The backyard features a large, 3-story, old pine tree – not too far from the house, which has made it easy for me to pick up a few old hobbies of mine… birdwatching and photography.

Birds fascinate me. Each species has their own interesting traits, characteristics, and migratory patterns. When a new bird appears, it’s a new challenge to pursue. What is it?! Aside from, what Nate would likely confirm as, obsessive observations – I have 2 other tools to help me identify each new bird that makes an appearance. First, is the iBird Midwest iPhone app; second, is my trusty telephoto lens.

Part of the challenge that I enjoy, is getting out my Nikon, hooking up the telephoto lens, and waiting until the bird stops jumping around, or moves into just the right light – allowing me to finally snap a fairly decent photo. It’s like True Detective: Bird Edition. It’s a practice of patience. And it’s something that I do to relax and distract.

Without any further ado, here are a few of the best photos (either aesthetically or just because it’s a cool bird) that I’ve managed to capture over the last 4 months. P.S. I saved the best for last.

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Birds of the Winter
All common visitors, except for the fancy red-bellied woodpecker.
Clockwise from top-left: white breasted nuthatch, slate-colored dark-eyed junco, red-bellied woodpecker, and blue jay.

European Starlings
I don’t know why people dislike starlings so much – just look at that coloring! I swear, Beyoncé probably has a bodysuit that looks just like this…

Tufted Titmouse
Who named this bird? Really? Apparently, the Old English meaning of “titmouse” is small bird, where tit means small. Okaaay.

Red Birds
Red birds are awesomely beautiful, but sometimes it’s just too much… tone it down, guys. That’s why I like female cardinals a bit more. Left: a purple finch among the leaves; Right: a female cardinal.

Magnolia Warbler
This beauty just arrived in the last week and has likely already departed to complete it’s migration to the U.P. or Canada.
It kept pretty high up in the pine tree and jumped from branch to branch pretty quickly – making it a fairly challenging bird to photograph.

Female Ruby-Throated Hummingbird
And finally, there’s this tiny, little love who came in from migration about a week ago. As you probably guessed, she was also extremely difficult to photograph. Fortunately, they’re pretty fond of perching in thick trees between sips of syrup.

It was a great time, overall. We met some great people. We saw a lot of very cool, beautiful, and interesting things. We learned a bit about the city and country. And we took a wrong turn in Asia that resulted in a long and relatively un-scenic 5-mile walk along the coastline, but in the end I got to see some dolphins in the Bosphorus, and then we ate Pizza.

I don’t usually do a lot of B&W work, but for some reason most of my really good Istanbul photos ended up that way. I think it gave them a more distant, dreamlike, and memorable feel. Only regret: not bringing my wide-angle lens. So here they are, the best of Istanbul.

Lastly, I took a ~10 minute cab ride from the conference to the hotel (after a week at RailsConf and an oversees flight, I wasn’t feeling too hot) and decided to take a video of the sights along the way. There are some interesting moments when we passed through an area of curb side markets selling things like toilets, sink faucets, road cones… you know, random stuff.

Day 30 – El Gato del Fuego… silly kitteh.

Day 31 (2/1) – Detroit Ruins – If there is traffic on I-94 heading to work in the morning, we’ll often get off early and take Michigan Ave into town. The state of the city out there is a pretty clear example what used to be a thriving metropolitan, but is now quite literally in a state of ruin. It is both sad and beautiful.

Day 32 (2/2) – Liquor and Henna

Day 33 (2/3) – Superbowl – Didn’t get any super awesome shots, so I took this one and applied some super awesome vintage presets. I say, good enough.

Day 34 (2/4) – YOLO – True story.

Day 35 (2/5) – Ashley’s 30th Anniversary – Had many an awesome Bell’s beer at this event, a lot of bourbon barrel-aged stouts! :)

Day 36 (2/6) – Renaissance Glow – Detroit seems to be coming back, slowly but surely.

Day 37 (2/7) – Carnival in the City – Setting up for the Winter Blast in Detroit.

Day 38 (2/8) – Winter in the D

Day 39 (2/9) – Heartstrings

Day 40 (2/10) – Self-Portrait

And because she was being cute this morning, here’s a shot of Ginger’s first Google search.

Day 5 It was a lazy day kind of day. And so here is a cat. She is the runt of a bengal litter, barely 4 or 5 pounds, and she goes by the name of Saqqara.

Aside from the Friday the 13th induced bad weather, I’ve discovered that both of my cats have fleas. And, Gibby has a hole poked into her abdomen. So they’re both on flea medications, and I get to vacuum all the carpets and furniture, and wash all of the sheets and blankets, and spray to kill all the eggs. And, I have to give Gibby antibiotics and keep her from licking her wound. If she keeps licking it – we have to buy her one of those white plastic shields that go around the head. She’d love that.

I can only assume that this bad luck will continue through tomorrow, I will keep you all updated.

Maybe since the Spartans are already having a horrible season, the bad luck of Friday the 13th will have a reverse effect and we’ll beat #1 Ohio State… I could also be dreaming.

!http://jewlofthelotus.com/files/2006-09-08_gibby_georgie.jpg (Gibby & Georgie)!

Maybe one of the cutest things ever.