Trying to find my bird photography mojo again

I'd swear that maybe two seconds ago, it was about to be the new year and now all of a sudden, we're over three weeks into 2022. I'll admit I've been in a bit of a funk over the past few ~~decades years months~~ weeks, but now I'm trying to shake it off and finally work on finding my bird photography mojo again.

Why do I think my mojo is gone? Well for starters, it occurred to me when doing my Photography Lovers End of Year Contest – My Favorite Shots from 2021 post, that I hadn't taken any pictures of song birds since January of last year. And yeah, that actually pretty well covers it...lol!

In all seriousness, last January I'd planned to work on getting better at taking bird pictures, and had been at it for a few months when I wrote...

While I've taken bunches of photos over the past couple of months, I'm remembering exactly how hard it is to get decent shots out of our not exactly sparkling windows while the frenetic birds bounce from place to place (even when my body isn't doing the same).

While I'm fairly certain I put more bird feed out at least a few more times, I don't think I ever took any more photos after January 13th, 2021. So it was kind of serendipitous when my husband made my ridiculously & poorly timed wish to have the shepherd's hook sunk into the ground outside our bedroom window (have I mentioned it's been stupid cold here in New Hampshire for the entire winter so far?) and I put some the of leftover seed from last year out on January 14th of this year.

After I snapped a bazillion photos, I went through & found some of my favorite hits and misses, got them ready to post, then... yeah, did I mention the funk?

But today I decided I needed to get my bottom in gear and get this posted (especially since I think my mother will especially appreciate a few of the shots), so here it is. Fingers crossed I don't see this in December 2022 and think, "oh yeah, right - I was going to work on getting better shots of birds..."

As always, these were taken with my Nikon affixed to my tripod), and in this case, out my Durham New Hampshire window. I hope you enjoy!

Trying to find my bird photography mojo again - hits and misses from January 14th, 2022

bird photography mojo
1. My current setup, with a bit of the bedroom window on the left side of the photo (to give a bit of perspective on how close the feeders are to our house).

2. The very first shot I took, and for a second, I thought I didn't have to worry about my mojo...

bird photography mojo
3. ... til I took my second shot. LOL!

4. Mr Titmouse seemed determined to really give me a workout - he bounced around from spot to spot so fast, I could barely keep up with him. In fact, he was actually sitting on the edge of the swing about a nanosecond before I hit the shutter button, then I realized he'd changed spots & messed up my framing.

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5. Mr. Black-capped chickadee seemed surprised to see me & my camera back at the window.

6. But not so surprised that it kept him from grabbing a bite.

7. Although he did keep a close eye on me.

8. Mr. Titmouse again (or could be a different guy, as I saw at least three or four flying around), offering commentary on the abundance of bird seed on the swing.

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9. He seemed to really appreciate the sunflower seeds.

10. Ms Downy Woodpecker came over to check out the selection for herself.

11. But Mr wasn't too keen on sharing.

12. When I first saw this on my camera, I was wicked happy to have gotten such a cool shot, since you can even see a bit of the White-breasted Nuthatch's tongue behind the seed. But once I got it on my computer, I realized it wasn't nearly as focused and sharp as I'd hoped, even with a bit of cleanup on PicMonkey. Not a miss, but definitely not a hit.

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13. Although all the birds swarming right outside the window seemed to be a big hit with Pumpkin (who's only been with our family since June). I'd say he definitely approved!

14. Not that you can tell from this shot, but they were a hit with Freddie too...lol!

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15. Another one that I thought was a slam dunk hit, but not the quality I'd hoped for - somebody was going after the seed so fast that he flipped them in the air.

16. Then a reminder to me that when taking pictures of the frenzied activity around my feeders, I need to stay calm and most importantly, STAY FOCUSED! 😂

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17. Speaking of focused...

18. Towards the end of the afternoon, I started getting into the groove again...

19. ... and it helped that the birds started hanging around for a bit & eating their seeds before taking off, instead of just doing the grab & go.

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20. My favorite shot of the day, especially as it kind of mirrors my favorite shot from last January.

21. Although he doesn't look too impressed with my efforts...lol

22. If this shot had been a bit clearer, then Mr Cardinal would've taken the favorite shot spot.

23. Even when I had my bird photography mojo, something about the bright red and energetic bird makes him particularly challenging to capture.

24. Maybe I should focus (HA) more on post-shutterbugging photo editing to help make his captures clearer. And yes, I did give this a run through PicMonkey, but couldn't seem to get it the way I wanted it.

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25. Final shot of the afternoon was a Dark-eyed Junco who preferred to grab the seeds off the ground, then fly to a nearby snow-covered granite stone to eat them, at hyper speeds. I thought it was very nice of him to stay here for nearly a full two seconds so I could get a somewhat decent shot (aka the only one that wasn't blurry) before turning my camera in for the day.