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No buyer's remorse

Usually after I spend money on something I have to deal with a good bit of buyer’s remorse. With the Nikon D1X camera, not so much. I think I should have gotten one a long time ago.

I can’t identify that cute little yellow bird, but I have at least four of them. They’re making their living right now by alighting on tall stalks of grass that have gone to seed. They hold onto the grass, swinging wildly back and forth, and pick the grass seed.

4 Comments

  1. dcs1964 wrote:

    David,

    The little yellow bird is an American gold finch. Their coloration ranges from yellow to greenish. If you want to attract them more determinedly, hang a stocking feeder with thistle seeds. They are seed eaters.

    LOVE the photos.

    Best.

    DCS

    Sunday, June 12, 2011 at 9:05 am | Permalink
  2. admin wrote:

    Thanks, Dean! Those are my favorite birds right now. I think I may have a whole flock of them, because I frequently see four at one time. They are such fun-loving birds and frolic constantly … very active and gregarious. They’ve made me understand the wisdom and purpose of having lots of wild areas around the yard where native species (weeds!) can live unmolested and go to seed. As I have often said, nature abhors a monoculture. It has become clear to me that what attracts birds is a very varied habitat with as many species of plants as possible, growing to different heights — tall trees, young trees, shrubs, thickets, ditches, tall uncut grass, wildflower patches, etc. I’ve got all that, but what I chiefly need now is a nice blooming hedge of some sort. Sometimes I think I live in an aviary.

    Sunday, June 12, 2011 at 9:49 am | Permalink
  3. dcs1964 wrote:

    I always think of gold finches as good luck birds. Not everyone can attract them. And yes, it takes a diverse flora-culture to attract them.

    A warning, though: Don’t be surprised if they just disappear one day. They tend to visit us while on the move, stopping over for a while and then moving on. I had noticed them the last time I visited. If you want to keep them around, I’d put out some thistle seeds.

    By the way, Lila, who was an award-winning amateur photographer, had a lens similar to the one you bought. She used it all the time because it was so versatile. Her specialty was micro shots of flowers and bugs and drops of water. She also had a separate lens for those, but she’d often just use the versatile one.

    The new camera and lens are absolutely worth it. Don’t regret them for a moment!

    DCS

    Sunday, June 12, 2011 at 10:33 am | Permalink
  4. admin wrote:

    Hi Dean… Yes, the telephoto/macro lens is working out pretty much as I hoped and expected. What the lens is bad at, though, is ordinary simple shooting at normal distances (3 to 8 feet, where it won’t focus). The lens also is a “slow” lens and works well only in bright light, and it’s too old for auto-focus and CPU-interaction with the camera. So I’m going to buy one more lens — a “normal” or “prime” lens, 50mm f/1.8, auto-focus. Those two lenses should cover my needs. I’d love to have a longer telephoto someday because I love wildlife photography, but that can wait. The Nikon D1X is awesome. I don’t see how pro photographers deal with the rapid depreciation on professional cameras, but their rapid depreciation = bargains for amateurs like me.

    Sunday, June 12, 2011 at 10:52 am | Permalink

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