Why am I talking about yet another feathered creature? Because I was at work yesterday and happened to have my camera with me.
With the place I'm currently working at, it has a koi pond on property. I was telling my friend Rachael about it, as she had sent me pictures of her frog pond. Unfortunately, this being May and the main company dialing back its employees, there's no one around to maintain the fishies, since the pond was gross looking.
Seriously; the first time I saw the ornamental carp, the water was crisp and clean, and I could count the number of swimmers in this tank. I could also count the pebbles on the floor; that's how nice it looked. When I went back yesterday, I could barely see through the scum on the surface of the water. I did see something silver floating around, but I have no idea what it was because the water was just so dark and grimy.
How unfortunate, because these are living things in this box, and if no one is going to take care of them "in the off season", why have it all year? Sure, it's a pretty addition to what can be a nice calming part of a courtyard (there's also a little random flower garden), but if it's only taken care of during specific months, it's a complete waste during the rest of the year. I mean, what happens during hurricanes? Honestly; does an employee cover this thing with a piece of plywood or something? I don't know. I don't think I want to know, after seeing such a difference in housecleaning.
Once I got settled into the office, I happened to be in a position where I had an outside window (we switch desks a lot where I am). As I was watching the world slowly pass me by, I kept seeing flashes of red. By the time I realized what was going on, the wind was picking up and I had to focus on a cardinal keeping its micro talons on a railing.
I quickly got my camera together (Canon EOS Rebel T7i with 75-300mm zoom lens) and started taking pictures. I really need to figure my camera out better, because I kept losing the focus on the bird and getting the trees in the background.
At least he came in clear and I wasn't fighting a lanai screen!
I haven't seen a cardinal since moving out of Brockton. At least, I haven't noticed them around here. So we're talking at least 15 years (come August), even though I've seen flashes of red and blue (blue jays) the last few weeks where I work, I really haven't seen them prior.
It's so weird what we see and don't see. Considering when I showed my friend Cathy the pictures (more in a minute), she said she loves cardinals and thinks the photos I took are great. Cathy lives near "Witch City" (Salem, MA) so she's into some spiritual stuff, although it was my mother who said "someone was trying to pay a visit". One of the guys I work with, stated the cardinal and his mate are nesting in the trees, so it's probably him coming home for a few minutes.
I did catch the bird in the tree and I tried to get his female friend, but she blended into everything as she's brown / tan and he pops with his red. She was too far in the branches to really get a solid picture, so I won't add it here.
As the day wore on, the bird kept moving and the last pictures I got of him were on a stand. He truly pops in these because they are doing construction across the way from where I was, so there are blue barricades up. The way the sun hit everything, I had a great opportunity to get details in the cardinal, for as much as he was moving around.
These show how I really should make better attempts on practicing my skills at camera usage, but also, I was at work, and I know I shouldn't have been using my camera while sitting there, so I needed to be quick (Thanks Jacob and Michael for letting me do it randomly).
I still think the blue background ones are the best, regardless of how sharp they may or may not be. I did do some light sharpening on all the photos, as well as adding my name, but for the most part, I left the photos as is.
Watching nature for 4 hours prohibited me from reading, which is a good thing, in case we got customers at the window. I'm currently reading "Architects of the Culture of Death by Benjamin Wiker and Donald Demarco. I'm not far into it, only on the introduction, but it looks interesting, although a very hefty paperback (over 350 pages). I also picked up "Dark Matter: A Novel" by Blake Crouch in audiobook on CD form the other day and am looking forward to start listening to it in the car because the Apple TV series was pretty cool, once you started getting into it (and needed to focus). I'm ready to see where season two goes. :D
That's about it for now, as I've got some Sunday chores to do this morning before the rains come in.
Until I spot other things, keep your eyes to the sky and don't get wet.
Cheers;
