Mascoutah Wildlife

10/01/11 - 01/26/12

Due to family circumstances, I haven't done a whole lot of photography in these past few months But, it's been nearly four months since I've posted any new photos, so I figured it was about time.

Most of the photography I have done is of local backyard birds hanging out in my mom's yard. She has three bird feeders, a heated bird bath, and plenty of bushes for cover. So there's usually some birds hanging around. We had one unbelievable day when, for about two hours, the yard was filled with birds. There were over a dozen cardinals, several blue jays, a couple of chickadees, a woodpecker, and many juncos, purple finches, morning doves, and sparrows, There even were four squirrels running around among the birds. Another day, we spotted a hawk in the neighbor's tree, eating a bird it had just caught.

Mom's back porch makes a pretty nice photgraphy blind. However, I have to shoot through the screens on the windows and there often are reflections on the windows. So, many of the photos don't turn out as sharp as I'd like.

The first two photos were shot at my sister's house early last fall. The rest of the photos were taken in mom's back yard in the past few weeks.

Steve Winker