I got up early Saturday morning (and stayed up late, but that's story) and headed out to Ramona for the Wildlife Research Institute's Hawkwatch program.

What did I learn? Birds fly south for the Winter. For a couple months, Ramona counts as "south." A 400mm (35mm film equivalent) lens is not nearly enough for serious birdwatching. After doing further research, you really need a telescope along with a series of adapters to connect to your camera. Needless to say, I'll be sticking with landscapes and sports shots.

Honestly, the day would've been a total wash, but their modus operandi is to capture a bird of prey for banding and educational purposes -- that is, showing off to the people who show up.

So, to a couple of photos of a kestrel.

And, of course when transporting the bird, they put it in a tube.

So, those are close-up photos. Long range photos, as I said aren't very doable, and I'm not about to spend the money on lenses that they require because I haven't yet married rich. For example:

All of these are your normal, everyday Canada geese, except the second from the left -- the bird with the greyish neck instead of black. That is a more rare white-fronted goose and it was the only one of its kind in the flock. When I took this shot, I couldn't make out that goose, it was only in post-processing I was able to see it.

So, that will likely be the last of the bird pictures for a very long time. I may post another shot or two of the kestrel later this week, because that's the only one I got decent shots of.