Coming off an overnight shift does strange things to your decision-making. Normal people finish work at dawn and head straight for bed; I grabbed my camera and pointed the Explorer toward the San Pedro River just as the sun was peeking over the horizon.
I walked about 2 1/2 miles on the loop trail, listening to plenty of birds, but actually seeing very few. Due to our healthy monsoon rains this year, there is plenty of overgrown brush and leafy trees for the birds to hide in.
Unfortunately, there was nowhere for me to hide from the mosquitos.
They ate me up good.
What I’ve learned about taking pictures of birds and other wildlife is that sometimes your best shots don’t come until you’re almost back to the car.
I was on the homeward trail, within site of the San Pedro House when a pair of Vermilion Flycatchers flew past my head and stopped to pose in a relatively open area not too far ahead.
At least the morning wasn’t going to be a total bust when it came to pictures.
Since the early morning light was so nice, instead of just getting in the Explorer and heading home to sleep, I decided to see what might be hanging out in some of the plants near the house.
Also turned out that the bumble bees weren’t the only pollinators in the garden.
I even got what was probably my best bird picture of the day, right there in the big fallen cottonwood tree, less than 100 yards from the parking lot.
Sometimes I wonder why I even bother to lace up my shoes and walk for miles when I can get beautiful backlit pictures like this within sight of my car.
At least my fitness tracker gave me an enthusiastic digital gold star for hitting 13,000 steps before most people had their breakfast. 😎
I hope you enjoyed the pictures!
Til Next time,
I love the rear/side light on the last one.
Beautiful shots Todd! The early morning is my favorite time to be out with the camera. I just love that light.