This is for the birds

A while back, I posted a bird photo that I was really excited about. And somehow, with that photo, I became obsessed with photographing birds. Why birds? 1) there isn't much other animal life around to shoot. Not even squirrels, really. Which seems weird. 2) Because it's a challenge. They are kind of hard to photograph if you want to get them in flight, so it seemed like an obvious choice.

Since that first photo, I have added a few more:

In the process of taking all these bird photos,* I have found another answer to "why birds". They are kind of fascinating. I never really noticed before, but different birds fly differently. Some keep their wings extended and glide, others fold their wings back and kind of cannonball through the air. And their wings are different--the angles they use when they fly, the way the feathers are designed and arranged and layered, how far the wings spread. Their tails are different too. And then it was interesting to see the colors and the details of the feathers and there is so much to notice about birds! And now I am paying attention and it is pretty darn interesting.

I kind of feel silly that I never noticed any of this before** but I'm glad that I ended up there in the end.

*I have not identified any of these birds so feel free to do so. Picture 4 and 5 are the same bird, by the way. I love how his (her?) feathers blend in so well with the tree bark.

**I probably did notice that they fly differently, but it never really registered as a conscious thought until now. When you think about it, it's obvious, but I just never thought of it until recently.