Adventures with Duck

As you know I like taking wildlife photos. I go out almost everyday. I'm hiking 3 to 9 miles at a time and some days I will do two or thrre hikes. Well I'm not as young as I use to be (go figure) and its time I make a change to my hobby. How will I make it and why is what is going to be covered in this post. So here we go... So when I am out hiking I am going down trails and sometimes no trails, up hills up mountains and back down. My feet and ankles are not in the best shape and my shoulders and hands have arthitis. Its the cost of all the fun I had when I was younger. Anyway I would be packing 4 lenses with me most of the time, just in case I needed a different style or reach. packing a 200,400,600 and 800mm lens with you as well as at least one tripod and a chair for when I would be just sitting and waiting or in a hide as well as bear spray, snacks and water I would be packing 30 to 40 pounds. Rarely did I ever use all the things I packed with me, infact I don...

So today I had only a few hours to get out and take photos before the rain returned. It started a little slow, i hiked a new trail for about a mile without seeing anything. I turned around and headed back to the car. I was about 150 feet above the Rogue River, I came to a clear shot of the river and seen a Great Blue Heron standing at the edge of the river with a perfect reflection. Then I headed to Well Creek trail head. It was quiet and low clouds were hanging to the top of the trees. I was surprised to see a Bald Eagle sitting in the to of a tree, I had never seen one on this trail before and I've hiked it almost weekly over the last 5 months. but there it was. then I came across the smallest woodpecker we have here in the USA, The Downy Woodpecker. It's hard to get good shots of these little guys, they don't sit still. But I guess today was my day. Then I ran into a heartbreaker, one of my favorite Tweety birds to photog...