Goodbye Winter- Let's Zoom Ahead To Spring!

There are some things I enjoy about winter like a walk through the woods with a path decorated by a light coating of freshly fallen snow or a sunny day with blue skies and no wind. The powerful sound of large sheets ice breaking free as they fight there way down the Connecticut River is an awesome sight.

I've had enough of winter for this year. The number of days with decent weather were just to few and far between.The groundhog can come out of his hole and stay out. I'm tired of sinking into crust-covered snow holes and trying to withstand record cold temperatures.

I said that I would do a Big January/February this year. My birding excursions during these months were limited to short morning outings on the weekends. Many of the ponds that I rely on to add to the species list were frozen over. Black Vulture made the list (December photo from Middletown). Some of my favorite sightings of the winter were Tundra Swan, Redhead, and Northern Pintail. I finally exceeded 100 species but it took me 2 months to get there.

One of the things that kept me going was my desire to see what my new Canon SX50 camera can do. Not surprisingly, the image quality varies greatly depending on lighting conditions, how stable the camera is, and the amount of zoom used. 

If you look across the river you may be able to pick out 2 black dots near the top right of the tallest tree if you use a magnifying glass.

I used a combination of digital and optical zoom to take this hand-held photo of one of the eagles. It may be grainy but that is some powerful zoom capability. I just wish we could Zoom ahead to Spring!