Driving along in electric mode (yes it’s a Prius and a neat application for stalking wildlife) a female ring-necked pheasant hung out for a few seconds before heading back into the field behind her. Unfortunately the ground my car was traveling on was covered in nice and loud gravel. Even moving at 4mph spooks them. Sorta a stop and go combo moving in small stints got me a tad closer at times. Finally got my lens on them which I was happy about as they tend to be pretty elusive in our area.

Wanting to spend some time with the bank swallows and never actually getting out to photograph them  turned out to be an awesome experience. Bank swallows make their nests in the sand banks (go figure I know) usually 4+ feet up from the ground. Another good reason to stay on the trails and not make your own. This one chick hung out at the entrance for quite a while. Once I got in really close he dissapeared for over an hour. Ain’t it the way it always goes? Haha.

It feels a bit late to see chicks this young, but there is a mother guarding her chicks near the pond. Always adorable and fun to see. The light was a bit hard coming in at such an angle. Trying to pull a depth of field to fit them both within ‘acceptable’ range was quite a task as well. Thankfully the light was in all the right places and they weren’t too active. Gotta get that eye of your subject to bring attention to them. Look at a photograph where the eye is hard or not visible and it’s just hard to make the same connection as one lit or having a catch light.

On one of my last stops I was wondering the woods and got a chipmunk to freeze. As long as I didn’t approch him he just sat (or clung) and watched me. So happy to see them as your usual visit are common squirrels. Special in their own right, but not what I was shooting for.

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