Photography Woes--and a bit of fun

At least once each winter (and more often if I get a chance), I go over to the coast of Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia and do a bit of birding to pick up winter species for my annual bird list.  Friday and Saturday of this past week I made a start of it, although I didn't have time to go all the way to Virginia.  It was a good trip.  The weather was surprisingly warm and didn't require thermals for survival.  I found 70 species over the two days, which I consider acceptable but not outstanding.  The best avian find was the common eider at Ocean City.

The problem with mixing birding and photography is that I don't have the camera gear to get good bird pictures, nor do I have the number of arms necessary to field binoculars, a telescope, and a big-lensed camera.  Still, I take the camera I do have and hope.  But the birds are skittish and often too far away.  As soon as I got close enough to this American kestrel and his mouse lunch so I could get a better shot, away he flew!

Then there are the natural barriers.  There was a lot of cold water between me and this handsome bufflehead pair.  Rats!

There are also the shy ones, such as this red-tailed hawk.  (I think he was annoyed at me for interrupting his hunting routine.)

The ones that you can get close enough to are often not ones you WANT to be close and personal.  This pair and their friends made such a ruckus that I never even got out of the car to see the birds I really wanted to see, because these dudes kept trying to attack the car.

So I've decided the best bet is to forget the birds and focus on larger targets!  On a large floating dock where the Assawoman Bay cuts out to the Atlantic at the Ocean City (MD) inlet, three harbor seals rested.  They didn't seem to mind my taking their pictures.  I suppose that's because there was a cold, wet barrier between us.  Here are two of the three.  The third one kept just far enough behind a pole so as not to be very easy to photograph.

I really liked the second of the seals.  He posed very nicely for me--just made my day!