It was a rainy Sunday morning. We didn't expect any birds in our quiet neighborhood in Quezon City. But then, after breakfast while Elias was playing in the garage, a flock of very noisy Ashy Minivets announced their arrival on our neighbors gmelina tree! It was the first record of them in our small green patch in the city!
Djop ran upstairs to get his camera and mine. In the light drizzle, we shot against a backlit tree and watched the hungry migrants as they flitted from branch to branch. I then realized I was birding blind...
Quick backstory: I recently went for a check-up with an ophthalmologist to have my "deteriorating" eyesight checked. Diagnosis: aging. My eyes were aging accordingly and it was time for me to consider getting a pair of reading glasses or progressive lenses.
Looking at the Ashy Minivets was the first I was birding with my aging eyes and it was FRUSTRATING! Unlike my phone or papers that I can easily adjust the distance from my eyes, I couldn't just refocus the birds to get a clearer view! My also aging camera did not help any. The lens refused to cooperate and failed me a couple of times before it got its "groove back" and decided to work properly. It was also shooting blind! The quality of photos it took paled to its glory days of sharp, almost print-worthy pictures. Good thing Djop was able to get pretty good photos of these migratory first-timers in our area!
My camera's video was still superb though (that's a Colasisi feeding on the flowers)!
But, I managed to get some docu shots to commemorate this "neighborhood lifer", so I'm still happy with that.
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| This was the best I managed with a rickety old camera, bad lighting conditions, AND bad eyesight. |
For now, I am still celebrating the visit of the Ashy Minivets (plus a cameo from a hungry Colasisi!) on a rainy, lazy Sunday morning. Still a win in my book even if I was birding blind!
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| Leaving you with another photo by Djop ;) |
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