Catching Snowflakes

When we moved to St. Louis from our home in Kansas, one thing I knew I was going to miss about our old house was the large "picture" window that looked out onto our front yard from the living room.  We spent a lot of time gazing out that window - watching the kids play, thunderstorms rage, sunrises & sunsets.  Sometimes, an entire morning might be spent with a coffee cup in hand staring out that window.

Winter always brought lots of bird activity, since we kept several feeders very close to the house.  I soon found that I could waste several hours watching birds come and go from those feeders.  We kept several bird identification books within close reach and soon learned all the common species.  And it was always a thrill to see a new bird show up.   Obviously, with the feeders so close to our "picture" window, I found it the perfect opportunity to try my hand at some bird photography and I loved it.  Now, I'll be the first to admit that this probably shouldn't be viewed as real bird photography, since the birds are only showing up because of the feeders.  I never had to work real hard to get the photos, but it wasn't completely easy, either.  Some of those birds don't like sitting in one place for very long!  All-in-all, I probably have more photos of birds stored on my hard drive than anything else, including my kids, and it's all due to that window.

So, now we're in StL and no longer have the fantastic "picture" window, which made me think my easy bird watching/photographing days were over.  However, with our new home, we ended up with a pretty amazing backyard and a deck that's almost in the treetops.  This winter, my wife threw up some feeders just off the deck and guess what happened?  Birds arrived!  What's even better is that I actually have several different vantage points to get photos, either through the double-door windows off the deck or with my camera lens sticking out my bathroom window on the 3rd floor. Just one of those small victories that shows that change isn't always bad.

This photo was taken during the largest snowstorm StL had seen in almost 10 years (it dumped about 12 inches).  Since it was a Sunday and I had nothing better to do, I sat watching the birds feed with camera in hand.  In the photo a small Carolina Chickadee calls to another Chickadee just outside the image frame.  With it's beak open and the snowflakes falling, I couldn't help but be reminded of watching children capture snowflakes on their tongues as they play in the snow. Who knows, maybe that's what it was really doing!

Enjoy!