It’s almost winter. It hasn’t snowed yet and the temperatures have been above freezing some days and below freezing on others. But, there’s no stopping the general trend to lower temperatures. If you don’t believe me, watch the birds. Quite a few of our feathered friends from up north have been passing through lately.
When Kathy and I go for a walk we almost always stop to look at Lake Mendota. In fact, we often stop to look at it from two or three, sometimes four, different vantage points. The last couple of times we’ve been down there we’ve encountered scores of birds, mostly Canada Geese and Tundra Swans, that are wisely migrating to warmer southern climes.
I went back the other day with my camera and telephoto lens to capture a few images before the birds continued south. The sun was out and the sky was clear but, despite my attempts to approach the shore slowly and quietly, the flock sensed my approach and moved farther from the shore. When I moved a foot closer, they moved a foot farther away. As a result, I didn’t get the close shots that I had hoped for. I did, however, get some medium distance shots.
It’s interesting to note that even though birds can’t talk, they can communicate quite well. As I admired them from the shore, a number of the swans saluted me by sticking their bottoms up in the air. They were mooning me! I couldn’t help noticing that there were seven of them. Given the season, it made me think of new lyrics to an old song: “Seven Swans a-mooning!”
I just can’t get any respect.
