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03/13/2005 Entry: "Beautiful weather, not much photography"

The weather has been beautiful of late, so much so that all the forecasters are concerned about the amount of water available in the reservoirs this summer and the possibility of an early and long wildfire season. Still, it's hard to complain when it's dry and warm in March.

The advantages are that the yards are already cleaned up from winter. The grass has been fertilized, and the sprinklers have been turned on and tested. And all the little items that fall into disrepair over the winter have been identified and fixed, or will be soon. There are only a couple of major outdoor chores to be done, and if the weather keeps up, they'll be completed by the end of March. That's exceptionally rare for this part of the country.

The good weather spurred me to break out the cameras and attempt some outdoor photography. I tried my hand at birding over on the PCC College Campus. I had only moderate luck. I was using a 300mm Image Stabilized lens and a 1.6 crop factor digital camera (which gave me a 500mm equivalent Field of View) and it still seemed like I couldn't get close enough to get a decent photo. There was one red-tailed hawk in the area that would wait until I was within 20 feet of the perch, then sail off to a new tree that was only a hundred yards away.

W and I did go to Sauvie Island yesterday to check out the wildlife preserve and the beaches. Although it was warm, it was also windy, which meant there were a lot of kite boarders playing on the Columbia River. So, I did get a few shots of them. I didn't get many shots of birds though, as they were mostly out on the waterways and unapproachable. I'll be looking through the photos later today to determine if any of the captures are worth posting. If so, I'll have them up this evening or tomorrow.