Maybe I should have titled today’s post Wayne’s Brain, as it is about how my brain works in respect to a few of my own bird images.

Below are some of my own favorite bird photos.  No flight shots allowed in this one. There are no Snowy Owls in the act of bowing. Those pictures have had no small amount of success. Today’s pictures in fact are not the unusual type and have not been popular.   They were all made in the digital format as I did not peer backwards into my slide files.

I have a lot of American Bittern photos. Most have been made in the past six years. I’ve made a lot of those pictures in open wetlands, grassy fields and at least one that is a close-up of a Bittern in breeding plumage. For me I always preferred shots with a classic Bittern pose. In both of today’s images the bird is among the cattails and is standing perfectly still. I am sure that the bird is convinced that I simply cannot see it. In fact it is extremely difficult to see them when they stand still in this environment. Love these guys.

A July 4, 2008 visit to this Illinois Great-blue Heron rookery brought me the best detailed images I ever made there. Part of the marsh was dry and I was close enough to the first nest (tree) that my images rendered nice detail.  Great light helped. Good things have come from some of my pictures from this location, but the two below have never been popular.  Yet they remain two of my favorites.

I cannot count the number of images of male Northern Shovelers that I have made.  I suppose my all-time favorites are my mirrored images.  I have certainly made my share of Shoveler pix with their wings spread, but there is some indefinable reason why I prefer this one.  Maybe it is the string of debris hanging from its bill.  Personal favorites, when they are your own images, can be difficult to define.

I just like the pose of this immature Cedar Waxwing.  Nothing less, nothing more.

It was actually sleeting and snowing a bit when I made this unspectacular shot of a Clarke’s Nutcracker.  Ron and I were in Rocky Mt. N.P. at a fairly high elevation.  Our May date was too early for the opening of Trail Ridge Road for the season.  We were as high up as we could go on the western slope.  Nutcrackers and Stellar’s Jays were attempting to mooch food from anyone who stopped here. This was my only truly sharp image of either Nutcrackers or Jays as it was very dark.  This was also my first ever image of this species which I suppose contributes to my favoritism.  I digitally brightened up this image while on my computer.

I’ve always liked the out of focus washes of early autumn color in the background on this Yellow-rumped Warbler photo.  Kind of liked his pose too.

I know serious wildlife photographers aren’t supposed to care about the introduced Mute Swans.  I have shown my share of Trumpeter and Tundra swan images but I have always loved the “in & out” light of this picture.  The light hits and misses on just the right spots. The pose is also interesting.  My favorites of my own photos are rarely the same as other viewers.

I was fortunate to have about five minutes with this female Baltimore Oriole.  I fell in love with this lady as she presented herself with an “in your face” attitude. This photo pretty much puts her personality on display.  The image below the female is a that of a male oriole. They are spectacular birds and usually everyone likes an image of these guys, but the lady is still my favorite.

This is another one of those cases where I distinctly remember this bird.  She was a performer and struck a lot of nice poses for me. The fence in this image would make it unacceptable to many although it doesn’t bother me at all.

Pine Siskin.  I like simple, elegant images. I think this picture benefits from the fact that the bird is somewhat plain in its color and pattern.

The final picture is sort of a reverse of the previous theme.  This is a picture I never thought would be successful and actually didn’t really want it to be.  Oh I liked the detail in the cute Little black-capped Chickadee.  I loved the snow-covered feet.  I named the image Cold Feet…Warm Heart.  Just the same I hated the busy and inconsistent background.   Chickadees are common visitors to backyard feeders and for people who have feeders, this is a very popular bird. A good shot of a well liked bird, overcame the fact that the overall image was not attractive.

I shook at the horror of what happened in that theater in my former home of Colorado.  I prayed for the souls of the deceased and for families to be strong.  Now in my current home state of Wisconsin yet more senseless violence.  Once again my prayers go out the victims, their families, and the entire Sikh community.