Leap Day

An extra day in February. No different than any other day in February in central Florida. I had the E-P2 with M.Zuiko 40-150 'R' lens with me, just in case I came across the red hawks that were nesting near my office. Sure enough I found one of them in a pine, apparently gathering materials for a nest. I found it sitting up in the pine calling for its mate, a small oak branch in its claws. It saw me and began to get annoyed. As it started to turn in the tree to better keep an eye on me its oak branch fell to the ground.

Then it really started to yell at me.

As I said I took this, along with a lot of other photos, using the E-P2 and the 40-150mm. I am not a bird photographer by any stretch. Out of all the shots I took, this was the only one decently in focus and I had to crop this one extensively. Tomorrow when I go out I'm taking the E-3 with the EC-14 and the ZD 50-200mm. That combination will give me about 300mm on the long end, double the 40-150mm's long end. Not only do I want perching hawks, but I also want to try to photograph them on the wing. I know this can be done because I've seen others do it, and do it beautifully. This is getting me out of my comfort zone and forcing me to use the camera differently, and that's A Good Thing.

While out getting a Mike's sub, I came across this H3 with a bike strapped to the front. I guess the bike is a spare when the H3 runs out of gas.