Week 6 - Day 36: 28th Day of Dallas County Shelter in Place

The weekend ended and we start another week.  For some of us, that means back to our offices in our bedrooms, kitchen tables, living rooms, and maybe even for some, a "real" office that does not double as another room in the house.  For others, it means another unwanted week off of work wondering what is going to happen, and asking when they too will return to the workforce.  The stress of it all is real... so be kind to those you live with... and kind to yourself too.  It goes a long way.

This weekend I managed to replace my tripod in hopes that I could use a huge zoom lense that I have.  The lense has to be manually focused and that forces me to have to use a tripod.  It also requires the need to practice with it if I ever hope to get some good pictures.  I think animals are going to be out of the question as subjects.  They just will not sit still.

I did manage using other lenses to get some photos of some of the birds and creatures that come to the oasis Renee T. (my housemate) has created for them.

First off - we have the Blue Jays.  They tend to be kind of mean to the other animals and tend to like to have the feeding table all to themselves.  This guy came down and took a bad.  This is his ruffled head  afterwards.

The variety of color in their wings is simply amazing!

Next one of my personal favorites - the Cardinals.  I can recognize their chirps in the trees so I know when they are nearby.  They are timid - so if they see me move in the house or in the yard they disappear quickly.  I do not see them on the feeding table with the Blue Jays hardly at all.

They can be found feeding off the ground much more frequently than the Blue Jays.





They like to come down and get a drink... after making sure everything is clear from a perch on the fence.  I have not seen one "bathe" yet.  Perhaps she likes more privacy!






Next we have at least one family of squirrels.  I am making this up, but based on behavior I have dubbed one the poppa, one the momma, and TODAY I say a baby squirrel playing.  That entire sequence will be last as I am just going to show the highlights, as I took them, on sports mode.

The squirrels are willing to eat communally as long as no one bothers them too much.  The Blue Jays are about the only ones that will stay on the table for any length of time with them.  This is poppa squirrel.

Momma can be seen trucking in much later.  Presumably she has been attending to the family and has other concerns to take care of besides stuffing her face.













She will definitely pick up more off the ground and waits to head up until she has picked up everything that has fallen.  She is a little more skittish than he is (he will stay right there when I open the back door - she runs).



Joy of joys today - I finally saw a baby squirrel - I could tell he was a baby because a) he was smaller and b) (OMG THE CUTENESS) he was playing.  I turned the camera back on sport mode so I could just snap entire sequences of him doing dives and flips and what not.  So enjoy his movements - this all occurred in about 2 minutes.

This so made me SMILE and laugh as I sorted through them.
I left these a little larger so you can see his face.

That's a wrap folks - Have a great Monday!