Having too much time on my hands has generated an interest in birding. The photos below are some of the birds I have photographed - mostly in my old neighborhood.

Bird Pictures

This is the Gray Catbird - you can't throw a dead cat in my area without hitting a cat bird!	This is a Green Heron - taken in Brookside Gardens. He is on a small branch looking for dinner.
Same Green Heron taken later He has flown down to Pine Lake to feed.	This is an American Goldfinch in Brookside Gardens. He was feeding all over the place when I saw him.
What a lucky shot - I looked up and there was a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird!	This is the rare Rubberus Duckus, normally not seen outside of it's normal environment.
First time I used my new zoom lens I heard the cry of a hawk. I looked up, and there it was. It flew away immediately, as usual.	While fixing a flat tire on my bike, I saw this Black Vulture watching from across the street. I wonder what he was waiting for.
This is a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird taken from my brother's front porch.	Another Ruby-throated Hummingbird chowing down on my brother's front porch.
A Carolina Chickadee	An Eastern Phoebe on a sign
This is a fuzzy Carolina Wren, taken in poor light with my 500mm lens	This is a Downy Woodpecker, taken in the same tree as the Chickadee

Spring 2014 has come to the Nature Center in Wheaton Regional Park.

White Breasted Nuthatch	Black Crested Titmouse
Red-Bellied Woodpecker	Female American Goldfinch
Male Cardinal	Female Cardinal
White-Throated Sparrow	White Breasted Nuthatch
Yellow-Crowned Night Heron Along Sligo Creek	Yellow-Crowned Night Heron Along Sligo Creek
This is a Yellow-Crowned Night Heron sitting on the nest. (See update below)	This is one of a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers in Wheaton Regional Park
Eastern Bluebird sitting in a tree	Tree Swallow sitting still - but not for very long!
Solitary Sandpiper on Pine Lake	Another Tree Swallow sitting on a Wood Duck box
I took a trip to the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in Washington D.C and spotted this guy.	The look in those yellow eyes said one thing - Where's Lunch?
Mr. and Mrs. Yellow-Crowned Night Heron on the nest.(can you see Junior peeping over the nest?	Junior on the nest.
The latest trip to the nest on 6/13 showed a total of not 1, not 2, but 5 nestlings!	A lucky picture of Mr. Heron flying across the storm run-off ponds on Sligo Creek Trail.
Green Heron hunting in Brookside Gardens July 2014	A hummingbird in Brookside Gardens, July 2014 slurping her lunch.

Hardware

All the photos here were taken either with my Nikon D40, or my Nikon D5300.

I have three and 1/2 lenses:

A Nikon 18-135mm Zoom (which came with the camera)
A Sigma 70-300mm Zoom
A Sigma 150-500mm Zoom
A Sigma 1.4x Teleconverter (not really a lens so it gets 1/2 billing!

Nikon ViewNX2 or Capture NX-D were used to adjust the images taken in NEF (RAW) format; Photoshop Elements was used to tweak the images for sizing and labels.

If you want more information, e-mail the author at:

My Wheaton Wildlife Photos

Bird Pictures

Hardware