Respite

I got away this weekend with my sweetie and several friends, who are all taking the physical distancing due to Covid-19 very seriously. Yes, there is some risk, but we took a number of precautions to reduce the risk.

It's a magical place I've had the fortune to visit annual for more than 20 years.

Here are several of my favorite pictures from the weekend.

Mosses and lichens on stone

Lichens on fence

When I got up the first morning, I spent some quality time with this bird.

Later in the day, I spent some quality time with a friend and some other birds in and near a rookery.

I did crop the following one. I'm pointing this out, since I've been trying to better develop my eye and taking the picture that I want to end up with rather than relying on cropping.  Although, I do crop when I am going to paint from a photo. 

I'm still obsessed with hummingbirds. I should have brought the tripod along. Being at full zoom, I got very few crisp, sharp photos.  This is one of the few exceptions. It was when I was first getting set up, so I wasn't actually ready when this charmer showed up, which accounts for the lack of composition. It may sound like complaining, but it's not. It was glorious to be away and to have the luxury of focusing on things like taking good pictures of birds.