neat!