For most of my life, I had no interest in photography and did not own a camera. While working as a naturalist for Antarctic cruises, more than one tourist told me that I was the only naturalist they had ever seen WITHOUT a camera.

For the first of my fall 2015 walks, I took along a phone that someone lent me and took my first (quite over-exposed) group photo:

For the next season in Antarctica, I borrowed a small “point-and-shoot” camera and got better photos:

Some naturalist friends recommended I buy a Sony rx10 Mark 3 which they felt would be perfect for my walks. I did and got even better photos:

Unfortunately that camera was in the shop so often that I was given a new one and I spent a bit more to get the Mark 4. This worked well for some months and then began misbehaving until there was more wrong than right with it. Yesterday I took it in and it will be shipped to BC for repairs (fingers crossed). I will be without it for up to 8 weeks.

Now I have borrowed a Canon eos Rebel t51 which is considered an entry level DSLR camera. Here are the photos with this camera for this 9 degree, rainy morning:

Park Scenes:

Species list: Canada goose, ring-billed gull, hairy woodpecker, downy woodpecker, blue jay, American crow, black-capped chickadee, Carolina wren, American robin, European starling, ruby-crowned kinglet, house sparrow, northern cardinal, American goldfinch, white-throated sparrow, song sparrow.  (16 species)

Some botany:

This morning’s group:

NATURE POETRY

The trees are in their autumn beauty,
The woodland paths are dry,
Under the October twilight the water
Mirrors a still sky.                                  – William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)

Miles Hearn