Who Knows Crows?

I'm starting to think that all the crows we see in our area are fish crows. This one is, I think. If it hadn't started calling just as I walked underneath this tree, I'd have never have noticed it. I was looking at the duck pond in the hope of sighting the night heron again -- but I think it was just stopping over here for a day or two before continuing its migration north.



I was rather pleased to get that shot with its feathers fluffed up. It only did that the one time while I was watching it. This second picture is more typical of how it looked:



Another reason I was at the duck pond was that a couple of days ago I saw a kingfisher while I was there. It flew by making its characteristic clicking noise and perched on the cables that are strung across the pond, but it stayed there for less than two seconds or I'd have taken a picture. It then went into one of the trees, and then disappeared. One of my goals for the year is to get a decent picture of a kingfisher, but they put in such brief appearances and they don't seem to keep still for any period of time, either, so it's going to be a tough goal to achieve.

I did see a downy in the wild. I so much prefer to get shots of birds acting naturally rather than helping themselves to the seeds in our feeder. But getting close enough to a downy to get a decent shot when it's not at the feeder is another thing entirely!